tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/cartoons-6519/articles
Cartoons – The Conversation
2023-07-21T12:27:32Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/208650
2023-07-21T12:27:32Z
2023-07-21T12:27:32Z
Bluey teaches children and parents alike about how play supports creativity – and other life lessons
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536621/original/file-20230710-16123-hbig7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The playful Heeler family has amassed fans of all ages.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://bbcw.box.com/s/ji22tfwxhdjokpvkmqj1w8eefn8ucmdc">Ian Kitt/BBC Studios</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://mashable.com/article/bluey-kids-show-for-adults">Adults and kids</a> love <a href="https://www.bluey.tv/">Bluey</a>. This Australian animated show – hugely <a href="https://www.newidea.com.au/bluey-streaming">popular in the U.S.</a> as well – focuses on a family of blue heeler dogs living in Brisbane. The seven-minute episodes feature 6-year-old Bluey; her 4-year-old sister, Bingo; her mom, Chilli; and her dad, Bandit. They depict the beauty of childhood and portray the realities of being a parent in our current age. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=0TfM-kYAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">developmental scientists</a> <a href="https://sdlab.fas.harvard.edu/people/aria-gast%C3%B3n-panthaki">who study children</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=beCz8i0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">how they interact with the world</a>, we sort of adore Bluey too. </p>
<p>The show exemplifies what years of child psychology research have made clear: that <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.16823.01447">children learn through play</a>. Bluey illustrates a variety of age-appropriate caregiving practices that parents and caregivers can use in the everyday life of a child. Below we highlight five lessons depicted in select episodes and explain how certain scenes can provide inspiration for playful learning opportunities for all families.</p>
<h2>1. Support children’s creativity</h2>
<p>In the “<a href="https://www.bluey.tv/watch/season-3/rain/">Rain</a>” episode, Chilli and Bluey get caught in a downpour. While Mom runs inside, Bluey is thrilled to be out in the rain and begins to build a dam against the water on a walkway. When her hands can’t contain the water, she tries a variety of household objects – blocks, an umbrella, a dollhouse – to do the job. Importantly, Bluey does not give up and continues to find creative solutions to reach her goal. </p>
<p>Researchers and leaders in a variety of industries point to <a href="https://learningthroughplay.com/explore-the-research/why-creativity-matters-and-how-we-can-nurture-it">creative innovation</a> as a top skill that children will need to be successful in <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/a-new-path-to-education-reform-playful-learning-promotes-21st-century-skills-in-schools-and-beyond/">tackling the upcoming challenges</a> of the 21st century. </p>
<p>Instead of stopping Bluey, Chilli recognizes how driven her daughter is to meet her goal, so she braves the rain and helps her to successfully build the dam. Chilli represents how <a href="https://www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/creative-play-the-real-work-of-childhood">caregivers can foster children’s creativity</a> by asking open-ended questions and allowing children to explore various ways of solving a problem. </p>
<h2>2. Use everyday materials for play</h2>
<p>In “<a href="https://www.bluey.tv/watch/season-2/flatpack/">Flatpack</a>,” after returning from the ready-to-assemble furniture store, Chilli and Bandit toss extra packaging from their new porch swing into the backyard. Bluey and Bingo use these items to construct a fantasy world. The girls let their imaginations take them on a journey from swimming like fish in a foam pond to hopping like frogs on a cardboard island.</p>
<p>Play experts use the term “<a href="https://extension.psu.edu/programs/betterkidcare/early-care/tip-pages/all/loose-parts-what-does-this-mean">loose parts</a>” for items without a defined play purpose that can be used in many ways and encourage children’s creativity. This episode shows Bluey and Bingo engaged in <a href="https://learningthroughplay.com/explore-the-research/engaging-young-children-in-play">free play</a> with such objects and portrays how deeply children can play even if they don’t have conventional toys or guidance from a caregiver.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Bluey’s seven-minute episodes often center on the importance of play.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>3. Help kids process emotions through play</h2>
<p>Play is a natural way that children <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195304381.001.0001">emotionally process</a> a variety of difficult experiences. Childhood experts emphasize that <a href="https://howtoddlersthrive.com/book/">pretend play gives children the freedom</a> to work through their fears and feelings. </p>
<p>In “<a href="https://www.bluey.tv/watch/season-1/copycat/">Copycat</a>,” Bluey and Bandit find an injured parakeet on a morning walk and take it to the vet. We then see Bluey engaged in a play scene in which she casts Bingo in the role of the parakeet and reenacts the morning. When Chilli, playing the vet, tells Bluey that Bingo is all better, Bluey protests: “No, you have to pretend it’s bad news, that the [parakeet] is dead.” Chilli seems wary to proceed but, importantly, follows her daughter’s lead in the play. </p>
<p>Similarly, in the episode “<a href="https://www.bluey.tv/watch/season-1/early-baby/">Early Baby</a>,” Bluey’s friend Indy uses play to work through a difficult life experience: having a younger sibling in a neonatal intensive care unit. In their classroom, Indy and her friends play “early baby” where they have to wash their hands before holding the baby doll and keep her in “a fish tank with holes in it” – an incubator. </p>
<h2>4. Promote multigenerational relationships</h2>
<p>These episodes explore the relationship between the girls and their grandparents. In “<a href="https://www.bluey.tv/watch/season-1/grannies/">Grannies</a>,” Bluey and Bingo are dressed up as grannies in search of a can of beans. After raiding the cabinets, Bluey scolds a dancing Bingo because “grannies can’t floss!” The girls argue and settle the debate by video chatting with Nana, learning she indeed cannot do the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Kj3wWKjMSQ">popular dance</a>. When Bingo gets upset, Bluey helps Nana learn to floss by guiding her through the dance moves over video chat. </p>
<p>In “<a href="https://www.bluey.tv/watch/season-3/phones/">Phones</a>,” the girls teach Grandad about growing up in a digital world by creating fake smartphones with cardboard and crayons. They show Grandad how to navigate various apps to order food. Armed with his own crayon and a stuffed crocodile, Grandad sneaks the croc into Bingo’s basket and creates a “Croc Catcher” app for the girls to call for his assistance.</p>
<p>Research shows that strong relationships <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnu056">between grandparents and children</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.11.010">benefit both generations</a>. Grandparents teach children about their family’s history while children bring grandparents up to speed with the modern world. A recent study of grandparents found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/hbe2.268">video chat enables this bonding between generations</a>, and the “Phones” episode shows this when Nana learns how to fit herself in the video chat frame and do a new dance. While Grandad is initially baffled by using apps for everything, the girls help him navigate this modern convenience through play. </p>
<h2>5. Foster self-regulation</h2>
<p>The episode “<a href="https://www.bluey.tv/watch/season-1/wagon-ride/">Wagon Ride</a>” shows a common parenting scenario. Bandit encounters a friend in public and begins chatting with the friend, moving his attention away from Bluey. Bluey cannot wait any longer and interrupts her dad. Soon after, Bandit works with his daughter to establish a way she can control her impulse to interrupt him while also feeling acknowledged by her father: Whenever Bluey wants to get her dad’s attention, she can place her hand on his arm, and he’ll place his hand over hers to acknowledge that he knows she’s waiting. </p>
<p>Helping a child develop <a href="https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/executive-function/">self-regulation skills</a> like the ability to wait patiently is important, as such skills predict many <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1019725108">positive lifelong outcomes</a>. Higher levels of self-regulation ability are often tied to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2018.06.011">better mental health</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2014.979913">academic performance</a>. Bandit exemplifies how caregivers can help build their child’s self-regulation ability by <a href="https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/activities-guide-enhancing-and-practicing-executive-function-skills-with-children-from-infancy-to-adolescence/">trying to make it fun</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208650/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The seven-minute episodes show characters dealing with difficult emotions like fear and grief through play.
Molly Scott, Research Scientist in Playful Learning, Temple University
Aria Gastón-Panthaki, Research Coordinator for Children's Development, Harvard University
Douglas Piper, Ph.D. Student in Psychology, Georgetown University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/195060
2023-03-15T12:22:17Z
2023-03-15T12:22:17Z
Why I use ‘The Boondocks’ TV cartoon show to teach a course about race
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498059/original/file-20221129-26-pnmhlc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C366%2C3489%2C1964&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A character from 'The Boondocks' is depicted in street art in Los Angeles during the time of the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/street-art-reading-color-is-not-a-crime-is-left-on-the-news-photo/1251233651?phrase=aaron%20mcgruder&adppopup=true">Chelsea Guglielmino via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Text saying: Uncommon Courses, from The Conversation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/uncommon-courses-130908">Uncommon Courses</a> is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.</em> </p>
<h2>Title of course:</h2>
<p>“Why Are We Still Talking About Race?”</p>
<h2>What prompted the idea for the course?</h2>
<p>I am a huge fan of the animated TV series “The Boondocks,” which aired from 2005 to 2014. The show chronicles, through biting sociological and political commentary, the adventures of two boys: Huey Freeman, the older brother and self-described revolutionary left-wing radical, and Riley Freeman, Huey’s younger brother, who embraces and represents the gangster lifestyle. The Freeman brothers grapple with having to move from Chicago to the suburbs to live with their grandfather, Robert Freeman, an easily angered and self-proclaimed civil rights icon. A series of events gave me the idea for the course. </p>
<p>The first was during a faculty meeting that felt as if it were going in slow motion because colleagues were going on and on about one item on a full agenda. I had to fight to keep my alter ego, 8-year-old Riley Freeman and his stereotypical “gangsta” lifestyle, from coming out and shouting “shut up” and “let’s move on.” </p>
<p>At that moment, I thought, maybe I should teach a class on “The Boondocks.”</p>
<p>The second event took place a few semesters later. While training police officers on implicit bias, I felt a burning desire to drop some Huey Freeman-type knowledge on the officers. Ten-year-old Huey is highly intelligent and knowledgeable beyond his years.</p>
<p>Finally, in the summer of 2021, while on a golf course collecting data for a research project on navigating racism, sexism and classism as a Black golfer, I met a Black golfer who was not familiar with “The Boondocks,” but whose family calls him Uncle Ruckus. Uncle Ruckus is another character from the show who is notable because of his disdain for Black people and enjoys dissociating himself from other Black Americans. At that moment, it became clear that I should teach a class using “The Boondocks.”</p>
<p>Notably, the creator of “The Boondocks,” Aaron McGruder, is an <a href="https://dbknews.com/2020/03/09/umd-diamondback-comics-last-print-edition-jeff-kinney-frank-cho-aaron-mcgruder/">alum of the University of Maryland</a>, where I teach my course. “The Boondocks” <a href="https://terp.umd.edu/deep-in-the-boondocks">started as a comic strip in the University of Maryland newspaper</a>, The Diamondback, before becoming a <a href="https://www.adultswim.com/videos/the-boondocks">syndicated animated show</a> on network television in <a href="https://www.tvinsider.com/show/the-boondocks/">2005</a>.</p>
<h2>What does the course explore?</h2>
<p>We watch episodes weekly. All of the episodes either directly or indirectly deal with various race-related topics. For instance, through an episode titled “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0530305/">The Story of Gangstalicious</a>,” we debate societal views on Black male masculinity. Through an episode called “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0530302/">The Garden Party</a>,” we discuss xenophobia and related implications post-9/11.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Trailer for “The Boondocks”</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Why is this course relevant now?</h2>
<p>This course explores if and how discussions on race and racism have changed since “The Boondocks” first aired in 2005. The premise and potential relevance of the course lies in the title: “Why Are We Still Talking About Race?” That question refers to 17 years after the first season of “The Boondocks” aired.</p>
<p>Students are also challenged to look at racism as a phenomenon that is structural and systemic and not just something that happens on an interpersonal level. </p>
<p>Students should be able to connect the episodes to broader and relevant sociological terms and concepts, such as power, privilege, status and how those terms and concepts are related to race and racism.</p>
<h2>What’s a critical lesson from the course?</h2>
<p>To be clear, the class is not just fandom for “The Boondocks.” Students are actually encouraged to critique “The Boondocks” and how some of the racial commentaries in the episodes are slippery and messy at times. For example, in the “Return of the King” episode, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot but did not die. He was in a coma for more than 30 years. </p>
<p>When King emerges from the coma, he is disappointed as well as upset at how Black people are acting and chastises them. However, the episode seems to admonish Black people and Black culture for their current status without a clear nod to anti-Blackness in social institutions. The lesson for students is to contemplate where they fit into the debate and how their views are shaped and informed by their standpoint and perspective.</p>
<h2>What materials does the course feature?</h2>
<p>Tuesdays – following the advice of my graduate students – we watch the episodes on our own time. This protects students to make sure no one is offended when their classmates are laughing at aspects of the episode that others might not find funny.</p>
<p>Thursdays we discuss and submit summaries of the episodes we watched on Tuesday. The discussions and summaries should include both a sociological term, concept, theory or idea and a related current event. This requires students to engage with sociological literature and other scholarly readings. </p>
<p>At the start of the course, students sign an agreement that prohibits hate speech, harassment, derogatory language and racial epithets or slurs. The agreement also includes a safe word for students to use if they feel uncomfortable at any point in the classroom. </p>
<h2>What will the course prepare students to do?</h2>
<p>The course gives students the vocabulary and the ability to discuss race and racism on both the individual and structural levels. The course also prepares students for conversations about race and racism both inside as well as outside of the classroom. For example, we discuss the unacceptable usage of the n-word, and all its derivatives, by non-Black speakers and the links to history and privilege, as dealt with in “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1175783/">The S-Word</a>” episode.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195060/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kris Marsh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
A sociology professor uses the popular ‘Boondocks’ cartoon to explore contemporary issues of race in American society.
Kris Marsh, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Maryland
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/201054
2023-03-06T17:15:28Z
2023-03-06T17:15:28Z
Pikachu to depart: a brief history of the world’s favourite Pokémon
<p>In the run-up to <a href="https://www.polygon.com/pokemon/23616619/pokemon-presents-day-2023-direct-announcements-all-trailers">Pokémon Day</a> – an anniversary created to celebrate the <a href="https://www.gamingbible.com/features/nintendo-pokemon-red-blue-and-green-how-the-nintendo-game-boy-hits-were-made-20210219">first Pokémon video game</a>, released on February 27 1996 – a small but significant piece of news was announced. </p>
<p>There is to be a new Pikachu character, named <a href="https://www.thegamer.com/pikachu-is-dead-long-live-captain-pikachu/">Captain Pikachu</a>. This Pikachu will partner with a new human, Professor Friede, in an animated series based on the most recent video game: <a href="https://scarletviolet.pokemon.com/en-gb/">Pokémon Scarlet and Violet</a>. </p>
<p>The pokémon has been a global marketing tool for Nintendo products for over 25 years. Fans are used to seeing Pikachu dressed in all manner of outfits, including 2019’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1roy4o4tqQM">Detective Pikachu</a>. </p>
<p>However, the announcement followed a seismic shift in the animated franchise. Pikachu’s longtime child partner, Ash, finally achieved his goal of becoming a Pokémon Champion at the end of 2022. As a result, the Pokémon Company confirmed that the character would <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pokemon-ash-ketchum-pikachu-leaving-show/">bow out of the television series</a> in early 2023. </p>
<p>In response, fans on the social media platform <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/zo0rmi/so_is_pikachu_still_gonna_be_the_mascot_now/">Reddit</a> asked what would happen to Pikachu. How could he possibly continue without Ash in future stories? </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pokemons-ash-wins-world-championship-after-25-years-heres-why-the-franchise-is-still-capturing-fans-194788">Pokémon's Ash wins World Championship after 25 years – here's why the franchise is still capturing fans</a>
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<p>Without the iconic character, Nintendo would lose more than just an important piece of intellectual property – they would lose the heart of what makes the franchise so endearing, so it’s no surprise to see Pikachu’s return, albeit in a different guise.</p>
<h2>Why is Pikachu so popular?</h2>
<p>Pikachu was not necessarily destined for great popularity. He was not a standout “pocket monster” in Nintendo’s first Game Boy Pokémon title, Red and Green, but was one among 151 creatures that children could choose to play with. </p>
<p>The Pokémon video game was quickly followed by the <a href="https://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-tcg">trading card game</a> in October 1996, where players could pick from a range of cards to battle or trade with a friend. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ign.com/games/pokemon-green-version">Early audiences</a> were entirely domestic as the game was not available outside Japan. However, when <a href="http://fj.webedia.us/features/father-pokemon-japanese-producer-masakazu-kubo-saluted-copyright-educator">Kubo Masakazu</a>, a comic book publisher and manga enthusiast, was hired by Nintendo to take Pokémon beyond the national market, he immediately saw the potential to build a global franchise and audience around one character: Pikachu. </p>
<p>Masakazu developed the animated television series and movies, focusing the stories on a trio of young travellers – Ash, Misty and Brock. Each traveller had a partner pokémon that would never be tucked away in a pokéball (devices in which pokémon are captured and stored), with personalities of their own. </p>
<p>As author Anne Allison described in <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520245655/millennial-monsters">Millennial Monsters</a> (2006), this new empire of entertainment (games, trading cards, a TV show and films) was based on Masakazu’s vision of harmony. This was shown in the way humans and pocket monsters live side by side, treating each other with kindness and love. The bond between Ash and Pikachu is at the heart of Pokémon’s global success.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/pink-globalization"><em>Kawaii</em></a>, or cuteness, is a profitable Japanese cultural export and the Pikachu character personifies its success. Pikachu’s appeal lies in the character’s design, backed up by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G8V00SkTvY">his emotional resonance</a>, which is developed in the animated series and films. </p>
<p>Pikachu’s colour and frame are easily recognisable and can be <a href="https://screenrant.com/pokemon-pikachu-design-changes-red-blue-detective-movie/">redrawn in any style</a>. The name is catchy and repeatable, whether or not you are a native Japanese speaker. The character is small and huggable and helps children develop feelings of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1368879032000162220">attachment, nurturance and intimacy</a> when they play with Pikachu toys. </p>
<p>These visual features are reinforced by Pikachu’s personality and powers. He is loyal to Ash, brave in front of countless challenges and conveys emotions openly through facial expressions, noises and constant affirmation of who he is: “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY9gKpFmy64">Pika, Pika, Pikachu!</a>”</p>
<p>Famously, in the animated series, Ash’s Pikachu does not wish to evolve (the process through which a pokémon can change form, grow stronger and gain new abilities). This goes against the internal logic of the game where players must care for and evolve their pokémon to help them win more battles.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Ash explains why Pikachu doesn’t want to evolve.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Therefore, Pikachu’s strength comes from his individual identity as the Pikachu, not a Pikachu. Ash’s Pikachu is unique. So while countless others have been encountered in the games and animated series, they are not the same as his Pikachu. Or, more importantly, they are not the same as our Pikachu. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://henryjenkins.org/blog/2010/06/transmedia_education_the_7_pri.html">multiplicity</a> of the character – that he is both the same as and different from other versions in the same entertainment universe – allows Pokémon to create new stories and scenarios without disrupting the overall backstory or inherent qualities of the Pikachu character. </p>
<p>This is how Pikachu has managed to be both the image of a global corporate brand and a distinctly familiar and individual partner on Ash’s journey. The children who grew up watching his adventures with Ash are now adults who can still reconnect with him because their relationship with the character was developed over multiple games, TV series and films. </p>
<p>Now that Ash is retiring, our Pikachu can too. His memory will continue in the minds of multi-generational fans while the <em>kawaii</em> Nintendo still wants to export will continue through the familiar design and distinct new personality of his successor: Captain Pikachu.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201054/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lincoln Geraghty does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Ash Ketchum is retiring from the Pokémon franchise, but this doesn’t spell the end of Pikachu.
Lincoln Geraghty, Professor of Media Cultures, University of Portsmouth
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/200887
2023-03-02T13:23:43Z
2023-03-02T13:23:43Z
The cautionary tale of ‘Dilbert’
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512736/original/file-20230228-16-g9ya3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=67%2C40%2C2914%2C2065&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What Adams writes and draws rarely attracts scrutiny – it's what he says that has gotten him in hot water.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/scott-adams-famed-creator-of-the-comic-strip-dilbert-stands-news-photo/866464926?phrase=scott adams dilbert&adppopup=true">Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Dilbert, the put-upon chronicler of office life, has been given the pink slip.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.comicsbeat.com/dilbert-creator-scott-adams-dropped-from-andrews-mcmeel-syndicate-following-racist-statements/">On Feb. 26, 2023</a>, Andrews McMeel Universal announced that it would no longer distribute the popular comic strip after its creator, Scott Adams, engaged in what many people viewed as a racist rant on his YouTube channel. Hundreds of newspapers had by then decided to quit <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/26/us/dilbert-newspapers-racism.html">publishing the strip</a>.</p>
<p>It followed an incident in which Adams, on his program “Real Coffee with Scott Adams,” reacted to <a href="https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/general_lifestyle/january_2023/not_woke_yet_most_voters_reject_anti_white_beliefs">a survey by Rasmussan Reports</a> that concluded only 53% of Black Americans agreed with the statement “It’s OK to be white.” If only about half thought it was OK to be white, Adams said, this qualified Black Americans as a “hate group.”</p>
<p>“I don’t want to have anything to do with them,” <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/25/business/dilbert-comic-strip-racist-tirade/index.html">Adams added</a>. “And I would say, based on the current way things are going, the best advice I would give to white people is to get the hell away from Black people, just get the f— away … because there is no fixing this.”</p>
<p>Adams later doubled down on his statements, writing on Twitter that “Dilbert has been cancelled from all newspapers, websites, calendars, and books because I gave some advice everyone agreed with.”</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1630181061543211009"}"></div></p>
<p>Adams is wrong. If everyone had agreed with him, “Dilbert” would still be appearing in newspapers. </p>
<p><a href="https://dilbert.com/strip/1989-04-16">The first “Dilbert” strip</a> – a comic centered on mocking American office culture – appeared in 1989. It became a hit, and until recently, “<a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/02/27/1159822857/newspapers-drop-dilbert-over-creators-racist-remarks">Dilbert” ran</a> in more than 2,000 daily newspapers across 65 countries. </p>
<p>Now, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/comics/2023/02/27/scott-adams-dilbert-reactions/">according to Adams</a>, his client list is “around zero.”</p>
<p>Therein lies the moral of the story: Know thy audience.</p>
<p>Adams failed to grasp that being a social critic means your freedom of expression only goes as far as your audience is willing to accept it. Adams could say whatever he wanted to his YouTube audience because his listeners may have agreed with what he said. </p>
<p>Unfortunately for him, what he said on his program did not stay on his program. </p>
<p>But Adams’ comfortable salary depended on his satisfying a wider audience – many of whom found his opinions intolerable. </p>
<h2>America’s tradition of free speech</h2>
<p>In a country that prides itself on its tradition of free expression, it’s important to explore the limits of free expression in the United States. This can be done in part by looking at social criticism, as I did in my book “<a href="http://cup.columbia.edu/book/drawn-to-extremes/9780231130660">Drawn to Extremes: The Use and Abuse of Editorial Cartoons</a>.”</p>
<p>Cartoonists are limited by their imagination, talent, taste and their senses of humor, morality and outrage. If they want an audience they must also consider the tastes and sensibilities of their editors and readers. </p>
<p>The United States may pride itself on its tradition of free speech, but cartoonists throughout the nation’s history have been jailed, beaten, sued and censored for their drawings.</p>
<p>In 1903, the governor of Pennsylvania, <a href="http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/governors/1876-1951/samuel-pennypacker.html">Samuel W. Pennypacker</a>, called for restrictions against journalists after a Philadelphia newspaper cartoonist had <a href="https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/4eIAAOSwS5ljYtue/s-l400.jpg">depicted him as a parrot</a> during the previous fall’s gubernatorial campaign. A state representative then <a href="http://cup.columbia.edu/book/drawn-to-extremes/9780231130660">introduced a bill</a> that made it illegal to publish a cartoon “<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-opinion-editorial-cartooning-end-20211007-nen4hk7vjzfxdhzgzqh5r5omti-story.html">portraying, describing or representing any person</a> … in the likeness of beast, bird, fish, insect or other inhuman animal” that exposed the person to “hatred, contempt, or ridicule.” Another cartoonist then drew the governor as a frothy stein of beer and the bill’s author as a small potato. </p>
<p>The bill failed to pass.</p>
<p>Cartoonists working for the socialist magazine The Masses were accused of undermining the war effort during World War I with their anti-war opinions <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/845994">and prosecuted under the Espionage Act</a>. </p>
<p>And during the <a href="https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/cuban-missile-crisis">Cuban Missile Crisis</a> of 1962, newspapers canceled Walt Kelly’s “Pogo” comic strip <a href="https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1414205">after Kelly drew</a> Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev as a medal-wearing hog and Cuban leader Fidel Castro as a cigar-smoking goat because they thought the strip might jeopardize the peace process.</p>
<p>Perhaps no cartoonist – before the ax fell on “Dilbert” – has seen his strip canceled by more newspapers than <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/01/13/954095569/i-just-followed-my-interests-garry-trudeau-on-50-years-of-doonesbury">Garry Trudeau</a>, creator of “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Doonesbury">Doonesbury</a>.” In 1984, dozens of newspapers canceled a series of strips wherein which Doonesbury’s dim-witted newsman Roland Burton Hedley took readers on a trip through then-President Ronald Reagan’s brain, finding “80 billion neurons, or ‘marbles,’ as they are known to the layman.” And Trudeau’s syndicate, Universal Press, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-05-25-mn-15468-story.html">refused to distribute a strip that satirized an anti-abortion documentary</a>.</p>
<p>In other countries, cartoonists <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30708237">have been murdered</a> in retaliation for their work. Famously, on Jan. 7, 2015, two French Muslim terrorists entered the Paris office of the satirical French newspaper Charlie Hebdo <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Charlie-Hebdo-shooting">and killed 12 cartoonists, editors and police officers</a> after the periodical published satirical drawings of the Prophet Muhammad.</p>
<h2>The importance of context</h2>
<p>Such controversies were generally caused by what cartoonists said in their cartoons. There have been exceptions. Al Capp, who created the comic strip “Li’l Abner,” saw his popularity wane in the 1960s and 1970s <a href="https://www.newsfromme.com/2013/04/20/the-shame-of-dogpatch/">when he began expressing his far-right political opinion</a> in both his strip and particularly in his public appearances.</p>
<p>Adams was similarly punished not for what he included in his comic strip but rather what for what he said on his YouTube program. </p>
<p>The context here is important. This was not the first time Adams has been censured after saying something deemed to be offensive. In May 2022, around 80 newspapers canceled “Dilbert” after Adams introduced his first Black character in the 30-plus year run of the strip. The character <a href="https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2022/05/03/dilbert-presents-black-character-gets-dragged/">identified as white</a> to prank his boss’s diversity goals.</p>
<p>Adams lost some newspapers when he decided to mock diversity in the business world. He lost his strip when he used racist language to attack Black people on his YouTube program.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200887/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Lamb does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Cartoonists throughout the nation’s history have been jailed, beaten, sued and censored. But Scott Adams’ work is being rejected for what he expressed off the page.
Chris Lamb, Professor of Journalism, Indiana University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/194450
2023-02-14T19:08:34Z
2023-02-14T19:08:34Z
Cartoon detectives: how Australia’s most famous cartoon was lost and found – twice
<p>A man hangs, precariously, high above the street, holding onto the girder of an unfinished skyscraper. Around his ankles, a second man holds on for dear life.</p>
<p>This is no scene of drama, but hilarity. The second man has pulled down the first’s pants in his desperation to hold onto life, and is lost in laughter. Grimacing, the first man growls:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>For gorsake, stop laughing: this is serious!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Published in 1933, this is Australia’s most famous cartoon, drawn by <a href="https://halloffame.melbournepressclub.com/article/stan-cross">Stan Cross</a>. </p>
<p>Labelled an instant classic, bizarrely, this cartoon has <em>twice</em> been lost. Not only was the original artwork missing for eight decades, the National Library of Australia’s <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/help/categories/newspapers-and-gazettes-category">Trove database</a> holds no record of its first newspaper publication. </p>
<p>These disappearances – and the diligent detective work required by those who recovered the cartoon – demonstrate deep flaws in the way Australia maintains our rich cartoon heritage.</p>
<p>Lindsay Foyle, longtime editorial cartoonist and honorary historian of the <a href="https://cartoonists.org.au/">Australian Cartoonists’ Association</a>, has been on the elusive cartoon’s trail for decades. With him, we recently published what we hope is <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14443058.2022.2124303">the definitive account</a> of its attempts to dodge the cartoon detective and escape the national record.</p>
<h2>The search for the original</h2>
<p>“Stop laughing” was published on July 29 1933 in <a href="https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/stories/life-death-smiths-weekly">Smith’s Weekly</a>, known for its anti-authoritarian and nationalist stance. </p>
<p>Smith’s was a key part of a raucous Australian cartooning culture, then dominated by weekly publications whose cartoons provided both social commentary and political satire. </p>
<p>The production process started with a reader suggestion given to a young artist, and Smith’s lead cartoonist, Stan Cross, setting out to mentor him. </p>
<p>Cross became engrossed and finished the artwork and reworked the accompanying joke himself. Smith’s advertised and sold copies of the cartoon to meet huge public demand – inadvertently creating many false leads in the eventual search for the artwork.</p>
<p>Despite its instant popularity, the original artwork soon disappeared. Foyle’s many attempts to track it down, alongside ex-Smith’s staff and other cartooning historians were unsuccessful until 2014.</p>
<p>That year, at a community market on the central coast of New South Wales, a man approached cartoonist <a href="http://www.robfeldman.com.au/">Rob Feldman</a> to ask if he had heard of Cross’ cartoon.</p>
<p>It emerged Cross had given the original to Smith’s company secretary Arthur Ayers soon after publication. It had remained with the family for nearly 80 years. </p>
<p>Foyle and leading amateur comics scholar <a href="https://www.comicoz.com/comic-related-news/soon-in-melbourne">Nat Karmichael</a> went on an expedition, and immediately recognised this as the original. They put the owner in contact with the National Library of Australia, where the restored artwork <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/4306283">is now housed</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-praise-of-the-cartoonist-solitary-studious-and-searing-36076">In praise of the cartoonist – solitary, studious and searing</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>And the search for the digital</h2>
<p>While tracking down the original is vital in art-historical terms, the most significant state of an editorial cartoon is really how it was first published in print. </p>
<p>From this perspective it is the second, digital disappearance of “Stop laughing” that raises the biggest concerns about Australia’s cartoon archive. </p>
<p>Original copies of historical newspapers are challenging to access, but in 2022 we expected it would be easy to find a digital copy of the cartoon through Trove, which digitises Australian newspapers and magazines.</p>
<p>But we found no sign of the cartoon at all in the <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/25417662">July 29 1933 copy</a> of Smith’s, or on any nearby date. </p>
<p>The first appearance of Cross’ famous cartoon is not until <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/25417716">August 12</a>, labelled “reprinted by request” and advertising copies for sale. </p>
<p>How had “Stop laughing” gone missing again? Was it all a marketing hoax from the 1930s – was it really only published for the first time in August, the requests for reprints being fake?</p>
<p>The real answer is almost as interesting. It was due to a minor but consequential theft from the newspaper collection of the State Library of New South Wales.</p>
<p>When transferring their print copy of the July 29 1933 Sydney edition to microfilm later in the 20th century, it had been noted by a careful archivist that pages three and four were missing, and so they were substituted with pages from the Queensland edition. </p>
<p>This new, hybrid edition then made its way onto Trove.</p>
<p>It was then “Stop laughing” disappeared from Trove’s digital archive. In fact, it had never been there. </p>
<p>The interstate editions – printed earlier to allow for transportation time – had published the cartoon on page 16. This might not have been an issue had the cartoon been published on the same page as in the Sydney version. However, it seems in the hours between editions, the editor decided to move this “instant classic” forward, and to size it up for greater effect. The substitution of pages three and four from Queensland created a hybrid with no trace of the cartoon.</p>
<p>A search of what is possibly the last surviving intact copy of the original NSW edition – held at the <a href="https://catalog.slsa.sa.gov.au/record=b1196714">State Library of South Australia</a> – allowed us to rediscover “Stop laughing” as it was originally published, and as seen by no one for decades. </p>
<p>It sits proudly on page three, larger than any other single-frame cartoon we’ve seen printed in Smith’s.</p>
<h2>Preserving the archive</h2>
<p>Australians pride themselves on their <a href="https://www.nla.gov.au/content/explore-inked-australian-cartoons">history of editorial cartooning</a>. </p>
<p>We take the anti-authoritarian, larrikin nature of the humour, the relative freedom with which cartoons are published, and the good humour of those lampooned as signs of the health of our democracy. </p>
<p>And yet, we are surprisingly careless with our cartoons. There is no real rhyme or reason to what we keep, where we keep them, or how easy they are to find. </p>
<p>The dual disappearances of “Stop laughing”, decades apart, expose the patchiness and inaccessibility of Australia’s cartooning archive. There is an urgent need for a solution that develops and sustains the national collection, to preserve and make accessible our rich national cartoon heritage.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/troves-funding-runs-out-in-july-2023-and-the-national-library-is-threatening-to-pull-the-plug-its-time-for-a-radical-overhaul-197025">Trove's funding runs out in July 2023 – and the National Library is threatening to pull the plug. It's time for a radical overhaul</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194450/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors would like to thank Lindsay Foyle, who collaborated with us on this article. All are now in receipt of funding from the ARC for the "Cartoon Nation" Discovery Project.
Robert Phiddian receives funding for this project from the Ross Steele AM Fellowship at the State Library of New South Wales.. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Scully receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is affiliated with Australian Cartoonists' Association.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Brookes has previously received funding from JERAA, the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia. </span></em></p>
These disappearances demonstrate deep flaws in the way Australia maintains our rich cartoon heritage.
Robert Phiddian, Professor of English, Flinders University
Richard Scully, Associate Professor of Modern European History, University of New England
Stephanie Brookes, Senior Lecturer, School of Media, Film and Journalism, Monash University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/197368
2023-01-15T14:37:15Z
2023-01-15T14:37:15Z
Basquiat: A multidisciplinary artist who denounced violence against African Americans
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503457/original/file-20230106-25-uqa0a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6255%2C2982&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jean-Michel Basquiat's _Toxic_, pictured right, is inspired by the American cartoon and denounces the violence of American society.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(MMFA)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The exhibition <a href="https://www.mbam.qc.ca/en/exhibitions/jean-michel-basquiat/">Seeing Loud: Basquiat and Music</a>, currently running at the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, demonstrates that the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, which is usually associated with painting, also calls upon other media, including music — the main theme of this exhibition — literature, comic strips, cinema and animation, a much lesser-known aspect of his work.</p>
<p>Basquiat was born in New York in 1960 to a Haitian father and a mother of Puerto Rican descent. In the late 1970s, in collaboration with Al Diaz, he drew enigmatic graffiti <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520383340/reading-basquiat">under the pseudonym SAMO</a>. The artist quickly made a name for himself in the New York art world (becoming friends with Andy Warhol and Madonna, among others). He then produced solo paintings and achieved international fame that continued to grow until his death in 1988.</p>
<p>At the time of the Black Lives Matter movement, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work is more relevant than ever. It highlights racial inequalities and the lack of representation of racialized people in the media, but also the violence suffered by African Americans.</p>
<p>This is what I propose to explore in this article. As a PhD student in literature and performing and screen arts, my research focuses on the interactions between animated film and the visual arts (comics, painting) as well as on the American cartoon.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503146/original/file-20230104-129855-7kcpz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503146/original/file-20230104-129855-7kcpz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503146/original/file-20230104-129855-7kcpz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503146/original/file-20230104-129855-7kcpz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503146/original/file-20230104-129855-7kcpz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503146/original/file-20230104-129855-7kcpz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503146/original/file-20230104-129855-7kcpz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jean-Michel Basquiat with his <em>Klaunstance</em> installation, at the Area, in 1985.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Photo: Ben Buchanan)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Love/hate for the cartoon</h2>
<p>As a child, Basquiat <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520305168/the-jean-michel-basquiat-reader">dreamed of becoming a cartoon animator</a>. When he became a painter, the television was always on while he worked in his studio, <a href="https://niuarts.com/2021/02/tvs-influence-on-the-work-of-jean-michael-basquiat-is-the-subject-of-the-next-elizabeth-allen-visiting-scholars-in-art-history-series/">and regularly ran cartoons</a>. These programmes and films were a great source of inspiration for the artist, who integrated several references to animation and comic strips into his paintings.</p>
<p>One of these works, which can be seen in the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts exhibition, is called <em>Toxic</em> (1984). The painting depicts a Black man with his arms in the air, with a collage in the background that mentions several titles of animated shorts made between 1938 and 1948.</p>
<p>The character is in fact a friend of Basquiat’s, the artist Torrick “Toxic” Ablack. So the <a href="https://www.widewalls.ch/artists/toxic">title of the painting refers to him</a>. However, knowing that Basquiat <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520305168/the-jean-michel-basquiat-reader">played with words and their meanings</a>, “Toxic” could also refer to the relationship he had with the animated films that are mentioned behind the character.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503155/original/file-20230104-129650-l0k73w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503155/original/file-20230104-129650-l0k73w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503155/original/file-20230104-129650-l0k73w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503155/original/file-20230104-129650-l0k73w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503155/original/file-20230104-129650-l0k73w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503155/original/file-20230104-129650-l0k73w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503155/original/file-20230104-129650-l0k73w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A multidisciplinary artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat was also a musician. The exhibition devoted to him at the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts illustrates this aspect of his work.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(MMFA)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Could we say that the films are considered toxic by Jean-Michel Basquiat, despite his admiration for them? In fact, I think there is a certain duality in this picture: the artist loves the cartoon, but he hates it at the same time. The dictionary definition of the word <a href="https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/toxic">“toxic”</a> can mean someone or something that likes “to control and influence other people in a dishonest way.” The term therefore implies that the toxic element (the cartoon in this case) is dangerous in a way that isn’t apparent.</p>
<h2>The violence of cartoons</h2>
<p>The cartoon is often associated with childhood, pleasure, eccentricity.</p>
<p>This is a universe where anything is possible: in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-fpqSdSnD0"><em>Gorilla My Dreams</em></a>, directed by Robert McKimson in 1948, for example, the character Bugs Bunny talks, dresses up as a baby and imitates a monkey. It appears innocent. However, the cartoon can also represent the worst of humanity in a very sneaky way through the incredible violence it contains: the characters hunt each other, chase each other, hit each other, cut each other, kill each other and then start again.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G-fpqSdSnD0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Robert McKimson, <em>Gorilla My Dreams</em>, Warner Bros., 1948.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In <em>Porky’s Hare Hunt</em>, a film directed by Ben Hardaway in 1938 and quoted in <em>Toxic</em>, the character of Porky is injured by dynamite, abused even though he is in his hospital bed and tries to kill a rabbit. Basquiat, who consumed cartoons every day on television, knew that they were a reflection of 20<sup>th</sup> century American society.</p>
<p>This is an interpretation that could be supported by the title of another of his paintings, which also uses iconography from animation or comics: <em>Television and Cruelty to Animals</em> (1983). This cruelty is also denounced and reproduced in <em>An Opera</em> (1985), which shows Popeye being beaten with the words “ senseless violence ” above his head, as well as in <a href="https://www.mbam.qc.ca/en/oeuvres/14684/"><em>A Panel of Experts</em></a> (1982), where we see matchstick men hitting each other right next to an enormous revolver.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503115/original/file-20230104-14-ck5io.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503115/original/file-20230104-14-ck5io.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=573&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503115/original/file-20230104-14-ck5io.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=573&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503115/original/file-20230104-14-ck5io.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=573&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503115/original/file-20230104-14-ck5io.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503115/original/file-20230104-14-ck5io.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503115/original/file-20230104-14-ck5io.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The painting <em>A Panel of Experts</em>, produced in 1982, denounces cruelty and violence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(MMFA, gift of Ira Young. Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York. Photo: Douglas M. Parker)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The violence that Basquiat denounces is so present in the cartoon that it seems, to a certain extent, to have become commonplace, like the violence seen on television newscasts (which he probably watched while he was painting).</p>
<h2>Denouncing racial stereotypes</h2>
<p>These cartoons are also violent because they often perpetuate racial stereotypes (not to mention the many stereotypes related to sexual orientation, gender, sex, body appearance, etc.).</p>
<p>Bob Clampett’s 1940 film <em>Patient Porky</em>, which is also mentioned in <em>Toxic</em>, features a scene in which a elevator attendant grossly and monstrously parodies a Black character. In <em>Untitled (All Stars)</em> (1983), Basquiat cites Max Fleischer’s 1920 film <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WXrrOIWZKo"><em>The Chinaman</em></a>, which features a highly caricatured Asian character and Koko the Clown putting makeup on to impersonate him.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_WXrrOIWZKo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Max Fleischer, <em>The Chinaman</em>, Bray Studios, 1920.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By placing elements referring to animation in his compositions, Basquiat attempts to denounce a stereotypical and unfair worldview where <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520305168/the-jean-michel-basquiat-reader">racialized people are portrayed in an unrealistic way</a>. Basquiat said that if he had not been a painter, he would have been a filmmaker and would have told stories where Black people <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520305168/the-jean-michel-basquiat-reader">were portrayed as human beings, not negatively</a>.</p>
<p>So, the title of the painting <em>Toxic</em> carries several meanings. It refers both to the main subject (Torrick “Toxic” Ablack), but also to its relationship to popular culture and to animation, in this case.</p>
<p>The <em>Toxic</em> character has his arms in the air and his hands coloured red. Could it be that this toxic relationship has made his hands dirty? Or, specifically, that the character — because the cartoon has continually portrayed Black people in a pejorative manner — is now being portrayed as a criminal? Indeed, his position indicates that he appears to be under arrest.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503154/original/file-20230104-105026-uxktgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503154/original/file-20230104-105026-uxktgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503154/original/file-20230104-105026-uxktgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503154/original/file-20230104-105026-uxktgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503154/original/file-20230104-105026-uxktgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503154/original/file-20230104-105026-uxktgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503154/original/file-20230104-105026-uxktgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>Dog Bite/Ax to Grind</em> (1983).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. Licensed by Artestar, New York)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This hypothesis is very likely since Basquiat produced several works denouncing police brutality against African Americans, including <em>The Death of Michael Stewart (Defacement)</em> (1983).</p>
<p>Basquiat died prematurely in 1988 at the age of 27. Other artists from the Black community, such as Montréal painters <a href="https://helloteenadultt.com/">Kezna Dalz, aka Teenadult</a>, <a href="https://www.manuelmathieu.com/">Manuel Mathieu</a>, and animation filmmaker <a href="http://www.martinechartrand.net/">Martine Chartrand</a> have, in their own way, taken up his struggle and continue to fight for greater visibility of Black people in the arts.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197368/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Harbour's doctoral research is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).</span></em></p>
In the age of the Black Lives Matter movement, Basquiat’s work is more relevant than ever. It highlights racial inequality and violence against racialized people.
John Harbour, Doctorant en littérature et arts de la scène et de l'écran (concentration cinéma), Université Laval
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/192168
2022-10-31T19:01:17Z
2022-10-31T19:01:17Z
2022: the year even right-leaning cartoonists had a gutful of Scott Morrison
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491828/original/file-20221026-20-5tqk25.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Warren Brown in The Daily Telegraph.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Best Australian Political Cartoons, 2022</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Although it isn’t mentioned anywhere on the cover of Russ Radcliffe’s latest offering, 2022 is the 20th anniversary of Best Australian Political Cartoons. That’s right – for anyone who has been collecting the books since they began in 2003, a whole shelf of plain blue, red, purple, green and gold spines now looks down from above, and a marvellous sight it is too. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Review: Best Australian Political Cartoons 2022 – Russ Radcliffe, ed., (Scribe</em>)</p>
<hr>
<p>As a chronicler of Australia’s recent political cartoon history, Radcliffe’s work is unmatched. Searching and witty, but straightforward introductions provide a retrospective of the year being chronicled. A suite of the best work by the best cartoonists – and not always the most prominent – then takes up the vast bulk of the page space. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491829/original/file-20221026-17-nhnm85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491829/original/file-20221026-17-nhnm85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491829/original/file-20221026-17-nhnm85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=666&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491829/original/file-20221026-17-nhnm85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=666&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491829/original/file-20221026-17-nhnm85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=666&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491829/original/file-20221026-17-nhnm85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=837&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491829/original/file-20221026-17-nhnm85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=837&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491829/original/file-20221026-17-nhnm85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=837&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cleverly chosen excerpts and quotations from key figures round out the 180-odd sustainably sourced pages. The lines are crisp and clear, despite some cartoons being digitally born, and less than the magic 300dpi (the minimum resolution needed for publishers to print images effectively without those horrible pixelisations you sometimes see).</p>
<p>Radcliffe’s annuals (supplemented by specials such as Man of Steel (2007), a retrospective on the Howard years, and My Brilliant Career (2016), chronicling the rise (but not yet fall) of Malcolm Turnbull) are only really approached by the sterling efforts of the National Museum, National Library, and Museum of Australian Democracy, who have published a smaller volume every year since 2002, called <a href="https://www.booktopia.com.au/behind-the-lines-national-museum-of-australia/book/9780646821955.html?source=pla&gclid=Cj0KCQjwkt6aBhDKARIsAAyeLJ262jHp05jEM8k9C6NiFaIfcorjGg-yVIJqcm80gpWdknlTe8_Or9QaAkuvEALw_wcB">Behind the Lines</a>. </p>
<p>This is an ideal companion volume to Radcliffe’s collection, in part because of its tone. Derived from Commonwealth government-funded institutions and exhibitions, there has been an increasing insistence from those holding the purse strings on “fairness”, and “impartiality” in this book when it comes to presenting the foibles and failings of both sides of politics.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-scomo-to-albo-how-a-new-cast-of-characters-poses-a-challenge-for-cartoonists-184545">From ScoMo to Albo: how a new cast of characters poses a challenge for cartoonists</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Calling it as he sees it</h2>
<p>As his 2022 offering indicates, this is not something Radcliffe has ever been comfortable with. He calls it as he sees it. Labor – “vapid and uninspiring”; Liberal moderates are “pusillanimous”; and the “usual suspects” on the conservative wings of the Coalition parties and elsewhere are exposed for their delight in “threatening to blow up yet another government” if they don’t get their way. </p>
<p>The same is true in international politics: Putin is “brutal yet incompetent”; the United States “a fickle and capricious ally”; and “getting the boys in the Anglosphere back together” over submarines or shared intelligence is shown up to be the kind of 1940s thinking it is.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491835/original/file-20221026-19-bp702g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491835/original/file-20221026-19-bp702g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491835/original/file-20221026-19-bp702g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491835/original/file-20221026-19-bp702g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491835/original/file-20221026-19-bp702g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491835/original/file-20221026-19-bp702g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491835/original/file-20221026-19-bp702g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491835/original/file-20221026-19-bp702g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">David Pope’s re-interpretation in The Canberra Times of James Gillray’s famous 1805 depiction of William Pitt and Napoleon carving up the plum pudding of the world.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Best Australian Cartoons, 2022, edited by Russ Radcliffe</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With Cathy Wilcox on the front, and Matt Golding on the back, the covers sandwich the Who’s Who of Australian cartooning. This was the year Michael Leunig gave up editorial page space in Melbourne’s The Age to new talent (<a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/media/cartoonist-michael-leunig-axed-from-prime-spot-at-the-age-over-offensive-vaccine-image/news-story/3b6b99a4101ebe53df58cb21827df0d4">not entirely willingly</a>, it has to be said), and the immensely talented Fiona Katauskas finally landed a permanent staff job on <a href="https://www.theechidna.com.au/">The Echidna</a> weekly newsletter.</p>
<p>It was also the year when David Pope never seemed to miss a target on his website or in the Canberra Times, and when even the right-leaning Mark Knight (Herald Sun), Warren Brown (Daily Telegraph), and Johannes Leak (The Australian) had a gutful of Scott Morrison’s government, and deployed their powerful pens accordingly.</p>
<p>For portraits of Morrison, it’s hard to go past Warren Brown’s rendering of “Scotty’s Old Time Hawaiian Holiday Ukulele Hits!” – a bootleg album including I Didn’t Start the Fire, La Vie en Hose, and Losing My Religious Discrimination Bill.</p>
<p>But Cathy Wilcox comes close, with another “greatest hits” collection (Novak Djokovic, Federal ICAC, the Biloela family, and more, appearing on Scott’s famous office “trophy cabinet” alongside “I Stopped These” boats/submarines).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491822/original/file-20221026-27-iu5ab.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491822/original/file-20221026-27-iu5ab.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491822/original/file-20221026-27-iu5ab.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491822/original/file-20221026-27-iu5ab.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491822/original/file-20221026-27-iu5ab.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491822/original/file-20221026-27-iu5ab.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491822/original/file-20221026-27-iu5ab.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491822/original/file-20221026-27-iu5ab.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cathy Wilcox, The Sydney Morning Herald.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Best Australian Political Cartoons 2022 edited by Russ Radcliffe</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It always surprises me that Radcliffe has less to say about the immense talent in his pages than the characters they chronicle, but he is held in such high esteem among their number that the <a href="https://cartoonists.org.au/members/history/lifemembers">Australian Cartoonists Association</a> gave him the 2013 Jim Russell Award for significant contribution to Australian cartooning. Perhaps, in part, it is because he allows them to speak for themselves.</p>
<p>They “speak” through Knight’s astonishing ability to caricature Sussan Ley, or Leak’s equally brilliant Lidia Thorpe. Ley’s manic grin as she tries to help Peter Dutton with his smile (alas, he keeps shattering the mirrors hung on the wall) is the living image of the Member for Farrer.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491823/original/file-20221026-19-2jihi3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491823/original/file-20221026-19-2jihi3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491823/original/file-20221026-19-2jihi3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491823/original/file-20221026-19-2jihi3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491823/original/file-20221026-19-2jihi3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491823/original/file-20221026-19-2jihi3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491823/original/file-20221026-19-2jihi3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491823/original/file-20221026-19-2jihi3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mark Knight, Herald Sun.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Best Australian Political Cartoons 2022 edited by Russ Radcliffe </span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Thorpe’s revolutionary snarl, as she holds her Molotov cocktail and aerosol can (alongside Adam Bandt, flipping the bird to the viewer) is almost palpable.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491821/original/file-20221026-25-k1fiu3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491821/original/file-20221026-25-k1fiu3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491821/original/file-20221026-25-k1fiu3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491821/original/file-20221026-25-k1fiu3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491821/original/file-20221026-25-k1fiu3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491821/original/file-20221026-25-k1fiu3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491821/original/file-20221026-25-k1fiu3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491821/original/file-20221026-25-k1fiu3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Johannes Leak, The Australian.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Best Australian Political Cartoons 2022 edited by Russ Radcliffe</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As is to be expected, the federal election is the absolute core of this volume. Readers will see how the same old Scott just could not hold a candle (or a hose) to the new, trim, terrific Albanese (and Radcliffe picked Wilcox’s take on that for his cover illustration). Unsurprisingly, Leak presents a less flattering portrait of the new PM but, it has to be said, the likeness is spot on.</p>
<h2>New talent</h2>
<p>The establishment – including the velvet sledgehammer of Wilcox (fully 21 cartoons); the grin-inducing grotesquery of David Rowe (22 cartoons); and Pope’s genius for the clear line (24 cartoons) – rubs shoulders with the emerging talent – Oslo Davis, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badiucao">Badiucao</a> and Megan Herbert.</p>
<p>Herbert’s “coathanger” cartoon, lambasting both the lack of effective US gun laws and the neutering of Roe v Wade, is among the most startling, powerful cartoons to have appeared all year; possibly for years, if not decades. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491824/original/file-20221026-13-8vquet.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491824/original/file-20221026-13-8vquet.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491824/original/file-20221026-13-8vquet.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491824/original/file-20221026-13-8vquet.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491824/original/file-20221026-13-8vquet.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491824/original/file-20221026-13-8vquet.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491824/original/file-20221026-13-8vquet.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491824/original/file-20221026-13-8vquet.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Megan Herbert, The Age.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Best Australian Political Cartoons 2022 edited by Russ Radcliffe </span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Badiucao’s depiction of Putin suckling at the teat of Xi Jinping would get him locked up (or worse) if he published in Moscow or Beijing. It’s worth remembering that Australians are actually allowed to do this sort of thing, and it arguably underpins our very democratic traditions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491827/original/file-20221026-27-p9y3fa.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491827/original/file-20221026-27-p9y3fa.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491827/original/file-20221026-27-p9y3fa.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491827/original/file-20221026-27-p9y3fa.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491827/original/file-20221026-27-p9y3fa.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491827/original/file-20221026-27-p9y3fa.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491827/original/file-20221026-27-p9y3fa.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491827/original/file-20221026-27-p9y3fa.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Badiucao, The Age.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Best Australian Political Cartoons 2022 edited by Russ Radcliffe </span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>My favourite</h2>
<p>The best cartoon of the collection? </p>
<p>As an historian, I’m partial to Pope’s reinterpretation of James Gillray’s famous 1805 depiction of William Pitt and Napoleon carving up the plum pudding of the world. As as Whovian, I love a good Dalek joke (thanks to Matt Bissett-Johnson,). As a former denizen of New England, I find Wilcox’s Barnaby Joyce a thing to behold. </p>
<p>But it has to be Pope, reimagining the invention of the outdoor dunny, with Pauline Hanson, Matt Canavan and Craig Kelly spouting all kinds of medieval conspiracy theories about why it won’t work and is a bad thing. Classic.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491826/original/file-20221026-16-6jnlng.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491826/original/file-20221026-16-6jnlng.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491826/original/file-20221026-16-6jnlng.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491826/original/file-20221026-16-6jnlng.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491826/original/file-20221026-16-6jnlng.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491826/original/file-20221026-16-6jnlng.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491826/original/file-20221026-16-6jnlng.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491826/original/file-20221026-16-6jnlng.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">David Pope, The Canberra Times.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Best Australian Political Cartoons 2022 edited by Russ Radcliffe </span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For historians, Radcliffe’s maddening refusal to provide the dates for the cartoons has prompted more than one tantrum, and trip to the relevant state or national library. Still, in a world of near-constant chaos, it’s nice to be able to rank Radcliffe’s volumes up there with death and taxes. We need a few certainties in life.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192168/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Scully receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is affiliated with the Australian Cartoonists' Association.</span></em></p>
It’s the 20th anniversary of Best Australian Political Cartoons – and it has been quite a year. From Putin to Dutton to Albanese, our cartoonists have been hard at work skewering the powerful.
Richard Scully, Associate Professor of Modern European History, University of New England
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/190338
2022-09-12T20:27:51Z
2022-09-12T20:27:51Z
Solemnity and celebration: how political cartoonists have handled the death of a monarch, from Victoria to Elizabeth II
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483906/original/file-20220912-12-azifze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C10%2C958%2C1268&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Francis Carruthers Gould, 'The Mourner', Fun, February 2, 1901.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>It sounds very familiar – a well-respected monarch dies, and a radical, left-leaning, Antipodean cartoonist struggles to find the right tone to commemorate the event. </p>
<p>He is torn between his distaste for what he sees as the archaic, pre-modern institution of monarchy, and the undoubted personal quality of the late incumbent. </p>
<p>More used to poking fun at the great and good, or attacking governments for their weak-willed or wrong-headed policies, changing tone to reverence and respect is difficult. </p>
<p>But in the end, he manages to strike a very good balance and produce a memorable cartoon.</p>
<p>The well-respected monarch was George VI; the radical, left-leaning, Antipodean cartoonist was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Low_(cartoonist)">David Low</a>; and the year was 1952. With <a href="https://archive.cartoons.ac.uk/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=LSE8008">From One Man to Another</a>, Low not only conveyed his own respects, man-to-man, but imagined also the British workman, his hat in his hand and sleeves rolled-up, casting a humble bunch of flowers towards a mighty tombstone labelled “The Gentlest of the Georges”. </p>
<p>This was an expression of democratic – even socialist – sensibility, in an age when monarchy seemed, to many, to be increasingly out-of-step with the advance of modernity and the inexorable march of post-war history.</p>
<p>Low was compelled to look back, not forward, conscious he had an historic role to fulfil in commemorating the passing of the king who had embodied so much of the stolid, British pluck and humility during the second world war. </p>
<p>He reflected <a href="https://archive.org/details/lowsautobiograph017633mbp/page/n225/mode/2up">in his 1956 autobiography</a> that he hated the old-fashioned, “The Nation Mourns”-style of Victorian cartoon, but it was to that set of images and traditions that he turned.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/16-visits-over-57-years-reflecting-on-queen-elizabeth-iis-long-relationship-with-australia-170945">16 visits over 57 years: reflecting on Queen Elizabeth II's long relationship with Australia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A long lineage</h2>
<p>Cartoonists have had to do something similar in 2022, with the death of Queen Elizabeth II. </p>
<p>In the United Kingdom, the likes of <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/peter-brookes-times-cartoon-september-9-2022-vzfhf606t">Peter Brookes</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2022/sep/08/ben-jennings-on-the-death-of-the-queen-cartoon">Ben Jennings</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Adamstoon1/status/1567968191934271489">Christian Adams</a> have all been conscious of the need for solemnity, as well as celebration. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1567968191934271489"}"></div></p>
<p>Across the world, cartoonists have had to struggle with much the same thing, and some favoured themes are already apparent: <a href="https://www.electriccitymagazine.ca/touching-cartoon-salute-depicting-the-queen-reuniting-with-prince-philip-and-paddington-bear/">Elizabeth reunited</a> with her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, or troops of <a href="https://twitter.com/BennettCartoons/status/1568017878225682433">sad corgis</a>; the Union Flag with an Elizabeth II-shaped hole at the centre; or a tube train with a sole occupant heading into a blaze of light at the end of the tunnel.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1568017878225682433"}"></div></p>
<p>All of these images speak to the style and the visual language of today, but also share a lineage several centuries old. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-york-times-ends-daily-political-cartoons-but-its-not-the-death-of-the-art-form-118754">The New York Times ends daily political cartoons, but it's not the death of the art form</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A bereaved widow, again</h2>
<p>Nobody would have thought to depict Queen Victoria’s death in 1901 with her travelling to heaven by tube, although the Underground seems emblematic of her age (London’s first underground railway was <a href="https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/culture-and-heritage/londons-transport-a-history/london-underground/a-brief-history-of-the-underground">opened in January 1863</a>, 26 years into Victoria’s reign). </p>
<p>There were no sad corgis (that breed only became associated with the Royal Family <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-12/queen-elizabeth-ii-loved-corgi-dogs-throughout-her-life/101428106">from the 1930s</a>), but a downcast British Lion was imagined by Francis Carruthers Gould in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fun_(magazine)">Fun</a>.</p>
<p>The theme of a bereaved widow finally reunited with her spouse is clearly a parallel (Albert, the Prince Consort had died in 1861). So too is the very idea that a cartoonist should commemorate the event – something unthinkable when William IV died in 1837, or so much so when George IV died in 1830 that a well-known cartoonist <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1882-1209-677">never published his draft sketch</a>.</p>
<p>The sheer immensity of the loss of Victoria called for some pretty special treatment, at a time when cartooning was a lot more formal and respectable than it is today. </p>
<p>It preoccupied several days’ work for Linley Sambourne, chief cartoonist of London’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punch_(magazine)">Punch</a> (for a while, a magazine that was almost as much a British institution as the monarchy). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483872/original/file-20220912-35643-w6ekbu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483872/original/file-20220912-35643-w6ekbu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483872/original/file-20220912-35643-w6ekbu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483872/original/file-20220912-35643-w6ekbu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483872/original/file-20220912-35643-w6ekbu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1154&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483872/original/file-20220912-35643-w6ekbu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1154&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483872/original/file-20220912-35643-w6ekbu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1154&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Linley Sambourne, ‘Recquiescat!’, Punch; or the London Charivari, January 30, 1901.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Requiescat was huge: a double-page spread in sombre black-and-white, depicting a gaggle of goddesses in mourning for their lost monarch. </p>
<p>Allegorical female figures representing countries were all the rage in Victorian and Edwardian cartooning (something David Low also hated and thought was “moth-eaten” by the time he was at his peak). </p>
<p>England, Scotland, Wales, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and India were all included by Sambourne. </p>
<p>Just one goddess was enough for his junior colleague, Bernard Partridge, who imagined <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clio">Clio</a> – History herself – adding the name of Victoria to the roll of great monarchs.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483874/original/file-20220912-57115-6nevpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483874/original/file-20220912-57115-6nevpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483874/original/file-20220912-57115-6nevpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483874/original/file-20220912-57115-6nevpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483874/original/file-20220912-57115-6nevpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483874/original/file-20220912-57115-6nevpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483874/original/file-20220912-57115-6nevpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bernard Partridge, ‘The Roll of Great Monarchs’, Punch; or the London Charivari, January 30, 1901.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It was the same when Victoria’s son and heir, Edward VII, died in May, 1910. </p>
<p>Bernard Partridge went with just two figures, rather than a whole host, imagining a weeping Britannia seated before the empty Coronation Chair, an angel of peace reaching out to touch her shoulder. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483876/original/file-20220912-22-u9nfkh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483876/original/file-20220912-22-u9nfkh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=923&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483876/original/file-20220912-22-u9nfkh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=923&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483876/original/file-20220912-22-u9nfkh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=923&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483876/original/file-20220912-22-u9nfkh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1160&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483876/original/file-20220912-22-u9nfkh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1160&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483876/original/file-20220912-22-u9nfkh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1160&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bernard Partridge, ‘An Empire s Grief’, Punch; or the London Charivari, May 11, 1910.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This was designed to express “an empire’s grief” in terms even more explicit than Sambourne had done with Victoria, but the imagery was very British; even domestic. </p>
<p>Minus the caption, it could almost be recycled in 2022 - crucially, the monarch does not actually appear. So too, Partridge’s offering in January 1936, when George V died (apparently by the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/mar/29/king-george-v-was-murdered-not-euthanised">hand of his doctor</a>). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483877/original/file-20220912-66609-1dpxdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483877/original/file-20220912-66609-1dpxdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=941&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483877/original/file-20220912-66609-1dpxdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=941&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483877/original/file-20220912-66609-1dpxdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=941&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483877/original/file-20220912-66609-1dpxdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1182&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483877/original/file-20220912-66609-1dpxdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1182&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483877/original/file-20220912-66609-1dpxdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1182&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bernard Partridge, ‘To the Memory of His Majesty King George’, Punch; or the London Charivari, January 29, 1936.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Britannia tolling a bell from a medieval bell-tower, with a fog-laden London skyline in the background. Clear the fog, add a Gherkin and a Shard, and the effect would be much the same.</p>
<p>While David Low struggled against the Victorian style of memorial cartoon, it is still very much with us. As so often, cartoons can encapsulate a whole host of feelings that mere words can’t express.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1567969118439227393"}"></div></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190338/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Scully receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is affiliated with the Political Cartoon Society, the Cartoon Museum (London), and the Australian Cartoonists' Association.</span></em></p>
A cartoon commemorating the death of King William IV in 1837 would have been unthinkable; by the time Queen Victoria died in 1901, newspapers had changed.
Richard Scully, Associate Professor of Modern European History, University of New England
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/188614
2022-08-11T15:31:10Z
2022-08-11T15:31:10Z
Three Raymond Briggs books that helped make the graphic novel respectable
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/aug/10/snowman-author-raymond-briggs-dies-aged-88">Raymond Briggs</a>, who died on August 9 aged 88, transformed the way we see and value the strip cartoon and graphic novel in this country. Briggs’ great achievement was to make the form intellectually respectable through telling stories about seemingly ordinary characters, which were rendered skilfully in the egalitarian medium of coloured pencil.</p>
<p>Born in suburban London in 1934, Briggs had an early ambition to become a cartoonist but this was met with disappointment from his parents, who didn’t see it as a respectable or financially secure choice. After experiencing more snobbery from his teachers at both Wimbledon and Slade art schools, Briggs began his career as a professional illustrator working on conventional children’s books. </p>
<p>The default at the time was to treat words and pictures as separate entities. It wasn’t until the 1960s that he explored his talent and skill to combine both words and pictures, utilising the form of the strip cartoon that defined his future work.</p>
<p>Briggs is best known for his wordless masterpiece The Snowman, published in 1978, essentially a sweet children’s tale. But the loss of his parents Ethel Bowyer and Ernest Briggs in 1971, and his wife Jean Taprell Clark in 1973, imbued an unsentimental directness in his work. </p>
<p>As we mark his passing, it seems fitting that we look at back at three books that each say something quite sweet and poignant about the human condition and elevated the form of graphic novels.</p>
<h2>1. Fungus the Bogeyman (1977)</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="Cover of children's book featuring an illustration of a monster in a window at night." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478744/original/file-20220811-24-vz828q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478744/original/file-20220811-24-vz828q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=845&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478744/original/file-20220811-24-vz828q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=845&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478744/original/file-20220811-24-vz828q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=845&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478744/original/file-20220811-24-vz828q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1061&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478744/original/file-20220811-24-vz828q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1061&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478744/original/file-20220811-24-vz828q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1061&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Penguin Random House Children's UK</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The success of the curmudgeonly Father Christmas and its sequel Father Christmas Goes on Holiday in 1975 established a loyal readership that enabled Briggs time and space to explore more experimental territory, like the wonderfully melancholic nihilism of the children’s book Fungus the Bogeyman published in 1977.</p>
<p>It follows a day (night) in the life of Fungus, a working class bogeyman whose job is to scare humans, as he begins to question the point of his work.</p>
<p>In Fungus, we see Briggs capture the mood of 1970s England through a slimy fairytale. The lights are out. The familiar domestic settings Briggs employs in many of his books is there from the start. Fungus’s wife Mildew rousing her husband in the marital bed: “Time to get up, Fungus my dreary. It’s nearly dark.” </p>
<p>The world-weary introspective musings of Fungus play to young and old readers alike. I recommend reading in slow voice to really get a sense of the wonderful sluggish and downtrodden nature of Fungus: “Oh well, here we go … Off to work again … Onwards always onwards, In Silence and in Gloom.”</p>
<p>It pre-empts both the wave of strikes that would result in Britain’s “winter of discontent” of 1978-79 and the “upside-down” world of the Netflix science fiction series Stranger Things. Briggs flips us, far underground, to the slow, damp, slime of Bogeydom. The world is drawn is exquisite detail employing a cold colour palette of grey greens, muted blues and browns that create its alluring bleakness.</p>
<p>Briggs playfully subverts the graphic convention of the comic strip, drawing in blacked out panels that have apparently been censored by the publisher in the interests of decorum. One such panel declares: “The Publishers wish to state that this picture has been deleted in the interests of good taste and public decency.”</p>
<p>Diagrams, footnotes and an array of asides are “pinned” throughout the story, adding detail and depth to the culture of Bogeydom. One aside, for example, reads: “Bogey umbrellas are upside down. They are designed to catch water and shower it onto the user.” The story is carefully structured, richly detailed and beautifully drawn, unsurprisingly taking Briggs two years to complete.</p>
<h2>2. When the Wind Blows (1982)</h2>
<p>Briggs resurfaced in 1982 with the politically charged, cold war graphic novel When the Wind Blows, further developing the characters of Jim and Hilda Bloggs from his 1980 book Gentleman Jim. </p>
<p>Briggs was inspired by the absurd and outdated <a href="https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1500124311">Protect and Survive public information pamphlet</a>, which had been published by the British government in 1980 to advise the public what to do in the event of a nuclear attack. He used the advice within the book to show how shockingly inadequate it was.</p>
<p>The story sets the horror of a nuclear apocalypse against the domestic backdrop of Jim and Hilda’s retired life in rural England. The warmth and geniality of the old couple’s interactions are punctuated by ominous double page spreads of the impending attacks. </p>
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</figure>
<p>Scale is used to brilliant effect, contrasting the tightly ordered panels framing the couple’s organised home life against spreads of military hardware that break the boundary of the page. The inevitable nuclear explosion obliterates the structure of successive pages, and their lives. </p>
<p>It is graphically stunning, with the following frames bent all out of shape until they return to a stable rectangle punctuated with a Briggsian “Blimey!”. The remainder of the book is bleak and achingly sad, a testament to Briggs’ skill with his pencils, empathetic dialogue and willingness to face finitude head on.</p>
<h2>3. Ethel and Ernest (1998)</h2>
<p>In the 1990s Briggs turned his attention to his own parents in his graphic memoir Ethel and Ernest. It unflinchingly tells the story of how his working-class parents met, and then raised their only child, Raymond. </p>
<p>Their lives are played out against the social and political upheavals taking place through the middle of the 20th century, including the depression, second world war, the birth of the welfare state, television and the Moon landings. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/daeBFjd9FX0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>It is both deeply personal yet typically universal, a loving and unsentimental social history document. The British class system is played out through Ethel’s respectable conservatism and Ernest’s ideological socialism. </p>
<p>Though politically polarised, they are kind and stoic, wanting the best for their son. They died in 1971 within months of each other, their son rendering their end with characteristic directness. How proud and amazed they would undoubtedly have been to see what he achieved. Blimey!</p>
<p>The contemporary American cartoonist Chris Ware, much admired by Briggs, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/11/chris-ware-graphic-novelist-interview">said of comics</a>, “There is a magic when you read an image that you know doesn’t move but you have a sense that something is moving, if not on the page, then in your mind.” </p>
<p>While there are many much loved film and television adaptations of Briggs’ work, it is sitting quietly and patiently with his books where that humane magic can be found.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188614/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Edgar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Much of his work was imbued with a sense of the end, so it is fitting to look back at three of his best works to mark the illustrator’s passing
Matthew Edgar, Principal Lecturer in Visual Communication, Sheffield Hallam University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/184545
2022-06-21T19:55:46Z
2022-06-21T19:55:46Z
From ScoMo to Albo: how a new cast of characters poses a challenge for cartoonists
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469650/original/file-20220620-18-puzn53.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=328%2C274%2C702%2C634&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Anthony Albanese, as depicted by cartoonist David Pope.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/">Canberra Times</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are three, not entirely compatible, things to say about how cartoonists are coping with the recent change of government in Canberra.</p>
<p>First, there is the usual mild distress at having lost a pet set of ministers who seem to get uglier and more recognisable with age. Cartoonists can be like chooks returning to an empty feeder: the cartoonists’ Robert Menzies “stayed on” long after his retirement in 1966; so too did Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser well into the 1980s, and Bob Hawke and Paul Keating into the later ’90s.</p>
<p>Bill Leak’s classic whinge in The Australian in late 2007 sums up the problem. Every cartoonist, he said, had the right to feel </p>
<blockquote>
<p>extremely disappointed, depressed or even downright angry at what Rudd and his cohorts have given us to work with […]. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The cause of his disappointment? “Handsome men and attractive women make life hell for cartoonists, and the Rudd ministry is chock-a-block with them.”</p>
<p>Although time works grotesque wonders, that’s usually how a ministry looks when it steps out of the shadows. Add to that the debilitating instinct to give the not-yet-guilty party the benefit of the doubt. </p>
<p>Cathy Wilcox, for one, suspended judgement of the new government for a honeymoon moment, and instead turned her ire on the broader media, which seem utterly at a loss without the Coalition:</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469652/original/file-20220620-22-q9qj8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469652/original/file-20220620-22-q9qj8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469652/original/file-20220620-22-q9qj8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469652/original/file-20220620-22-q9qj8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469652/original/file-20220620-22-q9qj8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469652/original/file-20220620-22-q9qj8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469652/original/file-20220620-22-q9qj8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Honeymoon for politicians: Cathy Wilcox in the Nine papers.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Interestingly, Bill Leak singled out one new minister with potential in 2007: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Anthony Albanese, whose open mouth looks like a cemetery after an earthquake, should prove valuable as long as he continues to resist calls to visit a dentist.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Perhaps “Albo” took notes: for many of the long, last months of the Gillard and second Rudd ministries, he was afflicted with braces. </p>
<p>The Albanese transformation was completed by his carb-free, grog-reduced 2021, resulting in the almost photoshopped presentability depicted in David Pope’s cartoon at the top of this article.</p>
<p>The grotesques are still those from the previous cast of characters — “ScoMo the Clown” and Kooyong Josh, with their pork barrels, swept away by the teal wave.
That’s because where there is real satirical ordure, it attaches largely to the mess left by the departing government, as demonstrated in this typically grotesque image by David Rowe.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Cartooon showing problems left over from the previous government" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469654/original/file-20220620-18-64rfuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469654/original/file-20220620-18-64rfuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469654/original/file-20220620-18-64rfuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469654/original/file-20220620-18-64rfuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469654/original/file-20220620-18-64rfuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469654/original/file-20220620-18-64rfuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469654/original/file-20220620-18-64rfuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The clean-up: David Rowe’s post-election observation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.afr.com/">Australian Financial Review</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The second thing to say is that temporary immunity for a new leadership team is disappearing very rapidly among cartoonists at the News Corp papers, where Johannes Leak, Mark Knight and Warren Brown had already warmed-up with a few anti-Albanese visual tropes. Leak was probably the first to <a href="https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/78c4c95e0e289ce1a2329c6cc3fd708d?width=1440">nail down</a> a really first-class negative “Albo” caricature, while the far more <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligne_claire">ligne claire</a></em> style of Knight and Brown has struggled with the subtleties of the “new new” Labor PM.</p>
<p>Our study of election campaign cartoons suggests that, even in the most pro-Coalition newspapers, the gathering chaos in the Morrison-led campaign prompted some harsh cartooning. </p>
<p>Brown was unimpressed by a Liberal leader who had come to self-identify as a bulldozer. Leak regularly deployed his pink-shirted, pony-tailed “spin doctor” to pillory the all-image-and-no-substance Morrison mob, just as he did to smirk at how much better Labor did in the polls when Albanese was in isolation with COVID.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Cartoon of Scott Morrison changing his mind after focus group findings." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469686/original/file-20220620-18-mit1n4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469686/original/file-20220620-18-mit1n4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469686/original/file-20220620-18-mit1n4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469686/original/file-20220620-18-mit1n4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469686/original/file-20220620-18-mit1n4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469686/original/file-20220620-18-mit1n4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469686/original/file-20220620-18-mit1n4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Image problem: Johannes Leak in the Australian.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/cartoons/johannes-leak-cartoons/image-gallery/de8f7d34d6dcf6dbb2f01239663cedd7">News Corp</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So, after the easy bit of making his debut on the international stage, Albanese had better get used to seeing himself in the papers looking like this:</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Cartoon of Anthony Albanese" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469676/original/file-20220620-18-9xwkjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469676/original/file-20220620-18-9xwkjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469676/original/file-20220620-18-9xwkjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469676/original/file-20220620-18-9xwkjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469676/original/file-20220620-18-9xwkjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469676/original/file-20220620-18-9xwkjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469676/original/file-20220620-18-9xwkjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Back to the future: Warren Brown’s depiction of a scruffy Anthony Albanese.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.heraldsun.com.au/">News Corp</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As he and his government take wear and tear, he will be joined by the more prominent ministers – even debonair ones like Penny Wong and Jim Chalmers.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the third thing to say about post-election cartooning is a sad sign of the sectarian times. There is now very little dissonance between the cartoonists and the editorial line of their newspapers. Perhaps it lingers only at The Age – where Michael Leunig’s much-reduced role has made space for new talents and new ideas to shine – and via the genius of David Rowe at the Australian Financial Review.</p>
<p>There used to be more of this, particularly when cartoonists were often broadly to the left of the corporate lines their newspapers tread. But we do not mean this as a simple left-wing complaint. Guardian readers are no more likely to have their convictions challenged by First Dog on the Moon than are Australian readers by Spooner or Leak.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-australian-helped-political-cartoonists-sharpen-their-edge-28845">The Australian helped political cartoonists sharpen their edge</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>We are far from suggesting cartoonists are bending to editorial direction. That simply doesn’t happen, because it is well recognised among editors that cartoonists have to be free to be funny. </p>
<p>But the editorial cultures of newsrooms – assailed as they are by a fraying business model derived from the print age – seem to be getting tighter and narrower. They appear to be drawing cartoonists into line, either by selecting cartoonists who fit the polemical bent of the paper or by projecting a sort of team spirit in precarious financial times.</p>
<p>Either way, readers seem less likely to be surprised by the box of graphic mayhem in the paper than to get a blast of confirmation bias. We can be confident that cartoonists are devious enough jesters to overcome this situation if alerted to it. Not least because they are just as much forward-looking and -thinking as they are conscious of the past.</p>
<p><em>Our thanks to Lucien Leon, who collaborated with us on this article.</em></p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Cartoon showing Scott Morrison portrait in rubbish bin" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469655/original/file-20220620-21-f1kw0e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469655/original/file-20220620-21-f1kw0e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469655/original/file-20220620-21-f1kw0e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469655/original/file-20220620-21-f1kw0e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469655/original/file-20220620-21-f1kw0e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469655/original/file-20220620-21-f1kw0e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469655/original/file-20220620-21-f1kw0e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rooster one day, featherduster the next: Fiona Katauskas on the post-election mood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7650116/meet-the-echidna-your-sharp-new-election-companion/?cs=18563">The Echidna/Australian Community Media</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184545/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Phiddian receives funding from The Australian Research Council and the State Library of New South Wales Ross Steele AM Fellowship. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Scully receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>
Political cartoonists have found their own ways of coping with a new government
Robert Phiddian, Professor of English, Flinders University
Richard Scully, Associate Professor of Modern European History, University of New England
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/171283
2021-12-06T13:42:10Z
2021-12-06T13:42:10Z
How did Uncle Sam become a symbol for the United States?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434191/original/file-20211126-23-1i51zrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C76%2C2955%2C1688&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">You never know where Uncle Sam will make an appearance.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/giant-motorcycle-riding-uncle-sam-carries-new-york-firemen-news-photo/689423?adppopup=true">David McNew/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">curiouskidsus@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
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<blockquote>
<p><strong>How did Uncle Sam become a symbol for the United States? – Henry E., age 10, Somerville, Massachusetts</strong></p>
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<hr>
<p>Most Americans easily recognize <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/united-states-nicknamed-uncle-sam">Uncle Sam</a> as a symbol of the United States or a national nickname. Typically portrayed as an older white man with a long white goatee and a top hat, he’s almost always decked out in red, white and blue attire. </p>
<p>His image represents the U.S. government in <a href="https://www.politico.com/interactives/2021/presidents-day-2021-opinion-is-it-time-to-re-think-uncle-sam/#slide-8">political cartoons</a>, or as a stand-in for the American people everywhere from <a href="https://www.atlutd.com/news/five-stripe-flashbacks-tifos">soccer games</a> to <a href="https://eduardobarraza.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Political-rally-draws-candidates-for-Arizona-Nov-6-general-election/G0000CN7w.HyKs10/I000075uKKFICALQ">political rallies</a>.</p>
<p>He has come to represent a patriotic ideal in popular culture. In the Marvel Universe, <a href="https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Captain_America:_The_First_Avenger">Captain America</a>’s costume resembles what Uncle Sam wears. That character is not only strong, but compassionate.</p>
<p>The most familiar Uncle Sam image of all time is an <a href="https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsc.03521/">Army recruiting poster</a> designed by <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/04/03/the-uncle-sam-i-want-you-poster-is-100-years-old-almost-everything-about-it-was-borrowed/">James Montgomery Flagg</a> in 1917. In it, Uncle Sam proclaims “I WANT YOU,” while sternly pointing directly at the onlooker.</p>
<p>That World War I publicity campaign worked so well that the government used the image again to recruit soldiers and other members of the armed forces during <a href="https://amhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/collection/object.asp?ID=548">World War II</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434193/original/file-20211126-21-1mq0det.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Uncle Sam points at the onlooker in an iconic 'I Want You for the U.S. Army' recruitment poster." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434193/original/file-20211126-21-1mq0det.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434193/original/file-20211126-21-1mq0det.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434193/original/file-20211126-21-1mq0det.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434193/original/file-20211126-21-1mq0det.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434193/original/file-20211126-21-1mq0det.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1013&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434193/original/file-20211126-21-1mq0det.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1013&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434193/original/file-20211126-21-1mq0det.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1013&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Artist James Montgomery Flagg designed this iconic 1917 recruitment poster.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ppmsc.03521/">Library of Congress</a></span>
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<h2>‘Columbia’ and ‘Brother Jonathan’</h2>
<p>Uncle Sam isn’t the only symbol that U.S. artists and illustrators have used to convey political issues of the day.</p>
<p>One of the earliest symbolic stand-ins for the United States was “<a href="https://www.meetamerica.com/before-lady-liberty-reigned-columbia-was-americas-patriotic-female-personification">Columbia</a>,” a female icon usually dressed in a toga.</p>
<p>In one famous depiction, she’s seen mourning President Abraham Lincoln, joined by <a href="https://www.royalmint.com/britannia/britannia-icon-on-the-coin/">Britannia</a>, another female character who personifies England, and a formerly enslaved person whose plight remains unclear.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434194/original/file-20211126-15-js68ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A sorrowful Britannia, standing, lays a wreath on Lincoln's shrouded body while Columbia weeps as she clutches the U.S. flag and a freed enslaved person mourns." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434194/original/file-20211126-15-js68ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434194/original/file-20211126-15-js68ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434194/original/file-20211126-15-js68ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434194/original/file-20211126-15-js68ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434194/original/file-20211126-15-js68ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434194/original/file-20211126-15-js68ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434194/original/file-20211126-15-js68ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Britannia consoles Columbia while a formerly enslaved person weeps in this 1865 image by the artist John Tenniel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/britannia-sympathises-with-columbia-1865-only-days-after-news-photo/463927737">The Cartoon Collector/Print Collector via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>So where did Uncle Sam’s name come from? According to a <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/united-states-nicknamed-uncle-sam">resolution Congress approved in 1961</a>, it originated with meat supplier Samuel Wilson of Troy, New York. During the War of 1812, he marked his materials for military use with “U.S.” Workers at the time would tell a joke along the lines that “Uncle Sam” Wilson was feeding the Army.</p>
<p>Perhaps not coincidentally, two African-American Marvel superheroes are named Sam Wilson: “<a href="https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/The_Falcon_and_The_Winter_Soldier">The Falcon</a>,” who goes on to become Captain America following Steve Rogers’ retirement, and Samantha Wilson, who assumed the role of Captain America in the recent <a href="https://www.marvel.com/comics/series/20505/spider-gwen_2015_-_2018">Spider-Gwen series</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434211/original/file-20211126-25-2ylidz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Brother Jonathan holds a scythe in a 19th-century postcard." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434211/original/file-20211126-25-2ylidz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434211/original/file-20211126-25-2ylidz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1040&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434211/original/file-20211126-25-2ylidz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1040&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434211/original/file-20211126-25-2ylidz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1040&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434211/original/file-20211126-25-2ylidz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1306&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434211/original/file-20211126-25-2ylidz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1306&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434211/original/file-20211126-25-2ylidz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1306&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Brother Jonathan,’ an early U.S. symbol, may have gradually turned into Uncle Sam.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/brother-jonathan-an-early-personification-of-the-united-news-photo/505925783">Kean Collection/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>But there was another figure resembling Uncle Sam called <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/brother-jonathan-uncle-sam">Brother Jonathan</a> who emerged earlier.</p>
<p>That personification of the United States was possibly modeled on <a href="https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/brother-jonathan-american-icon/">John Trumbull</a>, a Colonial Connecticut governor who opposed British rule during the War of Independence. <a href="http://www.sonofthesouth.net/uncle-sam/brother-jonathan.htm">Brother Jonathan may have morphed into Uncle Sam</a> around the time of the Civil War, before fading away.</p>
<p>In an 1876 advertisement, this young, slender man who symbolized the nation wore clothing that echoes the American flag. He looked a lot like a younger and cleanshaven version of Uncle Sam.</p>
<p>It’s possible that the lankiness and facial features that Uncle Sam inherited from later depictions of Brother Jonathan were a tribute to <a href="https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/uncle-sam-army-recruitment-poster/10169">President Abraham Lincoln</a>.</p>
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<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.</em></p>
<p><em>And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171283/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Bruski does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The iconic image may have originated with a meat supplier named Samuel Wilson. Or not.
Paul Bruski, Associate Professor of Graphic Design, Iowa State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/172731
2021-12-02T11:38:52Z
2021-12-02T11:38:52Z
Dennis the Menace lives on: the influence of this 70-year-old on everything from darts to raves
<p>The current Somerset House exhibition in London, Beano: The Art of Breaking the Rules, revels in the joyful impudence of the 83-year-old comic magazine’s characters. A tribute to the publication’s impact seems long overdue; as curator <a href="https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/press/beano-art-breaking-rules">Andy Holden says</a>: “Beano’s irreverent sensibility is something that appeals to you as a child, but also, for some, never leaves you.”</p>
<p>The Beano plays an <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203161760-7/never-without-beano-comics-children-literacy-comics-children-literacy-helen-bromley">important role</a> in children’s lives because, along with other Beano readers, you become part of a community, through the readers’ letters page, fan art and fan club. </p>
<p>Beano’s longevity can be attributed to what educator Carol Tilley calls the “<a href="http://www.yalsa.ala.org/jrlya/2014/05/comics-a-once-missed-opportunity/">participatory culture</a>” of comics and its diversity of characters.</p>
<p>Of all the <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/the-beano-turns-80-how-the-characters-look-now-and-then-11454458">Beano’s</a> characters, no one better exemplifies the essence of sheer impertinence and anarchic subversiveness - as represented in the exhibition’s title - than <a href="https://www.beano.com/posts/beano-superstars-dennis-menace">Dennis the Menace</a> himself.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435094/original/file-20211201-21-zntp3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Dennis the Menace on a stamp" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435094/original/file-20211201-21-zntp3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435094/original/file-20211201-21-zntp3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435094/original/file-20211201-21-zntp3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435094/original/file-20211201-21-zntp3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435094/original/file-20211201-21-zntp3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435094/original/file-20211201-21-zntp3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435094/original/file-20211201-21-zntp3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A Dennis the Menace stamp.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Neftali/Shutterstock</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Indeed, the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/56414038">70-year-old character</a> has helped maintain the Beano as a long-running publication. Dennis debuted in a black-and-white half-pager tucked inside the issue of March 17 1951. From that pivotal moment, growing demand for Dennis’s adventures “led him to the colour back cover in 1954 … and then to the cover replacing <a href="https://archive.org/details/essentialguideto0000pilc">Biffo the Bear</a>”.</p>
<p>I first discovered Dennis when he was 20 years old, and I was all of eight. In December 1971, I was growing up in Quebec, Canada, and my UK grandparents sent me the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2270688.The_Beano_Book_1972">1972 Beano Book</a> as a Christmas present. Dennis was introduced as a large red and black drawing that depicted him shaving his name into his dog Gnasher’s fur. As Beano characters often do, Dennis broke the fourth wall, gazing beyond the page. I immediately identified with this cheeky chap.</p>
<h2>Cultural impact</h2>
<p>Journalist David Mapstone observes that, until recently, the UK’s weekly printed comics, such as Beano and Dandy (among others), were “a massive influence on the lives of children for decades … and then they were gone. All apart from the best - the Beano - still read <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/the-beano-exhibition-why-the-hidden-hand-comic-behind-british-culture-is-finally-getting-its-time-in-the-arts-spotlight-12439338">weekly by thousands</a>”. </p>
<p>Dennis the Menace’s influence on culture in the past is undeniable, from <a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Dennis%20the%20Menace">raves</a> to <a href="https://www.dennispriestley.com/">professional darts</a>, to <a href="https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/ellie-diamond-interview">RuPaul’s Drag Race</a>. </p>
<p>However, today’s Dennis (formerly the Menace) appears more influenced by society rather than the other way around. For instance, he wears new trainers instead of old boots, and he’s addicted to the internet rather than bent on disturbing lines of communication.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-beano-and-dandy-artist-dudley-d-watkins-made-generations-of-comic-fans-roar-with-laughter-121330">How Beano and Dandy artist Dudley D. Watkins made generations of comic fans roar with laughter</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>Those original themes of subversion appealed to young readers; Dennis would try to fight the law, but the law would generally win – a timeless lesson that can almost be considered a sort of delinquent <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AL8chWFuM-s">rite of passage</a>. Dennis’s charm lay in being “an anarchic figure” who expressed others’ feelings of rebellion <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-57671019">vicariously through him</a>.</p>
<p>Cartoonist David Law was the artist behind the character’s adventures from 1951 until 1970.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A Dennis the Menace cartoon from the Beano." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435108/original/file-20211201-21-19wxqb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435108/original/file-20211201-21-19wxqb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=665&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435108/original/file-20211201-21-19wxqb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=665&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435108/original/file-20211201-21-19wxqb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=665&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435108/original/file-20211201-21-19wxqb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=836&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435108/original/file-20211201-21-19wxqb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=836&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435108/original/file-20211201-21-19wxqb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=836&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dennis and Gnasher artwork by David Parkins. Courtesy of Beano</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I don’t think the two Dennis stories in my 1972 Beano Book were drawn by Law, but <a href="https://www-ingentaconnect-com.ezproxy.tees.ac.uk/content/intellect/stic/2020/00000011/00000002/art00014">the team</a> that took over from him when he died. Law’s original Dennis the Menace, on the other hand, presented a comparatively raw, crude, and proto-punk aesthetic: <a href="https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.ezproxy.tees.ac.uk/doi/full/10.1111/phc3.12145">irreverance, nihilism and amateurism</a>. </p>
<p>There are visual links between this chaotic Dennis the Menace and the UK’s <a href="http://viz.co.uk/">Viz comic</a>, which began as a <a href="https://myria.com/what-is-a-fanzine-the-basics-of-these-diy-magazines">do-it-yourself fanzine</a> in 1979. </p>
<p>In researching this article, I rang up Viz co-editor Graham Dury and we talked about the influence that Beano, and Dennis the Menace specifically, had on the comics scene in the UK, and Viz in particular. Beano and Dandy were a major influence on the wonderfully rude and crude Viz, which even satirised some of its characters, Dury told me. </p>
<h2>Tumbling into the 21st century</h2>
<p>Dennis’s <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/anarchism/">anarchist</a> appeal is not what it used to be; in fact, he is not even featured on the cover of a recent issue of Beano (week of November 27 2021). He does appear in a two-page story, but he is an ally (rather than a menace) to his family, who all work together to escape to a world “unspoiled by internet and mobile phones”. Contrast this with Dennis’s first adventure in 1951, where we are introduced to a very different relationship: Dennis wants to be free to play on the grass and climb trees. Dennis’s dad, meanwhile, decides to control the cheeky chap by tying a dog’s leash around his neck.</p>
<p>The art of breaking the rules is, apparently, knowing what the limits are. </p>
<p> </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172731/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julian Lawrence does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Cartoon character Dennis the Menace has had more influence on British society than you might think.
Julian Lawrence, Senior Lecturer in Comics and Graphic Novels, Teesside University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/168849
2021-11-05T02:36:34Z
2021-11-05T02:36:34Z
Big Mouth, an animated series about periods, masturbation and anxiety. What’s not to like?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423519/original/file-20210928-14-1ycl0uv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2041%2C1150&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Still : Andrew Glouberman, a character in the Netflix's animated comedy Big Mouth watches a condom demonstration from mother.</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Animation and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ari-Chand/publication/307610006_Breathing_Life_into_a_Character_Vol_11_Issue_2_2016/links/592cec6e0f7e9b9979b38552/Breathing-Life-into-a-Character-Vol-11-Issue-2-2016.pdf">character design</a> allow us to hold a mirror up to society. We get to see humanity, warts and all, and understand the complexity of what it means to be human. But this reflection of ourselves ties back to a very old artform: the ideas of masking our real selves in the festivity of the Roman Catholic concept of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Carnival-pre-Lent-festival">Carnival</a>. </p>
<p>One of the strongest contemporary adult animated shows right now is <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6524350/">Big Mouth</a>, the nuanced, lewd, coming-of-age series on Netflix. The show investigates the complex, awkward and often taboo experiences of pubescent teens: cultural identity, sexual identity and inclusivity, social media, pornography, periods, masturbation, anxiety and depression.</p>
<p>Through the use of carnival, Big Mouth tells complex stories about what it means to be a teenager with a monster-verse of shoulder angels. Shoulder angels (or representations of our conscience) have traditionally been a small angel or devil, representing good or bad. </p>
<p>Big Mouth draws on a rich history of adult animation while also making the genre entirely its own. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430420/original/file-20211105-23-1undi0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A cartoon dressed up as Beyoncé in Lemonade." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430420/original/file-20211105-23-1undi0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430420/original/file-20211105-23-1undi0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430420/original/file-20211105-23-1undi0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430420/original/file-20211105-23-1undi0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430420/original/file-20211105-23-1undi0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430420/original/file-20211105-23-1undi0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430420/original/file-20211105-23-1undi0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Big Mouth uses popular culture references to explore complex ideas about teenagehood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NETFLIX © 2020</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Disarming the viewer through play</h2>
<p>Animation allows us to disassociate from reality and create a visual dimension to explore ideas: the drawings act as a mask through which viewers engage in a form of role playing, hidden identity and a sense of play.</p>
<p>Masks have been an important part of many cultures from the <a href="https://www.nihonsun.com/tengu-matsuri-in-tokyo/">Tengu Matsuri</a> mask, <a href="https://www.bahamas.gov.bs/wps/portal/public/Culture/Junkanoo/">Junkanoo</a> masks, <a href="https://philippines.travel/events/dinagyang-festival">Dinagyang</a> masks, <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/halloween/day-of-the-dead">Dia de los Muertos</a> masks, Venetian carnival masks, to the masks of the Hindu Gods.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429861/original/file-20211103-15-1a5yqk9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429861/original/file-20211103-15-1a5yqk9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429861/original/file-20211103-15-1a5yqk9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429861/original/file-20211103-15-1a5yqk9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429861/original/file-20211103-15-1a5yqk9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429861/original/file-20211103-15-1a5yqk9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429861/original/file-20211103-15-1a5yqk9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429861/original/file-20211103-15-1a5yqk9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This engraving from 1875 shows a Carnival masquerade party in New Orleans.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Wells Champney, Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Carnival-pre-Lent-festival">Carnival</a> was traditionally a Christian celebration in the last three days before Lent, where the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1016/0304-4181%2887%2990036-4">sumptuary laws</a> – the restraint on consumption and luxury – were suspended. During this time, people could wear a mask and break from the conventional rules of society, their identity, hierarchies and become other-than-self. </p>
<p>Like the Carnival, the Russian philosopher <a href="https://g.co/kgs/3tU4Gj">Mikhail Bakhtin</a>’s notion of <a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095550811">Carnivalesque</a> is a literary device used to assist people in unshackling themselves: using a mask to explore the complexities of experience without consequence. </p>
<p>In animated form, Carnivalesque utilises <a href="https://g.co/kgs/U2eSCw">four techniques</a>: laughter, bodily excess, <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/billingsgate">Billingsgate</a> (or vitriolic language) and inversions of normal social roles. Big Mouth employs a range of these elements in the character design and dialogue to engage the audience in social commentary.</p>
<h2>From family fare to adult sitcoms</h2>
<p>The animated sitcom has been evolving since the middle of the last century, and with it questions of what is “appropriate” for viewers. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024404/">Betty Boop</a> first appeared in 1930s. Drawing influences from burlesque, the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/06/17/betty-boop-the-original-lewdie-toon/e24d8859-1205-4f5b-ac41-6cc934c4707d/">lewd nature</a> of the show was highly criticised. Soon, censorship would play an important role in limiting sexually suggestive content.</p>
<p>From 1934 to 1968, animation was self-censored by the <a href="https://www.acmi.net.au/stories-and-ideas/early-hollywood-and-hays-code/">Hays Code</a>: a set of guidelines preventing profanity, suggestive nudity, excessive violence and sexual content. This gave rise to the closed morality tale built around the nuclear family and patriarchal structure presented in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053502/">The Flinstones</a> (1960-66) and the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055683/">The Jetsons</a> (1962-63).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430422/original/file-20211105-28-15m2h9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The Flintstones" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430422/original/file-20211105-28-15m2h9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430422/original/file-20211105-28-15m2h9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430422/original/file-20211105-28-15m2h9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430422/original/file-20211105-28-15m2h9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430422/original/file-20211105-28-15m2h9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430422/original/file-20211105-28-15m2h9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430422/original/file-20211105-28-15m2h9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cartoons of the 1960s were family-friendly morality tales.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">IMDB</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1989, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096697/">The Simpsons</a> moved animated content into the adult frame, each episode dealing with a particular cultural and moral issue. </p>
<p>With the advent of cable television, cartoons could move even more firmly into the adult realm. We saw the rise of absurdity in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105950/">Beavis and Butt-head</a> (1993-2011) and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0182576/">Family Guy</a> (1999-) and the introduction of crude language and sexual innuendo in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121955/">South Park</a> (1997-). 2001 saw the launch of US cable network <a href="https://www.adultswim.com/">Adult Swim</a>, with its suite of adult-focused content.</p>
<p>Even in this age, Big Mouth is not without its critics. It is often vulgar and has been criticised for sexualising puberty too much. Critics have asked: has it gone too far? Is this really how these issues should be explored?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-gods-of-ancient-egypt-as-seen-through-bojack-horseman-156565">The gods of ancient Egypt as seen through 'BoJack Horseman'</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Hormones become monsters</h2>
<p>At the heart of good animation is character design, with strong characters translating the human experience – goals, mannerisms, habits and worldviews – into moving abstract versions of ourselves. Animation manipulates the character to give a drawing life. We view the characters in the carnival as if they could be our experiences.</p>
<p>In Big Mouth, chemicals and inanimate objects become personified, allowing the show to explore complex topics.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pkfrBZFpS8U?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcfKg23Xf_4">Maury</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U11H-3j3Ho">Connie</a> are “Hormone Monsters”, who become the internal conversation around the rushes of chemicals influencing teen decisions. Tito the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM3TB6dvSXo">Anxiety Mosquito</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7808478/">Depression Kitty</a> introduce the way mental illness can feel and operate. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13014326/">Gratitoad</a> and other characters explore the positivity we experience together, and eats anxiety. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjKGZGoLoNI">Pam the Sex Pillow</a> and the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7808456/?ref_=ttep_ep3">Shame Wizard</a> present ways we feel in response to other people. </p>
<p>In the new fifth season we are introduced to Lovebugs and Hateworms. All of these characters help communicate the relationship we have with our experiences.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430421/original/file-20211105-19-1dqwq6w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A pink fairy sits above a girl's shoulder." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430421/original/file-20211105-19-1dqwq6w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430421/original/file-20211105-19-1dqwq6w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430421/original/file-20211105-19-1dqwq6w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430421/original/file-20211105-19-1dqwq6w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430421/original/file-20211105-19-1dqwq6w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430421/original/file-20211105-19-1dqwq6w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430421/original/file-20211105-19-1dqwq6w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Season five introduces new Carnival characters to the cast, including Sonya the love bug.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NETFLIX © 2020</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Breaking taboos</h2>
<p>Big Mouth creator Nick Kroll has described how using animation allows them to tell stories which they “might not be able to discuss” in live action shows starring actual teens or tweens. A character like a hormone monster or shame wizard, <a href="https://youtu.be/kt3EqlHcc0I?t=126">he says</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>gives us a lot of latitude to have these more complicated discussions and delve into the subjects kids are dealing with.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Growing up is never easy, but visualising complex ideas can enhance our shared experience. Watching a coming-of-age show as an adult allows us to reflect and better communicate the complex experience of puberty. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/21st-century-character-designs-reflect-our-concerns-as-always-40382">21st-century character designs reflect our concerns, as always</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168849/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Growing up is never easy, but visualising complex ideas can help. Animation and character design allow us to put a metaphorical mirror up to society.
Ari Chand, Lecturer in Visual Communication Design, University of Newcastle
Jack McGrath, Lecturer in Animation at the University of Newcastle, University of Newcastle
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/168311
2021-09-21T10:41:42Z
2021-09-21T10:41:42Z
The Prince – the great tradition of satirising the royal family is under threat as they become more ‘human’
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422192/original/file-20210920-14371-a38tvm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1914%2C1074&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pressroom.warnermedia.com/na/image/prncs1ep0111screengrab94a">HBO Max.</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The adult animated satire, <a href="https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/british-royal-family-series-hbo-max-the-prince-1203474443/">The Prince</a>, has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/30/the-prince-royal-hbo-series-backlash/">sparked outrage</a> for its portrayal of the British royal family as a mob of hyper-privileged halfwits, hopelessly out of touch with contemporary society. They are led by Queen Elizabeth II, imagined here as a bling-coated mafia boss. </p>
<hr>
<iframe id="noa-web-audio-player" style="border: none" src="https://embed-player.newsoveraudio.com/v4?key=x84olp&id=https://theconversation.com/the-prince-the-great-tradition-of-satirising-the-royal-family-is-under-threat-as-they-become-more-human-168311&bgColor=F5F5F5&color=D8352A&playColor=D8352A" width="100%" height="110px"></iframe>
<p><em>You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/audio-narrated-99682">here</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>The Telegraph described the show as “<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/hbos-prince-hollywoods-insult-royal-family-disgusting-puerile/">grossly offensive</a>”. While <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/30/the-prince-royal-hbo-series-backlash/">The Washington Post</a> reported that a torrent of complaints labelled it “wrong”, “disgusting” and guilty of fuelling “hatred toward Britain’s royals”.</p>
<p>But The Prince is far from the first instance of satire to poke fun at the royal family – nor is it the most biting in this 300-year-old tradition. </p>
<p>In many ways, royal figures are the perfect subjects for satire. Traditionally, the satirist seeks to reveal and skewer stupidity, ridiculousness and hypocrisy and, in most cases, speak truth to power. This process inevitably constitutes “punching up”. This means targeting those with more privilege and a higher status in society than the satirist.</p>
<p>However, in recent years the royals have been rebranded as vulnerable, despite their enormous privilege. This change might have significant consequences for the art of satire.</p>
<h2>Punching up</h2>
<p>The royal family’s position at the top of British society makes them an obvious satirical target. Perceptions of the royal family as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/13/britain-royal-family-prince-charles-monarchy">antiquated and politically redundant</a>, despite their immense fortune and revered status, are fertile material for satirists seeking to lampoon ridiculousness and hypocrisy.</p>
<p>For as long as the royals were seen as aloof, untroubled and of a different breed from the commoners over whom they ruled, satirists haven’t needed to concern themselves with questions about the harm such satire might do to the royal family as “real” people.</p>
<p>In fact in the 18th century, when satire of the royals was at its most scathing, scandalous and scatological (there was a lot of poo involved), it drew little attention from the monarchy.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Cartoon depicting a king receiving news on the toilet." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422194/original/file-20210920-17-5g7ro5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422194/original/file-20210920-17-5g7ro5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422194/original/file-20210920-17-5g7ro5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422194/original/file-20210920-17-5g7ro5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422194/original/file-20210920-17-5g7ro5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422194/original/file-20210920-17-5g7ro5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422194/original/file-20210920-17-5g7ro5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Taking_physick_-_-_or_-_the_news_of_shooting_the_King_of_Sweden!_by_James_Gillray.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During this period, caricaturist James Gillray would regularly produce images of George III and his wife defecating. He also drew Queen Charlotte <a href="https://media.britishmuseum.org/media/Repository/Documents/2014_9/29_15/0c0e95b2_b364_451c_a4b6_a3b500fdc91a/mid_00138580_001.jpg">haggard and naked</a>, and their son George IV as a sexually ravenous libertine <a href="http://www.tara.tcd.ie/xmlui/bitstream/handle/2262/10007/ROB1016.JPG?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">emerging from beneath a woman’s skirts</a>. Nevertheless, James Gillray was still granted a government pension. </p>
<p>The monarchy’s tolerance of such satire spoke to their strength. They were so secure in their position of power that they were untroubled by cheap jokes and toilet humour. There are even cases where the monarchy <a href="https://theconversation.com/spitting-image-a-warning-from-the-golden-age-of-satire-124546">directly benefited from such satirical abuses</a>.</p>
<h2>Royal targets or real people?</h2>
<p>Since the 18th century, royal satire has broadly shifted from the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Juvenalian-satire">Juvenalian mode</a> (satire that is bitter, ironic, contemptuous, relentlessly extreme in its censure) to the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Horatian-satire">Horatian</a> (satire that is amused, tolerant and wry). </p>
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<p>The latter is well exemplified by Harry Enfield’s The Windsors, which pokes gentle fun at royals, who are presented as dim-witted and detached, but ultimately harmless. It is to this Horatian tradition that The Prince is most openly indebted, with the show’s creator, Gary Janetti, even claiming that the show “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/30/the-prince-royal-hbo-series-backlash/">is meant with affection</a>”.</p>
<p>Though royal satire has become less scathing over time, it seems that audiences and critics have become more sensitive to jibes at this ruling elite, as the reception to The Prince demonstrates. </p>
<p>In some areas of the media, there is great concern that making fun of the monarchy might cause irreparable damage – that satire is in some way harmful to great tradition. More than anything, this perhaps speaks to the monarchy’s existential precarity when a light-hearted adult cartoon causes more concern to the crown than images of defecation, nudity and sexual promiscuity did 200 years ago.</p>
<p>The aspect of The Prince that has drawn the most fire is the decision to centre events around young Prince George, <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9851387/Animated-satire-Prince-criticised-mocking-Duke-Edinburgh.html">with the Daily Mail</a> suggesting that children should be off-limits for satire.</p>
<p>Whether you agree, however, depends on whether you view George as the target of the show’s satire or its vehicle. </p>
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<p>There is a rich tradition of child characters being used in satirical fiction to draw attention to the hypocrisies, inconsistencies and contradictions of the adult world. For example, Evelyn Waugh’s <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/571/57153/a-handful-of-dust/9780241341100.html">A Handful of Dust</a> (1934) features a child who is able to decode the true meaning behind the words of adults and immediately shares them in entertainingly blunt statements. A more recent example is Family Guy’s precocious Stewie Griffin – a character The Prince’s young George seems, in many ways, to recall.</p>
<p>The biggest problem faced by The Prince is that many members of the royal family no longer present themselves as aloof, but have instead come to be understood in language associated with popular cultural discussions, such as those surrounding racism and mental health. </p>
<p>Prince William and Prince Harry have both spoken openly about the loss of their mother, Diana and the <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/prince-harry-on-his-mental-health-struggles-and-processing-his-mothers-death">effect this had on their mental health</a>. Harry and Meghan’s interview with <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/oprah-winfrey-interviews-meghan-markle-prince-harry/">Oprah Winfrey</a> in March 2021 touched on questions of race, gender and suicidal thoughts. </p>
<p>Both Princes have also been involved with charities <a href="https://www.mind.org.uk/news-campaigns/campaigns/heads-together/#:%7E:text=Led%20by%20the%20Duke%20and,important%20conversations%20about%20mental%20health">raising awareness of mental health</a>. When younger members of the royal family, at least, become humanised in this way, satire on the institution as a whole becomes more complex. It might seem that the more the family appears to be made up of “real people”, the more distasteful satire directed at them appears to some commentators.</p>
<p>Given this new climate, where those figures at the top of society are able to position themselves as vulnerable, “punching up” is no longer as easy to justify.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168311/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Royal satire has softened over the last 300 years, but audiences are more sensitive to barbs against the institution.
Adam J Smith, Senior Lecturer in 18th-century Literature, York St John University
Jo Waugh, Senior Lecturer in English Literature, York St John University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/164789
2021-08-10T20:12:22Z
2021-08-10T20:12:22Z
‘Graphic medicine’: how autobiographical comics artists are changing our understanding of illness
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415348/original/file-20210810-21-1mr0ede.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C355%2C872%2C761&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Julia Wertz' The Infinite Wait and Other Stories looks at the author's diagnosis with lupus.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Julia Wertz</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Images have acted as crucial diagnostic tools since <a href="https://www.publicbooks.org/show-me-where-it-hurts-part-1/">the late 20th century</a>. Sophisticated technologies, such as X-Rays and MRIs, offer doctors a precise “picture” of illness. </p>
<p>But autobiographical comics about illness, known as “<a href="https://www.graphicmedicine.org/why-graphic-medicine/">graphic medicine</a>”, provide a different picture.</p>
<p>These comics capture what it’s like to be sick, undergo treatment or take on caring responsibilities. They visualise physical, cognitive and emotional symptoms that are difficult to communicate. They inject a human element into medicalised spaces, pushing back against data-driven, objective notions of the human condition. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415339/original/file-20210810-15-18torch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two celled cartoon: 'What if the entire future is only filled with horrible boring things? That would be too many.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415339/original/file-20210810-15-18torch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415339/original/file-20210810-15-18torch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415339/original/file-20210810-15-18torch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415339/original/file-20210810-15-18torch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415339/original/file-20210810-15-18torch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415339/original/file-20210810-15-18torch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415339/original/file-20210810-15-18torch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Hyperbole and a Half found legions of followers for the honest way it discussed living with depression.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2013/05/depression-part-two.html">Allie Brosh/Hyperbole and a Half</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>These comics are found in print, online and on social media. One of the most famous examples is Allie Brosh’s <a href="http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/">Hyperbole and a Half</a>. Beginning as a daily blog in 2009, it has since become <a href="https://www.pcworld.com/article/229201/laf.html">a phenomenon</a>. </p>
<p>Brosh’s early posts — featuring hilarious anecdotes of early childhood misadventures — quickly attracted a dedicated readership. But in 2013, the two-part series revealing her ongoing struggle with severe depression went viral: Depression Part Two received <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/media/2013/10/allie-brosh-hyperbole-half-book-depression/">over 1.5 million</a> views in a single day.</p>
<h2>An underground movement</h2>
<p>The phrase “graphic medicine” was coined by <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203079614-14/graphic-medicine-portrayal-illness-underground-autobiographical-comics-ian-williams">comics artist and physician Ian Williams in 2007</a>. Broadly referring to the intersection of comics and healthcare, the beginnings of the movement date back almost 50 years.</p>
<p>Across America between 1963 and 1975, artists and publishers of the <a href="http://www.tcj.com/the-50th-anniversary-of-underground-comix/">Underground Comix movement</a> produced small-press comics challenging contemporary taboos. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415340/original/file-20210810-13-20921w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Comic cover" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415340/original/file-20210810-13-20921w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415340/original/file-20210810-13-20921w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415340/original/file-20210810-13-20921w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415340/original/file-20210810-13-20921w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415340/original/file-20210810-13-20921w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1073&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415340/original/file-20210810-13-20921w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1073&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415340/original/file-20210810-13-20921w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1073&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary is recognised as both the first autobiographical comic, and a pioneer in graphic medicine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
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<p>The first autobiographical comic from the underground, Justin Green’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binky_Brown_Meets_the_Holy_Virgin_Mary">Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary</a> (1972) , was also a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22282425/">formative work</a> of graphic medicine. </p>
<p>Following a young man living with undiagnosed obsessive-compulsive disorder, Binky Brown’s symptoms manifest as religious hallucinations and psycho-sexual fixations. Green revealed deep, shameful moments through a semi-autobiographical narrator.</p>
<p>His ability to visualise a private, interior illness had a profound effect on the future of comics as literature. </p>
<p>One artist <a href="https://www.graphicmedicine.org/comic-reviews/justin-greens-binky-brown-sampler/">inspired by Green</a> was Art Spiegelman, who would go on to write the Pulitzer prize winning memoir <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2016/08/11/why-maus-remains-the-greatest-graphic-novel-ever-written-30-years-later/">Maus</a> (1986).</p>
<h2>Art and health</h2>
<p>Today, graphic medicine continues the underground tradition by exposing the silence around certain illnesses and sparking a new wave of publications both in print and online.</p>
<p>Brian Fies’ <a href="https://www.momscancer.com/">Mom’s Cancer</a> (2004) chronicled his mother’s metastatic lung cancer in serial instalments: a poignant glimpse into the course of cancer treatment and its effect on both patients and their families. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415342/original/file-20210810-19-ss2l4d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Comic cell: 'Now we wait and let the poisons work.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415342/original/file-20210810-19-ss2l4d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415342/original/file-20210810-19-ss2l4d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415342/original/file-20210810-19-ss2l4d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415342/original/file-20210810-19-ss2l4d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415342/original/file-20210810-19-ss2l4d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415342/original/file-20210810-19-ss2l4d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415342/original/file-20210810-19-ss2l4d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mom’s Cancer was published online in 2004, and found a readership of other carers supporting their loved ones through cancer treatment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Brian Fies</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Mom’s Cancer resonated with readers who saw themselves reflected in its images, anticipating the growing interest in stories about illness, disability and suffering — and a growing number of artists who wanted to share these stories.</p>
<p>In <a href="http://marblesbyellenforney.com/">Marbles: Mania, Depression, and Michelangelo, and Me</a> (2012), Ellen Forney explores her bipolar diagnosis by analysing the lives of other “tortured artists”. Julia Wertz’s <a href="http://www.juliawertz.com/2012/09/18/the-infinite-wait/">The Infinite Wait and Other Stories</a> (2012) looks at systemic lupus through a series of black-and-white graphic novellas. </p>
<p>Sarah Leavitt’s <a href="https://sarahleavitt.com/tangles/">Tangles: A Story of Alzheimer’s, My Mother, and Me</a> (2010) contemplates the uneasy role-reversal of caring for a parent with Alzheimer’s through a collection of notes and sketches spanning six years.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415345/original/file-20210810-23-4xu3zw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Comic cell: a woman and a man decide to call it 'poopus'." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415345/original/file-20210810-23-4xu3zw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415345/original/file-20210810-23-4xu3zw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415345/original/file-20210810-23-4xu3zw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415345/original/file-20210810-23-4xu3zw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415345/original/file-20210810-23-4xu3zw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=716&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415345/original/file-20210810-23-4xu3zw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=716&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415345/original/file-20210810-23-4xu3zw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=716&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Julia Wertz used simple black and white graphics to tell the story of her lupus diagnosis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Julia Wertz</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The experiences of medical professionals are also part of this genre. </p>
<p>Williams’ own graphic novel, <a href="https://www.graphicmedicine.org/comic-reviews/the-bad-doctor/">The Bad Doctor</a> (2014), depicts obstacles experienced by a general practitioner working in a small, rural town. In <a href="https://comicnurse.com/book/taking-turns/">Taking Turns: Stories from HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371</a> (2017), M.K. Czerwiec combines her memories of working in a HIV/AIDS unit at the height of the AIDS crisis with oral histories from patients, families, staff and volunteers.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.on-culture.org/journal/issue-11/you-cant-combat-nothing/">my research</a>, I have found graphic medicine points to intense cultural demand for stories of illness that are embodied, visual and subjective. New trends suggest these stories appear increasingly within the fluid and interconnected spaces of the internet, mapping new engagements with illness by collapsing the boundaries between authors and readers. </p>
<p>Far from the underground, these personal narratives traverse digital platforms and broadcast to vast communities.</p>
<p>They bring us even closer to the realities of living with illness.</p>
<h2>Laying emotions bare</h2>
<p>The inclination to draw one’s self online has shifted from blogs like Hyperbole and Mom’s Cancer onto social media, where illness is embedded into <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3290605.3300495?casa_token=FNuVsAD3TdMAAAAA:kq9y7zYywnx8cBPHajOaA0e02GDZ17fXb8KvegVuyCXExo2EyGeoDdoRV00ur5S_ocGVyibIIIJ5Zw">how we represent our daily lives</a>.</p>
<p>Alec MacDonald’s Instagram account, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/alecwithpen/?hl=en">@alecwithpen</a> emerged from a desire to regain control from chronic anxiety and depression. Like Brosh, MacDonald’s self-deprecating humour communicates an underlying struggle with mental health to over 270,000 followers. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CPET4XlDBSi","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>In a cartoonish style, MacDonald uses metaphors to make his imaginings visible: childhood anxiety takes the shape of a giant, purple amorphous blob prone to swallowing him up; his black eye stands for parts of himself that shut down from mental illness and trauma. </p>
<p>The immediacy and accessibility of the internet – with its relatively low threshold to publication – means stories of illness circulate as never before.</p>
<p>Throughout 2020 and into 2021, we have been routinely confronted with images of the pandemic: infographics of infection hot spots, photographs of mask wearing, medical illustrations, government advertisements and <a href="https://theconversation.com/vaccine-selfies-may-seem-trivial-but-they-show-people-doing-their-civic-duty-and-probably-encourage-others-too-164950">vaccine selfies</a>. Throughout it all, <a href="https://www.graphicmedicine.org/covid-19-comics/">COVID-19 comics</a> from doctors, caregivers, patients and artists online gave voice to the humans in the story.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CIZATXfs2cS","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>These works lay bare the vulnerabilities associated with experiencing, treating and witnessing illness, proving the power of drawing in capturing events that might not otherwise be possible to describe or understand.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164789/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shannon Sandford does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
From the blog ‘Mom’s Cancer’ to novellas about lupus to moving Instagram posts, comic artists are humanising illnesses.
Shannon Sandford, PhD Candidate, Flinders University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/162566
2021-06-21T11:27:39Z
2021-06-21T11:27:39Z
The art of Aphantasia: how ‘mind blind’ artists create without being able to visualise
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407200/original/file-20210618-16-8hefm7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C963%2C678&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Glen Keane at work</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfUp0cy2zoM">Google ATAP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Glen Keane, the Oscar-winning artist behind such Disney classics as The Little Mermaid (1989), was once described by Ed Catmull the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-47830256">former president</a> of Pixar and Walt Disney Studios as “one of the best animators in the history of hand-drawn animation”. But when he sat down to design Ariel, or indeed the beast from Beauty and the Beast (1991), Keane’s mind was a blank. He had no preconception of what he would draw. </p>
<p>This is because he has <a href="https://theconversation.com/aphantasia-explained-some-people-cant-form-mental-pictures-162445">aphantasia</a>, a recently-identified variation of human experience <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2009-05537-003">affecting 2-5% of the population</a>, in which a person is unable to generate mental imagery. Perhaps surprisingly, Keane is not alone in being a visual artist who cannot visualise. </p>
<p>When aphantasia was <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010945215001781?via%3Dihub">named</a> and publicised, a number of creative practitioners – artists, designers and architects – contacted the researchers to say that they too had no “mind’s eye”. Intrigued by the seemingly counter-intuitive notion, we gathered a group of these people together and curated an <a href="https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/cspe/engagement/extreme-imagination/">exhibition</a> of their work.</p>
<p>How is it, then, that a person like Keane can draw a picture of Ariel without a mental picture to guide him?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A swirl of indecipherable pencil lines" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407201/original/file-20210618-22-15tgnnn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407201/original/file-20210618-22-15tgnnn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407201/original/file-20210618-22-15tgnnn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407201/original/file-20210618-22-15tgnnn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407201/original/file-20210618-22-15tgnnn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407201/original/file-20210618-22-15tgnnn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407201/original/file-20210618-22-15tgnnn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An early-stage sketch of Ariel from the Little Mermaid by Glen Keane.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL4U9Ygtxh8&ab_channel=GoogleDevelopers">Disney/Google Developers/YouTube</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Knowing vs picturing</h2>
<p>The first point to consider is that there is a difference between knowing or remembering what something looks like and generating a mental image of that thing. To draw it, you only need to know how it looks, or would look.</p>
<p>As the psychologist of art <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=DWmtB9szhFsC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false">Rudolf Arnheim</a> noted, a draftsperson working from memory “may deny convincingly that he has anything like an explicit picture of [the object] in his mind” – yet, as he works, “the correctness of what he is producing on paper” is judged and modified “according to some standard in the mind”. </p>
<p>We’ve found that aphantasics retain such standards. “MX”, the subject of the first <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19733188/">case study of acquired aphantasia</a>, could give detailed descriptions of scenes and landmarks around his native Edinburgh: “I can remember visual details,” he commented, “but I can’t see them”. </p>
<p>Aphantasia prevents the generation of mental images based on knowledge of what things look like, but it does not prevent that knowledge serving as the basis for an image made with pencil and paper. Keane can draw a picture of Ariel because he knows what humans (and fish) look like, and that information – plus the skills acquired through study and practice – steers his hand accordingly.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A neat sketch of Ariel the mermaid, body foreshortened, swimming towards the viewer" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407203/original/file-20210618-27-qol7by.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407203/original/file-20210618-27-qol7by.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407203/original/file-20210618-27-qol7by.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407203/original/file-20210618-27-qol7by.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407203/original/file-20210618-27-qol7by.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407203/original/file-20210618-27-qol7by.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407203/original/file-20210618-27-qol7by.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A later-stage sketch of Ariel the mermaid by Glen Keane.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL4U9Ygtxh8&ab_channel=GoogleDevelopers">Disney/Google Developers/YouTube</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Seeing vs imagining</h2>
<p>Another seemingly obvious but important point is that whereas mental visualisation takes place entirely within the brain, drawing is a partly external act, taking place in front of the artist’s eyes. When you draw, you perceive the marks you make. Each change, perceived, suggests the next, in a <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2009-11133-004">feedback loop</a>. You don’t have to imagine. </p>
<p>Many of the aphantasic artists we spoke to emphasised this aspect of their creative process: they would need to “get something down” on the paper or canvas, or even start with a pre-existing image, which they can then alter, erase or add to. When Keane draws Ariel, he begins with what he calls an “explosion of scribbles”, then highlights and subtracts lines until he finds the form that he wants. </p>
<p>Designing the Beast was a similar process of trial and error. Keane started by copying the buffalo’s head that hung in his studio, then tried out features from various other animals – a gorilla’s brow, a lion’s main. A cow’s slightly drooping ears, he discovered, made the Beast less threatening. The eureka moment was when he added human eyes. For Keane, it was “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ftHVPJJ26I">like recognising somebody you know</a>”. Someone he knew, but couldn’t picture.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u5a0Rl4D_UA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Creativity diversified</h2>
<p>The way that aphantasics like Keane work challenges the stereotype of the creative artist that has held sway over Western culture for centuries, at least since the Renaissance biographer <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=43yEDKzADr0C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false">Giorgio Vasari</a> declared that “the greatest geniuses…are searching for inventions in their minds, forming those perfect ideas which their hands then express”.</p>
<p>Vasari was referring to Leonardo da Vinci and his comments show how we have come to think of artistic creativity as being an internal capacity, the fruits of which are simply reproduced in the outside world. The artist of genius is distinguished by the richness of their mental conceptions as much as their artworks. </p>
<p>But there are historical reasons for the stereotype: career-minded Renaissance artists wanting to define themselves against the craftsman and his rule-following, manual labour, for one. </p>
<p>And while there are individuals who, experiencing vivid imagery, do mentally preconceive their artworks, Keane and his fellow aphantasics show that the creative process can just as easily begin with, and depend on, the material world around them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162566/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew MacKisack does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The condition challenges the centuries-old idea that all great artists are able to envision what they’re drawing.
Matthew MacKisack, Associate Research Fellow, University of Exeter
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/160455
2021-06-10T04:06:11Z
2021-06-10T04:06:11Z
Kapow! Zap! Splat! How comics make sound on the page
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404737/original/file-20210607-21-1xsoanf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=59%2C29%2C6563%2C4378&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/BVNmFNShq6U">Unsplash/Joe Ciciarelli</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Typically, comics are considered a silent medium. But while they don’t come with an aural soundtrack, comics have a unique grammar for sound. </p>
<p>From Wolverine’s <em>SNIKT!</em> when unsheathing his claws, to Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Death-Stalin-Fabien-Nury/dp/1785863401">The Death of Stalin</a> (later made into a film) the use of “textual audio” invites comics readers to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt14bthzd">hear with their eyes</a>.</p>
<p>Fundamental elements such as symbols, font styles and onomatopoeia (where words imitate sounds) mean reading comics is a cross-sensory experience. New and old examples show the endless potential of the artform. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404734/original/file-20210607-23-1jm9kme.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="comic book pages" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404734/original/file-20210607-23-1jm9kme.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404734/original/file-20210607-23-1jm9kme.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404734/original/file-20210607-23-1jm9kme.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404734/original/file-20210607-23-1jm9kme.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404734/original/file-20210607-23-1jm9kme.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404734/original/file-20210607-23-1jm9kme.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404734/original/file-20210607-23-1jm9kme.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kaboom! and splosh! on every page.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/nUL9aPgGvgM">Unsplash/Miika Laaksonen</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2><strong>Holy onomatopoeia Batman!</strong></h2>
<p><a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/onomatopoeia">Onomatopoeia</a> — isn’t unique to comics but comic artists have certainly <a href="https://www.cbr.com/the-15-most-iconic-comic-book-sound-effects/">perfected this figurative form of language</a>. <em>POW! BAM! BANG!</em> appear on the page when Batman and Robin land a punch. <em>BLAM!</em> is the sound made by the Penguin’s umbrella when it shoots from a distance. </p>
<p>The list of sounds represented by onomatopoeia is limitless in terms of creative potential. There are words that mimic sounds directly, such as SPLOSH! (the sound made by an object falling into water) and made-up sounds like that of Wolverine’s adamantium claws (as we will see further below).</p>
<p>The language of comics offers creative freedom to expand the aural lexicon. One <a href="http://www.comicbookfx.com/fxlist.php">online database</a> lists over 2500 comic book sounds with links to comics images in which they’ve been used.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404751/original/file-20210607-27-10nnnms.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="cowboy comic" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404751/original/file-20210607-27-10nnnms.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404751/original/file-20210607-27-10nnnms.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=257&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404751/original/file-20210607-27-10nnnms.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=257&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404751/original/file-20210607-27-10nnnms.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=257&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404751/original/file-20210607-27-10nnnms.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404751/original/file-20210607-27-10nnnms.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404751/original/file-20210607-27-10nnnms.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Stan Lee’s Gunsmoke Western (1955) #68, with lettering and pencilling by Dick Ayers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.comicbookfx.com/result.php?exact=1&FX=BLAM!">The Comic Book Sound Effect Database</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This can also present special <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317022280_Approach_to_the_translation_of_sound_in_comic_books">challenges for translators</a>. Sounds represented in comics can <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317022280_Approach_to_the_translation_of_sound_in_comic_books">range</a> from speech sounds (subject to language rules including <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/phonotactics-phonology-term-4071087#:%7E:text=Phonotactic%20constraints%20are%20rules%20and,predictable%20part%20of%20its%20structure.%22">those</a> governing how syllables can be formed) to human-made non-verbal sounds like sneezes, to sounds made by objects and environments. </p>
<p>Visual context is important too. We only recognise the warning of Wolverine’s violent retribution in <em>SNIKT!</em> when the word is drawn and displayed next to the hairy mutant. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400199/original/file-20210512-19-1yhzdkk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="comics image of man with claws" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400199/original/file-20210512-19-1yhzdkk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400199/original/file-20210512-19-1yhzdkk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400199/original/file-20210512-19-1yhzdkk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400199/original/file-20210512-19-1yhzdkk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400199/original/file-20210512-19-1yhzdkk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400199/original/file-20210512-19-1yhzdkk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400199/original/file-20210512-19-1yhzdkk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wolverine extends his claws.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Likewise, the <a href="https://gizmodo.com/boom-how-comic-book-sounds-become-movie-sounds-5656616">word <em>THWIP!</em></a> by itself may not mean much. But when positioned in context it can imbue a comic page with excitement and adventure. </p>
<p>Imagine a young man dressed in a tight red-and-blue bodysuit diving at high speed from the top of the Empire State building. Suddenly, just before hitting the ground, <em>THWIP!</em> he shoots spider webs from his wrists, using them to swing from building to building. Both readers and the crowd of enthusiastic fans on the page react: “Here comes Spidey!” </p>
<h2>The way they say it</h2>
<p>Comic creators also use <a href="https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/02/comic-sound-effects-comic-artists-lee-marrs-ryan-north-and-ben-towle-talk-how-they-write-down-unusual-sounds.html">font style and size</a> and different speech bubble shapes and effects to shout, whisper or scream language. </p>
<p>Bold, italics, punctuation, faded or irregular letters are used to emphasise different features of the written words: fear, courage, loudness or quietness. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12959045-my-friend-dahmer">My Friend Dahmer</a>, created by a school friend of the infamous serial killer, the protagonist is seen carrying a dead cat on his way home by a group of kids. Comics creator John “Derf” Backderf applies bigger-bold words in one of the kids’ speech balloon to emphasise the shouting and surprise of onlookers.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404781/original/file-20210607-27-q4l865.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="comic book page" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404781/original/file-20210607-27-q4l865.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404781/original/file-20210607-27-q4l865.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404781/original/file-20210607-27-q4l865.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404781/original/file-20210607-27-q4l865.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404781/original/file-20210607-27-q4l865.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404781/original/file-20210607-27-q4l865.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404781/original/file-20210607-27-q4l865.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">My Friend Dahmer (2012) by Derf Backderf.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/heroes-villains-biology-3-reasons-comic-books-are-great-science-teachers-143251">Heroes, villains ... biology: 3 reasons comic books are great science teachers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Music to my eyes</h2>
<p>The 1973 manga <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/116223.Barefoot_Gen_Volume_One">Barefoot Gen</a>, written by Keiji Nakazawa, explores his firsthand experience of the bombing of Hiroshima and its aftermath. </p>
<p>Gen, the main character, sings through several pages of the story. The author uses a musical note symbol (<strong>♪</strong>) to indicate where speech bubbles are sung. By the final pages of the fourth volume, Gen sings to celebrate that his hair is beginning to grow again after being affected by radiation poisoning. </p>
<p>When preceded by the easily recognisable musical symbol, it’s virtually impossible to read the dialogue without “hearing” a melody: </p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>♪</strong> “Red roof on a green hilltop … </p>
<p>A bell tower shaped like a pixie hat… </p>
<p>The bell rings, ding-dong-ding … </p>
<p>The baby goats sing along, baa-baa-baa …” <strong>♪</strong> </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Expanding on this concept, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13378509-how-to-talk-to-girls-at-parties">How to Talk to Girls at Parties</a> by Neil Gaiman contains musical panels where the combination of drawings, words and signs present a soundtrack. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400200/original/file-20210512-21-136heh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="comic page" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400200/original/file-20210512-21-136heh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400200/original/file-20210512-21-136heh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400200/original/file-20210512-21-136heh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400200/original/file-20210512-21-136heh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400200/original/file-20210512-21-136heh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400200/original/file-20210512-21-136heh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400200/original/file-20210512-21-136heh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The How to Talk to Girls at Parties party scene (created by Neil Gaiman, Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá) gives us a sense of how the scene sounds to the characters in it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In film terminology, this is <a href="https://www.masterclass.com/articles/diegetic-sound-and-non-diegetic-sound-whats-the-difference#3-examples-of-diegetic-sound">diegetic sound</a> — noises or tunes from within the storyworld — as opposed to a narrative voiceover or a musical soundtrack the characters can’t hear within the story. </p>
<p>In Gaiman’s comic a combination of illustrations, musical notes and words (including the onomatopoeic <em>TUM</em> for a base drum beat) convey the sense that music fills every room of the house where a party is taking place.</p>
<p>In the political satire comic that inspired a <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4686844/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">movie</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Death-Stalin-Fabien-Nury/dp/1785863401">The Death of Stalin</a> creator Fabien Nury and illustrator Thierry Robin show lines from Mozart’s orchestral score for his Piano Concerto No. 23 at the bottom of two pages. This adds drama to a climactic scene where Russian leader suffers a stroke. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400201/original/file-20210512-17-rh2fcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="comics frames of stalin dying" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400201/original/file-20210512-17-rh2fcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400201/original/file-20210512-17-rh2fcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400201/original/file-20210512-17-rh2fcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400201/original/file-20210512-17-rh2fcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400201/original/file-20210512-17-rh2fcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400201/original/file-20210512-17-rh2fcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400201/original/file-20210512-17-rh2fcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The musical score can add pace and drama to an already dramatic scene.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author'</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Next time you read a comic book, make sure you listen carefully. <em>KABOOM!</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160455/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Victor Araneda Jure does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
When we read comics, we ‘hear’ sound on the page. Creators are experts at this cross-sensory form of storytelling - indeed one database lists over 2500 comic book sounds.
Victor Araneda Jure, Teaching Associate / Filmmaker, Monash University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/159797
2021-04-27T15:12:09Z
2021-04-27T15:12:09Z
Shrek at 20: celebrating the film’s unique brand of animated anarchy and sardonic irreverence
<p>While Pixar’s groundbreaking <a href="https://theconversation.com/toy-story-at-25-how-pixars-debut-evolved-tradition-rather-than-abandoning-it-149873">Toy Story</a> often achieves plaudits for the shot in the arm it gave Hollywood animation in the mid-1990s, it’s impossible to ignore the influence of DreamWorks’ 2001 computer-animated hit Shrek. The grubbier and more sarcastic sibling to Woody and Buzz, Shrek was a milestone for American cartoons that paved the way for a unique brand of animated anarchy and sardonic irreverence that still holds sway across the industry today.</p>
<p>Back in 2001, animation’s digital revolution was slowly but surely gaining momentum. In the US alone, the first Toy Story in 1995 was followed by Pixar’s insect-themed epic A Bug’s Life three years later, and then a second outing for Woody and the gang in Toy Story 2 in 1999. There was also a handful of other features, from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaI7ZPA9I1c&ab_channel=TrailersPlaygroundHD">Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within</a> (2001) to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7vGlqs3-cE&ab_channel=ParamountMovies">Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius</a> (2001), which further tested the possibilities of computer-generated (CG) characters to varying degrees of success. And then came Shrek.</p>
<p>DreamWorks had already dipped its toes into the digital waters with its CG debut <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX_qRwVXWYQ&ab_channel=ParamountMovies">Antz</a> in 1998. A film about an underground ant colony, it seemed to gazump rival feature A Bug’s Life, which would appear in cinemas only a month later. </p>
<p>The competition between the two films was further stoked by the fact that DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg had been fired from Walt Disney in 1994 by then-president and CEO Michael Eisner. Katzenberg, it seemed, had beaten Disney to the punch.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CwXOrWvPBPk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>Antz grossed a healthy US$171.8 million internationally (though roughly half of A Bug’s Life’s US$363.3 million). It was next followed by the studio’s brief forays into traditional animated production with The Prince of Egypt and The Road to El Dorado. </p>
<p>However, it was the commercial and critical success of Shrek that really announced Katzenberg’s DreamWorks as a major force in a blossoming US animation industry. The film earned a whopping US$488 million internationally, cementing DreamWorks as a serious competitor for animation audiences and posing the first recognised threat to Pixar’s CG supremacy.</p>
<h2>Beyond ‘Once Upon a Time…’</h2>
<p>Adapted from William Steig’s 1990 picture book of the same name, the animated Shrek set the template for a particular kind of adult-oriented cartoon. Magic kingdoms were firmly out, and mud baths and swamps were very much in. </p>
<p>The film’s ironic distance, scornful approach to its fairy tale subject matter, smattering of literary and film references, as well as its broader pop culture literacy, have all since impacted the tone of several blockbuster animated features. </p>
<p>The “tech” of Shrek also marked a step-up for computer graphics. This included the sophisticated digital rendering of fire and water, and the illusion of convincing human characters. </p>
<p>Behind-the-scenes, Shrek was no less revolutionary in the handling of its A-list celebrity voice cast. Animation studios have a longstanding history of casting bankable stars to voice their cartoon creations. However, actors Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy and John Lithgow were positioned front and centre as part of the film’s advertising campaign in ways <a href="https://ew.com/article/2001/05/18/shrek-should-outearn-mummy-returns/">not seen before in the marketing</a> of mainstream animated features.</p>
<h2>Continuing the Legacy</h2>
<p>Shrek’s appeal since its original release in April 2001 has steadily increased. This has been thanks to a profitable franchise, including a cycle of big-screen sequels (three between 2004 and 2010) and spin-offs like 2011’s Puss in Boots, and Christmas and Halloween TV specials. There have also been video game adaptations, a stage musical on Broadway and a theme park ride. All have preserved and expanded the Shrek mythology. </p>
<p>As the original film hits its 20th anniversary, accompanied by the hashtag #<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/shrek20thanniversary">Shrek20thAnniversary</a>, numerous animators and artists have been vocal across social media in their praise for the film. Previously unseen artwork have been shared alongside storyboards, early CGI test material and even audio footage of comedian <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3049545/chris-farley-was-originally-the-voice-of-shrek-and-footage-has-finally-surfaced">Chris Farley’s original performance as Shrek</a> (Farley died in December 1997 having recorded a substantial portion of the role, only to be replaced by Myers).</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/em9lziI07M4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>The Hollywood trade press has also got in on the act of championing Shrek’s legacy. <a href="https://variety.com/2021/artisans/news/shrek-20th-anniversary-soundtrack-1234955248/">Variety recently heralded</a> Shrek’s soundtrack as a “millennial cultural touchstone,” explaining how its turn towards contemporary music instead of original songs marked a first for popular animated features (the soundtrack featured on the <a href="https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2001/top-billboard-200-albums">Billboard 200</a> and also achieved a <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/shrek-music-from-the-original-motion-picture-debuts-on-vinyl-300863723.html">Grammy nomination</a>). </p>
<p>Shrek’s signature hit – Smash Mouth’s “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_jWHffIx5E&ab_channel=SmashMouthVEVO">All Star</a>” which served to introduce the bad-tempered ogre in the film’s opening sequence – was certainly a departure from Disney’s “A Whole New World” and “Circle of Life”. Yet its bombastic tone once again fitted the film’s playful anti-Disney sensibility. Shrek’s frequent aims at the Mouse House’s recognisable narrative formula and saccharine sentimentality were deemed a pointed dig at Katzenberg’s former employers too.</p>
<p>The future of Shrek on the big screen remains unresolved. <a href="https://screenrant.com/shrek-5-every-confirmed-detail-so-far/">A fifth film has been in the works for years</a>, cancelled, revived, and then cancelled again. The current word is that Shrek, Donkey and Fiona might yet appear in another instalment.</p>
<p>For fans of the iconic Shrek, it’s definitely not ogre yet.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159797/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Holliday does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Released in 2001, it was the first film to really give Pixar a run for its money.
Christopher Holliday, Lecturer in Film Studies, Department of Liberal Arts, King's College London
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/144503
2020-08-14T06:48:36Z
2020-08-14T06:48:36Z
The Australian’s racist Kamala Harris cartoon shows why diversity in newsrooms matters
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352878/original/file-20200814-24-1jn28cg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=586%2C64%2C3320%2C2379&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Carolyn Kaster/AP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A Johannes Leak cartoon published in The Australian today, in which US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is depicted calling his vice-presidential running mate Kamala Harris a “little brown girl”, has drawn widespread condemnation.</p>
<p>Several Australian politicians, including former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, have described the cartoon as racist, as have a suite of journalists and media observers (ex-Labor leader Mark Latham <a href="https://twitter.com/RealMarkLatham/status/1294120750010359809">said</a> he loved it).</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1294078231197310976"}"></div></p>
<p>I am firmly in the camp that thinks this is a racist and sexist cartoon. As a journalism lecturer with an ongoing <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-media-has-been-too-white-for-too-long-this-is-how-to-bring-more-diversity-to-newsrooms-141602">interest</a> in the diversity of Australian media, I think today’s outrage shows there is still much work ahead in making newsrooms less overwhelmingly white.</p>
<h2>Context matters</h2>
<p>My own view is this cartoon should never have been published, and it has no place in Australian media. I’m glad to see Australian politicians and public figures coming forward and saying it’s unacceptable.</p>
<p>The Australian’s editor-in-chief, Chris Dore, told Guardian Australia that Leak’s cartoon “was quoting Biden’s words” from a tweet the US politician issued this week about young girls drawing inspiration from Harris.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1293654742820777984"}"></div></p>
<p>“When Johannes used those words, expressed in a tweet by Biden yesterday, he was highlighting Biden’s language and apparent attitudes, not his own,” Dore told Guardian Australia. “The intention of the commentary in the cartoon was to ridicule racism, not perpetuate it.”</p>
<p>I think Dore’s explanation is unconvincing. Biden’s tweet is clearly referring to girls who look up to Harris. It’s a massive sidestep to say Biden is talking down to his recent vice-presidential pick. The contexts are totally different.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1294102251804344325"}"></div></p>
<p>I cannot imagine The Australian published today’s cartoon without knowing it would provoke outrage - and that this outrage would delight parts of their audience. Part of the delight is in the outrage it provokes. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-media-has-been-too-white-for-too-long-this-is-how-to-bring-more-diversity-to-newsrooms-141602">Australia's media has been too white for too long. This is how to bring more diversity to newsrooms</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Australia looks backward</h2>
<p>It’s hardly the first time, either, that a racist cartoon published in our mainstream media makes us look backward and out of step as a country.</p>
<p>Think back to the embarrassing episode of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-10-08/hey-hey-red-faced-over-blackface-skit/1094878">blackface on Hey Hey It’s Saturday in 2009</a>, or <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-white-mans-burden-bill-leak-and-telling-the-truth-about-aboriginal-lives-63524">Johannes Leak’s father Bill’s cartoons in the past</a>, and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-herald-suns-serena-williams-cartoon-draws-on-a-long-and-damaging-history-of-racist-caricature-102982">Herald Sun’s widely condemned Mark Knight cartoon depiction of Serena Williams in 2018</a>. (It should be noted, the Press Council ruled the latter “non-racist” and Knight defended it - unconvincingly - by saying he had “absolutely no knowledge” of the Jim Crow-era cartoons of African-Americans.) </p>
<p>These examples show the work of making sure Australian newsrooms are diverse is ongoing. </p>
<p>There’s still so much room for improvement when it comes to editorial decisions, reporting and making sure we have a range of stories told about who we are as a country. That hasn’t been done well so far in Australia and cannot be done well while the media is largely dominated by white men. </p>
<p>As I wrote in an earlier Conversation <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-media-has-been-too-white-for-too-long-this-is-how-to-bring-more-diversity-to-newsrooms-141602">article</a>, despite a <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/education/face-facts-cultural-diversity">quarter</a> of Australians being born overseas and nearly half having at least one parent who was born overseas, our media organisations remain blindingly white.</p>
<p>A 2016 PriceWaterhouseCoopers <a href="https://www.pwc.com.au/press-room/2016/media-outlook-jun16.html">report</a> found 82.7% of Australia’s media workers speak just one language, and speak only English at home. There’s a high prevalence of media workers in the inner Sydney suburbs, it found, concluding that a lack of diversity – in ethnicity, gender and age – is holding back industry growth.</p>
<p>Unless these trends are addressed, we will continue to see work like Leak’s cartoon making it through the gate.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-herald-suns-serena-williams-cartoon-draws-on-a-long-and-damaging-history-of-racist-caricature-102982">The Herald Sun's Serena Williams cartoon draws on a long and damaging history of racist caricature</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A long history</h2>
<p>There’s a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-herald-suns-serena-williams-cartoon-draws-on-a-long-and-damaging-history-of-racist-caricature-102982">long history</a> of racist cartoons in Australian media. What’s different is the response. Today’s cartoon has blown up on Twitter — and yes, I realise it is a place closely watched by Australian politicians and media people but largely ignored by most Australians — but at least the online outcry allows some kind of accountability. </p>
<p>In the past, the media could publish racist cartoons without being called to account. These days, the pushback is manifesting in real time.</p>
<p>Should we all have just shaken our heads and ignored it? I don’t think so. Once something like that is published, the horse has bolted and you have to respond. I think collectively ignoring a racist cartoon won’t remove its prominence or significance. </p>
<p>We are forced to revisit this debate every time a racist cartoon or article is published, or a racist comment put to air. I hope that by revisiting it forcefully enough and by making these points enough times, the conversation moves forward and we can make some progress. I also hope racist cartoons are never published in Australia’s mainstream media again. But I won’t be holding my breath. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/racist-reporting-still-rife-in-australian-media-88957">Racist reporting still rife in Australian media</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144503/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janak Rogers does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Unless we address the lack of diversity in newsrooms, we will continue to see work like Leak’s cartoon making it through the gate.
Janak Rogers, Associate Lecturer, Broadcast Journalism, RMIT University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/137910
2020-05-07T15:13:10Z
2020-05-07T15:13:10Z
Comics and cartoons are a powerful way to teach kids about COVID-19
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332684/original/file-20200505-83745-16byjqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An image from My Hero is You, produced by the UN and several humanitarian agencies.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">IASC/Helen Patuck</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The global COVID-19 pandemic has turned children’s lives upside down. Stay-at-home orders mean that they cannot go to school, visit a playground or spend time with friends. Just like adults, they may be scared and frustrated.</p>
<p>But given the right information, children can be powerful agents of change in their families and communities. That’s according to a <a href="https://www.unicef.org/cwc/files/CwC_Final_Nov-2011(1).pdf">UNICEF guide for communicating with children</a>. This guide highlights the need to communicate with children in an age-appropriate, culturally sensitive, inclusive and positive way. It emphasises that to be effective, the communication must be interesting and engaging.</p>
<p>In response to the current pandemic, leading health scientists and child psychologists have joined forces with writers, educators and artists to produce innovative communication materials. These range from children’s books and videos to infographics and comics. It’s a powerful collaboration: scientists provide the credibility and accuracy, while artists ensure this is communicated with creative flair and appealing design.</p>
<p>And there’s science to back up their efforts. An <a href="https://jcom.sissa.it/archive/17/01/JCOM_1701_2018_Y01">academic overview of research looking at educational comics</a> has concluded that comics have great potential to make complex topics more meaningful to diverse audiences. This is achieved by combining visuals with powerful metaphors, character-driven narratives and emotionally charged storylines. <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2012-19688-007">Scholars confirm that</a> science-themed comics can both entertain and educate, thereby stimulating interest in science topics. </p>
<p>Comic books have been shown to be <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21548455.2014.941040">more effective than textbooks in increasing interest in and enjoyment</a> of science topics. The medium is particularly effective at <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042813037725">engaging low literacy audiences</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3859376/">young people with a low interest in science</a>. </p>
<p>Cartoons and comics may, research suggests, be <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3859376/">particularly effective when trying to explain viruses</a> and how they affect our health.</p>
<p>Here are some of the best examples I have come across in the past few weeks. All were created especially for communicating about the novel coronavirus and COVID-19. Importantly, these resources are shared freely online, and some are translated into several languages. </p>
<h2>A variety of resources</h2>
<p>A fantasy creature called Ario is the lead character in <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/09-04-2020-children-s-story-book-released-to-help-children-and-young-people-cope-with-covid-19">My Hero is You</a>. The book resulted from collaboration between several agencies of the United Nations and several dozen organisations working in the humanitarian sector. Ario helps children to understand why the coronavirus is changing their lives and how to cope when they are feeling worried, angry or sad. </p>
<p>Script writer Helen Patuck drew on input from more than 1,700 children, parents, caregivers and teachers from around the world who shared their ways of coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. This online book is also available in audio format. Translation has been finalised or is in progress in more than 100 languages.</p>
<p>Vaayu is the superhero who’s been called upon to help Indian children cope with the pandemic in <a href="https://countercurrents.org/2020/03/a-comic-strip-on-coronavirus-for-kids-kids-vaayu-corona-who-wins-the-fight">a comic book issued by the Indian ministry of health and family welfare</a>.</p>
<p>From Singapore comes a series of <a href="https://sph.nus.edu.sg/covid-19/public-education/">comic strips</a> for young children featuring Baffled Bunny and Curious Cat. They’re seeking advice and clarification from Doctor Duck. This series was created by award-winning graphic novelist Sonny Liew, who worked with Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang, the programme leader for infectious diseases at the National University of Singapore.</p>
<p>Nosy Crow, a UK publisher, has created <a href="https://nosycrow.com/blog/released-today-free-information-book-explaining-coronavirus-children-illustrated-gruffalo-illustrator-axel-scheffler/">a digital book for primary school age children</a>, with the help of Professor Graham Medley of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, an expert in the modelling of infectious diseases. The book is also available as <a href="https://lapa.co.za/koronavirus-n-boek-vir-kinders-eboek">a free e-book in Afrikaans</a>, with text by South African author Jaco Jacobs.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/02/28/809580453/just-for-kids-a-comic-exploring-the-new-coronavirus">After asking experts in mental health what kids may want to know about the coronavirus</a>, Cory Turner, an educational reporter on National Public Radio, created <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/02/28/809580453/just-for-kids-a-comic-exploring-the-new-coronavirus">an online comic</a> that is also available in a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PYrKYfOBa4p-azI5z_46KJMbi1FSmL_Y/view">printable “zine” version</a>. It’s available in <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/06/811752935/">Chinese</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/04/01/822540659/solo-para-chicos-y-chicas-un-c-mic-sobre-el-nuevo-coronavirus">Spanish</a> too.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://sacoronavirus.co.za/category/explaining-covid-19-to-kids/">comic strip promoted by the South African health department</a> features Wazi, who asks questions about the coronavirus and then shares advice provided by his parents and teachers.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.oaky.co.za/">Oaky and the Virus</a> was written by South African author, poet and academic Athol Williams. It’s available in English, isiZulu, Siswati, Sepedi and Tshivenda, and helps children understand why they have to stay at home and wash their hands regularly.</p>
<p>Jive Media Africa, a science communication agency in South Africa, <a href="https://jivemedia.co.za/category/media/comics/">created a series of cartoon-based infographics</a> with “Hay’khona Corona” as a theme. “Hay’khona” is a South African expression meaning “no, definitely not!”. These infographics are based on the World Health Organisation’s guidelines around COVID-19. They’re available in several of South Africa’s official languages, as well as languages spoken in other parts of the continent like Yoruba, KiSwahili, French and Portuguese.</p>
<p>Instagrammers are also creating and sharing graphics about coping with COVID-19, with good examples at “comicallysane”, “callouscomics” and “comicsforgood”.</p>
<h2>Evidence-based communication</h2>
<p>Of course, comic strips aren’t just for kids. Some have been created specifically for adults, tackling questions about the coronavirus with a mixture of education and humour. One example is <a href="https://www.graphicmedicine.org/covid-19-comics/">a collection</a> curated by <a href="https://www.graphicmedicine.org/about/">Graphic Medicine</a>, a health communication platform created by a team of researchers, information specialists and artists.</p>
<p>All of this work and the many other comics and cartoons available to help explain COVID-19 show that these media are far from frivolous. Scientists and communicators are <a href="https://jcom.sissa.it/archive/08/04/Jcom0804%282009%29A02">becoming more aware</a> of the special appeal and communication potential of science comics, and are starting to use them as part of an evidence-based portfolio of communication tools.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137910/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marina Joubert does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Scientists provide the credibility and accuracy, while the artists ensure this is communicated with creative flair and appealing designs.
Marina Joubert, Science Communication Researcher, Stellenbosch University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/119264
2019-09-10T12:40:24Z
2019-09-10T12:40:24Z
The strange connection between Bobby Kennedy’s death and Scooby-Doo
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291750/original/file-20190910-190026-otnyex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=123%2C16%2C1317%2C943&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!' was a funky, lighthearted alternative to the action cartoons that, for years, had dominated Saturday morning lineups.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://i0.wp.com/geekdad.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/09/SCOOBY-DOO_9.38.26.jpg?resize=1748%2C1309&ssl=1">GeekDad</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Scooby-Doo has appeared in a whopping 16 television series, two live-action films, 35 direct-to-DVD movies, 20 video games, 13 comic book series and five stage shows. Now, with “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3152592/">Scoob!</a>,” the Mystery Incorporated gang will appear in a CGI feature-length film, which, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is going to be released to video-on-demand on May 15.</p>
<p>The very first television series, “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063950/">Scooby-Doo, Where are You!</a>,” was created by Hanna-Barbera Productions for CBS Saturday morning and premiered on Sept. 13, 1969. The formula of four mystery-solving teenagers – Fred, Daphne, Velma and Shaggy along with the titular talking Great Dane – remained mostly intact as the group stumbled their way into pop-culture history. </p>
<p>But as I explain in my forthcoming book on the franchise, Scooby-Doo’s invention was no happy accident; it was a strategic move in response to cultural shifts and political exigencies. The genesis of the series was inextricably bound up with the societal upheavals of 1968 – in particular, the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.</p>
<h2>More horror, better ratings</h2>
<p>In the late 1960s, the television and film studio Hanna-Barbera was the largest producer of animated television programming. </p>
<p>For years, Hanna-Barbera had created slapstick comedy cartoons – “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls029632227/">Tom and Jerry</a>” in the 1940s and 1950s, followed by television series like “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0255768/">The Yogi Bear Show</a>” and “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053502/">The Flintstones</a>.” But by the 1960s, the most popular cartoons were those that capitalized on <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=9i0yDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA434&lpg=PA434&dq=secret+agent+craze&source=bl&ots=kMYc6JU0AX&sig=ACfU3U2XAYMoeA24PqOGENx4oWMSi0RsXQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi0sKPqssTkAhWNVN8KHSI_YYQ6AEwCHoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=secret%20agent%20craze&f=false">the secret agent craze</a>, the space race and the popularity of superheroes. </p>
<p>In what would serve as a turning point in television animation, the three broadcast networks – CBS, ABC and NBC – launched nine new action-adventure cartoons on Saturday morning in the fall of 1966. In particular, Hanna-Barbera’s “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060026/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Space Ghost and Dino Boy</a>” and Filmation’s “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060012/">The New Adventures of Superman</a>” were hits with kids. These and other action-adventure series featured non-stop action and violence, with the heroes working to defeat, even kill, a menace or monster by any means necessary.</p>
<p>So for the 1967-1968 Saturday morning lineup, Hanna-Barbera supplied the networks with six new action-adventure cartoons, including “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061262/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">The Herculoids</a>” and “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061237/">Birdman and the Galaxy Trio</a>.” Gone were the days of funny human and animal hijinks; in their place: terror, peril, jeopardy and child endangerment. </p>
<p>The networks, <a href="https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1968/12/08/91244471.html?pageNumber=401">wrote The New York Times’ Sam Blum</a>, “had instructed its cartoon suppliers to turn out more of the same – in fact, to go ‘stronger’ – on the theory, which proved correct, that the more horror, the higher the Saturday morning ratings.” </p>
<p>Such horror generally took the form of “fantasy violence” – <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=owUIvAEACAAJ&dq=television+the+business+behind+the+box&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjfzeagybzkAhXK1FkKHfPZBB4Q6AEwAHoECAAQAQ">what Joe Barbera called</a> “out-of-this-world hard action.” The studio churned out these grim series “not out of choice,” Barbera explained. “It’s the only thing we can sell to the networks, and we have to stay in business.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291575/original/file-20190909-109927-1xdg8r0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291575/original/file-20190909-109927-1xdg8r0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291575/original/file-20190909-109927-1xdg8r0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291575/original/file-20190909-109927-1xdg8r0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291575/original/file-20190909-109927-1xdg8r0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291575/original/file-20190909-109927-1xdg8r0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291575/original/file-20190909-109927-1xdg8r0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hanna-Barbera co-founder Joe Barbera poses with three of his studio’s most popular animated characters, Scooby-Doo, Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble, in this 1996 photograph.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/AP-A-CA-USA-OBIT-BARBERA/8d05636b91d64f668c5cf196d13a3eb1/5/0">AP Photo/Reed Saxon</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Barbera’s remarks highlighted the immense authority then held by the broadcast networks in dictating the content of Saturday morning television. </p>
<p>In his book “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ibxkAAAAMAAJ&q=entertainment+education+hard+sell&dq=entertainment+education+hard+sell&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwih2r62ybzkAhXBwVkKHah2AgEQ6AEwAHoECAEQAg">Entertainment, Education and the Hard Sell</a>,” communication scholar Joseph Turow studied the first three decades of network children’s programming. He notes the fading influence of government bodies and public pressure groups on children’s programming in the mid-1960s – a shift that enabled the networks to serve their own commercial needs and those of their advertisers. </p>
<p>The decline in regulation of children’s television spurred criticism over violence, commercialism and the lack of diversity in children’s programming. No doubt sparked by the oversaturation of action-adventure cartoons on Saturday morning, the nonprofit corporation National Association for Better Broadcasting declared that year’s children’s television programming in March 1968 to be the “worst in the history of TV.” </p>
<h2>Political upheaval spurs moral panic</h2>
<p>Cultural anxieties about the effects of media violence on children had increased significantly after March 1968, concurrent with television coverage of the Vietnam War, student protests and riots incited by the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. As historian Charles Kaiser wrote in his book about <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-heat-and-light-of-1968-still-influence-today-3-essential-reads-108569">that pivotal year</a>, the upheaval fueled moral crusades.</p>
<p>“For the first time since their invention, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/1968_in_America.html?id=Wt1LOgmnlFgC">he wrote</a>, "televised pictures made the possibility of anarchy in America feel real.”</p>
<p>But it was the assassination of Robert. F. Kennedy in June 1968 that would exile action-adventure cartoons from the Saturday morning lineup for nearly a decade. </p>
<p>Kennedy’s role as a father to 11 was intertwined with his political identity, and he had long championed causes that helped children. Alongside his commitment to ending child hunger and poverty, he had, as attorney general, worked with the Federal Communications Commission to improve the “<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-newt-minow-fcc-ae-0117-20170118-column.html">vast wasteland</a>” of children’s television programming.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291571/original/file-20190909-109927-1o9gd1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291571/original/file-20190909-109927-1o9gd1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291571/original/file-20190909-109927-1o9gd1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291571/original/file-20190909-109927-1o9gd1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291571/original/file-20190909-109927-1o9gd1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291571/original/file-20190909-109927-1o9gd1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291571/original/file-20190909-109927-1o9gd1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Robert Kennedy and his wife and kids go for a walk near their home in McLean, Va.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Watchf-AP-A-VA-USA-APHS406926-Ethel-Kennedy-and-/88ca23037ec14851b89ed2d960cd7b5e/6/0">AP Photo/Henry Griffin</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Just hours after Kennedy was shot, President Lyndon B. Johnson <a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-11412-establishing-national-commission-the-causes-and-prevention-violence">announced the appointment</a> of a National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence. While the commission’s formal findings wouldn’t be shared until late 1969, demands for greater social control and regulation of media violence surged directly following Johnson’s announcement, contributing to what sociologists call a “<a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Ashgate-Research-Companion-to-Moral-Panics-1st-Edition/Krinsky/p/book/9781409408116">moral panic</a>.”</p>
<p>Media studies scholar Heather Hendershot <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=b6Iqh5umo3sC&lpg=PP9&ots=-M78k0n01U&dq=Saturday%20Morning%20Censors%3A%20Television%20Regulation%20before%20the%20V-Chip&lr&pg=PP9#v=onepage&q&f=false">explained</a> that even those critical of Kennedy’s liberal causes supported these efforts; censoring television violence “in his name” for the good of children “was like a tribute.”</p>
<p>Civic groups like the National Parent Teacher Association, which had been condemning violent cartoons at its last three conventions, were emboldened. The editors of McCall’s, a popular women’s magazine, provided steps for readers to pressure the broadcast networks to discontinue violent programming. And a Christian Science Monitor report in July of that year – which found 162 acts of violence or threats of violence on one Saturday morning alone – was widely circulated.</p>
<p>The moral panic in the summer of 1968 caused a permanent change in the landscape of Saturday morning. The <a href="https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1968/07/20/77179505.html?pageNumber=42">networks announced</a> that they would be turning away from science-fiction adventure and pivoting toward comedy for its cartoon programming.</p>
<p>All of this paved the way for the creation of a softer, gentler animated hero: Scooby-Doo.</p>
<p>However, the premiere of the 1968-1969 Saturday morning season was just around the corner. Many episodes of new action-adventure series were still in various stages of production. Animation was a lengthy process, taking anywhere from four to six months to go from idea to airing. ABC, CBS and NBC stood to lose millions of dollars in licensing fees and advertising revenue by canceling a series before it even aired or before it finished its contracted run. </p>
<p>So in the fall of 1968 with many action-adventure cartoons still on the air, CBS and Hanna-Barbera began work on a series – one eventually titled “Scooby-Doo, Where are You!” – for the 1969-1970 Saturday morning season.</p>
<p>“Scooby-Doo, Where are You!” still supplies a dose of action and adventure. But the characters are never in real peril or face serious jeopardy. There are no superheroes saving the world from aliens and monsters. Instead, a gang of goofy kids and their dog in a groovy van solve mysteries. The monsters they encounter are just humans in disguise.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an article originally published on September 10, 2019.</em></p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119264/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin Sandler does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Demands for regulation of media violence reached a fever pitch after RFK’s assassination, and networks scrambled to insert more kid-friendly fare into their lineups. Enter: the Mystery Machine.
Kevin Sandler, Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies, Arizona State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/118754
2019-06-16T20:00:37Z
2019-06-16T20:00:37Z
The New York Times ends daily political cartoons, but it’s not the death of the art form
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279500/original/file-20190614-158949-1ya6vow.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1449%2C0%2C2544%2C2000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The New York Times decision to end daily political cartoons in its international edition has led to predictions of the death of cartooning. But the decision actually reflects an increasingly globalised, online industry.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wes Mountain/Baiducao/Carlos Latuff/David Pope/First Dog/David Rowe/Jon Kudelka/Glen Le Lievre/Rebel Pepper/António Moreira Antunes/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/10/business/international-new-york-times-political-cartoons.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FCartoons%20and%20Cartoonists&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection">has announced</a> it will no longer be running daily political cartoons in its international edition, amid a continuing controversy over anti-Semitism in its pages. This brings the international paper in line with the domestic edition, which stopped featuring daily political cartoons <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/12/new-york-times-cartoonists-ban-antisemitism">several years ago</a>.</p>
<p>It follows an earlier decision to end syndicated cartooning (“syndicates” represent collectives of cartoonists, looking to have work placed in a variety of publications). The Times said that a <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/ny-times-deeply-sorry-for-anti-semitic-cartoon-of-netanyahu-and-trump/">“faulty process” and lack of oversight</a> led to a syndicated cartoon of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump (which was condemned by many as anti-Semitic) slipping through the net on April 25.</p>
<p>The decision has caused international consternation and prompted doom-laden predictions about the death of cartooning, or even of free speech itself. The paper’s former in-house cartoonists – Patrick Chappatte and Heng Kim Song – have <a href="https://www.chappatte.com/en/the-end-of-political-cartoons-at-the-new-york-times/">taken to Twitter and the web</a> to defend their careers and their profession.</p>
<p>But this decision should be seen less an overreaction by a newspaper frightened of (of all things) bad press, than a wake-up call. It’s a moment to acknowledge the new realities of cartooning, globally. As The Times’ editors <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/10/business/international-new-york-times-political-cartoons.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FCartoons%20and%20Cartoonists&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection">have asserted</a>, this has been a long time coming. </p>
<p>Indeed, the writing has been on the wall for at least a decade. The hallowed cartooning traditions of the 20th century cannot continue without facing up to fundamental changes in the industry. Although this decision doesn’t spell the end of cartooning as we know it, this may very well be a tipping point for the global cartooning industry.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279454/original/file-20190614-32347-1v30n4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279454/original/file-20190614-32347-1v30n4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279454/original/file-20190614-32347-1v30n4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279454/original/file-20190614-32347-1v30n4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279454/original/file-20190614-32347-1v30n4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279454/original/file-20190614-32347-1v30n4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279454/original/file-20190614-32347-1v30n4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279454/original/file-20190614-32347-1v30n4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Headquarters of New York Times, New York 2014. The newspaper’s editors recently announced they will no longer publish daily political cartoons in the international edition.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A borderless world</h2>
<p>Chappatte <a href="https://www.chappatte.com/en/the-end-of-political-cartoons-at-the-new-york-times/">has said</a>: “Cartoons can jump over borders.” But I’d go further: for cartoons, there are no longer any borders. There haven’t been for about a decade or so. And cartoonists have to understand that what they produce for one set of readers in one particular context will inevitably now be seen by people far away, with a very different set of views.</p>
<p>Remember the 2005 controversy over the depiction of the Prophet Muhammad in the Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten? Initial low-level grumbling soon <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/feb/05/pressandpublishing.religion">turned into worldwide outrage</a>. Of course, it took a full decade for the worst reaction to manifest itself.</p>
<p>The French satirical weekly, Charlie Hebdo – which had not only reprinted the original Danish cartoons, but continued to print <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/07/charlie-hebdo-satire-intimidation-analysis">deliberately offensive anti-Islamic cartoons</a> in subsequent years – was firebombed in 2011, and then the unthinkable: the shootings at the magazine’s offices in January 2015. </p>
<p>And Australia cannot stand aloof. Remember <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-11/cartoonist-mark-knight-defends-serena-williams-depiction/10230044">Mark Knight’s caricature of Serena Williams from 2018</a>? The cartoon dropped like a stone until picked up by J.K. Rowling, and American readers in particular. The global reach of the Murdoch press ensured it would become a battleground for issues of press freedom versus “political correctness”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279478/original/file-20190614-158925-5fmja9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279478/original/file-20190614-158925-5fmja9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279478/original/file-20190614-158925-5fmja9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279478/original/file-20190614-158925-5fmja9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279478/original/file-20190614-158925-5fmja9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279478/original/file-20190614-158925-5fmja9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279478/original/file-20190614-158925-5fmja9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279478/original/file-20190614-158925-5fmja9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australian cartoonist Mark Knight with his prize winning cartoon at the National Museum in Canberra in 2004. Knight was at the centre of a controversy for his depiction of Serena Williams in 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alan Porritt/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/rupertmurdoch/status/295964833394851840?lang=en">Rupert Murdoch himself took to Twitter in 2012</a> to defend the London-based Sunday Times after a Gerald Scarfe cartoon depicted Netanyahu building a wall with the bodies of Palestinians (<em>plus ça change</em>…?). <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/leunig-your-provocative-use-of-nazi-analogies-is-so-tiresome-20121213-2bcef.html">Michael Leunig weighed in</a>, claiming the need for cartoonists to “give balance”, rather than present a balanced opinion; reworking Martin Niemöller’s “first they came” in controversial style. Leunig himself <a href="https://www.academia.edu/17773536/Crossing_the_Line_Offensive_and_Controversial_Cartoons_in_the_21st_Century_-_The_View_from_Australia">had a cartoon in 2002 refused</a> on the basis of likely backlash from the Jewish community. </p>
<p>The point is that globalisation and information technology have changed the business of cartooning. Cartoonists wedded to the old-school, in-house ways of the 20th century can throw tantrums about free speech as much as they like. If they do not recognise the way the world has changed – and is changing – then they will be left behind as their profession moves forward. </p>
<p>History is not on their side. Just as 18th-century copperplate engravings were replaced by lithograph prints, and standalone caricatures were replaced by cartoons in 19th-century humour magazines, and they in turn by 20th-century newspaper cartoons, the web cartoon has well and truly arrived in the 21st century.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-political-cartooning-the-end-of-an-era-81680">Friday essay: political cartooning – the end of an era</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A recent example of a web-based cartoonist is Badiucao, the Chinese-Australian artist who <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-04/badiucao-tiananmen-square-china-artist-takes-off-mask/11173530">instigated the global movement to recreate the famous “tank man” image</a> in memory of the Tiananmen Square massacre.</p>
<p>So, although a blow to an older way of doing things, The New York Times decision won’t halt the ever-greater expansion of cartooning in its online form. The Times hasn’t really been known for its cartoon content (and actually been quite dismissive of the artform, historically).</p>
<p>The Portuguese anti-Netanyahu cartoonist – António Moreira Antunes – doesn’t even work for the Times. He is one of an army of cartoonists who work without borders, without much of the self-censorship that has always characterised the profession, and without the limitations of the past. </p>
<p>That comes at a cost: job security, a greater reliance on volunteer labour, and a decline in professionalism. But it’s where the future lies.</p>
<p>Paradoxically, the syndication that has been such a part of US cartooning culture for more than a century may provide a model for the future of the profession. The great press barons of the early 20th century – Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst (“Citizen Kane”) – were among the pioneers. </p>
<p>Rather than individual papers employing in-house staff cartoonists, the syndicate model looks remarkably like the “gig” economy of freelancers and short-term contracts. The Times has dealt with CartoonArts International – founded in 1978 – for many years. By divesting itself of that relationship, it may actually be taking a backward step. </p>
<p>But beyond this one paper, cartooning will continue. Talented artists will continue to create brilliant comments on the news of the day; less talented amateurs can always knock up a truly witty meme. Check your Facebook or Twitter feed – there’s more cartooning happening now than ever.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118754/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Scully is an employee of the University of New England (UNE); receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC); and is an associate member of the Australian Cartoonists Association (ACA). His views do not reflect those of the UNE, ARC, or ACA.</span></em></p>
A New York Times decision has led to predictions of the death of cartooning. But rather than perishing, is the global art form just feeling the full force of technological and workplace change?
Richard Scully, Associate Professor of Modern European History, University of New England
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/116471
2019-05-17T10:44:43Z
2019-05-17T10:44:43Z
Political cartoonists are out of touch – it’s time to make way for memes
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274721/original/file-20190515-60554-1ti5x8n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Not everyone possesses the skills to draw a cartoon, but pretty much anyone can make a meme.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nick Lehr/The Conversation</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The New York Times came <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/28/media/ny-times-anti-semitic-cartoon/index.html">under fire</a> after a political cartoon appeared in print on April 25, 2019. In it, a blind President Donald Trump, wearing sunglasses and a yarmulke, is being led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who’s depicted as a guide dog with a Star of David around his neck.</p>
<p>The Times later <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/28/business/ny-times-anti-semitic-cartoon.html">issued an apology</a>, called the cartoon “anti-Semitic,” and announced that it would discipline the editor and enhance its bias training. The newspaper also indicated that <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/new-york-times-drops-syndication-service-that-supplied-anti-semitic-cartoon">it will no longer use</a> the syndication service that supplied the cartoon. </p>
<p>To some, this might appear to be a significant move. But it fails to address larger problems with editorial cartooning – namely, the ranks of cartoonists are too white, too old and too male.</p>
<p><a href="https://newhouse.syr.edu/faculty-staff/jennifer-grygiel">As a scholar who studies social media and memetics</a>, I wonder if political cartoons are the best way to connect with today’s diverse readership. Many crave searing, cutting political commentary – and they’re finding it in internet memes. </p>
<p>What if internet memes were elevated – not only as a serious art form but also as an important form of editorializing that’s worthy of appearing alongside the traditional cartoon?</p>
<h2>Behind the times</h2>
<p>Newspapers and magazine editors <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-19193-2_11#citeas">still rely on political cartoons</a> to capture readers’ attention and to deliver some lighter material alongside heavier news stories. The need for this content isn’t going away, nor is the need for forms of communication that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2016.1218297">challenge governments and open up important public discussions</a> – a role the political cartoonist has long held.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274696/original/file-20190515-60545-5k109i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274696/original/file-20190515-60545-5k109i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274696/original/file-20190515-60545-5k109i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274696/original/file-20190515-60545-5k109i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274696/original/file-20190515-60545-5k109i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274696/original/file-20190515-60545-5k109i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274696/original/file-20190515-60545-5k109i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274696/original/file-20190515-60545-5k109i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Political cartoons have long been used to criticize – and mock – those in power.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/declined-thanks-political-cartoon-pres-mckinley-787304683?src=EOtdwfByBqm6RQIYpyTUoQ-1-0">Everett Historical/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But in many ways, political cartooning can seem like a relic of a bygone era. </p>
<p>A 2015 Washington Post report also underscored the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2015/12/29/in-a-tamir-rice-era-why-are-there-no-staff-black-cartoonists-to-comment/">lack of diversity among political cartoonists in newsrooms</a>, noting how not a single black individual was employed as one.</p>
<p>Then there’s journalism’s top prize, the Pulitzer. </p>
<p>An extensive <a href="https://www.cjr.org/analysis/100_years_of_data.php">2016 study by the Columbia Journalism Review</a> unveiled how the ranks of editorial cartoon Pulitzer winners have been largely dominated by white men. Since 1922, only two women have received a Pulitzer in this category, and it wasn’t awarded to an African American until this year, when syndicated cartoonist Darrin Bell became the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/04/16/714073919/pulitzer-prize-winner-darrin-bell-on-how-trayvon-martins-death-inspired-his-work">first to receive the award</a>. </p>
<p>One roadblock to diversifying the ranks of political cartoonists is that the potential pool of candidates is limited. Few have the technical skill to draw pen-and-ink drollery, the common style for political cartooning. </p>
<p>Another has to do with industry trends. A 2017 study found that <a href="https://www-tandfonline-com.libezproxy2.syr.edu/doi/full/10.1080/1461670X.2016.1218297">many newspapers don’t even employ an editorial cartoonist anymore</a>. Instead, they’ve come to rely on less expensive syndication services. </p>
<h2>A more democratic form</h2>
<p>Given the important function of the political cartoon, simply discontinuing their use serves no one, including publishers. </p>
<p>But the field’s high barrier to entry – not to mention the time it takes to actually produce a cartoon – clearly poses a problem. A new, quicker and more inclusive solution to political commentary is needed.</p>
<p>The political cartoon is technically a <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meme">meme</a>, which is simply any piece of culture that can be copied or replicated. </p>
<p>A different sort of political cartoon, the internet meme, dominates on social media. Often crudely constructed, they’re far easier to create than, say, your typical New Yorker political cartoon. Many simply appear as a photo with text overlay, something that can be made within a few minutes via an online meme generator or mobile app. But the lack of technical skill needed means that they’re democratic in nature – and those that resonate the best will get shared the most and rise to the top. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/Btjl6eJg3Y-","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>A new common meme format simply entails brief, humorous, text-based commentary. Words are memes, after all, and they can be used to communicate ideas very quickly and clearly, which avoids some of the issues with visual rhetoric such as misinterpretation or misrepresentation – the exact sort of thing that happened with The New York Times cartoon. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1118208511975075841"}"></div></p>
<h2>Memers of the world, unite!</h2>
<p>Cartooning is undoubtedly a skilled art form. But in 2019, an ugly internet meme that uses a screen grab from “The Office” and quippy text overlay can have just as much clout – if not more – than a sophisticated political cartoon. </p>
<p>Internet memes increasingly play a role in politics and even have the power to <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/russia-ira-propaganda-senate-report/">influence elections</a>. Facebook groups with hundreds of thousands of followers are dedicated entirely to propagating and spreading political internet memes, such as the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/02/23/how-bernie-sanders-became-the-lord-of-dank-memes/">Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/godemperortrumpofficial/">God Emperor Trump</a>. </p>
<p>Politics has become, in many ways – as campaign strategist Doyle Canning put it – “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/09/technology/political-memes-go-mainstream.html">a battle of the memes</a>.”</p>
<p>Some publishers and media outlets understand the value of user-generated content in political discourse and news gathering. For example, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BwyCDUsFoOF/">BuzzFeed</a> occasionally posts lighthearted political internet memes on its social media platforms that speak to a younger audience. The Associated Press employs <a href="https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2012/new-editor-fergus-bell-explains-how-ap-verifies-user-generated-content-from-sandy-to-syria/">user-generated content editors</a> who comb social media platforms for important images associated with news events. </p>
<p>Memers, meanwhile, are beginning to see their role in driving internet traffic – and ad revenue – and are beginning to formalize their work and employment as content creators. They’re even beginning to organize, with some groups <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/4/22/18507941/instagram-meme-union">seeking union status</a>. It’s possible that new syndication services may develop for political memes out of these efforts. </p>
<p>But there have been few signs of anyone printing a meme in a physical newspaper or magazine unless it’s controversial enough to become the topic of a news story. To serve print needs, what if publishers hired staff memers or freelance memers – individuals with a pulse for viral content and an understanding of what resonates with younger readers, who could construct stylized, more professional-looking memes that could appear in print and on the web?</p>
<p>Again, this isn’t to say that traditional political cartoons no longer have a role. But it’s time for publishers to anoint the internet meme as worthy of publication. </p>
<p>After all, the best political commentary is just as likely to be found on Tumblr as the pages of the Times.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116471/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Grygiel owns a small number of shares in the following social media companies: Facebook, Google, Twitter, Alibaba, LinkedIn, YY and Snap.</span></em></p>
With sharp political commentary just as likely to be found on Tumblr as in the pages of the Times, why aren’t the best internet memes being published in the nation’s top periodicals?
Jennifer Grygiel, Assistant Professor of Communications (Social Media) & Magazine, News and Digital Journalism, Syracuse University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/111535
2019-02-21T19:05:49Z
2019-02-21T19:05:49Z
Friday essay: it’s not funny to us – an Aboriginal perspective on political correctness and humour
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258923/original/file-20190214-1736-1b8bwse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>I am from Queensland. Unfortunately, from personal experience I know racism well. An early recollection of this was at six years old, my first sporting event at a new school. </p>
<p>I beat the local, white school hero in my opening sprint race. My win wasn’t met with congratulation, but instead with shock and tongue-in-cheek commentary about how it wasn’t a surprise I won because I was black, and black people run fast. Also, if I ever got in trouble with the cops (inevitability implied) at least I could easily get away. Hilarious!</p>
<p>First Nations people’s lives are dominated by white opinion and voices. In this power relation, humour is of central importance. For Aboriginal people, ridicule, denigration and insult delivered under the guise of, or trying to be passed off as, humour is nothing new. Negative stereotypes of First Nations peoples constitute the humour of the dominant culture, which often dehumanises the marginalised “other”.</p>
<p>Yet humour is also a way of giving voice to Aboriginal people, of telling the truth. What interests me, makes me laugh the most, and what I believe should be a focus and obligation, is taking the opportunity to educate through humour. Not being scared to tell it like it is. </p>
<p>Still, whatever is usually presented as the “norm” in mainstream society, predominantly in the media, has much influence over what informs perceptions of what is natural and normal. A series of recent events have prompted much commentary about what is and isn’t offensive – and to whom – all under the umbrella of humour. And they were laced with attitudes and racial stereotypes that did not bode well for better relations with First Nations peoples. </p>
<p>My first examples are of cartoons by Mark Knight and <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshButler/status/760968089664008192">the late Bill Leak</a>. I do understand that the definition of a caricature is an exaggerated and skewed depiction of certain characteristics. However, several now notorious examples by Leak were laced with more than just humorous intent. This so-called humour was just a racist set of negative stereotypes concerned with sex, violence and family life. Two stand out: his cartoon that portrayed <a href="https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&q=Bill%20Leak%20racist%20cartoon&src=typd">domestic violence as part of a usual cultural experience for First Nations peoples</a>, and another that painted Aboriginal men as <a href="https://twitter.com/axmcc/status/760958277551173632">irresponsible alcoholics</a>. </p>
<p>Stereotypes like these also ring true for other people of colour, as we saw with the cartoon by Mark Knight <a href="https://twitter.com/Essence/status/1045497123603722242">depicting Serena Williams</a> at the US Open. Said Knight: “The cartoon was just about Serena on the day having a tantrum. That’s basically it.”</p>
<p>Yet from the perspective of peoples of colour, it was obvious that the image was not simply about Serena having a tantrum. Not only was there misrepresentation of Serena in the cartoon but also of Naomi Osaka who is of Japanese and Haitian descent but was depicted as a white women with blonde hair. The ugly stereotypes represented here for us were rude and lazy. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-herald-suns-serena-williams-cartoon-draws-on-a-long-and-damaging-history-of-racist-caricature-102982">The Herald Sun's Serena Williams cartoon draws on a long and damaging history of racist caricature</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Ignorance not a defence</h2>
<p>Given the long careers of both Leak and Knight, it was very hard to believe any rebuttals about their lack of knowledge of the history of their art and denying offensive intent in these depictions. Defences of ignorance and the right to free speech, denials, and claims of being censored by political correctness and reverse racism are disingenuous. To simply respond to the discourse with phrases like “it’s political correctness gone mad” immediately attempts to dismantle and dismiss any relevance and truth behind our voices and perspective. </p>
<p>As a humorist and creative artist myself, I understand and accept the comedic rules around no holds barred and truth telling. However, as South African writer Sisonke Msimang said on the ABC’s Q&A program last September:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I also reject the notion that ignorance can presume innocence and that ongoing ignorance and especially denial is a vehicle for purposeful offence.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It wasn’t just white cartoonists that took us by surprise last year. International comedian and host of the Daily Show Trevor Noah also disappointed us, to say the least. An event highly anticipated by First Nations audiences – his tour of Australia – turned sour very quickly when <a href="https://youtu.be/dAh1RYzG4hg1">a YouTube clip of Noah’s</a> emerged. It quickly made the rounds through our community, raising a few red flags and a lot of questions. The call went out. Should we be supporting this guy?</p>
<p>The offence lay in the inference of us as Aboriginal women being inferior, being ugly and repulsive, and only worthy of consideration as objects of sexual satisfaction. I was also personally surprised at Noah’s inability to draw parallels between South Africa’s apartheid and our White Australia policy – after all, his mother is black. </p>
<p>Noah since 2013 has built a reputation for using humour to speak against and critically analyse racism. He has a widespread popularity that is explicitly based on anti-racist views. Dr Chelsea Bond and I subsequently <a href="https://989fm.com.au/podcasts/lets-talk/wild-black-women-22/">invited him on our radio show</a> to explain himself. He attempted to – but no apology was forthcoming.</p>
<p>What underlies the representation of Aboriginal peoples in mainstream society is a long history of denial of the norms of the brutality, cruelty and genocide. The term “political correctness” is often used to imply that those who resent this sort of racialised comedy just lack a sense of humour.</p>
<p>But we use humour in a different way. In <a href="https://www.uqp.uq.edu.au/Book.aspx/891/Serious%20Frolic-%20Essays%20On%20Australian%20Humour">Serious Frolic: Essays on Australian Humour</a>, Professor Lillian Holt provides an overview of what she deems Australian First Nations peoples’ uniquely indefinable sense of humour. It is <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/the-jokes-on-us-20070102-gdp5o2.html">a universal vehicle</a> used by the disadvantaged and marginalised as a means of expression, a tool of healing, survival and diversion from hard times. </p>
<p>Holt cites a scene in Phillip Noyce’s Backroads (1977), one of the first Australian films to be made with Indigenous collaboration. In it, Bill Hunter’s character, Jack, stops to ask directions from a blackfella sitting by the road.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Hey, Jackie, can I take this road to the pub?</p>
<p>You might as well, you white bastard. You took everything else.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258973/original/file-20190214-1721-1ucf4rn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258973/original/file-20190214-1721-1ucf4rn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258973/original/file-20190214-1721-1ucf4rn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258973/original/file-20190214-1721-1ucf4rn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258973/original/file-20190214-1721-1ucf4rn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258973/original/file-20190214-1721-1ucf4rn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258973/original/file-20190214-1721-1ucf4rn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258973/original/file-20190214-1721-1ucf4rn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bill Hunter and Gary Foley in Back Roads (1977).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">imdb</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Social media</h2>
<p>A lot of comedy evolves from being a part of an oppressed group and making sense of that. And while you are trying to make sense of it you have to laugh about it. </p>
<p>Social media have become an <a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-voices-are-speaking-loudly-on-social-media-but-racism-endures-94287">important avenue</a> for Indigenous humour. It’s a safer, less policed and regulated space in which to speak out than we’ve historically been used to.</p>
<p>A perfect example of this was the response to the recent Studio 10 panel in which <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/protesters-call-on-network-10-to-sack-kerri-anne-kennerley-after-alleged-on-air-racism">Kerri-Anne Kennerley forcefully aired her views about First Nations peoples in remote communities</a>. Her claims that those attending a Change the Date rally had probably never even been to the outback or a regional community weren’t taken lightly by our people.</p>
<p>What Kerri-Anne and Studio 10 received in response were not only expert, factually informed, firsthand responses, but also black <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clap%20back">clap backs</a> (i.e. a quick, witty, critical comeback). The Aboriginal twittersphere was quickly inundated with the hash tag #ThingsKAKdid. </p>
<p>Tweets under #ThingsKAKdid included mock postings of fictional events such as the time KAK went on the Freedom Rides, the time she opened the Aboriginal tent embassy and the time she toured with the Warumpi Band. One post featured Kerri-Anne’s head superimposed onto Gough Whitlam’s, handing dirt from the land into the hands of legendary Aboriginal rights activist Vincent Lingiari.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1090680837408845824"}"></div></p>
<p>As always in times of hardship, attack and dismissal, we survive and prevail through humour.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/111535/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angelina Hurley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The term ‘political correctness’ is often used to imply that those who resent racist comedy just lack a sense of humour. But First Nations people are using humour to speak back, especially on social media.
Angelina Hurley, PhD candidate, Griffith University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/106563
2018-11-16T15:26:59Z
2018-11-16T15:26:59Z
Happy birthday Mickey Mouse – animation’s greatest showman is 90
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245792/original/file-20181115-194506-ztxkdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Disney Enterprises, Inc.</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho recently criticised his players for not having the courage to take penalty kicks, <a href="https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2018/1029/1007329-jose-mourinho-paul-pogba-penalty-manchester-united/">declaring</a>: “I don’t like Mickey Mouses.” His choice of words made him surely just the latest to misunderstand one of the most significant icons of our times.</p>
<p>The term “Mickey Mouse” is often used as a term of dismissal – for watches, academic courses dealing with the media and popular culture, and other apparently “non-serious” practices. But its continued use actually displays Mickey’s longstanding social influence. </p>
<p>Celebrating his <a href="https://disney.co.uk/mickey-mouse">90th birthday this year</a>, the Disney cartoon character has far outgrown his role as erstwhile straight man to funnier companions such as Goofy, Pluto and Donald Duck. His everyman persona is now linked to a range of complex values in global culture.</p>
<p>Nine decades ago, surely nobody would have imaged when Walt Disney invented Mickey (he was initially named Mortimer Mouse), the mischievous rustic mouse of early black-and-white cartoons such as Steamboat Willie and Plane Crazy, that he would become such a powerful brand. </p>
<p>Easily identified by nothing more than a white glove or those famous ears, he has come to represent the core principles of what it is to be American. He epitomises the ultimate triumph of late industrial capitalism and corporate identity.</p>
<p>Disney’s critical currency was almost untouchable in the 1930s and 1940s, as Mickey was embraced by both the general public and the intellectual cognoscenti. After Walt died in 1966, the “death of the author” only strengthened the long reach of his symbolic son. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BBgghnQF6E4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>Mickey the wide eyed rodent was never really seen as a mouse. The scientist Stephen Jay Gould suggested he <a href="https://faculty.uca.edu/benw/biol4415/papers/Mickey.pdf">provoked empathy in audiences</a> simply because of his resemblance to a baby or young child. But it was Mickey’s starring role in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032455/">Fantasia</a> in 1940, as The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which moved him beyond associations with the Great Depression, and into more progressive times. </p>
<p>Gone was the barnyard imp, replaced by a curious, energised figure literally containing the powerful forces of the universe. After that it was but a small step to world domination. But it was a domination which provoked a mixed response.</p>
<p>Cultural critic <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Mouse_that_Roared.html?id=y4JIvzl547UC">Henry Giroux worried</a> about an end to innocence in the manipulation of the Disney ethos embodied in Mickey. Film writer Douglas Brode later argued that <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Walt-Woodstock-Disney-Created-Counterculture/dp/0292702736">Disney was far more radical</a> than we think, and actually a defining player in 20th-century consciousness.</p>
<p>Disney champion and film-maker Sergei Eisenstein <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Disney-Sergei-Eisenstein/dp/0857424912">saw Mickey’s cartoon form</a> as a liberating force for change, loosening the straitjacket of modern American culture while ironically being one of its defining forms. (Yet Eisenstein took little note of Mickey’s already dominant presence in merchandising. As historian Gary Cross points out, by the 1930s, Mickey’s figure was <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=hKlG6vJYEEUC&pg=PA33&lpg=PA33&dq=blankets,+watches,+toothbrushes,+lampshades,+radios,+breakfast+bowls,+alarm+clocks,+Christmas+tree+lights,+ties+and+clothing+of+all+kinds&source=bl&ots=PTqzEUeDis&sig=b4gxA6KcU87EO5BMDAWsjTc5YmY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiHsq-80tPeAhUMC8AKHTlxCxYQ6AEwBnoECAsQAQ#v=onepage&q=blankets%2C%20watches%2C%20toothbrushes%2C%20lampshades%2C%20radios%2C%20breakfast%20bowls%2C%20alarm%20clocks%2C%20Christmas%20tree%20lights%2C%20ties%20and%20clothing%20of%20all%20kinds&f=false">already being imprinted</a> on “blankets, watches, toothbrushes, lampshades, radios, breakfast bowls, alarm clocks, Christmas tree lights, ties and clothing of all kinds”.)</p>
<h2>Of mice and men</h2>
<p>The discussion – and Mickey’s cultural dominance – has been widespread. The book <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Read-Donald-Duck-Imperialist/dp/0884770230">How to Read Donald Duck</a>, for example, offers a Marxist perspective on Disney comics, where Mickey is on the front line of American cultural imperialism. </p>
<p>In the art world, Andy Warhol created the <a href="https://www.artsy.net/artwork/andy-warhol-quadrant-mickey-mouse-slash-myths">Mickey Mouse Myths</a> series in the early 1980s, street artist Keith Haring <a href="http://www.haring.com/!/keyword/mickey-mouse">made images of Warhol</a> as the famous rodent. Satirical cartoonist Robert Grossman <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/19/obituaries/robert-grossman-illustrator-with-a-brash-touch-dies-at-78.html">fused Mickey with Ronald Reagan</a> and designer Rick Griffin <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/407857309987853489/">drew him</a> as a protest singer – a sort of Disneyfied Dylan.</p>
<p>Digital artist John Craig “proved” Mickey’s existence <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Mickey-Mouse-Interpret-Favourite/dp/1562827448">through geometry</a>, and graphic designer Seymour Chwast summed up the simplicity of his construction in <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Mickey-Mouse-Interpret-Favourite/dp/1562827448">How to Draw Seven Circles</a>. </p>
<p>At 90 years of age, Mickey – those seven circles – now stands astride popular culture and politics, embodying all its contradictions and ambiguities, pleasures and pains, past and present. He can be hugged in theme parks, enjoyed on screens, and admired for his sheer longevity. </p>
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</figure>
<p>And while Mickey may represent multiple meanings, notions of nostalgia and utopia remain embodied in his simple form. At one time this might have seemed backward looking and naive – but it has now made him a reassuring presence, as the world seems to slide unerringly into chaos and decline.</p>
<p>Little wonder then, that Mickey’s whistle from <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019422/">Steamboat Willie</a> in 1928 is now used as a prologue to Disney Pixar Films. As Walt always reminded everyone: “It started with a mouse.” And as yet, much to the relief of those who embrace the House of Mouse (and there are many), there is no ending in sight.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106563/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Wells does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
We’ve had 90 years of those famous ears.
Paul Wells, Director of the Animation Academy, Loughborough University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.