Barry Blitt's Drawing 'Illegal Procedure'

A recent cover of the September issue of The Newyorker depicts an enticing image all about scandalous football. The image details a football player running from the police and winning. The picture pertains to the recent actions of domestic violence and all around poor behavior demonstrated by NFL football players. More specifically the illustration depicts the current episodes of Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson, who both performed acts of domestic violence towards loved ones. These events caused a ruckus throughout media and inspired the artist of the cover, Barry Blitt, to create a message to his audience about the NFL. Blitt named his drawing “Illegal Procedure” to reveal the scandal of the NFL in itself. The image of the football player escaping the police validates the inability of the law to control the erratic behavior of NFL football players, and Blitt achieves this message through the captured motion, the overall tone of the picture revealed through colors, and the appeal to the audience.
The football player is running away from the police who is trying to catch him, however the player appears to be far ahead of them and winning the game. The fact that the football player is still holding a football and located in a stadium shows that the player is actually still playing the game despite his recent hold up with the law. The player is a symbol for the NFL as a whole having too much power through money and media. The NFL is shown to be able to escape the law and cover up potential criminals all for the sport to continue its own legacy. The visual of this message is conveyed by the atmosphere presented in the photo, which leads to