Political Cartoons

[Smarter Child]

Hi,

 

For a school project I have to make a political cartoon that has something to do with recent events. There's a bunch of recent events that come to mind like the Columbia, or the Subway bombing in South Korea, but I can't seem to find a way to make anything into a political cartoon. Anyone have any ideas how I should make a political cartoon with any recent event topics?

[monkeygirl]

Perhaps you could make one about how the french are getting whiny and ordering countries around. (OK that sounds pretty vague, but that's just because I was reading and had the news in the background, so I don't have the whole story )

 

I thought it would be hilarious to have one where France is represented as a snobby high school girl, and the other countries are "geeky" people, and France is like "you're not allowed to come down this hall :P"

 

Anyway that's my freakish idea. The thing to remember about political cartoons is that they often use metaphors. Y'know, like that Snicker's commercial where Bush was represented as an elephant and Gore was a donkey, because of their political parties. At other times, they can take situations and give them new meanings, or even causes. For example: the Columbia shuttle crash could be conveyed as having something to do with aliens, if you're going for the extreme in goofy. However, if you want it to be meaningful, you could poke fun at people's fears: like when people thought the shuttle crash could have been caused by terrorists.

 

Also, there's the topic of people boarding up their houses and buying all the duct tape in America.

 

If I were to make a political cartoon, I'd probably make it about the terror warning level Orange. I'd have Tom Ridge debating with someone about what color would work best. "Terror Warning Pink? Magenta? Burgundy? ...ORANGE!" Again, that's just my strangeness.

 

Finally, cartoonists have to be daring. Some people think it is terribly wrong and would take great offense to having the Columbia "made fun of". But humor is one of the best ways to move on. We can't dwell on the past and be sad forever. So, we make jokes about it. Remember, the point of satire is to bring about social, economic, and/or political change. Cartoonists have caused the demise of big oil companies, and even ended the era of Crime Bosses ruling cities. Good luck!

[Patrick]

That Snickers commercial was hilarious.

[KickChick]

Finally, cartoonists have to be daring. Some people think it is terribly wrong and would take great offense to having the Columbia "made fun of". But humor is one of the best ways to move on. We can't dwell on the past and be sad forever.

 

For a school project I would be a little careful as to the subject matter....

 

it's one thing for professional political satirists to "poke" fun

 

So monkeygirl do you feel making fun of Columbia is the best way to move on .... let's make some fun out of Sept. 11th while we're at it then. I mean .... really!!!

 

but I guess that's just "your strangeness"

[Patrick]

Yeah. Speaking of strangeness.

[Smarter Child]

Thanks monkeygirl for the help! Do you know any web pages where I can read about the French ordering other countries around? Thanks!

[Maestro]

I would agree with kickchick--I'd say you probably should not be satirizing the Columbia at this point, especially as I suspect you don't have a lot of experience in satirical productions. Satire can be extremely effective, but if not done very well and carefully it will simply appear distasteful and insensitive.

 

https://www.nytimes.com is the online New York Times paper. It has an advanced search engine that should help you find what you're looking for. All the new articles are free, those 7 days or older cost money, but even the old ones you can access the abstracts for free, which is probably all you need, but in any case I'm sure you can find a recent one, there's TONS of news on this site.

[John G]

Smarter Child,

 

Your political cartoon should be about something you feel strong about, for me I would do one about current affairs in Iraq.

 

The first time I have heard the words pre-emptive strike was to describe the Japanese attack on Pear Harbour. So you could have a cartoon with Mr Bush and Mr Blair flying Japanese Zeros over Bagdad yelling "Banzai!".

 

Or you could have one with Mr Hussein riding on top of an A-bomb/anthrax bomb over a peace rally dropping propaganda leaflets stating “We have no weapons of mass destruction”

 

The though of two guys waiting at a space/bus station wondering when the next shuttle service might arrive, and a boss stating to his maintenance man (working on a shuttle) “Never mind that bit we have a dead line to meet” could be considered.

 

Respectfully,

 

P.S. I use http://news.google.com/ to gather news information.

 

Condolences to those who may have lost love ones at the Rhode Island nightclub fire.

[Smarter Child]

Thanks for your reply everyone.

 

Yeah I agree I don't think I have enough experience and it might be a bit harsh to add humour to the Columbia crash.

 

John G I think I've seen that exact Saddam cartoon on the newspaper once!

 

I'll check the nytimes site out. Thanks again to everyone that has replied.

[KickChick]

Here ya go!!!!!!!!!!!

 

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/images/blpic-chiracsurrender.htm