Last week a cartoon by Indonesian cartoonist Fonda Lapod depicted Australian Prime Minister as a peeping Tom masturbating while looking behind a curtain labeled “Indonesia” has created a wrinkle in relations between the two countries. The cartoon is in response to news that Australia is allegedly listening in on telephone calls of the Indonesian President and his family.
Another article in the Sydney Morning News relates an earlier cartooning “war” between the two countries back in 2006 when the same Indonesian cartoonist depicted Australian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister as dogs engaged in sex. Aussie cartoonist Bill Leak responded with a cartoon depicting Indonesian President, who is a Muslim) as a dog mounting a Papuan native. Read the Morning News for the fall out over that one.
Will the Aussies retaliate?
It’s all a bit silly really. The Australians weren’t offended by the above toon. It was made into an issue by Channel 9 news who tried to stir it up as a controversy when nobody even knew about it or cared.
It’s all a bit tacky, really.
Glad you chimed in Jason. I was wondering what the Australian perspective of this was.
Just knowing there’s someone named “Fonda Lapod” makes life worth living. Thinking about stealing it.
Editorial cartoons that spark international incidents! Maybe there’s hope yet.