The Damage Cartoons Cause…?
Published by Matt Glover August 18th, 2006 in Cartoons in the NewsI read this today:
Cartoons are particularly a unique species. They require different criteria of assessment and approach. Unlike editors and news analysts, cartoonists may not feel obliged to present all sides of the story. Rather they make a blunt assault on the characteristics of their subjects, and pride themselves on being selective in their presentation.
And then later in the same article:
The long-term effects of racist cartoons are enormous. My intuition compels me to believe that the damage caused to Australia’s Arab image – both Christian and Muslim - is beyond repair.
I can’t remember a year where cartoons have caused as much news as they have this year.
But what I find interesting in this article is the idea that cartoonists are responsible for shaping community views on different racial groups by repeatedly using negative, stereotypical images. In particular, promoting the idea that all Arab people are violent terrorists.
But is it cartoons that shape community views or is it community views that shape cartoons? I’m not sure I know the answer to that…
In any case, the fact that we smile at some of these stereotypes reveals that there is still a hint of racism in all of us.
Read the article here and leave your thoughts in the comments section.
Matt- this is a very interesting topic and because of a particular instance of stereotyping that comes to mind, I think the concept of “cartoon” needs to be expanded to accommodate other visual forms.
I’m sure you’ve seen the original “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. Remember the scene where Indiana Jones confronts a sword-swinging, robed Egyptian? And Indiana Jones rolled his eyes and shot him dead?
Remember how the audience laughed? I believe they were laughing at a cartoon stereotype even though it was a movie.
You’re right Gerry.
I don’t think we can help but stereotype people for our work. Afterall, cartooning is about using pictorial/symbollic images to portray a message. If we don’t use the right image, then nobody will know what we are trying to say.
Having said that, the symbols we use might need to be changed as the climate of our culture changes. I was intersted to read today that Peter Jackson is remaking the ‘Dambusters’ movie, but is facing a problem about how to portray the pet dog. In the book and original movie (I think), the dog was called ‘nigger’. Even though it’s a word and not a picture, that term still conjures up all sorts of things that aren’t helpful…
Thanks, once again, for your thoughts.