Cartoonists With Attitude

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Tags: barackobama, antichrist

Posted in cartoons, in contempt      

Last Tuesday I posted “No Excuses“, a cartoon juxtaposing the post-election meme about African-American possibilities with the realities of systemic racism. Documentarian Byron Hurt recently released “Barack and Curtis: Manhood, Power and Respect”, a ten-minute film making a similar juxtaposition between the success of Barack Obama and the life of another popular black figure, 50 Cent, who has led a more difficult life plagued by crime, drugs and violence. As quoted by Reuters, Hurt recognizes both the difficulties confronting young black men and the hope that Obama’s example inspires among them:

“The only way that he (Obama) can make a substantial change is if he addresses things like poverty and joblessness and those deep pervasive factors that affect black boys and men,” said film maker Byron Hurt.

…

Even though Obama’s election was not a panacea for black men, the importance of the example he sets could not be underestimated, Hurt said in an interview.

“The boost that he has given black men is more symbolic than anything else,” said Hurt. “But I don’t want to undervalue symbolism and image. When I see images of Barack Obama in a baseball hat taking his daughters to school … that is a powerful image.”

In his film, Hurt shows a wide range of analytic voices commenting on the racist culture that has shaped black male identity, and how everyday black men, poor and middle class, straight and gay, educated and robbed of education, create their identities in response to it. There are more nuances presented here than at first suggested by the dramatic contrast between Obama and 50 Cent, and if you haven’t viewed the film, do so.

Tags: barackobama, 50 cent, Byron Hurt, racism, black image

Posted in racism      

Election’s over, so what’s a political cartoonist to do? It’s not like there are any really important issues to consider. Could do something about the Congo or Rwanda. But, really, this is America: those places might as well be Oz, for all we care.

I know! There’s a new study about obesity! Several studies! Oh boy! Now political cartoonists can do what comes naturally: mock fat people, draw a newspaper with a headline and let a bad pun do the work.

Yes, apparently there is some study about teens getting fatter or something. Causes? Remedies? Flaws in the study? How studies like these fit in a larger culture neurotic about physical appearance, hyper-consumption, and fast food? Who cares? Let’s mock fat people — and teens, too!

Ha ha! Get it! Teens only want to get drunk!

But you know what’s missing? A tie-in with popular culture. It doesn’t have to be relevant, or insightful, or even current. It just has to stimulate some region of the brain that stores random images osmotically absorbed from the general culture environment. Hey, Bat-man!

Good thing the wind is blowing that newspaper high above the skyscrapers in such a way that we can read it. Otherwise I would have no idea what the hell this cartoon has to do with real life.

You know, you don’t have to be a hack cartoonist to squeeze out turds like these. You can be a well-respected, intelligent, and talented lion of the field like the great Clay Bennett, whose work I generally love:

Apparently Americans like to shovel their food served on plates decorated with the Presidential seal. Or something. It’s kinda abstract, really — so let’s go back to mocking fat youth!

Wow, okay, that’s enough. I could probably dig up more. If you feel masochistic, cruise through Slate.com’s health section of political cartoons and you will find 476 (as of today) that deal with general health issues, the majority of them focused on obesity. All of them will exploit some stereotype of fatness, teenagers or youth culture, consumption and gluttony for the sake of a cheap punchline and at the expense of insight, compassion, intelligence, context, and originality. As my friend and political cartoonist Barry Deutsch has pointed out many times, fat people are easy targets, perhaps the last “safe” target (along with the mentally ill and poor Southern whites) for comedians and other humorists to treat as an “other”, that slightly less-than-human category of people who deviate from The Norm and thus deserve mockery and marginalization. Of course, if these studies are true, then more Americans are getting fatter, so these cartoons act as a way of policing our behavior, inducing guilt and shame for being all-consuming gluttons. And there the conversation ends. But I’ll let Barry have the last word, because he puts it so well:

The reason fat activists have formed a movement is that it’s unjust to be denied good medical care because we’re fat; we think it’s unjust that we can get fired for being fat; we think it’s unjust that we face job and wage discrimination because we’re fat; we think it’s unjust that we can be charged more for basic services (like insurance) because we’re fat; it’s unjust that people glance at us and assume that we’re lazy and care nothing for ourselves; and yes, although you’ll sneer at this as “the right to feel good,�? it’s unjust that fat people are taught from childhood to think of themselves as deficient, wrong, and disgusting.

Anit-fat bigotry isn’t wrong because it’s the same as facing lynch mobs. It’s wrong because it’s unjust. It’s unjust because we’re human and don’t deserve to be treated as second-class people because of the shape of our bodies.

Tags: politicalcartoons, obesity, fat activism

Posted in activism, cartooning      

A majority of students at my daughter’s K-8 school want to rename the school after President-elect Barack Obama, an improvement over the admittedly awkward “Clark K-8 @ Binnsmead”. Katie thinks this is a great idea. I am not too sure.

Yes, I voted for the guy. And I hope he’ll live up to his promise, though I have several reservations even if he does, mostly grounded in worries about his hawkish attitude towards Afghanistan.

But that’s not relevant here. I demur because usually we name schools after Presidents have left office, not, say, before they are even sworn in. We also honor non-presidents, too, such as historic activists like Martin Luther King or Cesar Chavez. Perhaps Obama’s ground-breaking win as an African-American candidate qualifies, he has already inspired millions of people, bringing many first-time voters into the process and running on a mostly positive message of transforming politics.

However, history isn’t over yet. Being the eternal ray of sunshine that I am, I asked my daughter, “What if in two years Obama’s presidency is bogged down in Afghanistan? Or there’s a big sex scandal?”

“A what scandal?!” she exclaimed.

Jenn walked away from the dinner table, saying, “Go ahead, Daddy. Explain that one.”

Fortunately Katie didn’t want an answer. She and her fellow students have already voiced their support of Obama through their choice of chocolate cupcakes over McCain’s vanilla, so they are convinced that changing the name of the school in favor of Obama would be a good move. “It will get lots of news stories!” Katie argued, thrilled that two local news stations have reported this possibility.

Jenn thinks a lot of deserving local talent will get short-shrift: Linus Pauling, Ken Kesey, John Reed, Raymond Carver…. Mostly white and male. But they are dead, which is actually a stipulation of the re-naming rules. Ursula K. LeGuin and Avel Gordly (Oregon’s first black female legislator) will have to wait for the Reaper to take his due before becoming eligible for such an honor.

I suggested Kwame Toure. Any takers?

Tags: BarackObama, school

Posted in about me      

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Tags: incontempt, racism, Will Smith, Oprah Winfrey

Posted in cartoons, in contempt