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.
Insensitivity for the sake of laughs alone is the basis of humour
From one of Pookie18's FR "Today's Toons" threads!!
I assumed this was some reference to Zbigniew Brzezinski, but why? Has he been in the news lately?
It's a commentary on people trying to give their kids distinctive names.
"The real crime is that it's not funny."
Nor are most of the jokes in the magazine.
Jerry: Good luck , It's sold out for the next three weeks.
Elaine: Well I bet I can get in once I mention I'm from ...The New Yorker.
Jerry: The New Yorker?
Elaine: Yes , The New Yorker , I've met with their cartoon editor and I got him to admit that that cartoon
...MADE NO SENSE....
Jerry: Wow! Good work, Nancy Drew
Elaine: Then we ended up going out to lunch and he had some great gossip about James Thurber.
Jerry: Nodding off...
Elaine: ....And he said I could submit some of my own cartoons.
Jerry: Wow! that's incredible......But you don't draw.
Elaine: I do to.
Jerry: What , your sad little horsies , the house with the little curl of smoke , the sunflower with the smiley
face. the transparent cube... ( as she leaves)
Elaine: It's better than your drawings of naked Lois Lane.
Jerry: Where did you see that? Those are private!!!
< };B^)
"Look, Ziggy is back at the complaint desk. He's saying, 'The New Yorker is stealing my ideas.' Now, that's funny!"
You're gonna burn for that, but, LOL!!!!
Liberal bigots don't even understand they are bigots.
What a stupid cartoon.
This might be funny if it was supposed to make people think of Jimmy Carter's dimestore version of Henry Kissinger, as providing the only explanation for someone naming a kid after Zbigniew Brzezinski, but present-day readers can't be assumed to remember that far back. "My parents named me Hillary because they were drunk" would work better.
The "Barney Miller Show" a long time ago had a running joke involving a regular member of the cast with a long Polish name who always insisted "It's spelled just like it's pronounced" (Wojohowicz or whatever).
At least the kids aren't changing a light bulb in the dumb cartoon.
My one-way ticket to the Nether Regions was punched a long time ago. I find it rather liberating.
I cannot believe the language they allow here these days.
Wash your mouth!
Let be the girly-looking kid on the right saying, "My parent named me Falopia Semaj because she was cracked out," and see how well it would have worked with the editor.
Still not very funny.
Some things just can't be fixed.
....agreed....!!!
"
“My parents named me Zbigniew because they were drunk.” (Two boys in winter coats talk at the bus stop.)"
Har de Har....poorly DRAWN as well.
Absolutely true, but then liberals have a terrible sense of humor.
Now you've got me going.
"My parents named me Vagina Monologues."
No, still not funny.
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