Below is the latest The Pain -- When Will It End?
Updated 1/16/02
Artist's Statement
Saturday
night I was having dinner with friends, several fellow-cartoonists and a writer
among them, and I begged them for help coming up with a funny caption for
that same damn political cartoon I was working on last week--you know, the
group caricature of George Bush and his masters. The drawing's closer to being
finished, but it's still not quite funny enough to print. The group came up
with a few good ideas--"The Amazing Bobo" was my favorite--although none of
them was exactly right. We got to talking about how difficult it is to take
any kind of unequivocal stand on this "War on Terrorism," much less draw political
cartoons about it. Megan Kelso, author of Queen of the Black Black and the
forthcoming Artichoke Tales (which are about war, among other things), said
that she didn't think she could wholeheartedly join in a march or rally for
"peace" at this point, although she's also hardly the type to paste an
American flag decal on her window and support whatever John Ashcroft says
is right. It may be worth mentioning that this exchange of ideas was taking
place in an Afghan restaurant. We all agreed that it's a hard time to be ambivalent
or conflicted. Thoughftul, modulated voices tend to get drowned out or ignored
in debate--especially in the media, which invariably seeks out the most simplistic,
sensational sound bite from either extreme of the political spectrum (represented
in this cartoon by the dewy-eyed hippie chick on the Left and the beefy crewcut
guy on the Right). The problem, I decided, is that my opionion doesn't fit
on a sign. Which everyone present immediately recognized would make a better
cartoon than the one I'd asked for help with. (At least the idea was better--if
it fails in execution, that's all to my credit.) So let me just take this
opportunity to publicly thank all those in attendance at that dinner, some
of whom have deadlines far more crushing and dreadful than mine, for listening
patiently to all my anxiously fretting and griping about my cartoons and for
graciously letting me steal their ideas, not just on that occasion but pretty
much every single week.
It is not
really necessary to read to the bottom of all the fine print in the sign,
by the way, or to absorb all my crackpot political views; the joke's just
that it makes for such an unweildy slogan. And let me suggest that if your
own political views can be made to fit on a sign you may not be all that smart.
Last night on the subway platform I was peering over a girl's shoulder at
a paper she was studying that proved to be a list of "talking points," prepackaged
rhetorical tactics to memorize, rehearse, and use in public debate with officials
about abortion. I couldn't tell, from that cursory glance, whether she was
with the anti-choice or pro-death factions (from her fairly hip, alternative
dress and general attractiveness I'd guess the latter), but either way it
made me feel sort of queasy and revolted at the thought of joining any organization
where they hand you your ideas on pre-printed sheets and tell you what to
say and how to say it. There's nothing wrong with learning from people who've
given an issue more study and thought than you, but if you're just going to
think exactly what they think and parrot what they say, what the hell's the
point of you?