Usually we don’t like reporting on topics which don’t single out web comics as the greatest art form but on occasion there is news out there that we simply can’t ignore.
How many of you remember the controversy over the Prophet Mohammad cartoons? Here at DS we had a particularly heated discussion on the whole topic of freedom of speech and just how responsible one should be with it. In Europe and the Middle East there were both demonstrations and full out riots in which 50 people died. Perhaps the most interesting reponse came from a competition launched in Iran where everyone was invited to create cartoons about the Holocaust. Well the Danish newspaper Information reprinted 6 of them causing about as much controversy as a pie in the face. The newspaper even interviewed a rabbi who called the entires “They are tasteless but predictable… they’re pretty harmless.“
The editorial cartoon debacle really touched a nerve with me as I specialize in caricature (although not editorial). I’ve seen some of the holocaust themed cartoons you mentioned. Heck, the original Muhammed ones were pretty lame as well. I just don’t get it.
I think what scares me most is the totally alien mindset that can be fanned into such flames of hatred on such a grassroots level.
I’m gonna stop before I wax on too much. My feelings on this topic are really a jumble and just when I think I’ve got them sorted, I start twisting them around again trying to make sense of it all.
I just don’t get it.
Later.