Controversial "political" cartoon...

Just saw this on MSN...wow. At first glance before you read the article...what does this look like to you? I can't for one..believe they allowed this to be printed !

 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29263781/

Wow. Seems like poor judgement to print something like that. And then to defend it after.

I mean, I can see where they were going with it, but it seems like no one really thought twice before printing the cartoon.

Yeah I didnt think it was geared at obama racially-- i thought it was a "chump/chimp" reference to politics and congress.  And I'm a dirty liberal so... if I wasnt offended...

WTF?  I know all about the real life story of the chimp being shot because it attacked some lady... which gave the artist the idea... but WTF?  Did I mention WTF?  I can't believe it was printed... regardless of any hidden meanings or agendas!  WTF?

It's super tacky and really dumb (because you'd think the editor woulda thought it might be interpreted as racist and violent), but I thought Obama made Congress write the stimulus bill?

I don't think the problem is with the semantics....if they meant Congress, if they were or were not being racial intentionally...the emotional response to the cartoon without reading very deeply into it is that they are saying something about the president. That alone should have made them refrain from printing it. Not only that...the tragic story about the chimp in the news is in no way funny. Not one bit. They have also combined the octuplet story with the stimulus package and Obama in political cartoons. Somehow this isn't the same is it?

HAHAHAHA! I'm sorry, but I'm an animator and I just love when a political cartoon gets such a public uproar.. that's what they're made to do :)

So you cant call black people apes / chimps / or anything else like that?

Saying "omg, a monkey could do a better job!" is suddenly bad when you find out its about a black person?...

Either black people really are like chimps / monkeys and all of society needs to be sensitive about it as a taboo subject to bring up in public (because to liken them to a chimp is the elephant in the room no one wants to point out).

OR, black people are human and calling them a chimp is like calling anyone a chimp...reguardless of their skin color.

Personally? I think its the 2nd option... i see calling a black man a chimp the same as calling a white man a chimp...its saying they are almost human but just too stupid.

Lorik,

Your argument would be valid, if there was no past in the US of specifically using monkey as a term for African Americans.

But there is.

My mom grew up in Memphis in the late 50's, and it was all too common to specifically using "monkey" as a derogatory term for black people.  Such as the term "porch monkey".  She told me a story once where a friends little brother, a little 6 year old child, commented "they let the monkeys out of the zoo".  He wasn't talking about monkeys, and this wasn't some rare occurrence. 

We cant put a big band aid on it, look at the present and forget the past.  Hell the "past" wasn't even that long ago and is still part of the present.

The cartoon was either short sighted or deliberate- either way I can understand that it is offensive.

I can believe it was printed.  Political cartoons are meant to spark debate, not elicit a chuckle. And aren't we lucky enough to have freedom of the press?  Or have we forgotten that after the "Patriot" Act was signed into law?

I am a little offended, but I love the First Amendment to death.  God bless the First Amendment.  And seperation of church and state.

When I saw it, my thought process went like this

• Ew, that cartoon kinda sucks.
• Um, are they calling David Obey a chimp or do they think Obama wrote the stimulus bill and thus are calling him a chimp? This cartoon kinda sucks.
• The implication that our president or congresspeople ought to be or would be  shot.... seems in very bad taste, to be charitable.  This cartoon kinda sucks.

But I don't have a problem with it being printed. 

If we can't have controversial art or essays or cartoons - even sucky ones - then we might as well be Iran.

Maybe it's just me, but I did not find the cartoon particularly offensive. It had the right to be printed, and no apologies or clarifications should be necessary.

I don't know.. they portrayed George Bush as a monkey all the time too.

I think you have to be a little twisted to find it offensive, by that I mean you have to jump to conclusions based on your own perceptions and not what is actually in the cartoon.  Bravo to the artist for peeling back the onion so we can see what unfortunately is still out there lurking among us.

Original Post by jenniferthepennifer:

I don't know.. they portrayed George Bush as a monkey all the time too.

I wasn't bothered by the monkey aspect at all.  I was more bothered by the violence.

But again - I don't object to it being printed.

I also don't think that people view art or cartoons in a vacuum.  An artist brings his or her history and experience to the canvass (whatever media is being used).  And a person brings their experience and history with them when they interpret art. 

I think Al Sharpton is very immersed in the world of race relations.  I think it might be odd if he didn't see the cartoon as having racial implications, given his intimate association with civil rights leaders and the events of the 50s and 60s which didn't disappear into the ether as time passed.  People still remember what happened to them or to their parents.

But you're never too old to change your views.

The layer isn't thick enough to be compared to an onion. It's more like peeling back a piece of saran wrap. Racism is still fairly prevalent, although a lot less vicious than in days gone by. Plenty of bad jokes making the rounds in emails.

Tortoise is absolutely correct - This cartoon is at worst offensive, at best insensitive.

That said - agree with Nomo. If the editor is stupid enough to print it, then printed it is. But he is certainly old enough to know better. Howard Cosell, anyone?

I don't think it is a big deal and I do not have a problem with it being printed.  Freedom of speech and all of that.  Pretty much everything offends someone now a days.  I think thicker skin is needed. 

For once, I'm with crazineko on this one.  But what is still lost on me is how this cartoon has anything to do with race.  I looked at the cartoon but I did not read the article.  To me it would be like saying that Aboriginal people are offed by the Geico adds or something.  I just don't get and as I said above I'm more offended by the people that want to interpret it as racial than I am by the cartoon itself.  If Lancelot Link is reading, well Lance I can't can understand why your offended.

Original Post by trhawley:

For once, I'm with crazineko on this one.  But what is still lost on me is how this cartoon has anything to do with race.  I looked at the cartoon but I did not read the article.  To me it would be like saying that Aboriginal people are offed by the Geico adds or something.  I just don't get and as I said above I'm more offended by the people that want to interpret it as racial than I am by the cartoon itself.  If Lancelot Link is reading, well Lance I can't can understand why your offended.

some african americans have a history of being called porch monkeys, Macaca, other references to being 'sub human'

so i think it's good that you don't understand why people would interpret that cartoon racially, since it means that you haven't been exposed to that kind of racist behavior

but some other people have, so it would be good to understand that too

racists haven't cornered the market on using monkeys as an insult though

Tom, you seriously have never heard of a black person referred to as a monkey or an ape? Maybe it's a southern thing.

Agree nomo, hence the above comment about G-Dubb being compared to a monkey.

Am certain Tom's way of thinking is best - if he doesn't get why it's offensive, that's great - perhaps the kids on the board who feel the same way is indicative of color-blindness - probably also a good thing.