Comments on: Firefighter groups call Andy Marlette cartoon unfair

By: Mike Peterson

Mike Peterson — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 10:28:41 +0000

Let’s assume you had to be 10 years old to remember news events. That would mean you’d have to have been born in 1953 to remember the use of firehoses. Which would make you on the cusp of turning 60.

It’s not just an issue of newspapers playing to the older crowd. It’s a matter of making a point that most readers can get. It’s a good concept — a great concept — but the wrong symbol.

By: Donald Rex Jr

Donald Rex Jr — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 03:17:42 +0000

Who remembers corny old crap like the civil rights movement? Better to forget all that than confuse people with totaly relavent and on point cartoons. This cartoon that caused a furor and TV coverage is obviously a failure, because they always have stories with updates on TV about clear, ho-hum cartoons. Don’t they?

By: Paul Combs

Paul Combs — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 03:06:49 +0000

“Plus, firefighters get mad very easily.” Haha, we firefighters are a whiny and contentious bunch, Clay:)

By: Clay Jones

Clay Jones — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 23:08:33 +0000

A political cartoon fails when people get upset over a point the cartoon isn’t making.

I think this cartoon shouldn’t have used the firefighter analogy because it’s outdated, and basically swiped a group that didn’t have anything to do with the issue the cartoon is on.

Plus, firefighters get mad very easily. I’ve gotten a lot of hate mail from them in the past. Of course those cartoons were actually on issues that involved the fire department.

By: Rich Diesslin

Rich Diesslin — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 22:13:08 +0000

I’d have to go with Jim on this. Only folks inside the media for a long, long time would have a chance to “get” the reference, essentially making it an insider message and leaving it wide open for misinterpretation. Hindsight might suggest that when the wrong interpretation has a massively higher probability of happening than the intended one, that perhaps it should not be used. Granted that the average age of folks reading the paper anymore is 80 years old, so I could be wrong on that !

That being said, when the context is put with the cartoon, the offended parties should now back-off and realize their point is made as well as the point of the cartoon being clarified. IMHO

By: Donald Rex Jr

Donald Rex Jr — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 19:06:52 +0000

The message of the cartoon is perfectly clear and valid. Sadly in our dominant culture most perception is uncertain and defensive. Any assertion that firefighters as a group are entirely virtuous and in some way seperate and different than the local population is dangerous and absurd.

Any art succeeds when it evokes emotion, and political cartoons most of all should scream at oppression and injustice.

By: Jim Lavery

Jim Lavery — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 18:29:23 +0000

it’s one of those cartoons that fail because it turns into a mixed message [see Monkey Gunned Down That Wrote Stimulus Bill cartoon]