For the seeing impaired, it's a Michelle Obama dressed up in terrorist-implied combat fatigues and afro, and Obama in traditional Muslim clothing. The two are terrorist fist jabbing, as an Osama Bin Laden picture hangs on the wall and an American flag burns in the fireplace. Oh, and it all takes place in the Oval Office.
When I saw it, I laughed. Hard. I mean, how clever is that? They pretty much satirized almost every single rumor circulating the Obama campaign in a clever cartoon that exposes them all for just how freaking ridiculous it is.
But apparently, I am Very Insensitive, for not only did Obama's campaign criticize the cartoon for being insensitive and rumor mongering, McCain's campaign did too. When both of those two agree on something, you know it's big.
I'd like to think that when Mr. Obama saw the cover for the first time, he laughed. Heartily, I hope. But I understand why they would get upset. It is for one simple fact.
Americans are stupid.
It reminds me of an article Quinton and I wrote once for AP Exacerbation, the humor column for our high school newspaper. One we wrote right before Prom, basically insinuating that chivalry was dead, equal rights were in and then detailed a ridiculous list of recommended activities, such as:
- No good night kiss, but a punch in the arm and some disparaging comment about their mother.
- No dresses and suits, but unisex jump suits.
- Tool kit instead of flowers.
- Don't open the door for girls; it only fosters a culture of helplessness.
Well, I thought it was pretty clear we weren't being serious. AP Exacerbation was pretty famous for not being serious. But there were still people coming up to me yelling that I was taking the feminist movement too far, or that I was a sympathizer who doesn't have any genitalia left (which was ironic, since most of my suggestions involved being rude and an all around general jerk to the more delicate race).
Now this is sad, because satire, subtle or not so subtle, is one of my favorite genres. Half - if not all - of Shakespeare's plays are satire, whether hilarious or tragic. My favorite books are satire - Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, Heller's Catch-22, Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, Mark Haddon's A Spot of Bother, Joshua Ferris' Then We Came to the End - and I think the genre is an incredibly efficient way of pointing out some of the foibles and flaws of society.
But, unfortunately, you have to be reasonably smart, possess critical thinking skills and be able to think independently in order to appreciate it. So New Yorker, I feel for you. Sorry America can be as dumb as rocks.
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2 comments:
Sorry, Ted, but you're wrong. Here's why I think it was completely distasteful: it inspires no thought whatsoever. Hey, I've got an idea. Let's just wrap up every rumor, every stupid accusation, and throw it into a cartoon. How is that funny? It takes a six-year old to come up with that. There was nothing clever or thoughtful about it. To me, such renderings should inspire thought and reflection. But what am I supposed to learn from this? There is no punch line, except maybe to say: hey, we're all idiots for even allowing Americans to entertain the idea that Obama is Muslim/a terrorist/married to a Black Panther. Look, I'm not saying we should all be greatly offended by what the New Yorker did. It was someone's juvenile idea of a joke. Unfortunately, for me, it fell flat. There has been an overreaction to the cartoon, and I hope that people get over this sooner than later, but I do think that the idea was poorly executed. Inspire debate. Inspire thought. Inspire voters to think about the candidates. But please don't make a sophomoric cartoon that leaves me thinking, "Huh?"
P.S. Oh, and yes, I understand all the references in the cartoon. Just because I "get the joke" doesn't mean I think it's funny.
I suppose that it is an the eye of the beholder.
For me, who is a visual person, I had always heard the rumors surrounding Barack Obama's campaign, and while I thought them silly and unfounded, to see them drawn out visually and for me to actually see them, the sheer idea of it was so ludicrous that it caused me to laugh - and yes, to think.
Even if it's a bewildered "How does anyone even think that?" I feel the cartoon helped push it all into the forefront of national dialog instead of the dark corners of the internet and email inboxes and hushed whispers of neighbors over the fence.
I would contend it has caused people to think - to the conservative, "Is this true?" To the liberal, "How could it have gotten this ridiculous?" To the independent and everything in between, "Is this what they are saying about Obama?"
Sophomoric, yes, if the intent of the cartoonist was to merely slander Obama with every outlandish internet rumor flying around, but this cartoon is so unbelievably ridiculous that it would be hard for someone to seriously think that all of it was true. The cartoonist exposes it for exactly what it is - silliness and incredibly fantastical slander - and causes people to think, even if the question is, "How did it get this far?"
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