Posted on 02/23/2007 3:45:06 PM PST by lizol
After complaints, editor of The New Yorker denies cartoon in magazine was a 'Polish joke'
By Verena Dobnik ASSOCIATED PRESS
11:40 p.m. February 22, 2007
NEW YORK The editor of The New Yorker said Thursday his magazine never intended to offend anyone when it published a cartoon that joked about a Polish name and drunkenness.
David Remnick was responding to the reaction of some New Yorkers of Polish origin, angered by what they consider a Polish joke published in the Feb. 19 issue of the magazine.
Veteran cartoonist Robert Weber had sketched two children chatting at a bus stop with the caption, My parents named me Zbigniew because they were drunk.
Zbigniew is a traditional Polish name.
The magazine received 28 complaints, including two phone calls. The New Yorker sent a form response to readers who complained via e-mail, apologizing and saying the intended joke was that Zbigniew is an unusual name.
Neither the cartoonist nor the editors of The New Yorker thought this was anything other than a joke about the difficulty of pronouncing a name, Remnick told The Associated Press. It's two American kids talking to each other. There was never any intention or thought of this being a particularized ethnic joke, much less an ethnic insult.
We just don't publish that kind of thing, he added.
Staff members at the magazine said they couldn't remember ever having dealt with similar controversies surrounding their cartoons.
The magazine's weekly cartoons have become a staple of American culture, poking fun at everything from popular culture to politics. Many consider New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno the father of the modern gag cartoon.
The single-panel cartoons are sprinkled throughout each issue, between non-fiction articles, short stories and poetry.
See, I avoid typing his last name, because his parent must have been drunk to put in all those nutty consontant combinations in there.
BTW. Adam M. is one of my favourite jumpers, so if the Norwegian team doesn't come through I an rooting for him.
William Henry Harrison -- our worst president.
"The magazine received 28 complaints, including two phone calls. "
Stop the presses! What's the circulation of The New Yorker? A few hundred thousand? I don't subscribe, but pick up older copies for free at the Library because I DO like their cartoons. ;) (The rest of the mag is cr@p.)
I'm keepin that...LOL
"the Polish citizenry will come to be known as among the best of the freedom loving, freedom fighting people of europe..."
I agree. I am from Norway, and we are currently having a large degree of Polish immigration. There was a newspaper story the other week about a school that was about to become mostly muslim. Now it is a catholic stronghold. Talk about a blessing...
The only sad thing about the Polism emmigration is that a lot of these resourceful people are probably needed at home.
Cheers.
Nope. Never smoked salmon either (too hard to light!)
"How about a guy whose name would be Szczepan Brzeczyszykiewicz :-)))
Don't know personally anybody with such a name, but it's absolutely possible in Poland :-)"
See, the cartoonist had a point. Although he did not managage to express it in a funny way.
Anyhow, it is time to go off to bed.
BTW: You know that Bjorndalen (And Lars Berger) is going to compete in the Nordic world championship. It would be really cool for biathlon if these two manage win a medal or two among the cross country specialists.
Cheers.
That was a truly beautiful photograph.
Almost spititual.
Fitting the motive.
Cheers.
Szczepan is much more common than Brzeczyszykiewicz.
As to "those nutty consontant combinations" - I like this Polish joke:
A Polish guy went to apply for a driver's license. First, he had to take an eye sight test. The optician showed him a card with the letters:
'C Z W I X N O S T A C Z.'
"Can you read this?" the optician asked.
"Read it?" the Polish guy replied, "I know the guy."
hehe.
That actually was really amusing.
You should email it to the Webber guy in the New Yorker.
Then, at least he would have a funny joke on his hands :-)
Cheers.
Stolen.
I got a chuckle out of it once they explained it....
OK, not the funniest cartoon the New Yorker has ever published. But not bad. Rather droll. Some tightly-wound people will be offended. Sucks to be them.
That's never seemed to be a criteria for New Yorker cartoons.
Did he just write his name in the snow? He must have been drinking a lot of black coffee.
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