The meaning of life <cartoons, etc.> ... an evolving thread

...."While some Iraqis are celebrating the recent elections and increasing official trappings of sovereignty, Rasheed can't stay at his own house and will soon join his family in Syria. Such is the surreal confusion that characterizes life in post-Hussein Iraq, where, he laments, artists must choose between "personal safety and artistic freedom and honesty."

But the resulting double vision, one simultaneously "within and above reality," is for Rasheed a necessary ailment for Iraqi artists today. It's the "only way to understand the reality of Iraq. How else can I write about streets where death comes in the dozens and without a reason and everyone kills for entertainment? Baghdad is like Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers, but in vivid reality."

It sounds a very mad & precarious existence. It is almost as if process of trying to survive & record the chaos around him is a more compelling & moving story than any film he might create. Extremely brave of him, I think. We understand so little of is really happening there.

Mathos, what a treat to see the real you. Thanks for joining in.

msolga- etc...an evolving thread...it's a lovely way to bridge cultures, and you're such a gracious host.
Some Oz cartoons are plain ol crude. That one is very witty and NOW

nimh-a wonderful set of posts, that butressed my feelings and promise a brighter future.

Panzade ! Your greeting is reciprocated Sir. Thank you! Mathos (Baron).

Excellent thread this Panzade, I have noted your comments and admired your train of thought. Yes, we both picked up on the sense shown by msolga and nimh, excellent valuable and sensible approaches all around I consider. The world is experiencing a few hiccups of late. We should be doing better than this by now ! However, we cannot rule out the possibility that we are not aware of all the facts ! They have to be characters of a sinister, devious and brutal nature to run a western country, especially. I certainly do not envy their position. After all, we make the outlandish demands to maintain our way of life.

Yes. I thought that OC story about him makes him a pretty good pars pro toto for the whole situation. Under Saddam, he hadnt been allowed to film, or even to learn how to film. Now he is free to do so - but the fundamentalist crackdown against open-minded people like him, combined with the general danger of crime and violence, has forced him to flee the country altogether. Frying pan into the fire, indeed. One can only hope things will still get better, after all, but for now I aint none too confident.

All of a sudden Americans are dealing with the loss of inexpensive gas.

But you see, panz, that's your opinion! I find them punchy & on the ball, so to speak. I'm a great admirer of Bruce Petty. He's an institution here. Once again, cultural diffrences .... That's the reason I hestitating before posting that last one. I wasn't certain of how it would be received in your culture. There are so many other differences, despite what we have in common. For starters, religion .... There's a huge, gaping difference between Oz & the US there ...

No, me neither, nimh.
When you clearly spell out his predicament like this it makes it all too clear to me that we have very little idea of what is actually happening on the ground in Iraq. Our "information" on Iraq & our understanding of the situation is based on different hues of political spin, really. And we can choose which ever version suits our particular political purpose.

I wish I was more articulate. I'm trying to say that political "positions" & processes demean ordinary people, reduce them to mere chess pieces in some larger, cynical game that lacks compassion & ethics. I would love to see the decent, humane people of the world form an alliance & defeat those controlling the political processes! Why should all events be filtered through THEIR interests! As if they care! Oh, it makes me so angry.

Like how? You mean with the religious thing?


BTW If I get prickly about some(very few) of Oz cartoons it's because I feel they're a bit over the top at times, sort of like Wilso. That's my opinion. You really didn't have to point that out you know.
Anyway, after however many cartoons in a row lampooning the US I get a little grumpy. I mean, if the roles were reversed I'm sure you'd get that way too.

Yes, religion.


Even here, on A2K, there's a marked difference in our attitudes to religion. Most Australians are much quieter about their religious faith, if they possess it at all. I was quite taken aback, at first, when US A2Kers talked of praying for someone who might be facing difficulty in their life. That is something quite foreign to many of us here. Note: I'm not being critical, just a little in awe of cultural differences. Watching the Schiavo issue unfold & seeing the impact of religious influence in the US has been something of a mind-boggler, too. Sure, I know about fundamentalism, but hey, this situation was truly incomprehensible to me & most other people I know. How could these people & the forces behind them have so much influence?
Sometimes (often) I stay out of debating issues that I'm very interested in & just observe. You see, it's often a debate involving mainly folk from the US. And I've come to the conclusion I don't understand the rules, for reasons I hope I've made clear. However, I'm a respectful person & understand about cultural differences. I learn. But often I don't agree at all as I watch! :wink:
I guess the reason Bruce Petty, say, is far less offensive to many Australians than you, panz, is that we are a far more secular society, overall. We're probably more cynical (overall) too, as a result. What you might see as crassness we might see as directly addressing the issue - with humour & sometimes ridicule even. It's a fact of life here - we're cynical about politics & politicians. And we're often not too respectful in how we express it.

Enlightening explanation of OZ, MsOlga! Thank you!

A pleasure, Francis! Thank you. I hope my explanation is reasonably accurate. I think it is. But other Oz A2Kers may want to chip in & throw in their thoughts, too.

I'm sure the difference in religious fervor is tied to the types of settlers that came to our respective countries.
I'll venture a guess that there were more religiously persecuted settlers here but I don't know how that plays out.

I rather think you hit the nail on the head there Panzade. It has to be appreciated that in The Mid West in particular plus of course those rather special settlers hauling guns, corn, beans and the like for Joseph Smith all the way to /Salt Lake City,learned early on that 'alarming the folk' gave them great power over the masses. It also enabled them to extract money for their coffers. Some things don't change much do they !

I wouldn't know either, pan.
We have quite a few in Oz, too.

I guess it's because the US (government) has had such a huge impact on our lives, pan & Oz is fairly irrelevant to the US. If our current government wasn't so subservient & grovelling to your government there'd probably be less material for the cartoonist to play with here. If it's any consolation, our cartoonists are just as merciless when lampooning Oz politicians. (With good reason! :wink: )