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Charlie Hebdo (kind of NSFW behind a cut)
Jan. 21st, 2015 04:16 pmI went to get my Guardian this morning. My newsagent is next to the shopping center, and it's owned by people I perceive to be South Asian (Pakistani or Bangladeshi).
Some background: I normally only read the Guardian but last week, at the height of the crisis over Charlie Hebdo, I bought three or four issues of Le Monde. I can read French to an OK level, and I thought I should get a French perspective on events.
I brought my newspaper up to the counter and the newsagent said, "Weren't you looking for this magazine last week?" and produced from behind the counter a Chalie Hebdo with the famous picture on the cover of the prophet shedding a tear and holding a "Je Suis Charlie" sign. I hadn't thought they would carry it, so wasn't looking for it, but I bought it. It cost £3.50 (around US$7). I just took a look at it.
( Making fun of elderly nuns )
Now, while this is kind of funny, in a strange way, I wouldn't say that it produced a belly laugh. There are a shedload of cartoons attacking the Pope, the prophet, and public figures in Europe. I haven't read the text yet, but the cartoons are scurrilous without being witty. I suspect that the columns of text are the same. The whole thing is in the tradition of Rabelais at his most tasteless.
This doesn't mean that I am offended (it takes an awful lot to shock me), but it hasn't really added much to my store of knowledge. I wouldn't suggest it to anyone wanting to improve their French. There is one cartoon (at least) that is entirely in patois of some sort. It was mostly comprehensible, but it took me a while.
There is a right to offend, and there is no right to be free from being offended. There is a right to be tasteless, and there is no right to enforce tastefulness.
Public figures and politicians normally leave cartoonists alone, no matter what they draw or write. They know there's no traction in getting offended at what is written about them or how they are portrayed. Bell, a cartoonist from the Guardian, normally draws the Prime Minister with a condom over his head, for reasons that I forget. Cameron and Bell met at a function once, and Cameron said, "Could you please stop drawing me with a condom over my head?" Bell hasn't stopped.
Some background: I normally only read the Guardian but last week, at the height of the crisis over Charlie Hebdo, I bought three or four issues of Le Monde. I can read French to an OK level, and I thought I should get a French perspective on events.
I brought my newspaper up to the counter and the newsagent said, "Weren't you looking for this magazine last week?" and produced from behind the counter a Chalie Hebdo with the famous picture on the cover of the prophet shedding a tear and holding a "Je Suis Charlie" sign. I hadn't thought they would carry it, so wasn't looking for it, but I bought it. It cost £3.50 (around US$7). I just took a look at it.
( Making fun of elderly nuns )
Now, while this is kind of funny, in a strange way, I wouldn't say that it produced a belly laugh. There are a shedload of cartoons attacking the Pope, the prophet, and public figures in Europe. I haven't read the text yet, but the cartoons are scurrilous without being witty. I suspect that the columns of text are the same. The whole thing is in the tradition of Rabelais at his most tasteless.
This doesn't mean that I am offended (it takes an awful lot to shock me), but it hasn't really added much to my store of knowledge. I wouldn't suggest it to anyone wanting to improve their French. There is one cartoon (at least) that is entirely in patois of some sort. It was mostly comprehensible, but it took me a while.
There is a right to offend, and there is no right to be free from being offended. There is a right to be tasteless, and there is no right to enforce tastefulness.
Public figures and politicians normally leave cartoonists alone, no matter what they draw or write. They know there's no traction in getting offended at what is written about them or how they are portrayed. Bell, a cartoonist from the Guardian, normally draws the Prime Minister with a condom over his head, for reasons that I forget. Cameron and Bell met at a function once, and Cameron said, "Could you please stop drawing me with a condom over my head?" Bell hasn't stopped.
