# 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:** 2
**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, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/21 "2007-03-11T02:26:19Z")
[QUOTE=Chance the Gardener] 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. [/QUOTE] No offense, but didn’t you notice what website they were on? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/22 "2007-03-11T02:31:12Z")
The sad thing is, that many conservative types would consider that a straight-forward cartoon. (Think of Ann Coulter and Free Republic types) ---
**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, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/23 "2007-03-11T02:34:18Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Borgia] No offense, but didn’t you notice what website they were on? [/QUOTE] None taken. I actually didn’t notice what web site they were on. I don’t know how I didn’t catch it. If I’d gone to the Onion’s site and found the cartoon on my own, I might not have been surprised. Since I didn’t actually make the connection right away, it didn’t sink in right away. I know this thread mentions the name of the Onion in it, but for whatever reason, I didn’t put two and two together right away. I should have, but I didn’t. So sue me. The point stands: I didn’t make the obvious satire connection right away. That doesn’t make for good commentary on today’s right wingers. That’s the point I’m getting at. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/24 "2007-03-11T04:39:52Z")
[QUOTE=HelloKitty] 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. [/QUOTE] I also like that running gag. As a feature, I think they’re interesting but I’m not sure if it can really last that long before the premise is exhausted. Still, as someone who used to be an avid reader of editorial cartoons but lost interest as the quality declined, I do appreciate how they try to incorporate all the things a good editorial cartoonist is supposed to avoid (e.g., excessive labeling). This has already been noted but I’ve noticed that these fake editorial cartoons aren’t too far removed in content from many actual ones. In fact, it seems they’re so close to the real thing that every so often they have run one like [this one on Rumsfeld’s departure as Secretary of Defense](http://www.theonion.com/content/node/55263) or [this one on O.J.'s book](http://www.theonion.com/content/node/55538) in which the cartoonist’s point-of-view on the subject is so obviously clueless that even people who are unfamiliar with The Onion could see they’re parodies. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/25 "2007-03-11T05:33:24Z")
I’m with Chance, and I’ve been reading the Onion since. . . '95 or something insane, when it was first online. Well, when ANYTHING was first online. Anyway. So, aware that the Onion is satire, but I was afraid they’d gotten even worse and decided to edgily “play both sides” (and it’s not like ALL their content is satire-- I read the AV club more than anything else these days); I just thought they’re made a horrible policy decision and let some moron on staff. But now that I look at more than one at once, it is satire. I’ll have to read these more carefully-- I have a pretty darn dry sense of humor, but. I guess it’s sad that the regular media has gotten so inane that satire looks not far-enough off. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/26 "2007-03-11T06:44:02Z")
(Psst The Colbert Report is satire too) ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/27 "2007-03-11T06:51:12Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Borgia] And yet, I cannot masturbate to it. [/QUOTE] [Actually…](http://www.theonion.com/content/node/55805) ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/28 "2007-03-11T08:35:52Z")
[QUOTE=capybara] So, aware that the Onion is satire, but I was afraid they’d gotten even worse and decided to edgily “play both sides” (and it’s not like ALL their content is satire-- I read the AV club more than anything else these days); I just thought they’re made a horrible policy decision and let some moron on staff. [/QUOTE] The problem is that editorial cartoons are _already_ satirical in the first place–how do you satirize a satire? It’s like trying to make a cop-buddy movie that is a send-up of “Lethal Weapon.” How do you get more cartoonishly ridiculous than the original? I like that quote from Tom Tomorrow that someone else mentioned (“The essence of conservative political humor is punching a cripple.”) This is why there will never be a genuine conservative counterpart to “The Daily Show.” Humor is on the side of the Liberals. ---
**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, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/29 "2007-03-11T11:37:50Z")
[QUOTE=Lizard] The problem is that editorial cartoons are _already_ satirical in the first place–how do you satirize a satire? It’s like trying to make a cop-buddy movie that is a send-up of “Lethal Weapon.” How do you get more cartoonishly ridiculous than the original? [/QUOTE] Satirizing “Lethal Weapon”? [It’s been done.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107659/) Satirizing satire is tough to do well, but it can be done. _Mad_ magazine did a satire on the old _Batman_ TV show and it worked out really well, too. But what makes the Onion’s political cartoons funny is that they’re pointing out that conservative editorial cartoons tend to be failed from the start, and they underscore the fact that, as you say, liberals own humor. Maybe that’s not fair, but that’s the way it is. Who are the conservatives out there who are funny instead of cruel? [Mark Evanier points out that conservative humor isn’t impossible](http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2007_02_19.html), but it’s difficult. The only good humorist I know of who was conservative was the late Jeff MacNelly, creator of _Shoe_ and numerous political cartoons. I never knew he was a conservative until after he died; I’d always found him eminantly fair and balanced, right up there with the liberal Doug Marlette. Cartoons typically aren’t supposed to be fair and balanced in the first place, but the lack of slant to MacNelly’s stuff was refreshing. Helped to get me through the Reagan years, I’ll tell you that… ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/30 "2007-03-11T19:33:58Z")
My hometown paper, a few years ago, had a cartoonist who was actually that bad. He labeled everything, and felt he had to explain everything. Half his panels had the villian riding on the back of “taxpayer” or “John Q. Public.” It was pitiful. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/31 "2007-03-11T21:30:33Z")
[QUOTE=Chance the Gardener] Satirizing “Lethal Weapon”? [It’s been done.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107659/) Satirizing satire is tough to do well, but it can be done. … [/QUOTE] Sure, but [in his review of that movie](http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19930205/REVIEWS/302050302/1023) (Loaded Weapon 1) Roger Ebert makes the exact same point (which is where I derived my example from): > [@](#): > > The “Lethal Weapon” movies may look like prime targets for satire, but consider for a moment: Aren’t they already a satire of themselves? … It’s hard to satirize a satire. That’s what “National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1” wants to do, but the target proves elusive. This is a would-be comedy that’s not as funny (nor as satirical) as the movies that inspired it. [QUOTE=Chance the Gardener] _Mad_ magazine did a satire on the old _Batman_ TV show and it worked out really well, too. [/QUOTE] I haven’t seen MAD’s parody, but I’m not sure the old Batman TV show was intended to be satirical. It may seem buffoonish to us today, but it reflects how a lot of kid’s comics were perceived (and even how Batman was drawn in his own magazine) at the time it was made. It’s taken on an air of kitsch only in retrospect. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/32 "2007-03-12T00:12:09Z")
[QUOTE=Lizard] The problem is that editorial cartoons are _already_ satirical in the first place–how do you satirize a satire? It’s like trying to make a cop-buddy movie that is a send-up of “Lethal Weapon.” How do you get more cartoonishly ridiculous than the original? [/QUOTE] It is possible to satirize a satire if the satire is hackwork. The Onion is not only lampooning the typical right-wing viewpoint of many of these cartoons but also pointing out how most of them are inept attempts at political satire and commentary. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/33 "2007-03-12T00:38:27Z")
Whether it is satire or what ever, The Onion usually make me laugh. The info-graphic, the man on the street opinions, the articles, the horoscopes, I might not laugh every time at any of these particular features, but I have laughed them more often than not. I have never laughed at all at these editorial cartoons. They don’t even make me crack a smile. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/34 "2007-03-12T01:16:18Z")
Oh my God, these cartoons are hilarious! Thank you for bringing these to my attention. Let’s deconstruct the Al Qaeda cartoon. It hits every hallmark of the worst editorial cartoons, spot-on: [ul]A ridiculously over-the-top ideology.[/ul] [ul]A lazy, formulaic equivalence between unrelated things that the author doesn’t like (Al Qaeda, the minimum wage, and Democrats)[/ul] [ul]Excessive labelling (the “hard working small business” on the door is priceless)[/ul] [ul]A cliche Greek Chorus figure telling us how we’re supposed to react (the alternately cheering and weeping Statue of Liberty), just in case we don’t get it[/ul] [ul]Commentary by the “narrator” (“They hate our way of life”), which is supposed to reinforce the message, but adds nothing of substance.[/ul] In addition to the cartooning cliches, it’s a perfect parody of how the left thinks the right thinks. I love it. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/35 "2007-03-12T08:07:35Z")
If the Statue of Liberty isn’t weeping, the [del]Democrats[/del]terrorists have won. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/36 "2007-03-12T15:25:20Z")
Let me add my voice to the chorus of “these are clearly parodies.” I think they’re funny, as well, in the same way _Best in Show_ or any of the other Guest-u-mentaries are funny. There is no “punchline” in a conventional sense; the whole thing is a punchline. _Onion_ or no _Onion_, had I come across these with no context my inclination would have been to think that they are parodies (really good parodies – not over the top lampoons). ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/37 "2007-03-12T15:27:51Z")
FWIW, I have a hard time buying \*Lethal Weapon \* as intentional satire. Any cites for this, other than Ebert’s review of _Loaded Weapon_? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/38 "2007-03-12T15:33:05Z")
[QUOTE=Slithy Tove] In the words of [Michael O’Donoghue,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_O%27Donoghue) “Making people laugh is the lowest form of humor.” [/QUOTE] And what is the highest? Playing some conceptual metajoke on the poor dumb saps who take it seriously? ---
**Author:** ![Webner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/0ea827/32.png) [@Webner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Webner)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/39 "2007-03-12T16:20:23Z")
Im surprised you guys ever wondered if these were satire. Honestly, look at [this one](http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/feb-07-2007) - as a reader of the Onion, could you ever imagine that they would release this editorial cartoon without it being satirical? I think these cartoons contain some of the current Onion’s funniest moments - although the recent “Pagan dreads coming home for holidays” is pretty hilarious. I laughed out loud at the linked cartoon. It’s so ridiculously obvious, with the football labeled “freedom,” the giant crying statue of liberty in the background, what the football player is saying, the “were #1” banner in the crowd, and, the best part, “kill 'em.” ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416/40 "2007-03-12T18:10:30Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] And what is the highest? Playing some conceptual metajoke on the poor dumb saps who take it seriously? [/QUOTE] [OT]O’Donoghue would’ve probably said yes.[/OT] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-editorial-cartoons-at-the-onion/395416.md?page=3)