Editorial Cartoonists Condemned as Racist for Depicting Obama in Caricature

Mark Armstrong

Veteran Member
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/comic-riffs/2009/01/read_his_lips_cartoonists_go_b.html

More, including illustrations, at the above link.

Read Obama's Lips: Cartoonists Deal in Bizarre Caricature

I've tried to keep my lips sealed for some weeks now, hoping the whole nasty matter would correct itself. Unfortunately, since the Inauguration, it only seems to be getting worse. So now, my own gums must flap to flag a disturbing trend:

An unnerving number of North America's political cartoonists are bizarrely obsessed with President Obama's lips.

You read that right. Barack has the mouth that soared to the top of many cartoonists' fixations. Just what in the name of Jimmy Carter caricatures is going on here?

If you don't believe me, scan dozens of current political cartoons. For every Steve Benson or Mike Luckovich who is zeroing in on a swell, spot-on Obama, there seems to be a cartoonist who invokes "caricature" in the most grotesque sense of the word. Obama's lips have been rendered in such unnatural tints, and at such dimensions, that somewhere, even R. Crumb would blush.

And of course, this physical area of caricature -- unlike, say, Obama's ears -- comes freighted with a legacy of ugly racism and cruel, blackface-era mockery.

For political cartoonists, so much is open to caricature, especially when rendering public figures. As several Pulitzer-winning political cartoonists told Comic Riffs during the campaign, they work with the features they've been dealt -- be it Nixon's perpetual 5-o'clock shadow or LBJ's hangdog look. But here's the rub: Obama, at least artistically speaking, has fairly unremarkable lips. They're pleasant enough -- and I'm sure the first lady adores them -- but they're not exactly a feature one would hang a caricature on.

So why the disquieting examples that feature large lips, prominent lips, neon-blue (!) lips when drawing Obama?

...Are too many cartoonists not subtly skilled enough to draw a deft caricature of our first African American president? I seriously doubt that's it. When you truly study art, you delve deeply into all shapes and sizes and learn to "see" -- and learn to see skin not as one single hue, but often as more than a dozen hues (subtle reds, flecks of green, etc.). Of course, perhaps a few cartoonists aren't looking deeply enough at Obama...

So we open our lips today to shine a light, because: If we're seeing this not two weeks into Obama's presidency, what will the next four (eight?) years bring?

As a side note, I would point out that the famous "hope" and "progress" posters commissioned and distributed by Obama's own election campaign depicted him with large blue lips.

http://www.socialistunity.com/?cat=286
 

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Mark Armstrong

Veteran Member
UPDATE: I found a previous column by the same author (Michael Cavna) written two days after the election, in which he calls for the sort of wonderful Obama depictions that he now condemns cartoonists for not coming up with.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/comic-riffs/2008/11/drawing_obama_an_open_letter_t.html

Drawing Obama: To Political Cartoonists, a Call to Arms
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE NATION'S POLITICAL CARTOONISTS

It's been a long, sometimes daunting road to Obama's presidential victory. Artistic mistakes were made along the way, and occasionally, some cartoonists did not display the necessary vision. But those mistakes are in the past -- it's a brand new day, and a time for a fresh aesthetic beginning.

So with that in mind, consider this a call to arms, if not drawing hands. Comic Riffs beseeches the nation's cartoonists with one simple request -- a call to excellence, if you will: Draw an even better Obama.

Now make no mistake: This is not a slam or slight. As we've seen with "Saturday Night Live" impressions, it can take months, sometimes years for superior interpretations of political figures to emerge. And many cartoonists are now creating perfectly fine Obama caricatures. But now, as we move toward inauguration, we call upon the best and brightest to deliver new artistic greatness.

Do we here at Comic Riffs hold ourselves exempt from this mandate? No -- no, we do not. Nearly a year ago, I wrestled with my Obama illustrations -- just as I did with my Huckabees and Romneys, Giulianis and Clintons, and even a rogue McCain. Across the board, it was an engaging challenge to illustrate THIS Dana Milbank package -- and judging by my Obama and Edwards, even man-beauty can prove darned elusive to capture. Now, these many months of candidate familiarity later, though, I am confident that the nation's caricaturists -- the men and women charged with drawing Obama daily -- will set new standards.

For decades, of course, great cartoonists have given us iconic Nixons, sublimes Reagans and deftly rendered Clintons. So it is that now, Obama deserves the height of cartoon equality: His own caricature that causes all to "ooh" and "ahh" with recognition of utter rightness. It's a tall order. Can you do it, my fellow cartoonists? Yes -- yes you can.
 

kozanne

Inactive
But some of the images done of President Bush were okay...maybe because he is white?

I'll say it again: This administration will be the most damaging and divisive in our history. "Race relations" will be set back a hundred years because of this.
 

Penguin Zen

Veteran Member
Obamicon

As a side note, I would point out that the famous "hope" and "progress" posters commissioned and distributed by Obama's own election campaign depicted him with large blue lips.

I don't think his features in the poster were exaggerated.. From what I understand you can make a poster like his with your own picture.. those are his real features

Make your own "Obamicon" — your image in a style inspired by Shepard Fairey's iconic poster.
http://obamiconme.pastemagazine.com/


He might want to befriend Michael Jackson & inquire about how to remove his African features if it bothers him so much.....
 

Mark Armstrong

Veteran Member
I don't think his features in the poster were exaggerated.. From what I understand you can make a poster like his with your own picture.. those are his real features

Indeed. Obama's campaign handed the artist, street artist Shephard Fairey, a photograph to draw from, and asked him to create the artwork for them. It turns out that the photograph was taken by an AP photographer. AP is asserting copyright ownership over the image, and is demanding compensation for the use of the image in the poster.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7872253.stm

The poster and the photograph it was derived from are both shown at the above link.
 
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