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| I'd rather die laughing, than live in Missouri |
| 05.29.04 (1:31 am) [edit] |
Of course, "Missouri" is a pun on word "misery". Though while attending the Univ. of Missouri at Columbia way back when ('68-'72), I had many good friends, both off campus as well as on. However, Columbia's a liberal pocket in an otherwise mostly-redneck population of 5+ million; especially when it comes to anti-gay attitudes. So, coming from a left-wing queer activist like myself, it's a raucously rib-tickling rasp.
Developing a keen sense of humor in this scary world is not just a fun exercise, it's a life-saver. It lowers blood pressure, lightens a gloomy day, and busts apart grief, gloom, and despair in even the hardest to reach creases and inseams of your soul. Goddess is love. I believe that. And I also believe that the loftiest manifestation of love, is humor. What else but hearty laughter resurrects one from the sickbed so quickly? Certainly, not cloying sympathy.
(c) 2001 by Hadi Farahani
And that is one very important service provided by political (or "editorial") cartoons. Another is using satire to expose wrong-doing; and why, then, parody is truly a vital facet of free speech. In fact, I was embroiled for a time with the attorneys of Charles Schulz, over my satire of Peanuts...and won! I've dedicated a web page to this issue, as an educational tool for copyright law in the U.S., especially as regards satire and "fair use":
Charles Schulz's Attorneys
After My Ass
Without satire, a large chunk of free speech would be eliminated. Think about it. And so, we all admit one thing at least: these are very scary times! So Goddess bless our comedians and satirists, who adminster a soothing balm of chuckles, guffaws and hardy-hars over our festering wounds of fear, grief, and hopelessness. I don't know how we could ever walk in public with a smile on our faces, were it not for those wonderful political cartoonists! But it wasn't until my mid-30's, that I acquired a genuine reverence towards these talented tricksters.
It is my old friend Helen, who got me started. Years and years ago--before she moved to Santa Cruz (and that is years ago now, too), say, around 1984, we were chewing the crisco at our local doughnut shop, Castro & 18th. (It has long since been replaced by a boring burrito/juice bar.) Helen, browsing through that day's S.F. Examiner, exclaimed how clever these political cartoonists are: how they capture the character of a person so well, and draw out really great punch lines that are often deeply insightful to boot. From that day on, I eagerly read each day's political cartoons with much enjoyment...and I do to this very day. (Previously, I never paid them much mind.)
I enjoy both the traditional style political cartoonists, like Pat Oliphant and Daryl Cagle; as well as our new-age ones such as Ted Rall, Garry Trudeau, and Tom Tomorrow. They always put a smile on my face, if not a guffaw in my tummy.
The information specialist site, About.com, has gathered a ton of excellent political cartoon resources on the web:
About.com : Political Cartoons Section
and
About.com search: Political Cartoonists
Now, thanks to the web, a new form of political cartooning has taken off: animated political cartoons...and Mark Fiore leads the way:
Mark Fiore's Animated
Political Cartoons
Let us not forget, however, another class of cartooning pioneers: gay ("sexual minority") political cartoonists, such as Paul Berge, Tim Fish, Alison Bechdel, Howard Cruse, Steve Whitmore, and Ivan Velez.
Now, most queer cartoonists aren't classified as political, but it is inevitable for a queer cartoonist to tackle the dilemma of being gay in a homophobic world. And that's obviously political. For us sexual minorities, politics is intensely personal, and shapes not just the way we relate to each other, but determines where we can and can't live, where we can and can't congregate or walk, who we can and can't speak to, what we can and can't say, and even how long or short we shall live.
Those are deeply serious matters, deserving of the very best kinds of satire. Thus, queer humor is especially sharp and hilarious, worthy of anyone's time, for the keen insight it gives those on the outside (heteros), about how the world really works. And, of course, for all the great laughs.
Queer political cartoons are not only not an exception to this rule...they are actually the jewel in the crown of gay cartooning.
The Mostly Unfabulous Life of Ethan Green
Bob Rittick's Gay Editorial Cartoons
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posted by: Paul Berge (reply)
post date: 08.04.04 (10:55 am)
I stumbled onto your site -- thanks for not forgetting the gay editorial cartoonists.
posted by: Zekeblog (reply)
post date: 09.23.04 (10:10 pm)
Hey, thanks for the compliment.
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