# The editorial cartoons at The Onion **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 10, 2007, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416 "2007-03-10T22:20:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/1 "2007-03-10T22:20:31Z")
Is it me or are these just not funny? [Not funny](http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/feb-28-2007) [Not even a little funny](http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/feb-21-2007) [Again with the not funny](http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/mar-07-2007) Ok, so the cartoons have a definite right wing slant. Maybe I don’t find them funny because I disagree with the underlying message. But I swear to God (not that I’m forcing a belief in a deity on anyone, what every your personal choice is fine with me, really) that I laughed when The Daily Show roasted John Kerry as he ran for president. I think the left can be made fun of, in an actually funny way. I’ve never really thought of The Onion having a slant in either direction so maybe these are funny in some sort of ironic way? Does anybody find these funny in any way? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/2 "2007-03-10T22:26:19Z")
All I can think of is that they’re so over-the-top that they’re meant to be parodies of right-wing thought. But I agree that it doesn’t work very well. ---
**Author:** ![dawvee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@dawvee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dawvee)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/3 "2007-03-10T22:34:06Z")
I don’t know, I don’t think they’re meant to be taken at face value. Yes, as cartoons from a genuine right-wing perspective, they’re painfully unfunny. But when I read the three of them together, I got more than a little hint that they were tongue-in-cheek, and knowing the Onion, it wouldn’t surprise me a bit. I mean, looking at more than two or three makes it obvious that they’re created according to a pretty set formula. Every single one has the stupid little character in the corner who bludgeons the reader with the ‘point’ of the cartoon, and they cram as many stupid political cliches onto a panel as possible. Am I supposed to take the newspaper editor casually burning a flag while the Statue of Liberty looks on in tears seriously? Somehow I’d like to think not. Like everything in the Onion, I think it’s trying to make fun of how stupid editorial cartoons are more than it’s trying to be an amusing editorial cartoon in its own right. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/4 "2007-03-10T22:51:00Z")
I think they have to be parodies. At face value, they’re too stupid to be anything the Onion would think was funny. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/5 "2007-03-10T23:00:08Z")
Those cartoons are definitely a joke. The first one is so completely overdone that it couldn’t possibly be anything but. The excessive “marking” of things (the way “Hard Working Small Business” is inscribed unsubtly on the door) seems to be a satire of what are now highly cliched cartoon techniques. Speaking of lack of subtlety in political cartoons, it’s highly entertaining to look at old (Revolutionary War-era old) American political cartoons and see just how completely different the style was compared to today. My favorite is [The Fall of Washington - or, Maddy in Full Flight](http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/3g00000/3g03000/3g03100/3g03115v.jpg). Besides the hilarious facial expressions, there is about 50 times more text in that cartoon than in anything we would be used to now. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/6 "2007-03-10T23:03:28Z")
The main thing that’s funny about them is how far The Onion has had to go to parody right-slanted political cartoons. The fact that people still aren’t sure that they’re kidding has to have them jumping for joy. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/7 "2007-03-10T23:29:29Z")
Mallard Fillmore usually isn’t joking (or funny), and he is sincere about what he spouts. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/8 "2007-03-10T23:44:37Z")
Do anyone think they are funny as parodies? ---
**Author:** ![Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chance_the_Gardener)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/9 "2007-03-10T23:48:10Z")
These are great! They’re like a funny version of _Mallard Fillmore!_ **Raygun99** has it: the fact that not everyone’s sure that they’re parodies speaks volumes. I’ll admit I wasn’t sure at first. Right-wing humor is typically a mean-spirited punch in the nose. It doesn’t have to be, but it usually is, for whatever reason. If you don’t find yourself rolling in the ailes—er, _aisles_—when Ann Coulter speaks, then you must be some kind of f… whoops! I mean you must be some kind of funny-deficient person. Yeah, that’s it. Tom Tomorrow once said that the essence of conservative political humor is punching a cripple. These cartoons underscore that sad fact. Conservatives have the right to the pursuit of funniness. I just wish they could catch it! ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/10 "2007-03-10T23:48:37Z")
I find them hysterically amusing. And I’m pretty much of a ‘leftie’ (what used to be a moderate conservative back in the 70’s-80’s). I immediately found them to be so over the top as to be breathtakingly funny! They’re useful to send to my FIL, who thinks the Shrub is too liberal these days. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/11 "2007-03-10T23:51:50Z")
Ham-handed drek. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/12 "2007-03-11T00:10:02Z")
[QUOTE=BarnOwl] Ham-handed drek. [/QUOTE] Of course they are! That’s the point. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/13 "2007-03-11T00:30:23Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] Of course they are! That’s the point. [/QUOTE] So bad is good. It’s porn. Lousy, unfunny parodies of the far right. I’m a liberal. But that stuff hasn’t one redeeming feature. Unless they put them on toilet paper. Then I’d get added satisfaction after taking a good crap. ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/14 "2007-03-11T00:36:15Z")
They don’t have to be “funny.” _The Onion_ is meant to be satirical. Satire does not imply humor. Personally? I think 99.9% of real editorial cartoons are pure shit. _The Onion_’s satirical cartoons to me are great because they make fun of whatever is current in editorial cartoons. I’m not saying _The Onion_ is spot on, entertaining, or even funny all the time. I’m just saying, “I get it.” ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/15 "2007-03-11T01:04:42Z")
In the words of [Michael O’Donoghue,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_O%27Donoghue) “Making people laugh is the lowest form of humor.” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/16 "2007-03-11T01:34:29Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] Is it me or are these just not funny? [/QUOTE] How can you not find [this](http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/jan-31-2007) hilarious? Or [this](http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/feb-07-2007)? :rolleyes: Next you’ll be telling me [Jackie Harvey](http://www.theonion.com/content/columnists/view/harvey) doesn’t have deep insight into Hollywood! Stop trying to shake people’s trust in _The Onion_ as America’s finest news source! ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/17 "2007-03-11T01:44:35Z")
I like [this one](http://www.theonion.com/content/node/54073). ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/18 "2007-03-11T02:11:03Z")
I agree that these are parodies of “hard hitting” political cartoons that are in mainstream publications. Those are never funny either. Or particularly clever. Neither are these and that’s the point. The Statue of Liberty crying always makes me crack up for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/19 "2007-03-11T02:15:10Z")
O fer cryin’ out loud, of course they’re parodies! It’s the Onion! And even Mallard Fillmore isn’t _that_ stupid. I don’t think they’re the best thing the Onion has ever done, but they’re mildly amusing. Please tell me no one on this message board took them seriously. > [@Barn Owl](#): > > It’s porn. And yet, I cannot masturbate to it. ---
**Author:** ![Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chance_the_Gardener)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/20 "2007-03-11T02:23:48Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Borgia] Please tell me no one on this message board took them seriously. [/QUOTE] I took them seriously at first. After I read a few, it began to sink in. This really is the level of discourse I expect from the right wing these days, which is probably why it didn’t strike me as an obvious parody at first. I’m slightly embarrassed by that, but on the other hand, I think that speaks volumes for how the right wing has degenerated over the past couple of decades. I wasn’t the only one fooled, all in all. There will be others, too, no doubt. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416.md?page=2)