Cartoon, Cartoon

On Sunday Fox reran a block of The Simpsons. In there, nestled between a pair of Halloween shows was the Christmas episode. In it, they satirized the birth of Christ, putting Bart in the baby Jesus slot. From there, he was able to taunt Homer/Joseph by turning his wine to water for one. Throwing him into a rage. He even lunged to attack Baby Jesus/Bart.

To me, it seemed slightly edgy. I mean, Jesus/Bart is a bit of a jerk here. When I first saw it, I though for sure someone from the right would decry the episode as blasphemous. But if they had, I have not heard about it.

They certainly didn't take to the streets and demonstrate outside the Fox affiliates that aired it. Nobody tried to attack the producers, script writers or anyone involved. There was no boycott of Fox (although there should be for any number of other reasons). Nobody set fire to flags, threaten death to those in power, or tried to blow up an embassy.

It's a cartoon.

It's satire.

Which brings me to the brouhaha in the Middle East over those cartoons of Muhammad. While some of the caricatures released are probably distasteful to the average person, is it really worth this kind of trouble? Does it really demand this level of out rage and violence?

NPR reported that the cartoons were published in Denmark last September. And Muslim clerics wrote to the Danish government about the offensive nature and wanted a meeting. They did not get a meeting and then they, the clerics, began circulating the offensive images to the Middle East. Apparently the also mixed in some further images that were offensive--stuff that wasn't initially printed. I can't seem to find the link, which is too bad.

But, if true, shows that once they didn't get what they wanted, they turned to a venue they knew would get a sever reaction and worldwide attention.

I think there a lesson in there about control. 1984 keeps popping into my head for some reason.

On top of it all, they're doing themselves a disservice. I mean, these people are doing nothing to dissuade their stereotypical image. The whole uproar seems wildly surreal. A satirical image initially published months ago, hundreds of miles away has them whipped up into a self-righteous frenzy. Yet, some of these people don't have single qualm about spouting off hatred of Israel and the Jew with same such a violent and self-righteous passion.

Here's a link to an archive of images of Muhammad over the centuries. It has some rudimentary commentaries. It also includes the Danish cartoons at the end with some reaction to the current wave of insanity over it. Personally, I think this one sums it up.

Its shit like this that makes nuclear weapons seem soooooooo good!

By  Alfred-jr, at Wed Feb 08, 10:21:00 AM 2006  

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