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.

[TomGuy]

More PC crap. [pun intended]

Certain people can find "offended feelings" in anything, if they look hard enough. Jesse Jackson is a prime example. Now, certain members of Cair seem bent on doing the same.

Cair is using this as a veiled attempt to take possession of the crescent moon symbol and make it represent Islam. Then, they would start attacking any non-Islamic use of it--whether in ads or decoration or whatever.

Any time you see a "complaint" from an organized group, think--AGENDA. They all have one, though it is not always overt or obvious.

Those subtle agendas succeed because of PC. PC accusations tend to make people not want to confront the issue, but rather acquiesce and give in--to avoid creating problems.

Cair complaining about B.C. brings to mind the question: How many other elements of American society and culture has CAIR complained about in the last 2 years?

[Sloth]

The reader noted that the cartoon contained six crescent moons -- three in the sky, and three on the outhouse door

FALSE. It shows ONE in the sky, and ONE in the door.

[AmishDude]

This was such a biased and poorly-written article:

Many Jewish readers were outraged, claiming Hart was making the argument that Christianity had extinguished Judaism as a "better" religion. Hart denied it, protesting that the cartoon was intended to honor both religions. To many, his explanation seemed hollow.

Looks like the author just got off the high school paper: "Spring dance enjoyed by some."

And Hart's syndicator doesn't help:

Newcombe said; "Why would he suddenly become Hercule Poirot, secretly planting clues?"

Hey, dimwit, I've never read Agatha Christie and even I know that Poirot didn't plant clues.

This was the sentence that enraged me:

A fair question. Maybe because he had never tried anything this incendiary before?

I can't believe that the author put this in the article.

And then they bring out this guy:

This is Marshall Blonsky, professor of semiotics at the New School in New York. Blonsky is an expert in the interpretation of signs and symbols.

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

Like many cartoon strips, Johnny Hart's "B.C." often has pedestrian, cliched jokes. But every once in a while he shows brilliant moves -- sometimes accompanied by lamentable social insensitivity.

The Washington Post should have fired this guy yesterday.

[Jim Cane]

It would only be anti-muslim if the middle panel bore a sound balloon *frrrtttt ploop*
And then the last the caveman saying: "Mohammed? Is that you?"

Would have been funnier, too.

[MrConfettiMan]

Oh, I guess it's a total of six. D'oh!

[tallhappy]

These guys hate Johnny Hart. They got a strip of his banned by most newspapers a while ago. They want to stop him from cartooning all together if they can.

And, of course it stinks in there.

No one is supposed to say it for some crazy reason.

[MrConfettiMan]

Yeah, that was my thought as well. See my Replies #37 and #45, though. It's a total of six.

[ArrogantBustard]

Yes. They should also apologize for being loudmouthed demogogues. In reparation, they should disband, and return to their countries of origin.

[thiscouldbemoreconfusing]

You know, the contents of that little shack and the principals of islam are identical.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

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

Maybe that's what he wants your sub-conscious to do. Maybe that's why he put the "slam" in there.

Brilliant.

[thiscouldbemoreconfusing]

Crescent moons have been on American outhouses for generations.

Prophetic I tell you, hundreds of years ago those who built outhouses knew that one day there contents would defind islam.

[mhking]

Johnny Hart in his Nineveh, NY studio.

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[aardvark1]

a vulgar defamation of Islam into the comics pages last week

It is my firm belief that Islam most recently defamed itself in the most vulger way when it "sneaked" 19 of its adherents onto American airplanes and murdered 3000 in 2001.

[Humbug]

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

He did put an "eye" before the slam though.

[BibChr]

Six crescents: two in the first panel, two in the second....

Having said that, I don't "get" the cartoon, unless it is a slam on Islam.

Having said that... they might concentrate on cleaning up their religion, rather than looking hard for all the tiny, bloodless insults they can whine about.

Dan

[Fzob]

I am a Christian. I am a fan of BC and Hart. I see the cartoon and I get it even if he won't admit it. Hilarious!

I get it too and love it. Great subtlety. A Hart Classic. IMO.

[MrConfettiMan]

Yeah, I figured it out five seconds after my original reply. :)

[Osage Orange]

You wrote:

"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."

====================================================

Sadly...that about sums it up.

FRegards,

[Sloth]

It's a total of six.

Yes, but the article makes it sound like there were three moons in the sky and three in the door (which certainly *would* make it seem like a blatant reference to Islam). But there aren't. By the same logic, one could say that a four-panel Peanuts cartoon shows Charlie Brown with eight eyes.

[BibChr]

I thought you might, but... seriously, have you figured out the cartoon? I don't think Hart's always funny, and maybe it just isn't funny.

And wouldn't it be refreshing if one of these professional whiners said, "We can understand, with centuries of our fellow-religionists killing innocent people in the name of our religion, and three thousand Americans dead in just one such recent attack, and given images of hatred in the name of our religion every day from every country in the world ruled by our religion, why Hart might suggest that something stinks in Islam. But many of us are really nice people!"

Or something like that?

Dan