Angry Creamsicle, Comrade Cheetolino, Mango Mussolini, Agent Orange – these are just a few of the nicknames that Donald Trump has picked up along his presidential road. Trump may ethnically identify as “white”, but his skin is categorically and scathingly portrayed as orange.
When Trump was elected in 2016, succeeding former president Barack Obama, I remember references such as “orange is the new black”. At once an allusion to the popular Netflix series and a bold comment on race, colour here functions as an important form of satire. And this satiric use of colour has persisted throughout Trump’s presidency. His recent UK visit witnessed the orange baby balloon and orange-faced protesters continuing this in full force.
My specialism is the history of tanning, so I find this particular form of humour fascinating. It’s striking that Trump’s skin tone, above all else, has prompted such a level of derision.
83.5k Followers, 25 Following, 1,188 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Annoying Orange (@annoyingorange). Orange teaches the art of annoying to a young orange. S1:E17 Oct 29, 2012 11m. The Day the Store Stood Still. The Earth stands still. S1:E18 Nov 19, 2012 11m.
Fake it to make it
Orange is a colour with such comedic value because it is impossible, disingenuous: it is a mark of artifice. Tanning enthusiasts speak of achieving a healthy “glow”, looking “bronzed”, and one’s (implicitly and necessarily once white) skin “browning” in the sun. “Fake bake” would seem, and is marketed as, the safer alternative to true exposure to the sun’s UV rays, which we know can cause cancer.
Annoying Orange Poker Facebook
But the problem is it remains just that: fake. The colouring is a dye, sitting on the skin’s upper surface layer, not a natural alteration of pigment embedded deeper within the cells. Unlike red lipstick, violet hair dye, or blue eye shadow – which are also clearly “unnatural” aesthetic additions and colour modifications to the human face – the orange fake tan (or serious overuse of bronzer) is widely viewed as unacceptable within popular culture. The natural progression of skin “phototypes” does not include orange as a colour “value” on this light-dark spectrum.
Less a subtle browning than a fluorescent face plant, we find the colour funny because it’s an all-too-obvious applied coating that fails to convince anyone of natural pigmentation. Orange is not bronze, not brown, not black (and never will be). It is laughable, therefore, because it is a mark of failure, an act of mimicry gone wrong. Put simply, orange isn’t “of value” to us because it isn’t a “value” as a skin colour at all.
And let us remember why it exists in the first place. It is a normalised belief in white Western culture that dark skin is to be envied, that altering (however temporarily) one’s original colour by darkening it several shades down the colour line will make it look more beautiful, healthier, sexier, younger. This is the case for both women, especially young white women in the US and UK, as well as men, not least male bodybuilders.
It’s not surprising, then, that Trump believes altering his natural skin colour will improve his appearance and, hence, sense of self. The belief in a “healthy tan” has existed since the early 20th century, and continues to drive tourism just as it drives the tanning bed and fake tan industries.
Getting below the surface
I’d argue that there is something very serious about Trump’s orange face – something serious about the superficial. Scottish artist and writer David Batchelor argues that colour has been feared and marginalised as trivial, as artifice, as “other”, throughout the history of Western civilisation. He terms this “chromophobia”, describing the prejudice against colour as operating two ways:
In the first, colour is made out to be the property of some ‘foreign’ body - usually the feminine, the oriental, the primitive, the infantile, the vulgar, the queer or the pathological. In the second, colour is relegated to the realm of the superficial, the supplementary, the inessential or the cosmetic. In one, colour is regarded as alien and therefore dangerous; in the other, it is perceived merely as a secondary quality of experience, and thus unworthy of serious consideration. Colour is dangerous, or it is trivial, or it is both.
Like his combover (his thinning hair suggesting lost youth and virility) or his sourpuss pouts (lost composure under intense media scrutiny), Trump’s orange skin is a target of ridicule – of a man obsessed with vanity yet marked by signs of failed masculinity. And yet there is danger here, too, for they are implicitly signs of weak and worrisome leadership, of a man out of control of his appearance and perhaps, by extension to his opponents, his country.
The reference to Trump as “Agent Orange” is particularly relevant. Used by the US military in the Vietnam War to destroy foliage, this chemical also contained the carcinogen, TCDD, which seriously harmed many local inhabitants and their future unborn children. For artists like Busta Rhymes, Trump is envisioned as a dangerous weapon or force of destruction that threatens global peace.
Above all, there is a crucial irony that the orange-saturated skin that has become so characteristic of Trump’s image is totally at odds with the overt xenophobia and racism that saturate his words and actions. Yet here, too, are historical parallels: Hitler equally praised the “bronzed”, sculpted bodies of the ancients and encouraged his soldiers to tan and exercise in the open air while simultaneously spouting of the purity of the Aryan race.
I am not arguing that Trump is a modern-day Hitler (even if others have). What I am arguing is that orange is a colour not of comedy but of contention, even provocation. Protesters wear orange paint like a war mask, mocking Trump’s unstable character and confused “values”. His odd, even toxic, colouring may seem trivial, but its meaning is more than skin deep.
Last week, we asked over 50,000 of our Facebook and Twitter followers what they thought were the most annoying habits they’ve experienced at the poker table. These pet peeves ranged anywhere from a breach of table etiquette to blatant rule breaking.
Here’s a look at our ranking of the top ten responses. Let us know what we missed in the comments below.
10. Players who always chop in the blinds, unless they have a big pocket pair.
The player reserves the right to decide whether or not they want to chop every time the action folds around to the blinds preflop. That being said, you can’t change your mind just because you’ve been dealt aces. If you “always” chop, then you “always” chop. Not just when you don’t like your hand.
9. People who wear headphones at the table and can’t follow the action.
There’s nothing wrong with listening to some music at the table to pass the time, but when it affects the flow of the game, perhaps you should consider turning it down or freeing up an ear to keep tabs on the action. If we can hear your music from across the table, then you certainly can’t hear the dealer telling you how much more it is to you.
8. People who act like dealers, to the detriment of the game.
It is the dealer’s responsibility to split pots, take rake and bring in the bets, not yours. Also, believe it or not, most dealers don’t like it when you move the button, especially when you don’t tell them you are doing it. They follow a specific process for each and every hand and messing with that process only slows down the game.
Annoying Orange Poker Face Mask
7. Players who intervene when they aren’t involved in the hand.
When someone asks for another player’s count, let that player answer and stay out of the situation. Sometimes, it’s not the actual chip count we are looking for, but rather the way our opponent answers the question. The one-player-to-a-hand rule applies in many situations, including decision making, showdowns and potential deals.
6. Beginners who don’t understand how the blinds work or when it is their turn.
This may fly in the face of our no. 1 pet peeve, but most poker players would agree that while we enjoy amateurs at the table, we wish they at least understood how the game was structured. After a few orbits, even first timers should get that there are two blinds to the left of the button — one small, one big.
5. Players with poor personal hygiene.
We understand that eight-hour sessions can quickly turn into 16-hour sessions, especially when you are stuck, but for the good of the game, please take a break to freshen up and pop a breath mint. Also, don’t forget to wash your hands after visiting the restroom or eating. We all have to touch those cards and chips at some point.
4. Cash game players who leave the table for big chunks of time.
Most casinos allow a player to be absent for two and a half dealer rotations before before their stack is picked up. That’s one hour and 15 minutes in most rooms. Players who leave the table to play the slots or pit games, or even have dinner, are being inconsiderate to the others who now have to play short handed. To combat this, most card rooms have a third-man walking rule, but it does little to prevent most roaming players.
3. Players who consistently act out of turn.
It’s fine if you do it once, or maybe even twice, but if you are consistently acting out of turn, or even telegraphing your intentions before it is your turn, you are hurting the game. It isn’t fair to the others in the hand to give away information. This problem is bigger later in the hand, when one player is attempting to apply some pressure against two opponents, but one has made it clear he has no intent to continue.
2. People who Hollywood and take forever to make simple decisions.
Back in 2003 when everyone was representing a premium hand, it made sense to “Hollywood” in order to protect your tight, aggressive image. These days, it’s just a waste of everybody’s time. We all know you are raising with garbage and now that you’ve been caught, dump your hand and quit slowing down the game.
1. Players who tap on the glass.
If you are a poker player, do us all a favor and don’t tap on the glass. That is, don’t scare away the fish. This may be hard for some of us to remember, but the first time you sit down at the poker table can be a pretty scary experience. Don’t make it worse for the beginners by telling them how to play the game “properly” or even worse, berating them for playing “badly.” The games are hard enough and we need all of the fish we can get.