Political Cartoons

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Political Cartoons

• by Alleen Pace Nilsen
• and Don L. F. Nilsen

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Caricatures

• Caricatures are probably the oldest form of
  pictorial humor, where caricare in Latin means
  to overload, or exaggerate.
• The main stylistic devices here are distortion
  and exaggeration, and the main subject, famous
  people.

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The Word Cartoon

• The term Cartoon originally comes from the
  Italian word cartone and means a strong, heavy
  paper or pasteboard. It denotes a full-size
  drawing made on paper as a study for further
  drawings, such as a painting or tapestry.
• Punch applied the term to satirical drawings by
  publishing some parody drafts for frescoes (also
  called cartoons) and making the terms new
  meaning permanent.

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• A cartoonists craft may force them to limit
  their originality, because they have fewer than
  10 seconds to grab the attention of viewers, and,
  in fact, to tell whole stories.
• We will start with two classic cartoons by David
  Levine for the New York Review of Books. No
  words are needed, but readers had to have
  cultural knowledge in order to Catch on.

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• After President Lyndon Johnson had gallbladder
  surgery he lifted his shirt to show his scar to
  reporters at a news conference. Levines drawing
  shows that his real scar was in the shape of
  Vietnam.
• President Reagan, who was famous for cutting
  welfare is compared to Marie Antoinette who after
  being told that the people had no bread famously
  said, Let them eat cake.

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• Cultural Icons can be either
• recognized visual symbols
• or familiar words that can be parodied.
• Cartoonists first have to help the viewers into
  the mindset of the original,
• Then take them in a new direction.

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• As with Mike Peterss 1984 criticism of President
  Reagans military support of El Salvador
• I pledge a billion to the flag
• of the right wing government of El Salvador
• And to the death squads for which it stands
• One nation, underfed
• Indefensible
• With M-16s and Howitzers for all.

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These words have come into English from various
cartoons POW! ZAP! WHAM! ZIP! ZOWIE! Teddy
Bear Gerrymander Yellow Journalism McCarthyism
(from Senator Simple J. Malarkey in the Pogo
Comic Strip)
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ARACHNOPHOBIA ? IRAQNAPHOBIA

• The term Iraqnaphobia was first used in the
  caption of an editorial cartoon by Clay Bennett
  that appeared in the August 3, 1990 edition of
  the St. Petersburg Times.
• The cartoon shows a spider labeled Iraq
  menacing Kuwait, and the caption reads Saddam
  Hussein Presents Iraqnophobia.

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Obituary Cartoons

• Cartoonists hate doing them, because they have to
  be respectful, no matter what.
• But their audiences love them, because they
  capture the essence of the person who has died.

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• For efficiency, cartoonists make use of common
  visual symbols
• Pointing fingers or arrows
• The Trojan Horse
• Tombstones and the initials R.I.P.
• Skulls/The Grim Reaper

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• The three monkeys
• The Ghost of Christmas Past
• Superman
• Railroad tracks not matching up
• A 1973 Boston Globe Cartoon by Paul Szep showed
  Vietnam as a maze.
• Reprinted in 1975 with added symbolism.

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Other Common Symbols include

• Snakes
• Wolves
• Fantasy characters
• Baby buggies (because they hide information)
• And new interpretations of familiar sayings about
  big sticks (which a person should carry as he
  speaks softly), and where the buck stops.

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• Variations on the Statue of Liberty show how
  symbols can change over time while still
  retaining some of the original meaning.

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• Statue of Liberty cartoons while making many
  different political points still rely on images
  that in most peoples minds are feminine.

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• 1960 Doug MacPherson drew Fidel Castro and
  Nikita Krushev having a picnic on her head.
• 1971 Daniel Aguila drew her with shortened
  robes under the cutline Lib and let lib!
• 1980 Doug Marlett showed her sweeping dirt under
  a rug designed as a flag.

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• 1984 Signe Wilkinson showed her going through a
  sewing factory shouting OK, you huddled masses,
  I know youre in here!
• 2001 After 9/11, a tear falling from one eye
• And two sad eyes reflecting the burning Twin
  Towers

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• 2003 Expressing womanly impatience as she says
  Geez, two years and still no capture of Osameor
  Saddamor Al Qaidaor WMDor the Taliban, or
  Justice or A side note read In a city
  accustomed to the New York Minute.
• 2005 Nick Adams won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for
  showing President Bush sitting on top of her
  crown wearing earphones hooked to a satellite
  dish, which had replaced the flame in her
  extended arm.

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A Recent New Yorker Cover

• What is the intended meaning of this cartoon?
• Does it mean different things to different
  people?
• Is The New Yorker more conservative or more
  liberal in its leanings?
• What about the cartoon?

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• Coffins have a similar impact. At first the Bush
  administration forbade photographs, but the
  drawings were even more heart-rending because
  cartoonists added their own touches.
• Walt Handelsman drew coffins each covered with a
  funeral bouquet His cutline Theyll be Greeted
  with Flowers.
• Another cartoonist stood coffins on end as an
  eerie reminder of the domino theory that guided
  American policies in Vietnam.

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• The Abu Ghraib prison scandal again shows shape
  as a hidden persuader.
• The most heart-wrenching photos were of Private
  Lynddie England holding a naked man on a dog
  leash, a pyramid of naked Iraquis, and a hooded
  prisoner silhouetted in a ragged, black blanket.
• Out of 40 Abu Ghraib cartoons reprinted in Best
  of the Year collections, more than half featured
  this man on the box.

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• It was the most dramatic of the images.
• The simplicity of design made it easy to
  highlight.
• It inspired viewers to pull related images from
  their own minds as in comparing it to the Ku Klux
  Klan.

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In 2010, Wheres the Humor?

• People are so frustrated with each other that
  really funny cartoons are hard to find.
• Todays cartoons are mostly hostile and
  accusatory.
• They illustrate the idea of the MICH
  theoryModerate Intergroup Conflict Humorwhich
  says that people have to be a little bothered by
  something to expend the energy to make a joke.
  But if people are so bothered that they are
  really angry, they want to express their
  hostility in something more powerful than a joke.
  

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The Biggest Surprise in the 2010 National
Election is the ToughTalk between Male/Female
Candidates

• Polite sensitivities have been shelved, while
  bold gender-based power plays have become the
  norm.
• Linguist Deborah Tannen relates the change to
  lines blurring between public and private.
• Communications Professor Kathleen Jamieson says
  that tough language frames the attacker as
  tougher than the person attacked.

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Joking is now coming through sexist insults
that are repeated by the late-night comedians.

• In August, Sarah Palin told Fox News that
  President Obama did not have the cojones to get
  tough on illegal immigration.
• In an October debate between Nevada Senate
  candidates, Sharron Angle zinged Harry Reid with
  Man up, Harry Reid.
• Although Angles zinger got the most publicity,
  the phrase had already been used by Missouri
  Democrat Robin Carnahan in a Senate debate with
  Rep. Roy Blount.
• In September, Delaware Senate candidate Christine
  ODonnell told a radio interviewer that her
  primary opponent should put his man pants on

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• Linguist George Lakoff explained that the
  Republican worldview emphasizes masculinity and
  strength,while Democrats underscore the more
  feminine quality of empathy.
• This is why, If youre a woman candidate whos a
  conservative, then you have to say youre more
  masculine than the other guy.
• However, theres a double standard in this bold,
  new talk because it doesnt go over well for a
  man to tell a female candidate to be more
  ladylike.
• Colorado Republican Senate candidate Ken Buck
  faced repercussions when he said that unlike his
  primary opponent Jane Norton, I do not wear high
  heels.
• In California, Governor candidate Jerry Brown
  apologized to Republican Meg Whitman after an
  aide was recorded calling her a whore.

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New Yorker Cartoonists Therapy Session

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vWdts_HG7e2Y

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The Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Cartooning

• Here are some web sites of Pulitzer Prize winners
  in the category of Editorial Cartooning.
• No web sites could be found for some of the
  Pulitzer Prize winners.

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• 1974 and 1977 PULITZER PRIZE PAUL SZEP
• http//www.szep.com/szep_thisweek.htm
• 1976 PULITZER PRIZE TONY AUTH
• http//www.gocomics.com/tonyauth/
• 1978 PULITZER PRIZE JEFF MACNELLY
• http//www.macnelly.com/
• 1979 PULITZER PRIZE HERBERB BLOCK
• http//www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/herblock/
• 1981 PULITZER PRIZE MIKE PETERS
• http//www.grimmy.com/editorials.php
• 1985 PULITZER PRIZE JEFF MACNELLY
• http//www.macnelly.com/

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• 1987 PULITZER PRIZE BERKELEY BREATHED
• http//www.berkeleybreathed.com/pages/index.asp
• 1992 PULITZER PRIZE SIGNE WILKINSON
• Http//www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/special_p
  ackags/signe/
• 1993 PULITZER PRIZE STEVE BENSON
• http//www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/
  benson/
• 1995 and 2006 PULITZER PRIZE MIKE LUCKOVICH
• http//www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/luckovi
  ch/index.html
• 1999 and 2003 PULITZER PRIZE DAVID HORSEY
• http//seattlepi.nwsource.com/horsey/
• 2001 PULITZER PRIZE ANN TELNAES
• www.anntelnaes.com

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• 2002 PULITZER PRIZE CLAY BENNETT
• www.claybennett.com
• 2005 PULITZER PRIZE NICK ANDERSON
• http//www.cartoonistgroup.com/properties/anderson
  /home.php
• 2009 PULITZER PRIZE STEVE BREEN
• http//townhall.com/political-cartoons/stevebreen/
  
• 2010 PULITZER PRIZE MARK FIORE
• http//www.markfiore.com/
• 2011 PULITZER PRIZE MIKE KEEFE
• http//www.denverpost.com/keefe
• 2012 PULITZER PRIZE MATT WUERKER
• http//www.politico.com/wuerker/

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• 2013 PULITZER PRIZE STEVE SACK
• http//www.startribune.com/steve-sack/10645851/
• 2014 PULITZER PRIZE KEVIN SIERS
• http//www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/editorial
  -cartoons/kevin-siers/
• 2015 PULITZER PRIZE ADAM ZYGLIS
• http//www.adamzyglis.com/
• 2016 PULITZER PRIZE ?