January 26, 2009

On Drawing Obama

Apparently the nationÂ’s cartoonists are having a hard time drawing our new president.

During the presidential campaign, cartoonists frequently homed in on Obama's measured temperament, with more critical strips caricaturing him as cold and aloof. More often than not, though, drawings were complimentary. One showed him mending a Constitution shredded by Bush, and another depicted him as a symbol of 1960s civil rights struggles. Cartoons regularly portrayed Obama as rail-thin with big ears or playing basketball (one of his passions) or placed him in a pantheon with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln.

Oliphant complained that Obama's physical features don't naturally lend themselves to caricature.

"With Bush, you had that general vacuity -- those blanked-out eyes and those goofy expressions. As for Obama, Thank God for his ears. A good-looking president isn't good for cartooning."

Actually, I see two problems.

First, these guys are generally for Obama – they really don’t want to make him an object of ridicule, despite their claims that they are not going to go easy on him. After all, there is plenty to caricature in the “nose-in-the-air, superior-to-you-in-every-way” pose that he so often takes.

But beyond that, these guys have to be careful. If they get too tough on him, we know the usual response – RRRRAAAACCCCIIIISSSSMMMM!!!!

Posted by: Greg at 09:15 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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