Author: liza

DSK: One More Tip of the Iceberg

Most weeks, I just do cartoons that are about life, culture and are sometimes indirectly political. However, there are issues in the news that I can’t ignore, like the one above. Since I do a weekly cartoon for Womens Enews, there are events I feel I have to do a cartoon on, particularly when it involves women’s rights. The above cartoon is appearing there now– as a daily web-based magazine, they post my cartoon right away. The New Yorker is a weekly, and they would most likely not run a cartoon like the one above, although I show them everything I do.

Maybe we need a magazine totally dedicated to the stupid things powerful men do.

Bridesmaids

 

I want to weigh in on Kristin Wiig‘s new comedy, Bridesmaids, which I got a chance to see on Saturday. I laughed a lot.  What I liked about it was not the bathroom humor, of which there is a fair amount. Frankly,  I am just squeemish about seeing vomit (however, the scene I am speaking about is hilarious in its conception, because it makes fun of the wedding industry). I loved the humor in the film that is directed at the stupid rules in our culture. Bridesmaids was at once insightful and hilarious. The characters were wonderfully acted by actors who come from an Improv background, which I am learning is what gave the movie a fresh feel– it in no way felt over-written. Sometimes in comedies, one feels like the “jokes” are highly scripted and often fall flat. Not in Bridesmaids. The humor was as whacky as it was real and insightful. Wiig is a talented comedic actress, with a body meant to be funny.

Is it a chick-flick?   No– it is a movie about people. It is funny and the actors are hilarious. Is it about a bunch of women? Yes, but the story (which is pretty thin) is about the human condition. It is a story that both men and women experience: friendship and change.

It really is not up for debate anymore about whether or not women are funny. They are. What the problem is is that the powers-that-be still think we humans segregate our humor into “for guys” and “for girls.”  That men don’t want to see a movie with funny women, and visa versa. So they keep peddling humor that they think we want: and nothing is less funny than humor written by one gender that is thought to be what the other gender likes. It just doesn’t work–it comes out forced and false.  Bridesmaids is more than what some are saying, that it is a chick-flick that can appeal to men because of the gross humor. On the surface, it may seem that way. I think it is better than that.

For years, we have been made to think we like a certain type of movie, and many women buy into it. Not any more, not with the likes of Tina Fey, Amy Pohler and Kristen Wiig (and her co-writer for Bridesmaids, Annie Mumolo) at the helm. They write material–some of which is about what it’s like to be a woman–that is funny for everyone. They seem to write and act how they want to, and this is to be celebrated.

I still have issues with some of the movie–that Wiig’s character, while not explicitly stating so, feels that she is incomplete/unsuccessful without a man. Or that the “most funny” character is the heavy-set “ugly” one–played by the talented Melissa McCarthy. These are stereotypes we need to get rid of.  Do I wish the movie had more of a story, and that the producers didn’t feel it necessary to put in the gross humor for ticket sales?  Yes. Many feminists may negatively review this movie, perhaps for reasons I mention above and more. But when I step back and think about the positives of this movie, I am encouraged for the future of women in humor.

Sarah, Michelle, and Newt

So we have two confirmed candidates in the Republican party, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich. My first thought is, can we have a president named “Newt?”   I found it interesting that Mr. Gingrich, as advanced in age as he is, immediately sought to make his age a non-issue by announcing his candidacy on FB and youtube. He’s hip, we are to think.  At least his staff thinks they are.

What I look forward to seeing is what the little girls in the cartoon above are thinking. While I am not sympathetic to the Republican cause, I am nonetheless happy to see candidates who are women stand up strongly to candidates who are men. Plus, it would make great theater, don’t you think? Throw a little Trump in there, mix it up with a dash of Huckabee and garnish with Mitt. You might like it spiced with Jindal or Rudy. And, of course, Pawlenty on the side.

 

Being Worried Still

copyright Liza Donnelly and The New Yorker Magazine, 2002

 

This cartoon was published in The New Yorker in the months following September 11th, 2001. I think it’s appropriate to publish here again, with news of the death of Osama Bin Laden yesterday.  The little girl in this cartoon would be about eighteen now, and would probably still be worried today. New York City, and those who lost loved ones in the attacks on 9/11 may feel some relief, but the people who listened to and followed Bin Laden are still out there, hating Americans. President Obama is doing an a remarkable job to make our country new again, to work with our allies and the world to solve problems and rid the world of terrorism. But it’s not going to happen with the death of one individual, no matter how powerful he once was. Let’s hope the Arab Spring continues and combined with this news, we are one step closer to peace.

Cartoonists Honor Fallen Libyan Artist

Last week, I heard from my a cartoonist friend of mine from Corsica, Manfruelli Batti, that a Libyan street artist/cartoonist named Kais al-Hilali had been killed by Quaddafi supporters after drawing a caricature of the leader on a Benghazi street wall.  I put out a call to my international cartoonist friends, and gathered a number of poignant cartoons on this tragedy.  The New Yorker created a slide show of the cartoons, I wrote some copy and it was posted on their News Desk Blog. Here it is. There is nothing like the power of cartoons to speak to an issue.

 

cartoon by Riber Hansson of Sweden