America Bashing by Stephane Peray

September 27, 2004 1:57 AM

America Bashing. By Thai cartoonist Stephane Peray.
posted by plep (33 comments total)

Yay.
posted by Space Coyote at 2:01 AM on September 27, 2004

But he's French.
posted by shoos at 2:18 AM on September 27, 2004

Some of these are REALLY funny. But they're bad, because the US is perfect. Or at least above criticism. Anyone who disagrees can lick my magnetic yellow ribbon.
posted by Mayor Curley at 2:35 AM on September 27, 2004

Is it just me who thinks the whole thing has been put on MSN space on purpose?
posted by DrDoberman at 2:46 AM on September 27, 2004

No, no, no. America isn't perfect but it's better than everywhere else therefore nobody else has the right to criticize. And if anyone does then their country is stupid, and eats funny food, and is generally crap. Ya boo sucks.

This is a bit op-ed-to-stir-things-up-style tho'. I'm sure there'll be someone round here who'll be mortally offended by these and the comments herein...

DrDoberman: No.
posted by i_cola at 2:50 AM on September 27, 2004

I quite liked them. Steve Bell of the Guardian is also good.
posted by salmacis at 2:59 AM on September 27, 2004

But he's French.

So he is!
posted by plep at 3:11 AM on September 27, 2004

i_cola - maybe you should comment on the post itself instead of using the thread as yet another vehicle to spit out your anti-America, anti-Bush blah blah blah sarcastic rhetoric. We got it already. Don't worry, you're in the club. What do you think of the cartoons? How do these political cartoons stand up to cartoons of yester-year? Do you have a favorite?

Personally, I think some of these are funny. I think some of them have a clever message and/or approach. But overall, I think they're pretty mediocre to poor when it comes to really good political cartooning. Some of them come with explanations, as if I wouldn't "get it" otherwise. Many of them just don't need the dialogue balloons to explain it to me. But that's just my opinion.
posted by Witty at 3:24 AM on September 27, 2004

There is nothing worse than political cartooning. OK HERE LET ME LABEL THIS GIANT PILE OF FECES SOME PERSON AND THEN THE FARMER WILL BE PARTY X AND HA HAAHAAAHAHAA I AM A GENIUS.

Buh.
posted by kavasa at 3:50 AM on September 27, 2004

hehe, I like these a lot..
Good post.
posted by ruelle at 4:45 AM on September 27, 2004

They are good. There was just a thing on how our own editorial cartoons have been rendered almost entirely toothless, compared to foreign ones. (and it included Stephane's work)
posted by amberglow at 4:56 AM on September 27, 2004

Steve Bell of the Guardian is also good.

I laughed hard at this salmacis; but mainly because Bush looks so much like Yoda - can you imagine Bush talking about GYN/OBs giving love to the women of America like Yoda!!

\childish
posted by DrDoberman at 5:01 AM on September 27, 2004

Steve Bell is certainly childish - but it can often be quite sophisticated childish humour, if that's not a contradiction in terms.
posted by salmacis at 6:14 AM on September 27, 2004

Excellent. Great counterpoint to the American perspective!
posted by Shane at 6:40 AM on September 27, 2004

American cartoonists are pussies.
posted by jpoulos at 6:40 AM on September 27, 2004

Some of them come with explanations, as if I wouldn't "get it" otherwise. Many of them just don't need the dialogue balloons to explain it to me. But that's just my opinion

You're not the intended audience.
posted by jpoulos at 6:42 AM on September 27, 2004

I can't believe they actually censored that one on the last page. That says so much about the U.S. mass media - even when they try, they don't quite get it.
posted by stonerose at 6:59 AM on September 27, 2004

I only laughed at the one with the US soldier scrawling "US Go Home" on the wall. I thought everything else was pretty rubbish, i'm afraid. Nowhere near as good as Steve Bell.
posted by Blue Stone at 7:03 AM on September 27, 2004

I saw a lot of cleverness in them, and no small amount of bravery. Are they visually imaginative? Well, not always. But they don't have to be. It can be a real drag having to crank one of these out every day, and as jpoulos said, we're not the target audience.

They might not be laugh-out-loud funny, but how often do you laugh out loud at political cartoons? Not everyone's a natural reader, and it's easier to get an editorial stance from a well-executed drawing in a few seconds than it might be to parse a 750-word screed saying exactly the same thing in 7-point type.

I found many of these had some power. I rarely read Slate, and I wouldn't have ever seen them otherwise. Thanks.
posted by chicobangs at 7:15 AM on September 27, 2004

American cartoonists are pussies.

American cartoonists aren't all pussies.
posted by DrDoberman at 7:16 AM on September 27, 2004

You're not the intended audience.

Who is?

I assume any politically motivated public art is probably intended to be seen by as large an audience as possible, since I imagine that the intent is at least partly to effect public sentiment.
posted by jonmc at 7:36 AM on September 27, 2004

I found the majority of these to be fair to middling, as compared with most international cartoonists. I'm a sucker for the perfectly realized non-verbal cartoon (something I've always strived for myself but rarely achieved) and the more voice balloons and captions that are layered on, the less power I find them to have. I saw this excellent one on the first page and then kept clicking to find another that came close, but no such luck.

Anyway, we may as well get used to looking at foreign cartoons, because, as others upthread have noted, America's mass media is relentlessly squeezing the life out of the profession here.
posted by soyjoy at 7:39 AM on September 27, 2004

Yawn. A few were creative, the others were pretty derivative. So everybody else around the world hates America. What else is new?
posted by darren at 7:41 AM on September 27, 2004

You're not the intended audience.

Who is?

Thailand.
posted by jpoulos at 7:45 AM on September 27, 2004

So everybody else around the world hates America. What else is new?

Well, just that! There was a time when the US of A was respected by the international community.
posted by DrDoberman at 7:52 AM on September 27, 2004

Unles I'm missing something, these cartoons weren't drawn to be syndicated worldwide.

And yeah, DrDoberman, this level of hatred for the world's current ruling empire is a very new thing. There were places where the USA wasn't exactly popular, but the hate has obviously been ratcheted up a few notches in the last few years.
posted by chicobangs at 7:56 AM on September 27, 2004

On second look: some of those are actually really fucking good. All three on page 2, the golfing one on page 4, the Saddam statue one, and the two helmets at the bottom of page six really get over.

I'm impressed.
posted by chicobangs at 8:03 AM on September 27, 2004

I dig.
posted by eustacescrubb at 8:20 AM on September 27, 2004

Witty: I think that you have previously established the fact that your handle bears no relation to anything regarding wit apart from the fact that it is just your name.

As you are without what your name would otherwise suggest, I'll just make the point that I'm not anti-American, just anti- those Americans who use the 'we're #1 so don't criticize/poke fun/be rude' defence. However, I am anti-Bush but I didn't make any reference to him in my post so I'm not sure why you brought it up.

Oh, and as you missed it, my opinion (and I'm toiuched that you are so interested in what I think) was expressed in the second paragraph.
posted by i_cola at 10:07 AM on September 27, 2004

I can't believe they actually censored that one on the last page.

Censored? I thought it was intentionally part of the cartoon.

Some of these were pretty clever.
posted by Krrrlson at 11:36 AM on September 27, 2004

Some of these were cheap shots and some of these were just uninteresting, but a thoughtful collection nonetheless.

My favorite: "I wish I had died for a glorious cause like you."
posted by kjh at 4:05 PM on September 27, 2004

This is very effective.
posted by jb at 10:35 PM on September 27, 2004

i_cola - So your opinion of the cartoons is that the FPP is "a bit op-ed-to-stir-things-up-style tho'. I'm sure there'll be someone round here who'll be mortally offended by these and the comments herein..."
Interesting point.

And as far as my username goes, I'm putting you down on the list as having used it as a basis for rebuttal/attack... ok? You're #465. Just after Kerry wins the election, I'm going to hold a drawing for one lucky winner. So don't forget your number and.... GOOD LUCK!
posted by Witty at 3:15 AM on September 28, 2004