I think of it as The Fool's Journey. I've been asked who the "fool" is. It's me, but in the classical sense of the court jester. Only the fool was allowed to tell the king of his follies. All cartoons are available as prints or originals, framed or unframed, through my website or e-mail. For mugs, t-shirts, and other products visit my gift shop at www.zazzle.com/jcrowtherart* (be sure to include the *).
Back in 10 B.C., Horace wrote in his Epistles, "Your own safety is at stake when your neighbor's house is burning down." In Leviticus (19:18) it is writ, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." And according to an anonymous aphorism, when you have a plot of land the best thing to cultivate is your neighbors. Nowadays, all the world's a neighborhood. When will we learn?
posted by John M Crowther @ 7:00 AM
I think of it as The Fool's Journey. I've been asked who the "fool" is. It's me, but in the classical sense of the court jester. Only the fool was allowed to tell the king of his follies. All cartoons are available as prints or originals, framed or unframed, through my website or e-mail. For mugs, t-shirts, and other products visit my gift shop at www.zazzle.com/jcrowtherart* (be sure to include the *).
Artist, writer, filmmaker, actor. Wrote "The Evil That Men Do" starring Charles Bronson. "Missing in Action" starring Chuck Norris. Performed one-man play "Einstein" off-Broadway and in Europe. Tours US with "Meet Mr. Wright," his one-man play about Frank Lloyd Wright. Art exhibitions in Italy and U.S. His work as a cartoonist has been seen in MAD magazine. Illustrated the children's books "How the Waif Bunny Saved the Boy" and "The Man In the Red Bandana" about his nephew Welles Crowther, a hero of 9/11, written by his niece, Honor Crowther Fagin, Welles's sister. Author of novel "Firebase," published in UK by Constable and US by St. Martins Press. For many years an avid student and reader of Tarot. Performs weddings as a Los Angeles County Deputy Commissioner of Civil Marriage.
15 Comments:
sorry to be stupid, but could someone please explain this cartoon to me?
thanks!
QUOTENowadays, all the world's a neighborhood. When will we learn?UNQUOTE
The logical (but perhaps ever so slightly politically incorrect) answer to that would be... when we learn to mind our own business. Just my opinion tho... (grin)
I thought that was what it was about but I was confused because sometimes the commentary is directly related to the cartoon, and other times indirectly, or not at all. And I couldn't really make out what the guy is doing, or why he is wearing a suit to do it.
And since we don't have a problem with Canada or Mexico, our neighbors, except that Mexicans keep trespassing on our property, I was further confused.
But thanks for the clarification.
Kate... my comment was in response to John's question! You may have to wait for clarification from John re the cartoon... as I suspect we will all have different takes on this!
sorry, I didn't get that either. It seems to be becoming a habit.
I think that most people have forgotten how to love their neighbors or trust them. Everyday there are more killings, involving more people, it is getting to be so common place in our societies, that it is becoming easier and easier to harm one's neighbour. Like the man who killed his expectant girlfriend a day or so ago. Delivered flowers to her and then shot her dead.
You're so right, Kate, about the commentary. I'm never quite sure where my head is going to take me at the crack of dawn. But.... re what the cartoon means, that's a tough one, because explaining a joke is the quickest way to kill it. I wouldn't necessarily read any political significance into it. Years ago, Milos Foreman introduced his film The Fireman's Ball at the NY Film Festival by telling how when it opened in Czecholslovakia the firemen went on strike because they felt they were being ridiculed. Foreman had to meet with them and tell them that they represented all of society in its struggle against a repressive government. The firemen were thrilled, and called off the strike. "But you know what," Foreman concluded in New York, "it was really just about firemen." This cartoon is about a man who cut down his neighbor's tree and has now gone into paranoid overload as a result.
Why did he cut down the tree?
Some of the problem I have with understanding your cartoons is physical. The cones of my eyes are completely shot. That's the part of the eye that distinguishes shades, so black and white cartoons are particularly difficult to decipher. And I also don't have depth perception.
But it's probably mostly that it takes me a while to understand what most people "get" immediately. Slow brain synapses, maybe.
Thanks for the explanation.
Funny... but I immediately connected John's cartoon and commentary with this award winning cartoon (although it is very different in style and message - the metaphor for me was quite similar) It's a long address... hope it works.
http://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/past_exhibitions/behind_the_lines/the_case_for_war/slideshow_1_5.html#slideTop
Oh drat... it didn't work... oh well. sorry all... I tried :-(
The two important factors here are that whatever the reason for Fenton's tree having been cut down, it started a dispute, and it has escalated to the point where an innocent UPS delivery is perceived by a paranoid mind as being reason for a preemptive strike. Does this have larger political implications? Not necessarily. No more, I don't think, than my cartoon in which a defendant in a court case claims of the plaintiff, "he hit me back first."
You're absolutely right about the cartoon, Jean. It is quite different, and indeed is far more overtly a political statement than mine, but the underlying irony is the same. I was able to see it because the link was included in its entirety in the e-mail I receive for each comment. I've put in line breaks in hopes that it will work. The link should be copied and pasted into the URL window, with the spaces removed. Thanks, Jean.
http://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/
past_exhibitions/behind_the_lines/
the_case_for_war/slideshow_1_5.html
#slideTop
P.S. I find that each line must be pasted separately, but if one has patience it can be done.
BTW, it's worth it. And mny apologies for having mistakenly identified neighbor Fenworth as Fenton in a previous comment.
Very well put John. We're all neighbors in this tiny spec of light flickering in space. Another way it's been put is... "Do unto other as you would want others to do unto you." or it's many variations...
And if we could only rise to that challenge the world would be a much better place.
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