I realize that political cartoons are by definition caricature, but am I the only one disturbed by the fact that most of them show Barack with a huge smile and lots of teeth, and Hilary as being much, much heavier that she actually is (often with grossly distorted features)?
He has very big ears, too. And one could say the big smile is presented critically, implying he is friendly to the point of mindlessness. In other words, I find nothing disturbing about the caricaturists' consensus on how to present these 2 candidates, no plot against Senator Clinton, no misogyny, ...
I peruse a lot of cartoons (for the daily 'toon here and those on the fridge at the office) and I do believe that most are merely reflecting the usual cartoonists' distortion of a known individual, based upon that persons appearance, rather than intending to portray them negatively. Some of the renderings of Bush & the boys are pretty exaggerated as well. I'm willing to give them the cartoonist's version of poetic license.
The overall sentiment expressed in these comic strips are often pro-Obama or Clinton, so I think that shows that the cartoonists are not trying to send a racist/sexist signal.
However, I did see one of Obama recently at a conservative blog that was repulsive, and was in my mind intended to portray the stereotypical black face. Of course, it accompanied one of those disgusting pieces that accuse him of being Muslim, anti-American, lazy, blah blah. I almost posted it with a comment about it being racist, but I thought it was so offensive that I didn't want it on my blog.
I realize that political cartoons are by definition caricature, but am I the only one disturbed by the fact that most of them show Barack with a huge smile and lots of teeth, and Hilary as being much, much heavier that she actually is (often with grossly distorted features)?
ReplyDeleteAurora
He has very big ears, too. And one could say the big smile is presented critically, implying he is friendly to the point of mindlessness. In other words, I find nothing disturbing about the caricaturists' consensus on how to present these 2 candidates, no plot against Senator Clinton, no misogyny, ...
ReplyDeleteActually, what I meant to say is that I find the images of both candidates offensive.
ReplyDeleteMy criticism of the Obama drawing is that it is a bit too reminiscent of "stereotypical" images of African Americans.
Aurora B.
I peruse a lot of cartoons (for the daily 'toon here and those on the fridge at the office) and I do believe that most are merely reflecting the usual cartoonists' distortion of a known individual, based upon that persons appearance, rather than intending to portray them negatively. Some of the renderings of Bush & the boys are pretty exaggerated as well. I'm willing to give them the cartoonist's version of poetic license.
ReplyDeleteThe overall sentiment expressed in these comic strips are often pro-Obama or Clinton, so I think that shows that the cartoonists are not trying to send a racist/sexist signal.
However, I did see one of Obama recently at a conservative blog that was repulsive, and was in my mind intended to portray the stereotypical black face. Of course, it accompanied one of those disgusting pieces that accuse him of being Muslim, anti-American, lazy, blah blah. I almost posted it with a comment about it being racist, but I thought it was so offensive that I didn't want it on my blog.