Once upon a time, the ex-Banana Republic ‘Supreme Mango’ was quite the maestro of murals, his canvas of choice was glossy magazine spreads, and his paintbrush, a robust Twitter handle. But now his pièce de résistance could very well be his 8 by 10, taken in a wonderfully sterile environment only compliments of the local precinct.
Throughout his tenure, our dear ‘Supreme Mango’ used vibrant images to convey his messages. There were ornate, gold wastewater facilities rechristened as penthouses, vehemently waving “Make Fruit Great Again” banners, and the unforgettable ‘mighty wall of mango skins’, which was in our faces for so long it permanently stained our retinas.
And then there were the tweets! Hashtags and emojis adorned his perfectly ripe and juicy messages, and he leveraged them grandly. Who could forget “#MangoInCharge,” or the “🍊👈BIGLY!” emoji combo that inspired gut-busting laughter and a lingering taste of resentment?
But now, it seems the tango with the ‘Supreme Mango’ could have a new defining pictogram: a skin-tone matching mugshot, taken under the flash of authoritative cameras, complete with an assigned citrus serial number. If indeed this Polaroid-shaped prophecy comes to pass, it may well serve as the underlying symbol of his reign, a visual wedged in the annals of history.
There is something poetic in the thought that a ‘Supreme Mango’, who spent a good chunk of his time laying claims, assigning false blame, and demonstrating an impressive showcase of evasion tactics, would end his fruit salad days with a contribution to the ‘Gallery of Misbehaved Fruits’.
Of course, the ‘Supreme Mango’ was hardly the first to face such a pectin-packed predicament. Indeed, it’s almost a routine part of the great citrus cycle. Still, there’s a unique tang to this story, given the ‘Supreme Mango’s relentless manipulation of visual imagery to distil his brand and message.
In this new post-presidential chapter of his life, where the glitzy aesthetic of his former title no longer grips, it becomes fascinating to see what image might be associated with his reign in the annals of time.
Though the ‘Supreme Mango’s grand pulpy experiment may have ended with a whimper and a face-buzzing flash, it serves as a reminder of the power of an image. We know that a picture says a thousand words, but in this case, it’s the saying that matters most: the bigger they are, the harder they fall.
In closing, we, the public, stand at the precipice, contemplating whether the ‘Supreme Mango’s ultimate portrait will preach more about the shifting grounds of power, or be a metaphorical juicer to his ego. Whichever it is, the image of the ‘Supreme Mango’s mugshot may just be humanity’s visual memento of a supreme fruit gone slightly off. Beware of the fallen mangos.
