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.

[walford]

"The liberal press never protested against government grants given to artists who stick a cross in a jar of urine."

[Bear in mind I'm not a Christian, so this is not from a pro-Christian bias.]

The Left doesn't mind radical Islam because it is anti-American, anti-freedom and anti-Western culture. From practical theological point of view, Islam as it is practiced today is more amenable to ARBITRARY interpretation. That is it has something in common with secular humanism. What is right/real/true/good for you, may not be right for me -- that is it is more subjective. Really what is more important to those practicing Islam is what tribe you belong to as expressed by the particular sect to which you belong. Thus other muslims can also be considered infidels subject to rape, torture, murder...

Since the Protestant Reformation, Christianity has evolved away from the arbitrary edicts of clerics to being more based upon objective study of the scriptures. This has led to a far less tyrannical and more spiritual and life-affirming religion.

Since Martin Luther, it has been nearly inconcievable to embark on mass-killing in the name of the Almighty as it is for mohammedans.

[Tribune7]

If he did mean it as a slam on Islam nobody would have picked up on it but for CAIR.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

My thoughts are "Why go through so much trouble to secretly "malign" a religion that openly supports the cold blooded murder of the women and children of its enemies?"

Why do I care what CAIR has to say - they are bigoted anti-americans anyway. They are an intolerant group specifically formed to "protect" those of their beliefs - folks - they are my enemy - by their own choice and charter. Not my choice - I'm not a member of any special interest exclusionary racial or religious group - which is precisely be definition what they are.

Did the paper, or CAIR for that matter - spend half as much time commenting on the murders going on in in the name of their "religion" all over the world? CAIR - how about starting with the man in the mirror - get back to us when you achieve a civilized society - then we will talk about what the cartoonist has to say. Until then - unfortunately - he is right!

Please - I think the only problem they have with this cartoon is it hits too close to the truth. I'll never forget it - I think - even if accidently - the cartoonist has hit the nail on the head - something DOES STINK in areas of the world under the control of Islam.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

Your post would have so much more meaning if the practitioners and supporters of Islam weren't intentionally and indescriminately blowing up innocent women and children on a daily basis all over the world.

Oh that's right - no Islamic person has any idea where Saddam Hussein or OBL are hiding out - they are probably somewhere being protected by the Mossad - or maybe some hypothetical Christian militia group in Michigan? Is Arafat the leader of the Palistinians still?

Why don't you focus some of your energy toward getting that house in order.

In other words - stop trying to blame the West for the problems that exist in the East. Don't hide behind the freedoms earned by others in America to support non-free governments elsewhere.

And just in case you are wondering - if we just wanted to take the oil we could have taken it any time we wanted to over the last 50 years - as demonstrated in Gulf War I and II. It would be EASIER than trying to risk our soldiers lives and our energy on creating a free Iraq.

Your post implies the Japs were innocents in WWII. I think they made the same mistake the radical Islamists have made - pushed the wrong guy too far - and got exactly what they deserved - maybe a bit less.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

Iquiet iyou ifool - ibefore ithe iothers icatch ion!

Iyou ihave iwritten ithe ifunniest ipost iever!

[elli1]

I wonder about that stuff too, Sandylapper. And about how "stuff" has an odd way of growing legs & walking out of evidence lockers.

[weegee]

Bookmarking for a later return.

I wonder how many of the posters on this thread were among those who attacked the outraged viewers of Bad Santa (or maybe they just choose to denegrate Christians).

I saw Bad Santa a couple weeks ago (free preview) and I could care less how "Santa" was portrayed but I did find the frequent use of Jesus and the Lord's name in vain to be sacreligious (especially in a "Christmas" film) and the point where "Bad Santa" says that the story of Jesus' birth was a "lousy story anyway" is another of the telling points that the film is antiChristian.

[FormerACLUmember]

Iyes, iyou iare iright. Ilet ius ihope ithe isecret IChristian icode iis ikept ia ideep isecret ifrom ithe IIslamogeniuses!

[RightWingAtheist]

It was actually the gay community in the UK which first claimed that one of the Teletubbies was gay (for being purple and carrying a purse, even though it had a male voice), and the gay community here picked it up before Falwell did (or, more accurately, his newsletter did-and the gist of the newsletter's article was not that the character was gay, but had been proclaimed as such by the gay community, which WAS true). Hollywood Gay Agenda Weekly-er, I mean Entertainment Weekly-ran a comment by someone from GLAAD shortly after Teletubbies hit American airwaves, who gleefuly proclaimed "He's gay, no doubt about it!" After the Falwell incident broke, another GLAAD representative said soemthing to the effect that the show was too intelligent for the likes of Falwell.

[weegee]

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

So now crackpot washingtonpost chat discussions are valid "journalism"? Just when the standards couldn't get any lower.

The WP might as well go trolling Harry Knowles' AintItCoolNews.com website for political insight into the Bush Administration (Possible headline: "Critics Outraged At Latest Bush Decision!!!").

[weegee]

Bob Staake, author of "The Complete Book of Humorous Art," an analysis of contemporary cartooning, calls it "as fascinating as it is suspicious. When you dissect it, as a cartoon, it flat-out doesn't work, and you can drive yourself crazy trying to figure out what it means. But it doesn't take a conspiracy freak to see it as an odd, twisted, inappropriate slam at a quirky religion."

What a "Complete Idiot". There are comic cultists who have discerned secret meanings in the "unfunny" Family Circus and (Ernie Bushmiller's) Nancy (note, unfunny is not my assessment of these strips). Even fan/cartoonist Bill Griffith refers to Nancy with a comment that there is "hume, humor, and humorous" and that to him, Nancy is a prime example of "hume" (although he thinks that there are more surreal things at work in the strip "3 hairs, 3 rocks").

[weegee]

In analyzing this cartoon, semiotician Blonsky cautions against succumbing to the Intentional Fallacy: In criticism, he says, it is a mistake to give much weight at all to the artist's stated intention. For one thing, it discounts the strength and influence of the unconscious mind, he said. All that matters in artistic criticism, he said, is the effect of the art on its viewers: the way people interpret it. In other words, even if Hart intended no offense, the offense is there.

So it doesn't matter what the artist meant to say, it all comes down to what the critics say it really means. I see. He must be a BS Artist.

I've had a magazine cover I drew misinterpreted to be a drug reference. I have another friend who draws concert posters critiqued harshly for having too much of an undercurrent of "violence" in his posters (there is no blood seen, nor weaponry, mobs, etc.). He's had a poster with 2 men boxing, maybe that counts for "violence" in this PC world.

[weegee]

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

My version:

The same panels as the original strip but change the dialogue in the final panel...

"Finally I found a use for the Washington Post."

[weegee]

Are muslims required to smoke heavy amounts of weed during ramadan or what?

The fasting may make them light headed.

Also if you check out asktheimam.com you will see that some muslims are very sensitive about body functions (a fart can completely invalidate a prayer session and menstruation is shameful too).

[weegee]

And, it's pretty obvious to ME why the 'SLAM' is there. That way, you know the door was opened and shut, and he could just use the same drawing of the outhouse in each frame. It's a little lazy, but it works...

Comics are a sequential art. One panel has to lead to the next. The text serves to graphically indicate an action (SLAM means the door closed). Otherwise what, he could have "walked" past the outhouse (remove the SLAM panel and you can replace the text of the final panel to say "Pheww! I didn't have the heart to tell him it was OCCUPIED." totally changing the meaning of the strip).

Having some somewhat static panels makes the changeups (the sound effect and the punchline, jump out more). Why have 4 different "camera angles" to deliver a simple joke? If the guy who directed those Dockers' pants commercials (with the camera in constant movement) tried to direct Abbott & Costello films, would they be funny or would the camera movement be too busy to communicate the word based humor?

[weegee]

I don't know how active this strip link will remain but it is a really odd Zippy strip (run 11.23.03 so I did not deliberately seek an obscure example):

On Bill Griffith's Zippy website he offered this translation/explanation:

11/23/03 - RUSSIAN (all phrases--except last line-- from WWII Soviet propaganda posters)

1) Hurled against the enemy.
2) Defeat!
3) Destroy the serpent!
4) Nancy: More weapons and ammunition!
Zippy (in Japanese): [description of a McDonalds restaurant]

Does that make it clear? I wonder if Mr. Outland-ish would criticize this strip for "not being funny" enough as well.

It is deliberately dada and is an example from the most artistic strip syndicated today (although Patrick McDonnell's Mutts also has its artistic influences).

[weegee]

4 panels. Slam is a panel and identifies a passage of time.

[weegee]

Let me guess, he spent his college days trying to figure out what "American Pie" meant.

Cartoonist Sam Henderson publishes his own comic book and includes some text pieces in his book. I can't recall if it was text only or a comic strip but he wrote about about a fictional loser who becomes the most knowledgable man about the Porky's movies (thesis work, the whole deal). I think that at some point he comes to the realization that he wasted his life unlocking the secrets of that film series.

[weegee]

And for good reason. Ventilation. Outhouse owners used many designs, some simple, some fanciful, but the crescent moon (which is very easy to cut) seems to have "stuck" as what most people associate with outhouses.

It's good to standardize such symbolism as well. Wouldn't want a passerby with a nervous stomach to seek relief in your tool shed!

[weegee]

If we don't watch it, our descendants will have to communicate opposition to this religion of peace in such subtle ways. We should work on and teach to our kids how to write good allegory. Islamists want to beat us and our kids into submission with sheer numbers.

AntiChristians have already taken the Jesus fish (which is not a "creationist" symbol) and parodied it by adding feet and the name "Darwin". Others have taken the concept and made it more squid-like and put in the name Chuthulu.

The Jesus fish does not need His name to have meaning. The others do (and I find them to be antiChristian).