satire
27 Feb 2009
Who's The Chimp?
When the man who owns the News of the World apologises for offending people with a cartoon, THAT's when we know political correctness has gone mad, writes Ben Pobjie
In today's world, the list of things that can go mad is literally endless: dogs, bureaucracy, Senator Bill Heffernan. But there is nothing in the modern world that goes mad as often, and as thoroughly, as political correctness.To see the truth of this, one only has to read the letters pages of some of our finest Murdoch-owned tabloids, where "political correctness gone mad" has practically become a catchphrase. But there's nothing amusing about the phenomenon; it is, without hyperbole, a cancer on our way of life, a metaphor I will probably soon be unable to use because of political correctness.
I formed the view that we have passed the PC-point-of-no-return when I heard of the furore that had erupted over a cartoon in the US, depicting the unfortunate chimpanzee who was shot dead simply for following his own God-given instinct to rip off people's faces. This cartoon made the rather obvious connection between the dead chimp and President Obama's economic stimulus plan, and for some reason this simple point has resulted in an uproar so enormous you would think somebody had accused Dame Elisabeth Murdoch of date rape.
Seriously, people. Let's take a deep breath. Have we really come to this? Has our obsession with political correctness reached the point where we cannot call the President of the United States a chimpanzee without being scolded for being "offensive"?
So much for free speech. Time was when it was considered not only a right, but a duty, to compare one's political masters with lower animals. In the 1980s cartoonists regularly depicted Ronald Reagan as an angry moose, and Margaret Thatcher as a snobbish raccoon. And of course even before that there was our very own Gough "Marmoset" Whitlam. But apparently today, if I wanted to publish a cartoon portraying Kevin Rudd as an economically profligate spider monkey, I would be savaged by the liberal media elites and forever labelled as some kind of fascist monster.
How did we come to this? How I long for the days when being politically correct merely meant you knew the answer to the question "What was the impetus for the passage by Alfred Deakin's second government of the Papua Act of 1905?"
Oh, the idea of political correctness may have started out with a noble intention — to irritate Piers Akerman — but it has become something far more sinister. Somewhere we lost our sense of freedom, somewhere we let the leftists and the greenies and the do-gooders and the bleeding hearts and the unionists and the snivel libertarians and the technocrats and the pornographers and the Sydney Morning Herald subsume our sturdy Australian tradition of plain-talking — to the point where nowadays you can barely even comment on the Lebanese rapist problem without having some smelly tree-hugging, Bob Brown-kissing, unemployed dope smoker hauling out the rent-a-crowd for a protest march quicker than you can say "Africans go home".
So what happened? Was it Paul Keating's fault? Bob Hawke's? Kevin Rudd's? Mark Latham's? Gareth Evans's? The answer to all of these questions is yes, but let's not pretend it's a purely local phenomenon. The Obama-chimp affair shows that even in that bastion of free speech, the USA, where once all were free to speak their mind and call a spade an ape, the situation has become desperate. When Rupert Murdoch apologises, dark days are indeed at hand.
I mean, looked at with calm reason and objectivity, what is the big freaking deal? If Barack Obama happens to resemble a mad chimpanzee, what is the sin in saying so? Is simple observation now "taboo"? What's the terrible offence here? Saying the president is a chimp? Saying the president's economic plan could have been written by a chimp? Saying the president rips off people's faces? Saying the president should be shot to death? Christ, lighten up. I doubt Obama himself worries about people commenting on his looks or his intelligence or his suitability for assassination; why should we?
It's like the whole thing with Christmas in schools. Once upon a time we celebrated Christmas with trees and Christmas carols and cutting Santas and angels out of stiff paper and ineptly colouring them in. But now traditional Christmas activities are "politically incorrect", so the schools have torn down the decorations and our children have to celebrate Christmas by sitting around eating pita bread and discussing how children celebrated Christmas in Machu Picchu. Hell, you're not even supposed to say "Merry Christmas" any more, you have to say "Best Wishes" or "Happy pre-New Year's Eve" or "Allahu Akbar" or some damn thing.
Race, religion ... even sex is not immune to the creeping spectre of the "PC police". You can't even give a lady a compliment these days, unless you want a faceful of mace and a criminal record. Time was a woman liked being complimented. "That dress really suits you," a fellow might say, and the lady would smile and nod her appreciation. "You look absolutely edible," a gentleman might opine, or "Bugger me, look at those", and the fairer sex would take this flattery in the spirit it was intended. It was a far more civilised time, before "equality" destroyed good relations between the sexes.
It was "equality" that made Christine Nixon Victoria's police commissioner, despite myriad peer-reviewed scientific studies demonstrating that women's bodies contain far too many hormones to allow effective police work. It was "equality" that gave us Amanda Vanstone, and a bunch of supposed "feminists" who are so lazy they started a political movement rather than spend an extra half-hour in front of a mirror. Thanks, "equality", thank you a frigging bundle.
It's got to stop. We've got to stop labelling people "racist" every time they question immigration quotas, or labelling people "sexist" every time they admire a woman's physical appearance, or labelling people "homophobic" every time they join the Catholic Church. We've got to get back to the way things were, when men were men and women were women and anyone who didn't fit either category was properly institutionalised. We've got to stop worrying about stepping on the toes of those less white or western or masculine or non-perverted than ourselves.
We must, in short, find the strength to each release our own personal inner chimp cartoon. Tell it how it is, call it as you see it, straight up, no beg-your-pardons, take no prisoners. Stand up to the namby-pamby, freedom-hating, whale-watching, pseudo-indigenous nanny-staters, and tell them: this is my opinion, and I am not ashamed!
Because if we let ourselves be ruled by political correctness, the terrorists win.
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Ben,
This is what passes for "satire" these days?
If you can’t see that someone at the Post should have stopped one of the US’s largest-circulated tabloids from printing a cartoon that depicted a Black man—any Black man—as a chimpanzee, you have no right analysing the media! Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan don’t exactly have the same kind of historical baggage that Obama does, which is to say that I don’t remember white people being enslaved and derided as a "race of moose" or a "raccoon-like people." Try reading Stephen Jay Gould on the nineteenth-century attempts to prove that Blacks are more "ape-like" than whites, and then see how your lame, outdated commentary holds up.
Oh, but it doesn’t stop there! Here’s a particularly Fox-News-esque bit:
‘It’s like the whole thing with Christmas in schools. Once upon a time we celebrated Christmas with trees and Christmas carols and cutting Santas and angels out of stiff paper and ineptly colouring them in. But now traditional Christmas activities are "politically incorrect", so the schools have torn down the decorations and our children have to celebrate Christmas by sitting around eating pita bread and discussing how children celebrated Christmas in Machu Picchu. Hell, you’re not even supposed to say "Merry Christmas" any more, you have to say "Best Wishes" or "Happy pre-New Year’s Eve" or "Allahu Akbar" or some damn thing.’
Gee, the Muslims just ruin everything, don’t they? If it’s not the beaches, it’s our precious holidays.
NewMatilda can do a hell of a lot better than this boring right-wing slop for its lead story!
Is there a prize for the first person to comment "is this what passes for satire" followed by a demonstration that they have no idea what the word means, after every BP piece?
SATIRE
1. the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.
2. a literary composition, in verse or prose, in which human folly and vice are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule.
D’you think pr’aps then duckwalkkrg, that maybe just maybe, given the big SATIRE tag at the top, that BP was taking the PISS out of those who can’t see why calling a black man a chimp has considerably more baggage than calling GWB the same?
BP - do you ever get sick of these comments or is it actually a clever ruse by yourself to boost the traffic?
This isn’t satire, it’s just childish and naive. Of course it was stupid to publish that cartoon. Anyone with a gram of sense would have realised how many people it would offend. Pretending that it is all perfectly innocent and is being wilfully misconstrued by people who want to quash freedom of speech is just silly and almost as ingenuously offensive as the original cartoon.
I usually enjoy this magazine but this kind of idiocy isn’t funny and just encourages other idiots to be racist and offensive too.
Blogging at Waving Not Drowning.
I can imagine the cartoonist who did that one going "but I didn’t even think that could be misinterpreted". When cartoonist depict a politician as an animal they put some recognisable facial feature to show who they mean and that monkey was just a monkey, that is to say it looked like George W Bush.
graywave
""Pretending that it is all perfectly innocent and is being wilfully misconstrued by people who want to quash freedom of speech is just silly and almost as ingenuously offensive as the original cartoon.""
Who the hell is pretending that? You seemed to have woefully missed the point and much like duckwalkkrg seem to have zero concept of what satire actually is.
Did someone cross post this piece to a University outraged junior lefties list serv?
What? You mean he wasn’t pretending?
Seriously, do you really think the people objecting to this don’t understand what satire is, or that this piece was trying to be satirical?
Do you think you can spout any old nonsense and, just because you’re trying to be satirical, it’s alright?
Maybe that explains it.
graywave - without spluttering all over the place, please answer the question:
"""Pretending that it is all perfectly innocent and is being wilfully misconstrued by people who want to quash freedom of speech is just silly and almost as ingenuously offensive as the original cartoon."""
Who in the HELL is "pretending" any such thing.
Now have a bex and a lie down
Is it satire? It’s not satire. I’m sick of pretending things are satire. I want satire, and I want to pretend that it isn’t satire. Stop treating satire satirically and start treating it seriously, because of course this is super seriously satirical and newmatilda has no business publishing it.
I enjoyed it Ben.
After all the whinging, (and who cares about satire and monkeys), I am dying of curiousity here, so could somebody please just tell me - who’s the Chimp?
Or is this perhaps one of those riddles which only ape enthusiasts can understand?
I am (deeply) offended that mad chimpanzees are constantly compared to any politicians OR any other Pollyannas.
No self respecting ape would sanction this gibe as an appropriate object of satire to the tribe = intensely offensive, and off coarse, like well, demeaning and shows a sallow face to sincere grace! dunno4sure¿
Yeah for what it’s worth i actually quite liked this one. Yay new matilda
"This is what passes for "satire" these days?"
Apparently. Shameful, isn’t it?
"you have no right analysing the media!"
Uh-oh, you’re onto me.
"I don’t remember white people being enslaved and derided as a "race of moose" or a "raccoon-like people.""
Short memory, duckwalk. Have we forgotten the 70s already?
"Gee, the Muslims just ruin everything, don’t they?"
That was a really bigoted thing to say, duckwalk. I think for you to say that Muslims ruin everything is very offensive to those of the Islamic faith, and if I were you I would apologise for that slur. Ruin everything? Disgraceful stuff, hang your head.
"Is there a prize for the first person to comment "is this what passes for satire" followed by a demonstration that they have no idea what the word means, after every BP piece?"
Do you think I should offer one? It seems a shame to let these people’s efforts go to waste, right?
"BP - do you ever get sick of these comments or is it actually a clever ruse by yourself to boost the traffic?"
Actually, all these comments are by me - I don’t really get my articles either.
"Do you think you can spout any old nonsense and, just because you’re trying to be satirical, it’s alright?"
It’s working for me so far, graywave.
"Is it satire? It’s not satire. I’m sick of pretending things are satire. I want satire, and I want to pretend that it isn’t satire. Stop treating satire satirically and start treating it seriously, because of course this is super seriously satirical and newmatilda has no business publishing it."
It’s impressive to see how quickly you’ve latched onto the general ambience of this thread, Scott.
"I usually enjoy this magazine but this kind of idiocy isn’t funny and just encourages other idiots to be racist and offensive too."
Damned right, Graywave. And that’s exactly the point some astute folk made when Swift published "A Modest Proposal". But did anyone listen? No they did not, leading, as we all know, to the tragic carnage that was known as the Great Irish Baby Barbecue.
I may be wrong about this, and I’m sure someone will correct me if I am, but didn’t the cartoon have a caption saying something like, "Now they’ll have to find someone else to sign the ‘tax stimulus bill’ - I can’t recollect the exact wording. It appeared to me that it was a reference to Obama. This is the first African American elected to the presidency in a racist country awash with guns. Most of us wish him well and are concerned for his safety. I don’t give to much for his chances of surviving to a ripe old age. The Murdoch gutter press is against everything that anyone with brains, ethics or decency stands for and the fact that it published this cartoon is just par for the course.
Murdoch’s attack dogs went a bit further than their master intended and he belatedly realised that he would likely lose circulation and money and therefore apologised. I enjoy Ben Popje and his comments but this time he is way off the mark. The cartoon was not some much racial as a nasty attempt to cause fear amongst Obama’s supporters, and it backfired. Murdoch didn’t apologise because "PC" forced him to. It was economics. He might have realised that he isn’t bullet proof either. I’m no fonder of PC than anyone else. I recall that someone suggested that Manchester in the UK, the office of PC there, should be renamed "Person Chester" and had a good laugh. Murdoch’s cartoon is in a different category all together.
I agree with you, Martyrns, and I know when Ben is out of his depth by the length of the column and he was sure out of his depth this time. Thing was it wasn’t funny. It wasn’t satirical.
It was offensive and misconstrued the difference between politically correct and stupid. There are times in life when maintaining your integrity is more important than a deadline. In my simple view, Ben met the deadline - chump! [this time]
Since you mention it, martyns, what it actually said was "They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill." Not sign, but write. A subtle difference, but it provides a potential line of defence.
Also, while we’re correcting, my name isn’t "Ben Popje". My name is right at the top of the page, it’s not that hard to see.
"he belatedly realised that he would likely lose circulation and money and therefore apologised"
Yeah. Because of political correctness.
"I’m no fonder of PC than anyone else. "
I have a feeling you’re fonder of it than, say, Andrew Bolt or Rush Limbaugh.
"I recall that someone suggested that Manchester in the UK, the office of PC there, should be renamed "Person Chester" and had a good laugh."
Understandably - it’s not often a nugget of pure comedic gold like that comes along. I can barely see through my tears of laughter to type after reading that gem.
OK, then. Quick survey.
Hands up everyone who thinks the above article is a tirade against political correctness, or a defence of the chimp cartoon?
Now hands up everyone who thinks that lines such as "you can barely even comment on the Lebanese rapist problem without having some smelly tree-hugging, Bob Brown-kissing, unemployed dope smoker hauling out the rent-a-crowd for a protest march quicker than you can say "Africans go home"." may not be a literal expression of my opinion?
I think I am with ‘martyns’ on this one. This particular cartoonist has known ‘form’!
Personally, I do usually ‘get’ satire. But in this case, I did miss it, entirely. It had a very ‘hard’ edge to it. Whatever! Dazza.
Ahhh! Good satire is like detox. Well done comrade! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eat_the_Rich_(film)
I’ve changed my mind and think Ben is 100% entirely and completely serious as he’s the secret love child of Miranda Devine and Piers Akerman (and with that mental image I have finally revolted even myself and need some therapy)
Some of you folks need to take another deep breath or something “green and glorious” You were certainly “stoned and missed it” (special thanks to that esteemed philosophy team of Dr Hook and associates PHD+ [Pretty High Dudes and bars])
Sam Keckovitch (sp?) would be proud or busy writing plagiarism writs. Oh I forgot he’s currently awaiting sentencing from the PC court for rabble rousing and refusing to fight.
OR were your comments really… I mean really woeful SATIRE.
Missn Omar
Keep that up and you’ll force me to drink another slab be it on your head.the guilt I don’t need a table.
Sorry to mispell your name Ben. I still think you are way off the mark with your article. However, keep on writing. I don’t expect to agree with you all the time and will continue to comment for and against if I feel like it.
You wouldn’t be the first person I’ve driven to drink Examinator
I would never drink Examinator, no matter what you say MissnOmar, it sounds like Drano.
Well it seems pretty well established Ben, you just don’t understand satire. The idea seems to be that you write a worthy and deeply sincere article about the subject and the funny bit ….shit, hang on.
What they are trying to say Ben is that it is funnier and more satirical if you actually beleive what you are saying, like Alan Jones, one of the most brilliant satirists ….fuck, thats not right either.
Ben I put it to you that what people want these days is some good old fashioned slapstick. Can’t you slip over on a banana peel and bang your head on the keyboard? That should get a cheer from graywave anyway.
"I would never drink Examinator, no matter what you say MissnOmar, it sounds like Drano."
I was gonna post a response to this, then I realised not everyone shares my mind like a particularly deviant sailor and thought better of it
"I don’t expect to agree with you all the time and will continue to comment for and against if I feel like it."
I wouldn’t have it any other way, martyns. For serious.
I’m also deeply offended by this article because it didn’t go far enough. There are no references to Rupe’s wife, his kids or his overwhelmingly handsome appearance. So you had a go at his mum? Pffft. Easy target.
I’m also deeply offended that no-one has had the decency to check out graywave’s blog site, because if you had, you’d realise he is appropriately positioned to comment on satire…so there! You’d also be commenting on the brilliant and hilarious story of his lawnmower and the ‘run in’ with NAB. I almost got to the second paragraph when I noticed how long the story was and that the term "wifie" reared its ugly head in the third sentence.
If there aren’t any swear words (bugger doesn’t count), gratuitous violence or deeply offending material in the next article then I’ll seriously consider ‘churning’ to waving not drowning.
Is that pronounced Pooie, with a silent ‘j’ like Stot de Spoja is pronounced de Spoya and silent ‘B’ as in doubt?
Any way, some great men have been depicted as apea, the great Charles Darwin was an ape who masqueraded as a man.
Then there was King Kong, who had a thing for that "blonde piece" in the film of the same name.
Remember Bert Newton, who said I Like the chimp, or boy (can I say that…boy?)
So really, any lurking Lee Harvey oswalds or Sirhan Sirhan’s aside, who was a chimp with a hash habit actually. I don’t think President Barak Obama has to be too concerned.
He actually should be more concerned about being identified as a man, just look where men have got us?
If the Chimp decided it was a "face off" against the ones who exploited him all those years , then, maybe it was a merciful release for the poor bugger.
But the only stimulus package that is going to work is the one that stimulates people to get off their fat A’s and do something about their environment, and not whinge about someone ought to do something about it.
So Barak, whether you’re a man opr a superman remains to be seen.
But if you are not a chimp, don’t be a chump either, the world as we know it hangs on your "package".
Cheers, Oli
revilo, believe it or not it is pronounced exactly as it’s spelt.
I don’t think it was very funny to depict Obama as a chimp. But I do like the idea that given enough time a chimp might type a stimulus package, and considering that it appears to be the biggest movement of wealth in history from the middle class to the masters of the universe it could prove to me be more palatable.
Dear Pobjie
Congratualtions on the ‘recentelijke tweelingen’ Pobjietjies! dunno4sure¿
sometimes we are enslaved by history. I love the freedom of Satire never ever ever let it die. I want my Freedom now. I have been enslaved too too long.
When you can not criticise no matter what and can not even do satire you are an enslaved and unfree people.
POBjie I love you but do i understand you? as for the lick arse (s) Stand up for your Freedom be African about it.
Heather M
sometimes we are enslaved by history. I love the freedom of Satire never ever ever let it die. I want my Freedom now. I have been enslaved too too long.
When you can not criticise no matter what and can not even do satire you are an enslaved and unfree people.
POBjie I love you but do i understand you? as for the lick arse (s) Stand up for your Freedom be African about it.
Heather M