Please explain this Onion editorial cartoon.

[An Gadaí]

http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/aug-25-2008

I don't geddit.

[KneadToKnow]

I've always thought of The Onion's editorial cartoons as poking fun at the relatively unfunny, un-get-able nature of editorial cartoons rather than as trying to convey an actual joke. In that sense, I suppose I mean to say, I think of them as meta-humor rather than humor.

OTOH, she's got hooters! Whooooo!

[KneadToKnow]

Mispost.

[Staggerlee]

I've always thought of The Onion's editorial cartoons as poking fun at the relatively unfunny, un-get-able nature of editorial cartoons rather than as trying to convey an actual joke. In that sense, I suppose I mean to say, I think of them as meta-humor rather than humor.
I've always taken them to be rather the opposite - satirising editorial cartoons by making the metaphors all too obvious, and usually of a patriotic/commensensical/right wing subject matter. Like this (http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/aug-11-2008) one - making General Motors into a dodgy used-car salesman burning the stars and stripes, while a 'wily oriental' stereotype looks over a Hummer (presumably GM are selling the Humvee to a foreign car company - I haven't heard). And always the 'editor' in the corner to make the message even more gratuitously clear.

I don't understand the cartoon in the OP particularly - is the 'Miss USA' Clinton, feeling robbed, or something?

[mobo85]

To me, it looks like the joke is about the Democrats using Hillary Clinton as a "spokesperson" so to speak for their party and their cause. Like Miss America, she has no actual power- her only job is to look pretty and talk about how great America is.

[An Gadaí]

Yeah they're usually fairly obvious and IMHO fucking hilarious for their gaucheness but this one just does nothing for me. Is there meant to be an entente between the editorial cartoonists and the Dems for some reason?

[Weirddave]

To me, it looks like the joke is about the Democrats using Hillary Clinton as a "spokesperson" so to speak for their party and their cause. Like Miss America, she has no actual power- her only job is to look pretty and talk about how great America is.
Bingo.

[KneadToKnow]

her only job is to look pretty
FAIL

[Half Man Half Wit]

To me, it looks like the joke is about the Democrats using Hillary Clinton as a "spokesperson" so to speak for their party and their cause. Like Miss America, she has no actual power- her only job is to look pretty and talk about how great America is.
I thought it satirizes the 'popularity contest' notion surrounding the elections -- 'Miss America' is pure eye candy, and the public is pleased for having a nice pair of knockers to look at, and thus, everyone's a winner.

[Marley23]

I've always taken them to be rather the opposite - satirising editorial cartoons by making the metaphors all too obvious, and usually of a patriotic/commensensical/right wing subject matter.
Exactly right. Usually, the joke is that the cartoonist is a dumb rightwing reactionary who is incapable of any kind of subtlety or satire, to the point where he draws himself in the cartoon saying things like "it's true." Really, he's a cartoonist version of Stephen Colbert. (http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/jun-09-2008) Like the GM one: it's incoherent and xenophobic. Actually, they're almost all incoherent and xenophobic (http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/aug-20-2007). (And, now that I review some, they're usually very sexist.) This one is unusual in that it's really not clear what he is trying to say. mobo85 is right - this is supposed to be Hillary. The joke, I guess, is that he's just seeing her as a sex object.

[Manduck]

That's not supposed to be Hillary Clinton - that's the Weeping Statue of Liberty that appears in just about all of the cartoons. I think the gag here is that she is being paraded around in a skimpy outfit (in some metaphorical way), which normally would be considered demeaning, but the cartoonist approves. Or to put it another way, a big-breasted statue of liberty in a revealing costume, to that cartoonist, represents the "USA IS #1" sentiment on the banner. Remember, the joke is supposed to be on the cartoonist in these things.

[TWDuke]

To me, it looks like the joke is about the Democrats using Hillary Clinton as a "spokesperson" so to speak for their party and their cause.The female figure in a Statue-of-Liberty crown represents America. Compare http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/aug-11-2008, http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/aug-11-2008, http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/aug-04-2008, http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/aug-11-2008

[Cat Fight]

Just checked in with Onion-related FOAF (I call him once a day so he can explain the jokes to me). It's not Clinton, it's Lady Liberty. And democracy is a big popularity contest/beauty pageant. Monsters!

[An Gadaí]

Ok, can we agree that it is a rare example of a bad Onion cartoon?

Thanks for your input folks.

[TommyTutone]

I've always thought of The Onion's editorial cartoons as poking fun at the relatively unfunny, un-get-able nature of editorial cartoons rather than as trying to convey an actual joke. In that sense, I suppose I mean to say, I think of them as meta-humor rather than humor.

OTOH, she's got hooters! Whooooo!

I agree with this completely. I had not read these before, but looking at them now, going back through previous weeks, I am fairly certain that the editor is making fun of editorial comics, rather than stating his own belief. A 'left wing' paper, like The Onion, would not put in a picture of George Carlin and Tim Russert in hell except in the strongest sense of satire. Likewise their views on those dastardly skateboarding teenagers and foreign beermakers buying Busch because they are unable to make good beer on their own.

With that in mind, I think the current comic is just making the point that Democrats are awesome and that Lady Liberty would be a democrat if she was an actual person.

[An Gadaí]

All previous cartoons though are from a Right-Wing broadly Republican perspective.

[Freddy the Pig]

With that in mind, I think the current comic is just making the point that Democrats are awesome and that Lady Liberty would be a democrat if she was an actual person.That would be out of character for this mock-cartoonist.

I think the joke is that the cartoonist fixates on the most banal aspects of conventions--the patriotic slogans and oratory, the red white and blue bunting, the funny hats, and the beauty-pageant-style introductions of party big-wigs--and actually celebrates them. He's too simple-minded to know or care that the Democrats are espousing an ideology with which he disagrees; instead he just sees flags + patriotic oratory = good.

[Frylock]

That would be out of character for this mock-cartoonist.

I think the joke is that the cartoonist fixates on the most banal aspects of conventions--the patriotic slogans and oratory, the red white and blue bunting, the funny hats, and the beauty-pageant-style introductions of party big-wigs--and actually celebrates them. He's too simple-minded to know or care that the Democrats are espousing an ideology with which he disagrees; instead he just sees flags + patriotic oratory = good.

If the cartoon is portraying the cartoonist as conveying that message, then this cartoon portrays the cartoonist as far more clever than he has ever been portrayed before.

-FrL-

[ultrafilter]

There's a blog (http://www.theonion.com/content/whitehousewar/blog) written by the cartoonist that should help to explain the perspective behind the cartoons.

[Freddy the Pig]

If the cartoon is portraying the cartoonist as conveying that message, then this cartoon portrays the cartoonist as far more clever than he has ever been portrayed before.I don't understand. What's clever about celebrating the banal?

[Frylock]

I don't understand. What's clever about celebrating the banal?

Oops, I misread the post. I thought it was saying the Cartoonist was criticizing people who celebrate the banal.

But now that I've read it again, it still doesn't seem right. The Cartoonist is the type who would never celebrate anything the Democratic Party has to offer. If they seem to be offering mom and apple pie, he'll find a way to make it look hypocritical. I think.

-FrL-

[mlees]

I tried to form my own guess before reading other posters opinions.

I thought the cartoonist was trying to imply that he/she thought that the convention was a meaningless show. All props, no substance. As pointless as a beauty pageant.

[Freddy the Pig]

I thought the cartoonist was trying to imply that he/she thought that the convention was a meaningless show. All props, no substance. As pointless as a beauty pageant.That would be a good guess if this were a real cartoon. In the fictional world of the Onion cartoonist, however, irony is unknown. When he approves of something, the Statue of Liberty cheers (or in this case, cries a tear of joy.) When he disapproves, she weeps.

[mlees]

That would be a good guess if this were a real cartoon. In the fictional world of the Onion cartoonist, however, irony is unknown. When he approves of something, the Statue of Liberty cheers (or in this case, cries a tear of joy.) When he disapproves, she weeps.

Hmm. Ok, thanks. I am not an Onion regular.

EDIT: I went through the last couple months cartoons... Holy Crap! Not a very subtle cartoonist...

[mlees]

Maybe the cartoonist is merely thrilled to see capital "D" democracy in action...

Or approves of the attention politics is finally getting this cycle...

[Laughing Lagomorph]

Why do these painfully unfunny cartoons repetitively featuring the blatant political agenda of the cartoonist remind me of Mallard Filmore? :)

[ultrafilter]

Maybe the cartoonist is merely thrilled to see capital "D" democracy in action...

Or approves of the attention politics is finally getting this cycle...

Why do these painfully unfunny cartoons repetitively featuring the blatant political agenda of the cartoonist remind me of Mallard Filmore? :)

You guys should check out the link in post #19.

[Frylock]

You guys should check out the link in post #19.

I don't see how that link helps explain this cartoon. I'm already familiar with the Onion Cartoonist character, and I don't understand the cartoon.

The people the Cartoonist is a lampoon of wouldn't say what the Cartoonist is saying about what he is saying it about, but to interpret the cartoon any other way would be to interpret the Cartoonist as understanding irony, and that's contrary to his character.

I'm in the"Not getting it" camp.

-FrL-

[Laughing Lagomorph]

You guys should check out the link in post #19.


Ignoring for a moment the cartoon linked in the OP, and mentioning that I have never until today seen any of the Onion editorial cartoons:

As I understand it from a quick review of several of them the Onion editorial cartoons normally spoof painfully unfunny editorial cartoons that repetitively feature the blatant political agenda of the cartoonist.

They do this by running painfully unfunny editorial cartoons that repetitively feature the blatant political agenda of the cartoonist, only the cartoonist doesn't realize that he is unfunny, he thinks he is witty and his observations are trenchant.

My only point was that I felt like I was reading Mallard Filmore (which I dislike, not because of its political agenda per se, but because that agenda is so blatantly and repetitively featured in an unfunny comic strip that its creator thinks is witty and trenchant).

Does that make more sense?

[mlees]

In the Hummer cartoon ( http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/aug-11-2008 ), Lady Liberty has tears (apparently distressed), and the cartoonist has a frown. He appears to have a negative opinion of GM selling off that line of vehicle.

In the Beer to Belgium cartoon ( http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/jul-21-2008 ), Lady Liberty is distressed (with tears), and the cartoonist has a frown. The dude is annoyed with another US product moving overseas.

In this portrayal of eco-zealots ( http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/jul-02-2008 ), Lady Liberty is distressed (with tears), possibly at the overt hostility of the eco-crowd, the catoonist is frowing.

However, in the OP's cartoon, the Lady Liberty has tears coming from her eyes (indicating distress, despite the strained smile on her "beauty pageant" face), yet the cartoonist fellow in the lower right seems happy. It's definately confusing.

[Acsenray]

However, in the OP's cartoon, the Lady Liberty has tears coming from her eyes (indicating distress, despite the strained smile on her "beauty pageant" face)

No, that's her "tears of joy" aspect, which is usually shown in celebration of some kind of right-wing victory.

The only thing I could come up with is that Kelly is so shallow that he sentimentally capitulates to superficial trappings of his notion of patriotism.

[Acsenray]

I am fairly certain that the editor is making fun of editorial comics, rather than stating his own belief.

He's making fun of right-wing opinionists, specifically.

With that in mind, I think the current comic is just making the point that Democrats are awesome and that Lady Liberty would be a democrat if she was an actual person.

If this is the case, then this is a radical about-face for the Kelly persona. Usually, anything the Democrats do is depicted in a negative light.

[Marley23]

Maybe he's saying we'd all be winners if the Democrats loved America that much.

[mlees]

He's making fun of right-wing opinionists, specifically.

So, your saying the Cartoonist dude in the lower right is actually a caricature of right wing editorialist/carttonists, as well. (Like Colbert is a caricature of O'Reilly.) :smack:

Sorry I am so slow today. I haven't eaten yet. Blood sugar out of whack. Yeah... that's it....

[WF Tomba]

Update: he has drawn exactly the same cartoon for the Republican convention, but with "Democratic" changed to "Republican" and an elephant suit on the presenter instead of a donkey suit.

I think this is supposed to be the simpleton cartoonist's way of celebrating the democratic process.

On the other hand, compare this one from a couple of years back:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/55805

[An Gadaí]

Yeah it makes more sense with the second cartoon.

[Baldwin]

Update: he has drawn exactly the same cartoon for the Republican convention, but with "Democratic" changed to "Republican" and an elephant suit on the presenter instead of a donkey suit.

I think this is supposed to be the simpleton cartoonist's way of celebrating the democratic process.Yes, exactly. Sometimes the obvious answer is the correct one.

[Lunar Saltlick]

Yeah it makes more sense with the second cartoon.
I was going to write that it took you guys one heck of a long time to click on that second cartoon and get the joke, but then I realized the second cartoon only came out this Monday, and the thread started the previous Wednesday. I just came upon this thread today, with both cartoons present, and couldn't understand your confusion. Sometimes the Onion amazes me -- make readers wait a whole week to get the second half of the joke. Have they ever pulled that one before?

[An Gadaí]

I was going to write that it took you guys one heck of a long time to click on that second cartoon and get the joke, but then I realized the second cartoon only came out this Monday, and the thread started the previous Wednesday. I just came upon this thread today, with both cartoons present, and couldn't understand your confusion. Sometimes the Onion amazes me -- make readers wait a whole week to get the second half of the joke. Have they ever pulled that one before?

To the best of my knowledge, not in the cartoons section. I usually enjoy the crude politicking but I found the initial cartoon in this duo perplexing and not in the least bit funny.

[Lemur866]

Huh? Of course it was funny!

The cartoonist isn't just a caricature of a generic right-wing attack dog. He's a caricature of all those political cartoonists that have hung on for decades who often have bizarre idiosyncratic points of view. He's not a right-winger, he's a jingoist xenophobe. He loves america, and that includes both republicans and democrats and OJ Simpson too: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/55538

[Lemur866]

And Tony Soprano: http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/jun-18-2007
And Paula Zahn: http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/jul-30-2007
And television: http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/oct-15-2007

[ultrafilter]

I don't think that the cartoonist is a jingoist xenophobe so much as he hates anything that reminds him he doesn't live in the popular conception of the 1950s.

[An Gadaí]

And Tony Soprano: http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/jun-18-2007
And Paula Zahn: http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/jul-30-2007
And television: http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/oct-15-2007

These are funny but the election ones I didn't find funny. 'tis all subjective though.