Christmas and the Effect on Political Cartoons

The Christmas season is coming up soon and the effect it has on political cartoons is very interesting. While the Christmas season is full of cheer and good spirits, it seems like the opposite occurs within the realm of cartoons. The Christmas season seems to take out the worst in us, even though it's supposed to be when we are supposed to be at our best. 

Charlie Brown is a beloved character who makes his appearance during almost every holiday, even the minor ones. Here Charlie Brown and his little christmas tree have been turned into a political message. His tree is labeled as the health care reform, and the ornament holding the tree down is labeled as compromise. It shows here that Obama does not compromise (referring to the text) about his reforms, and it seems to ruin the spirit of the holiday. Using a beloved character seems to relay the message much more effectively, because you know who they are talking about and how the cartoon actually portrays the message because you know the story associated with it. Using black and white instead of color also enforces it. Charlie Brown is a semi depressed character living in a life which is bright and colorful, where he always learns a lesson and what's most important in life. Showing this image in black and white could decrease the ability for Charlie Brown to learn from this situation and cause him to lack in his ability to continue in the happiness of his life. This can push him back into his depressed self with no way out, even though in all the Charlie Brown cartoons he finds a way. The snow fall in the background shows how peaceful the rest of the world is while this is occurring, and how it seems to only affect those who are paying attention. 

This image discusses the political correctness of our society, and how we all seem to have to be politically correct when interacting with each other. Here, even at the presence of the baby Jesus and his family, the 3 men (not the wise men due to the text below the image) cannot seem to give a proper greeting to the man whom the season of Christmas is named after. This is showing that our society feels the need to be too politically correct, and how potentially it could be a social downfall. Even though we are all different, and celebrate different aspects of the holiday, we should be able to understand that and give each other the greeting we wish and not feel as though we can't say Christmas. I feel as though this image portrays this message effectively using the image of the Holy Family, even if one isn't a believer in Christ. This just shows that no matter the individual, everyone worries about being politically correct in situations.

As the Christmas season approaches there will be more and more interactions within political cartoons and different messages that need to be expressed. Using the holiday of Christmas will bring about many different viewpoints on beliefs and cause disagreement during the happiest time of the year. The images which will continue to arise will be extremely interesting, especially with all the recent political news. 

Wake Up, America!

I found this image while searching for political art. I found it extremely interesting and immediately wanted to discuss it for multiple reasons. They are so many different references within this image, that it brings across such a deeper meaning to the piece. 

The obvious image in the front is the statue of liberty, which is drawn into a real beautiful woman. Her face is soft and lips are red, though I personally feel as though her hair should have been black for the image she is trying to portray. Here she is referencing Snow White, with her pale skin and red lips through her deep sleep. Here she is sleeping while America is plummeting into chaos. Within the fairytale of Snow White there are many hidden meanings. Analyzing fairytales brings these meanings to life, and understanding them is extremely important for this women. 

Snow White is put into sleep because she is not ready to be a women. Her sleep symbolizes the part of her maturity where she starts her period and is on her way to becoming a woman. The queen doesn't want her to be a woman, because she will take over the kingdom and become a mature woman and fully be fairer than her. She is put to sleep through a period because she isn't ready to take on this role as a woman, and really needs to sleep to mature because she is not ready. 

The meaning of this image is clear once the analysis of the fairytale is understood, however the artist goes much deeper than that. The red background and the red of the elephant which she is holding seem to relate back to the Snow White fairytale, which is so heavily incorporated into this image. Lady Liberty is asleep while our country is seemingly going through it's own maturity, however in this image the maturity seems to be demise. The country is failing, such as Snow White failed to become a woman at the right time and was sent into a sleep and how the queen wanted her asleep so she could not become a woman, Lady Liberty is being held back as well. Through the demise of the country, she is also not ready to actually go in the right direction. It seems to show that the country needs to fall before she awakens and can build it back up. 

The crosses in the background can also deal with the idea of Snow White's innocence. She doesn't understand death because she has not matured. This might show that Lady Liberty's sleep is partially of her own doing like Snow White's. Snow needed to mature, and Lady Liberty seems to not want to deal with the issues at hand. That is why America is asleep, they are not noticing what is happening. They cannot mature and understand what is going on. 

The stuffed animal held in her sleeping arms is an elephant, representing the Republican party. The innocence of Snow White is shown through the stuffed animal in her arms, but also the innocence of the country. Our country hasn't matured enough to fully understand as a whole what is going on. That is what the image is portraying. 

Using fairytales is an extremely interesting way to incorporate political ideas. While it is unusual, and hard to understand without understanding the analysis of the tales, the idea comes across extremely easily. Even if the analysis isn't understood, the text brings the message across. Fairytales are extremely interesting to me, and I love to analyze them. Finding a political image which can be analyzed using a fairytale was extremely interesting and effective for the message.

Thanksgiving

Political artists have been using the recent thanksgiving in order to promote images and use them towards relaying messages. These messages are portrayed through humor as well as simplistic messages. Using thanksgiving as a theme seems to reach to a wider audience, because almost everyone celebrates thanksgiving. It is a holiday for giving thanks and loving family, but is that always the case?

This image shows the family giving thanks and counting their blessings. Each person on the table is giving thanks in different ways; facebook, twitter, texts, etc. The words rhyme as the audience reads across the writing, which also enforces the meaning of the image. The older generation state that the modern technology cannot enforce the message of thanksgiving, which is very important for the image. Since these electronics keep us from the true meaning of the holiday. The image is shown with a family sitting around a home cooked meal on the table, each one of them except the older generation on some sort of electronic, showing the gap in technology with their age as well. The tones within the image are earthy, which also could reinforce the meaning of thanksgiving and giving blessings for all we have. The image is simply drawn, however there are details given to each figure. While this could make the image hard to relate to, it actually makes it easier to relate to. Because with a family being portrayed, that's all that's important to get the message across. 

This image relates Obamacare to an uncooked turkey, which has yet to thaw and yet is about to be cooked. The frozen turkey isn't prepared, but it's trying to be served to the people who came to thanksgiving, which could represent the country in general. This image simplifies Obama while giving him his significant features in order to ensure who he is. His expression is nervous, and he doesn't want the audience to know that he is lying. The turkey obviously needs more than a little time, and while it is de-thawing it is no where near complete. Incorporating the recent debate and enactment of Obamacare, and while it doesn't work, using the images within this cartoon is helpful when portraying the message. 

This cartoon uses color to portray its message. The chef, who is portrayed to represent Obama, is serving a shiny silver platter which looks as though it contains a big mean (labeled promises) when in actuality what is given is just a white bone (labeled reality) which is absolutely nothing than expected. Uncle Sam is the man who is being served. He has a disappointed expression on his face, which is easy to read even with the simplicity of the cartoon. It's also interesting that the wine glass looks as though there isn't actually wine in it, there is only water. Not serving wine in a wine glass also brings the message further forward, even though it is such a simple, small detail. This image seems to portray that there have been so many promises, but they have been left empty because while there is reality, really it isn't much. 

Using holidays within political cartoon allows for a new and different way to portray a message. These holidays happen every year, which makes using them as a theme even more interesting because they can be related to so many different modern circumstances. Every year something different happens politically, and using holidays that occur every year allows for a larger audience to be reached because the majority of them celebrate these holidays. 

Visual Image from the Affordable Care Act

Obamacare has brought about a shift in the healthcare system as well as creating a lot of tension between the political parties. Political cartoonists have started to incorporate this into their cartoons, incorporating different meanings and different viewpoints of this system. It's become a primary focus in a lot of political arguments, and whether or not there is agreement with the policy there are interesting images which come from this plan. This image to the right is the Obamacare symbol, which was found through google, which is visually interesting on its own. Obama's new logo is featured at the bottom with an image looking like the medical symbol is on top of it. This here shows that both of these images are working together for the people, through the colors and the background it shows that they are working through America. All the people in the backgrounded are whited out and don't have faces, showing that anyone could be one of those people and that are behind this system. This image is open and suggests that so many people are behind the Affordable Care Act, even if this isn't the case for everyone. The insignia is centered within the image as well, giving a balance within the image. 

This second image is a political cartoon about Obamacare, which is much more simplistic in how it relays the message. The image of health is created through the use of a syringe, a common tool within the medical field. It is extended to shoot through the entire body of the individual within the image. This individual used is Uncle Sam, who represents America and is used in many different political images. The use of red white and blue in this image also represents America, though the white background creates a different visual field. Having the white background makes the image of Uncle Sam pop. The meaning of the image seems to show Obamacare shooting through Uncle Sam's body, and causing it to bleed. If Uncle Sam represents America, than it is saying that Obamacare becomes a wound in America, makes it bleed.
This is a second political cartoon which I found about Obamacare. This image is of an older woman holding a pill bottle which represents Obamacare. This image works like a commercial for medicine, where the medicine is the focus and it looks all bright and cheerful. However at the bottom of these adds there is small letters which show the side effects of the medicine, which here shows the side effects of Obamacare. The colors in this image are dulled bright colors, with Obamacare bolded in red. The use of red makes the Obamacare look dangerous, since when relating to medicine the color red is not a positive thing. The added wording at the bottom of the image, added at a later date, also makes a pun on swallowing pills and relating it to America.
It was interesting searching for Obamacare comics or images, because there weren't very many positive ones. I think this is because political artists like to make fun of what is going on, and rarely support it. They like to expose every flaw in every system, and through doing this even the smallest of negativity becomes big, which makes political cartoons extremely successful.