Rolling Stone Cartoon Gook-ifies McCain’s Opponents
by Guest Contributor Angry Asian Man, originally published at Angry Asian Man
Saw this on the AAA-Fund Blog… Check it out this ridiculously racist political cartoon from Rolling Stone. Offensive on so many levels. As much as I dislike John McCain, I don’t think it’s cool to make fun of his P.O.W. experience in Vietnam—that’s despite his professed hatred for “the gooks.”
But the cartoon goes even further to gook-ify the Obama, Bush and Clinton caricatures. I know it’s trying to comment on the vilification of McCain’s opponents, but was that really necessary? Thank you, Victor Juhasz. That’s racist! You can send your comments to Rolling Stone at letters@rollingstone.com or (212) 484-1616.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
Renee wrote:
Not only is that cartoon horribly racist it could actually trigger horrible memories for him. Despite the fact that I think that he is a disgusting troll no one should be forced into a place wherein traumatic events are triggered like that.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 8:25 am ¶
Jennifer wrote:
Given the recent discussions here and on other blogs about racial satire, I think we can add this to the list of not simply bad racial satire but racist racial satire.
Also I LOVE the fact that they made Obama the most maniacal/”gook-ified” of the trio.
Note to self: don’t use the phrase “gook-ified” even if you are being ironic because it hurts– using a racist phrase to make a point about racism still feels like self-inflicted racial violence.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 9:04 am ¶
The Cruel Secretary wrote:
::headdesk::
And what’s Jann Wenner and his editorial staff’s excuse for this? They were against the Vietnam War back in the day, so it’s cool to do this?
That’s why I stopped reading Rolling Stone years ago.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 9:06 am ¶
Reiter wrote:
Wow, just wow. Not only is this offensive to Asians and Asian-Americans, it’s also disrespectful to MIAs/POWs and all veterans. But hey, Rollingstone would have us believe it’s not racist or offensive in any way; it’s edgy and kitcsh! To hell with hipster racism.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 9:18 am ¶
Gironde wrote:
So then, what’s the appropriate level of racial caricature on this one? Are they not supposed to be Asian? Is it okay if you remove the pointy ears? Besides, I think the level of caricaturization is consistent between McCain and the others - what is that freaky-ass goiter on his right cheek?
And who cares if it triggers bad memories for him? If he thinks that any aspect of his past is off-limits in a presidential race, then he needs to grow a freakin’ pair already.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 9:22 am ¶
Latoya Peterson wrote:
@Gironde -
And here I thought this one was blatantly obvious.
See here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_peril
And I should not have to explain why using racist characterizations of Obama, Clinton, and Bush is wrong. And I REALLY shouldn’t have to explain why using a racist representation of a racial group not represented among Obama/Clinton/Bush is problematic. And I REALLY shouldn’t explain why this is so racist.
And, ah no - no one deserves to be mocked for their suffering in service. This doesn’t not *excuse* his damaging remarks, nor make him immune from all criticism about his record. But this cartoon is beyond the pale, for all the reasons AAM identitfied.
It’s tasteless.
It’s racist.
And it doesn’t matter how much you can’t stand someone in politics- this is not okay.
It is fucked up on multiple levels.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 9:33 am ¶
Renee wrote:
@ Gironde
Yes his past is open for scrutiny but that does not making mocking an experience as obviously traumatic as being a POW is acceptable. It is extremely disrespectful to every single person that has ever served in the military My father in law was a WWII vet and even into his 80’s he could not handle the sound of firecrackers. What these brave men and women went through to serve their country forever changes them and it is something that those of us who have never been through it can truly understand. The very least that we can do is honor them for their service.
Yes McCain is an ass but that does not mean that he did not suffer for his country.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 9:44 am ¶
atlasien wrote:
It’s images like this that reinforce a powerful group of associations:
Asians –> “slit” eyes –> subhuman, evil, robotic, sadistic, soulless.
Asian stereotypes are often used for this kind of free-floating caricature. By popular stereotype, the very existence of Asians is as a mockery, a bad imitation of white people. Since our existence is a mockery, we can’t be mocked ourselves, and Asian images can be appropriated at will to mock other people.
It’s a well of poison… it’s so exhausting to even convince people that what they are depicting is racist, deeply harmful and feeding back into that well of poison.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 9:56 am ¶
DEAF FEMINIST PUNK!! wrote:
I don’t see how it’s racist. If anything, i think the cartoon is mocking McCain’s racism and hatred of Asians.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 9:58 am ¶
Renee wrote:
damn I really need to proof read better…it should read.. for those of us who have never been through it we can never truly understand.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 10:00 am ¶
DEAF FEMINIST PUNK!! wrote:
Yes his past is open for scrutiny but that does not making mocking an experience as obviously traumatic as being a POW is acceptable. It is extremely disrespectful to every single person that has ever served in the military My father in law was a WWII vet and even into his 80’s he could not handle the sound of firecrackers. What these brave men and women went through to serve their country forever changes them and it is something that those of us who have never been through it can truly understand. The very least that we can do is honor them for their service.
Yes McCain is an ass but that does not mean that he did not suffer for his country.
I can sympathize on some level, but McCain is a public figure and I agree that he should get over it and move on.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 10:00 am ¶
DEAF FEMINIST PUNK!! wrote:
And I should not have to explain why using racist characterizations of Obama, Clinton, and Bush is wrong.
I dont read Rolling Stone and I haven’t seen other cartoons that you mentioned. BUT from the sound of it, you are implying that Mccain, Obama, Clinton and Bush are all being mocked, right?
If all candidates are mocked equally (and even if it comes across as racist), then I don’t have a problem with it.
It’s like the term “Equal Opportunity Offender.”
but I would be interested to hear your arguments if you disagree with that.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 10:03 am ¶
Gironde wrote:
Just asking - this link says the caricatures were “gook-ified”, suggesting that there’s some line of racial caricature that would have been okay, but now that it’s all vietnamese, it isn’t.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 10:03 am ¶
Latoya Peterson wrote:
@Gironde, AAM used that term specifically because that is what the artist was obviously trying to do - but the cartoon is still racist against Asian Americans because those exaggerated features are *always* applied to them - using racist stereotypes to render McCain’s non Asian opponents is fucked up on two levels.
See atlasien’s comments.
@Deaf Feminist Punk -
Same deal, see atlasien’s comments. And please note, this is nothing at all like equal opportunity offender because one of the targeted groups is not represented at all in the targets of the cartoon. Nor are they well represented in in politics nor in the eye of pop culture, except in this very stereotypical and dehumanizing way.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 10:11 am ¶
Lyonside wrote:
Oi - you know, I really think magazine editors should just go back to having PICTURES made with FILM (harder to ‘Shop) on their covers, FFS. Come on, it’s fun, it’s retro, all the cool kids are doing it, and you’d be less likely to take a tour of your insular bubble and declare “A random survey says it’s fine!”
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 10:20 am ¶
Elise wrote:
Just asking - this link says the caricatures were “gook-ified”, suggesting that there’s some line of racial caricature that would have been okay, but now that it’s all vietnamese, it isn’t.
@ Gironde - I’m not really seeing where you are drawing this conclusion. Can you explain further? I think most people here would agree that co-opting any racial cariacture to make a political point is a no-go.
If all candidates are mocked equally (and even if it comes across as racist), then I don’t have a problem with it.
It’s like the term “Equal Opportunity Offender.”
@ DEAF FEMINIST PUNK! - I agree that all candidates should be criticized equally, but when did vietnamese/Asians in general and all POWS enter the presidential race? In order to mock the candidates and make a political point, those groups’ experiences and imagery are also being mocked. That, to me, makes it unacceptable.
Also, I think your comment that McCain should ‘get over it and move on’ is directed to his experience as a POW? Both my grandfathers were never POWs but they fought in the wars and still have nightmares and trigger issues to this day. I think your comment doesn’t reflect the reality of how traumatizing combat is for everyone, soldier and non-combatant alike. So even if all the racial imagery in this cartoon were gone, I would still find it offensive.
However if your comment was *not* directed to McCain’s POW experience, never mind!
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 10:20 am ¶
Renee wrote:
@Deaf feminist Punk…even if Obama and McCainwere both equally subject to racial attacks that does not legitimize the attack. Either racism is wrong in every situation or we have succumbed to the idea that it is okay to marginalize bodies for the sake of convenience and political pandering to the lowest common denominator.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 10:24 am ¶
RJG wrote:
@Renee’s “Yes his past is open for scrutiny but that does not making mocking an experience as obviously traumatic as being a POW is acceptable.” & @Latoya Peterson’s “And, ah no - no one deserves to be mocked for their suffering in service.”:
I’m, once again, so on the damn fence with this one.
Should we mock someone’s bad experiences just by default? Probably not. But McCain, to me at least, has touted the whole thing as part of why he should be president. I think there’s a difference between making fun of the general experience/situation and making fun of the way someone engages in self-promotion through it, especially when that self-promotion isn’t about doing something to prevent the experience from happening again as much as something totally separate from it (ie: Making fun of McCain using it in a general manner as part of his presidency campaign would be okay to me see spoofed, but not if he was using it for some specific anti-torture stance).
It’s sorta like how people nicknamed Giuliani as Rudy “9/11″ Giuliani. It isn’t done to make fun of 9/11, or even his own experiences during it, but more the way Rudy keeps using the event for his own political aspirations which have nothing to do with 9/11 itself.
Of course, the whole “on the fence” issue also comes in because I’m comfortable with parodies and jokes about how Giuliani uses 9/11 and McCain uses his POW background (although I wouldn’t say this particular parody was in good taste at all, I doubt I would be comfortable if someone decided to do something similar with Obama if he ever talked about some bad racial incident he personally had as a tool to push his campaign.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 10:27 am ¶
Lyonside wrote:
>If all candidates are mocked equally (and even if it comes across as racist), then I don’t have a problem with it.
DeafFeministPunk: the problem is not mocking, but WHAT they are mocking, and the personal and national history (and pain) behind it.
Mock someone on principles, actions, fine. Mock actual physical attributes (such as Obama’s ears, as political cartoonists have done from Day 1), OK because of traditional frameworks of political cartooning.
Changing people’s actual ethnicities into a totally different ethnicity, using gross steretoypes of that ethnicity that have been used in the not so distant past (and still are) to mock and dehumanize that ethnicity, and throw in ridicule about one person’s real life torture?
Real satire exploits existing conditions and assumptions, playing them up to extremes to make a point. It doesn’t have to make things up from whole cloth, and it doesn’t have to mock groups that have nothing to do with the point being made.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 10:33 am ¶
RJG wrote:
@Lyonside:
Ehhh… photo covers open up a whole other can of worms, because they’re all shopped. All all all.
And it’s not like staged photography stuff can’t come off as just a big of a bad idea (ie: the photograph in Nylon just covered here).
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 10:35 am ¶
Elise wrote:
@RJG - I agree with you on that distinction. Spoofing McCain for using his own war experiences to make it seem like he ‘deserves’ the presidency is fine. But since that isn’t what Rolling Stone is doing here, then it’s defenseless.
Too bad McCain doesn’t seem to want to take an anti-torture stance.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 10:36 am ¶
Lyonside wrote:
>Ehhh… photo covers open up a whole other can of worms, because they’re all shopped. All all all.
True. I’m a big fan of sites taht show before and after pictures (and I hate standing in line at the store looking at cover shots, going, who is THAT supposed to be?)
Although a photo could be staged offensively, it would be harder to exploit in the same way as this cartoon (the exaggerated facial features, #1).
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 10:40 am ¶
Joseph wrote:
@Atlasien
“Asian stereotypes are often used for this kind of free-floating caricature. By popular stereotype, the very existence of Asians is as a mockery, a bad imitation of white people. Since our existence is a mockery, we can’t be mocked ourselves, and Asian images can be appropriated at will to mock other people.”
Very well said.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 10:40 am ¶
Gothic Guera wrote:
What Renee said.
Also the rolling stones isn’t just targeted to hipsters, but also teens, musicians, most people in the music industry, rockers, heck sometimes even goths and emos!. Needless to say it has a broader range of readers than the new yorker. (At least in my opinion please correct me if I’m wrong). Hopefully our youths, will know better and anyone who did serve the military and reads R.S will write to Mr. Juhasz.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 11:15 am ¶
Eva wrote:
When I first saw this cartoon, I thought, “That’s probably how McCain sees Hillary, Obama and Bush.”
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 12:35 pm ¶
The Cruel Secretary wrote:
@ Gothic Guera–from the American Heritage Dictionary…
hipster: One who is exceptionally aware of or interested in the latest trends and tastes.
It’s Rolling Stone’s bread-and-butter business (musically/entertainment-wise and financially) to be exceptionally aware of the latest trends in pop culture, be it in music (rockers, emos, and goths,among others) as well as politics (the Vietnam War, the campaigns for the US presidency, race matters). That’s why I can agree with Reiter’s assessment that this cartoon is another form of hipster racism. And why I can definitely co-sign with atlasien’s reason for how this type of racism manifested itself as anti-Asian bigotry. (Co-sign with Joseph: beautifully said, atlasien!)
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 12:58 pm ¶
PaulPortland wrote:
@atlasien #8 - nicely said, couldn’t agree with you more.
I’m going to throw this out as an attempt to buttress atlasien’s #8 comment, but America has gone to war with 3 Asian countries in the last 60 years - Japan, North Korea and Vietnam. Those 3 wars lasted a combined 20 years (approximately) since 1941. The death tolls for America and all 3 Asian countries (just doing really quick calculations in my head from memory) probably amounts to 200,000-300,000 American military deaths and probably around 2 million Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese military deaths. (Civilian deaths suffered by these 3 Asian countries are most likely upwards of - what - 3-4 million?)
Why am I bringing this particular period of American history up in relation to this Rolling Stones cartoon? Well, I’m of the belief that the memories of fighting, killing, and being killed by Asians makes up an important, and not very positive for obvious reasons, part of the family histories of many non-Asian Americans. This could be factor in the perpetual foreigner stereotype that haunts Asian Americans. If America has spent 1/3 of the last half of the 20th century demonizing and dehumanizing Asians in order to better kill them, then how could that not have resulted in blowback against Asian Americans?
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 1:21 pm ¶
AC wrote:
I just cannot comprehend how the editor couldn’t step back and see how truly offensive this is. It must take a great deal of privilege to be completely immune to the grotesqueness of this “cartoon”.
@ Lyonside (#22) “Although a photo could be staged offensively, it would be harder to exploit in the same way as this cartoon (the exaggerated facial features, #1).”
I see the point you were making about stepping away from the graphic art and cartoons and going back to photos … but … I read something over on the Field Negro about Fox doing excatly that - exaggerating facial features, broadening noses, flattening foreheads, darkening skin tones of opponent’s photos. The link I saw had before and after photos and the effect wasn’t as subtle as you would think - it was pretty “in your face” (no pun intended).
Like I said, I see where you are going, but ultimately the answer is blogs like this where we build up some grassroot efforts to start addressing the “isms” in our society, including this nasty branch of hipster racism. Jeez - enough already!
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 1:29 pm ¶
DEAF FEMINIST PUNK!! wrote:
meh. I don’t know about you guys, but nobody I know in my local punk rock scene, read Rolling Stones. We all read DIY or smaller, lesser known mags about music.
My friends and I have always called Rolling Stone a poser magazine for posers. It used to be about music, but not anymore. It’s become celebrity trash, like MTV and VH-1, both channels who have lost their focus on music and musicians.
I wouldn’t be surprised if hipsters read it though.
*snickers*
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 2:16 pm ¶
The Cruel Secretary wrote:
@ Lyonside–I feel where you’re coming from, too, but I’m with AC on this one. It’s not just Fox News doing this. And I say this in hopes of not derailing the thread: don’t forget the famous Time Magazine skin-darkening alteration of OJ Simpson’s mug shot.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 2:26 pm ¶
Abu Sinan wrote:
@PaulPortland,
I am not sure I buy the three wars in 60 years as an excuse for racism against Asians in the USA. I am sure that plays a part in it, but I think it just really mostly boils down to nothing more than plain racism against people who come from “strange countries” and look different than us.
If not, explain why the same reasoning you used does not still affect our relations with Germans and Austrians, two countries with whom we’ve gone to war with twice in less than 100 years with the death toll of Germans/Austrians close to sixteen million and American GIs over 750,000?
I realise that the conflicts with European countries are farther back in memory, but in sheer size and impact on American history, must be seen as larger in scale.
I think it has much more to do with good ole racism than anything else. They look different, they come from countries outside the average Americans sphere of reference, so they are an easy target.
For the most part it didnt take 40 years for Americans to get over “Liberty Cabbage” (Sauer Kraut renamed in WW1) because the Germans looked like us, their culture was in our sphere of reference, and a large portion of white Americans trace their roots back to Germany.
It has been 40 years almost since the end of any conflict we have had with an Asian country, the seeming lack of ability to move on suggest racism more than it does a teaching to better kill them. WW1 ends in 1918, WW2 starts in 1939 with US involvement in 1941. Only some 30 years between major conflicts and the deaths of millions of combatants.
Nope, this is shear racism.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 2:29 pm ¶
Winn wrote:
We had a debate in the threads here a couple of months ago about whether McCain’s POW experiences excused his use of the slur “gook”, which he has employed publicly and on more than one occasion, and offered only lukewarm apologies for. The consensus was the the trauma of his imprisonment and torture, while horrendous, did not excuse the dehumanization and marginalization of an entire group of people, the “othering” that allows no distinctions between McCain’s actual captors, Viet Cong soldiers as a group, the Vietnamese people in general, and Asians as a whole.
By that same logic, despising McCain’s politics and the way he has touted his own POW experience in his bid for POTUS does not excuse the tastelessness of equating a run for the presidency with real-life torture and imprisonment, or the complex racisms and otherings implicit in rendering non-Asian persons as Asian, and using an image of Asians steeped in stereotypes and yellow peril imagery to make a point. I’m sure this will be touted as satire, and since Rolling Stone endorsed Obama some months back, the McCain bashing in its pages is constant and incessant. But there is plenty to attack McCain on in reference to his positions and policies without trading on racism or belittling the POW experience.
@ Deaf Feminist Punk! - As a therapist working with victims of human trafficking and conflict refugees, I am really troubled by your statement that McCain, and by implication survivors of POW experiences, should “get over it”. Post-traumatic stress disorder and its effects are little understood and poorly treated, especially in older military veterans, and may have lifelong manifestations. Suicidal ideation, family violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and even delusional thinking and psychosis may be experienced by victims of severe trauma, and if early and comprehensive intervention is not received, the symptoms may persist for years afterward. There is so much stigma associated with mental illness, especially for combat veterans, and how dismissive and disrespectful to say that someone should “get over it and move on”. Trust me, people who suffer from PTSD wish to do nothing else, but somehow, find it a lot easier said than done.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 2:30 pm ¶
PaulPortland wrote:
@ Abu Sinan:
Certainly the different experiences of Germans/ Italians/ Austrians (and even Russians to a certain extent) compared to that of Asians in America is a testament to the power of good ol’ racism, but I guess my point for writing that comment was to better understand the complex variables at the root of that hatred. You’re right that Americans of German and Italian descent were allowed to shrug off the consequences of war much more easily than Asians because of the fact that they shared cultural and physical affinities with how “American” is defined.
The reason I wrote that particular comment was to point out that while some of the stereotypes leveled against Asians in America predate any of the wars this country fought with Japan, Korea (and China), and Vietnam, a good majority of the stereotypes are also left-overs from those wars. This Rolling Stone cartoon for example. Or Heath Hyche’s use of yellowface during his Last Comic Standing routine. Or the anti-Japanese sentiments during the 1980s which revolved almost exclusively around the notion of “Who really won WWII?”
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 2:43 pm ¶
atlasien wrote:
I can comment on PaulPortland’s thesis based on traveling through several countries in Latin America. I’ve had people pull up their eyes at me there, ask me strange questions such as “why are you people so smart?” generally gawk at me and ask to touch my hair.
However, I never got the sense that there was an underlying hostility behind all that. Asians were viewed as just plain exotic, not exotic+bad. Warring histories with Asian countries didn’t exist; the slate was pretty clean. And so I think the stereotyping was a lot more superficial, even innocent, than the corresponding stereotyping in the U.S. that always seems to carry the potential for erupting into intense hatred.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 3:21 pm ¶
Reiter wrote:
@Gironde
Who cares? We care, obviously. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be all up in arms about this issue here on Racialicious in the first place. And it should be relevant to today’s current events. I find it odd that Rolling Stone timed this cover the week before the Beijing Olympic Games.
And this amid American media’s continued scrutiny and villification of China’s government and economic policies, regardless of whether or not it’s warranted. These yellow peril fears are compounded by the fact that America’s own economy is slumping, the US dollar is on the downslide, and the explosive growth of China and India have had many so-called red-blooded Americans concerned about the future (and their own jobs).
It’s not much of a stretch for those same anti-Japanese sentiments of the 1980’s during the American automotive slump to shift toward China and its emerging economic clout. And the last thing we need is another incident that claimed the life of Vincent Chin (don’t know who that is? look him up). BS like this racist Rolling Stone cover certainly don’t help matters.
Speaking as both an Asian-American AND as an active duty military member, “satirical” political cartoons like this just piss me off. Freedom of speech? OK, I can understand that, but with that comes some measure of social responsibility for the things you say and depict in public. Rolling Stone has obviously ignored theirs in favor of sensationalistic crap like this just to sell their trashy rag mag.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 3:34 pm ¶
Jennifer wrote:
To jump into the thread about whether racism against Asian Americans can be linked to the last three wars (and the current “war on terror”) in which battles were fought in Asian countries against Asian people, I would have to say that yes, this is a factor in the particular racism that Asian Americans face (and that have been used to violent ends–case in point: a Chinese American man was killed in Raleigh, NC because a group of white men accused him of causing the deaths of Americans in Viet Nam).
There are actually several scholars of Asian American studies who have charted this, but one readable professor, Robert G. Lee has a great book called ORIENTALS: ASIAN AMERICANS IN POPULAR CULTURE for anyone who wants to read more on the ways that Asian Americans have been stereotyped and vilified for over a century and a half. And Deborah Gee has a great documentary film called SLAYING THE DRAGON which goes through Hollywood depictions of Asians/Asian Americans and makes a clear link between the ways that various Asian ethnicities get rendered either in terms of “positive” or “negative” stereotypes depending on whether we are at war with them. For instance, during WWII, Japanese were the enemy and vilified on-screen, but in the Cold War era, Japanese were redeemed and now Chinese were the “bad” communists negatively depicted on-screen.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 4:39 pm ¶
Elainenator wrote:
Does anyone else feel really fucking weirded out and upset by torture “jokes” in American popular culture?
Also, along with the horrifying racism, it’s nice to see that the cartoonist was able to stick in some ageist and ableist jabs in here too: the wide-eyed terror, the bald head sharply contrasted with the red headband, the floating faces from McCain’s old, and thus dementia-addled mind…
I’m no McCain fan, but it’s almost unbelievable how dehumanizing this cartoon is to everyone involved.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 6:05 pm ¶
jvansteppes wrote:
In terms of the war issue, German Americans aren’t vilified continually for being in the Axis but they also weren’t interned en masse at the time, nor was their country of origin deemed an appropriate place to drop an atomic bomb, so perhaps they oughtn’t be compared to Japanese Americans or other Asian Americans whose racialization is linked with specific war grudges.
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 10:13 pm ¶
Ron wrote:
If Rolling Stone wants to throw the equal offender card out, then we would need equal space dedicated to the satire of white people and racist imagery of whites. To balance this out we would need a steady stream of anti-white racist imagery for at least 250 years. That means whites would have to suffer until 2258 then things would even out. Just kidding!!!
Posted 04 Aug 2008 at 11:02 pm ¶
Whitney wrote:
At first I really didn’t know what to think about this. So I showed this to my boyfriend, who’s in the army, and he was like “that’s just ridiculous.” It makes me sick how they would play off McCain’s experiences as a POW as a joke, and at the same time, make a horrible characterization of the Vietnamese.
I’ve been getting a subscription to RS and I’m calling them up and canceling it. This cartoon just proves that RS only has respect for people they like. They are no longer socially relevant. And what is frightening is that RS has a lot of young readers, they’re going to see this and laugh. Make fun of McCain’s horrific experiences, and make fun of the Vietnamese. They’re going to learn that this kind of behavior is acceptable. I’m no fan of McCain, but there are some things you don’t joke about no matter how much you dislike someone.
However, I don’t think that his experiences excuse his use of racial slurs. That worries me.
@Deaf Feminist Punk:
As a gf of a military guy, I can’t even begin to explain what these guys go through. My grandfather was a spy in WWII and liberated Dachau, and the experience was so traumatic (he also was a Jewish immigrant), that he refused to talk about it until the day he died. My mother had no idea until after his funeral.
I just find your comment that McCain should just get over it to be very insensitive.
Posted 05 Aug 2008 at 2:56 am ¶
Kendra wrote:
/lurk off
This reminds me of the “McCain Experience” (cage and torturer) depicted in the “Padre de Familia” episode of Family Guy. It shares very similar elements to this cartoon–minus the “gook-ified” Obama, Clinton, and Bush–and I honestly don’t know why they placed the “attraction” in the episode. The “Experience” was treated like some sort of amusement park ride; Peter got inside the bamboo (?) structure, and was poked with a sharp object by a supposedly Vietnamese man. (I say supposedly due to the context of McCain’s POW experience and the “torturer’s” appearance; additionally, you really didn’t get a background story for the man who “tortured” Peter for a short period of time.)
A lot seemed wrong with that episode in particular, though after having watched it a third time I finally realized that all of the future war veterans riding the float in the beginning of the episode were black children. That alone made sense to me, given this country’s history, my family history, and many strands of evidence that have led me to believe that the US Army is heavily peopled by African-Americans. Once upon a time, blacks in America went to great lengths to fight in the “war on two fronts.” Nowadays, I see nothing but exploitation on the military front, and this misuse of “human resources” is not limited to black Americans.
But I digress, there is little that I could add to the judgement of this political cartoon.
As much as I dislike McCain’s politics, misogyny, and other disturbing qualities, no one deserves this sort of treatment. Same goes for the inclusion of “gook-ified” versions of Bush, Obama, and Clinton, though not to say that my opinions of any of the four are the same. There’s nothing critical, intelligent, or humane about this political cartoon.
/lurk on
Posted 05 Aug 2008 at 5:56 am ¶
DEAF FEMINIST PUNK!! wrote:
ok, everybody was offended by my McCain comment that he should “get over it.”
I am not sorry for saying it and quite frankly, I hate his guts. He’s a vile sexist, racist pig and wants to make sure that women will be forced to stay behind in terms of reproductive rights and for working wages.
He wants to keep pushing more soldiers into Iraq and keep the war going.
I don’t care if his POW experience is being mocked. Good riddance to him.
If he wins, he will ruin and destroy futures and lives of young girls, working women, older women, women of colour, women and girls of all ages!
How is that any worse than a bunch of Rollingstone cartoons mocking his POW experience?
once again, everybody who has criticized me, let me say it again:
I ain’t sorry for saying “he should get over it” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted 05 Aug 2008 at 10:22 am ¶
Elainenator wrote:
@Deaf Feminist Punk
Really, your attitude here (That I’m perceiving through the comments, because let’s face it, I don’t know you) it seems like an extension of victim-blaming– I too think McCain is a bad guy who would make a terrible president, but for all of his shit, nothing, nothing makes saying “Ha ha, you were a POW!” okay.
I’m also disturbed by your invoking a is worse than b logic - this cartoon has nothing to do with McCain’s lousy campaign platform, or dubious record, or his pandering to the religious right, and everything to do with perpetuating the “savage Asian” stereotype and an experience in McCain’s life that many of us can’t even being to imagine. And the sense that McCain should “Get over it” or “Just take some criticism” honestly seems little different here than the right wing pundit that Obama needs to “toughen up” when it comes to racist attacks on him and his family.
But by ignoring these issues, we just allow institutionally racist/sexist business to continue as it is, and we don’t have conversations that could really do us some good, or even acknowledge the inherently unfair, uneven playing field of politics. And that does a disservice to everyone — I guaran-damn-tee you this cartoon will be used as evidence somewhere down the line when a non-white politician is the subject of a racist attack as a piece of evidence that “White people get made fun of too” and said non-white politician “should learn to take the heat”.
And that is not okay.
Posted 05 Aug 2008 at 12:20 pm ¶
Elainenator wrote:
Booooo typos
“seems little different here than the right wing pundit that Obama needs to ‘toughen up’”
should read
seems little different here than the right wing pundit that says Obama needs to “toughen up””
Posted 05 Aug 2008 at 12:24 pm ¶
DEAF FEMINIST PUNK!! wrote:
I guaran-damn-tee you this cartoon will be used as evidence somewhere down the line when a non-white politician is the subject of a racist attack as a piece of evidence that “White people get made fun of too” and said non-white politician “should learn to take the heat”
@ Elainenater:
I don’t see how mocking McCain’s POW experience is the same as mocking a white person….???
Posted 05 Aug 2008 at 1:22 pm ¶
Elainenator wrote:
@DFP
Sorry for being a little unclear - It’s not that McCain’s POW experience is the same as mocking a white person, it’s that not only does this cartoon use offensive Asian stereotypes, but that it’ll probably be dredged up later up later as an example of why POC “shouldn’t be so sensitive” when it comes to visual media that uses racist tropes.
Case in point: A consistent talking point during the Obama New Yorker Cover debacle was that the New Yorker had consistently poked fun at George W. Bush and other politicians, and Obama should “take the cover in stride”, “laugh it off”, and “not take himself too seriously”.
That, however, is bullshit. A New Yorker cover with Bush in an apron is nowhere near the same as the depiction of Barack and Michelle Obama on their New Yorker cover.
I’m not arguing for a world without cartoons, because what a sad place that would be. But I’m also going to call out dehumanizing bullshit when I see it, because dehumanization and belittlement are things no one deserves.
Posted 05 Aug 2008 at 2:19 pm ¶
Tasha wrote:
also..not funny
ok maybe humor IS off
but really
i get it
but i’m just not laughing
Posted 05 Aug 2008 at 2:46 pm ¶
A. wrote:
Hipsters: “We’re so edgy that we think it’s cute to revive racist stereotypes that should stay dead. ”
Really, to all the entitled hipsters, sit down and be quiet for a change.
Posted 05 Aug 2008 at 6:44 pm ¶