Mysterious Pimp

First off, I didn't take this picture. Wish I did. It's a favorite. And, staring directly into Pablo Picasso's one eye would have been memorable no doubt.

But yesterday in the classroom I showed my fourth grade students this image and the responses hit a new high or a new low, depending on your sense of humor.

During our photography lesson, I show slides and say nothing at first. We look. We're quiet. Then I simply ask what they see, what they notice, what they're eye went too initially.

Careful what you ask.

In two classes, boys said, "He's wearing a pimp hat."

I really didn't know how to respond to that. In years of showing this image, I never heard that one before. Are pimps now on Nickelodeon? Anyway, one of the teachers reprimanded her student. "Now, you know we don't bring in language from the culture into the classroom." Hmmm.

It wasn't all pimp and shame, though. Other students described the mood of the portrait with great words like mysterious, mischievous, suspicious.