Cartoon Raises a Stink

Washinton Post ^ | Friday, November 21, 2003 | Johnny Hart

[livesbygrace]

Did Johnny Hart -- the beloved creator of "B.C." and one of the most widely read cartoonists on Earth -- sneak a vulgar defamation of Islam into the comics pages last week? The question was raised yesterday by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington-based civil rights group, in an e-mail to its membership.

Hart and his syndicate say no -- that a simple, straightforward joke is being misconstrued. That may well be true, but the 73-year-old cartoonist's history of evangelizing his Christian beliefs through his comic cavemen have left many people doubtful.

The cartoon, which appeared Nov. 10 in more than 1,200 newspapers worldwide -- including The Washington Post -- shows a caveman entering an outhouse at night, and then saying, from inside, "Is it just me, or does it stink in here?"

The first public questioning of this cartoon arose in a washingtonpost.com chat Tuesday, when a reader noted that the cartoon seemed to make no sense, except metaphorically. The reader noted that the cartoon contained six crescent moons -- three in the sky, and three on the outhouse door -- and wondered if this might have been a veiled slur on the world's 1 billion practicing Muslims.

[Jack Wilson]

One thing that scared me: the phrase '1 billion practicing Muslims'...

[aomagrat]

I saw that cartoon and it never crossed my mind that it was offensive to anyone. Crescent moons have been on American outhouses for generations. Some people are really trying hard to be offended.

[AppyPappy]

That's because you really didn't WANT to be offended.

[JennysCool]

Of course, if the strip had contained a plethora of stars and stripes along with that comment, Johnny Hart would have earned Cartoonist of the Year honors.

[thulldud]

The moon shaped cutout in the door has meant "outhouse" for ages. I guess now you can't show an outhouse in a comic strip?

If there were a way to show it, Hart could do a follow-up: show the T.P. inside the outhouse -- CAIR press releases.

( Btw, when I see a cartoon depicting three crescent moons, I don't think of Islam anyway. I think of "Stargate." So there. )

[Colonel_Flagg]

How ironic that of the cartoonists quoted, only the arch-liberal Trudeau seems to get it.

[Lee Heggy]

Oh, brother! What a load.

[grumple]

Just goes to show that you can draw a cartoon about an outhouse and offend 1 billion practicing muslims, but you can piss in a jar and throw in a cross and nobody is supposed to care.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

This is what CAIR is concerned about? Their main function appears to be misdirection as the terrorists go about their business.

[commish]

The "OFFENDING" Cartoon :

I like this one from Veterans day :

[Lead Moderator]

"Hart, he said, often uses sound effects in his strips,"

I can verify this. Zot!!!!!

[OXENinFLA]

The Comic in question

It's a Moon on an OUTHOUSE for crying out loud!!!

Who has NOT seen that before?????

[avg_freeper]

He walks into an outhouse and closes the door with a SLAM. The out house has a crescent moon on it. the character then says "Is it just me or does it stink in here?"

From this the wackjobs think that he is insulting islam. Are muslims required to smoke heavy amounts of weed during ramadan or what? What a paranoid bunch of raving-nutters.

[Lee Heggy]

"veiled slur on the world's 1 billion practicing Muslims"

I am insulted at the implications of a slur being 'veiled' in connection to Muslims.

[billb]

I guess Proctor and Gamble should feel offended too.

[mewzilla]

Just one of many. The folks complaining are certainly ignorant.

[eyespysomething]

[Portnoy]

Maybe he should have put an "I" above "slam"

[mewzilla]

Here's another. Maybe we should just send some pics to CAIR...