# Dopers francais---is the new Hebdo cartoon of Mohammed what I think it is? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 14, 2015, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-francais-is-the-new-hebdo-cartoon-of-mohammed-what-i-think-it-is/709843 "2015-01-14T19:09:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-francais-is-the-new-hebdo-cartoon-of-mohammed-what-i-think-it-is/709843/21 "2015-01-15T02:55:08Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I don’t get how you guys are reading this as anything other than “We forgive the attackers.” It’s the most natural meaning of the cartoon, and it’s exactly what both explanations have said it meant. Who else could “All is forgiven” be addressed to? To the cartoon character of Muhammad, who was ‘responsible’ for the violence but never meant to hurt anyone. Look how bad he feels, poor little guy. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-francais-is-the-new-hebdo-cartoon-of-mohammed-what-i-think-it-is/709843/22 "2015-01-15T03:34:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Ms Rhazoui{…} said {…} > > "We feel as the Charlie Hebdo team the need to forgive the two terrorists who killed our colleagues. > > "We cannot feel any hate towards them. We know that the struggle is not with them as people but the struggle is with an ideology. > > “This mobilisation here in France after this horrible crime is something that must open the door to forgiveness and everyone must think about this forgiveness.” Hmm, I wonder how _that’s_ going to go over with the “We is Chuck” folks that before this thought the French were just “cheese eating surrender monkeys”? CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-francais-is-the-new-hebdo-cartoon-of-mohammed-what-i-think-it-is/709843/23 "2015-01-15T03:51:46Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > To the cartoon character of Muhammad, who was ‘responsible’ for the violence but never meant to hurt anyone. Look how bad he feels, poor little guy. I interpreted it as the cartoonist apparently intended, as the magazine forgiving the terrorists. But I like this interpretation, too. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-francais-is-the-new-hebdo-cartoon-of-mohammed-what-i-think-it-is/709843/24 "2015-01-15T03:55:51Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Of course, there are those who are claiming that the headpiece resembles a penis. This. If you look at it upside down, it’s a giant dick. I think that makes their intent obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-francais-is-the-new-hebdo-cartoon-of-mohammed-what-i-think-it-is/709843/25 "2015-01-15T04:02:28Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > This. If you look at it upside down, it’s a giant dick. I think that makes their intent obvious. It makes _somebody’s_ intent obvious, that’s for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-francais-is-the-new-hebdo-cartoon-of-mohammed-what-i-think-it-is/709843/26 "2015-01-15T13:39:21Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > This. If you look at it upside down, it’s a giant dick. I think that makes their intent obvious. Paging Dr. Freud… ---
**Author:** ![chiquitita](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@chiquitita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiquitita)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-francais-is-the-new-hebdo-cartoon-of-mohammed-what-i-think-it-is/709843/27 "2015-01-15T14:25:27Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Frenchie here, and that was indeed my interpretation of the cartoon as I wrote elsewhere on the board. i.e. That the “All is forgiven” was dripping with sarcasm, and that the caricature itself was mockery of the crocodile tears of Muslims who now join the solidarity thing. > … > Or, possibly, another way to read the cartoon I figured was that it could be mocking how the “Je Suis Charlie” slogan has been co-opted and instrumentalized by just about everyone by now and already doesn’t mean anything at all. > > But apparently neither is how Luz (or what’s left of the Charlie team) intended it at all. Communication is hard. > [@BigT](#): > > I don’t get how you guys are reading this as anything other than “We forgive the attackers.” It’s the most natural meaning of the cartoon, and it’s exactly what both explanations have said it meant. Who else could “All is forgiven” be addressed to? Who else did anything wrong? Hi, another French person here. My interpretation is similar to BigT’s “most natural meaning of the cartoon”. I don’t think that Luz intended, at any point, to imply that French Muslims who have spoken in favor of Charlie and who have joined the march are hypocrites who have been shedding crocodile tears. As for the instrumentalization of both the march and the slogan for political purposes, I haven’t been able to find a copy of Charlie Hebdo either yesterday or this morning, but I don’t doubt that they’ll address it with all the sarcasm and venom at their disposal, the way they always did. ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-francais-is-the-new-hebdo-cartoon-of-mohammed-what-i-think-it-is/709843/28 "2015-01-15T20:42:41Z")
I for one think the cartoon is ambiguous enough to allow various interpretations, similar to an optical illusion. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-francais-is-the-new-hebdo-cartoon-of-mohammed-what-i-think-it-is/709843/29 "2015-01-16T00:38:01Z")
One thing to keep in mind is that it’s the same caricature (in a different pose) that was used in the cover cartoon that the terrorists were supposedly insulted by. So if it was intended that the turban look like a penis or a butt or whatever, it may not be tied to this particular cartoon. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-francais-is-the-new-hebdo-cartoon-of-mohammed-what-i-think-it-is/709843.md?page=1)