Comments on: A Cartoon Look at the (now) 44 Presidents of the United States

By: Rwilson

Rwilson — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 06:35:04 +0000

Nice work by the artist.

By: Ken

Ken — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 02:59:33 +0000

That's a well-thought-out point of view, Aito, and interesting reading. Thank you.

By: Jack Norris

Jack Norris — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:10:56 +0000

"My knee-jerk reaction is that people complaining about the artist exaggerating the features are being petty. And possibly missing the point of a cartoon." I'd go farther, and use much harsher words. "Petty" is far, far too kind. "After T. the challenge is now to make an argument without being sarcastic" Not really. That link is just to Some Guy's Blog, it's not like everyone who's ever been sarcastic has been forever put in their place by the Final Word From On High.

By: Aito Steele

Aito Steele — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:44:04 +0000

After T. the challenge is now to make an argument without being sarcastic - so here goes - This piece of cartoon art seems really only has one point and drives it home simplistically. It is not a many hued, multi-faceted idea that it is trying to get across, but I also don't think that the point it is making is petty. As a person of color, in my case the son of a caucasian father and Samoan mother born and raised and still living in Hawaii, to have the people of America elect a person of color is something that is much more moving to me than I ever expected - in some superficial ways it is a validation. To say that a half-Samoan guy is equal to a half-African guy or that our experiences, even being from the same place are similar is to simplify our lives unfairly, but "people of color" are all too often simplified in that manner. Just to hear the election coverage talk about "the black vote" or "the hispanic vote" is a vast simplification of whole segments of the American populace. But those kind of simplifications happen all the time. This piece of cartoon art turns the tables on that sort of simplification and serves as satire - emphasizing the all too obvious difference between President-elect Obama and the 42 previous guys to hold the same office. A similar simplification would work if a woman were to be elected, but that is a bridge that is yet to be crossed. With this piece coming after the celebration of political cartoonists I am a little surprised that people seem to be taking some sort of offense at this piece of cartoon art. But maybe people aren't taking offense and I am misinterpreting their responses. (Note being sarcastic is hard and wordy and generally less fun.)

By: T.

T. — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 06:44:33 +0000

Thank god for white people being vigilant for equal racism, or the world would crumble.

Psst! Check this out.

By: Anthony Cheng

Anthony Cheng — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 06:39:43 +0000

"Thank god for white people being vigilant for equal racism, or the world would crumble."

Ha!

By: mightygodking

mightygodking — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 06:16:36 +0000

Thereâ€™s a good degree of equal racism in the fact that not only are all of the previous 43 Presidents the exact same shade of â€œcaucasianâ€ (despite varying degrees of tanning and paleness), and Obama is made twice as dark as heâ€™s ever been in his life.

Thank god for white people being vigilant for equal racism, or the world would crumble.

By: Frank Rook

Frank Rook — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 05:36:07 +0000

There's a good degree of equal racism in the fact that not only are all of the previous 43 Presidents the exact same shade of "caucasian" (despite varying degrees of tanning and paleness), and Obama is made twice as dark as he's ever been in his life. I guess in this artist's world of "all former Presidents seem like they're wearing those British Judge wigs", our President-Elect magically ejected his white half!

By: Yes, we did… « Blurred Productions

Yes, we did… « Blurred Productions — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 03:46:46 +0000

[...] (via) [...]

By: ken

ken — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 01:30:53 +0000

No one on Earth could miss the point of the cartoon.

By: Jake Powell

Jake Powell — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:28:20 +0000

My knee-jerk reaction is that people complaining about the artist exaggerating the features are being petty. And possibly missing the point of a cartoon.

By: jay the one letter wonder

jay the one letter wonder — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 23:24:38 +0000

The point is that most of those guys didn't have white hair or even grey with a couple of them and honestly the artist doesn't do a very good likeness of them. Then again I guess all white people just look the same to some people.

By: Aito Steele

Aito Steele — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:52:24 +0000

I'm surprised the white hair is a sticking point to some people or that it makes the idea dishonest.
I think that if Obama's hair got de-colored the idea would remain the same and the contrast would be just as evident and true.

By: ken

ken — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 20:26:54 +0000

Very cool idea, but I can't agree with the decision to torque it by making all the previous presidents extra-white. It would be just as powerful with their normal hair (and mustache) colors -- and honest, to boot.

Even Lincoln -- the man who freed the slaves and got his head blown off for his troubles -- gets a dye job. RIP Abraham Lincoln, just another old, dead, whiter-than-white guy now.

On second thought, maybe this isn't a cool idea. It's simplistic.

IMHO of course. Different strokes...

By: Ron

Ron — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 20:08:45 +0000

C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!

By: jay the one letter wonder

jay the one letter wonder — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:08:53 +0000

I agree with the others who have said so, although more visually striking (by giving them white hair) some of those folks did not have white hair. Of course, I'm still waiting for the first jewish president

By: Excelsior

Excelsior — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:50:48 +0000

Looks like editorial offices across the comics industry, someone should do a cartoon on that too

By: Ian

Ian — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:31:49 +0000

While it does make the piece stronger, seeing President's with white hair that never had white hair (like Lincoln and Kennedy as mentioned) makes it dishonest. Even more funny is the fact that with the rate his hair is going President Obama isn't going to leave office with dark hair.

By: Hundie Jo [dot] Com » Blog Archive » No Significance to See Here

Hundie Jo [dot] Com » Blog Archive » No Significance to See Here — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:26:44 +0000

[...] via Comics should be Good. [...]

By: Thok

Thok — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:19:54 +0000

Heh. I saw this picture before, but as a motivational sign with the added text
"C-C-C-Combo Breaker! (Somebody had to say it.)"

But then, I'm easily amused by internet memes.