Nicolas Sarkozy’s decision to have thousands of Roma people expelled from France has caused an uproar in other European countries. After being under attack for this attempt to gain support from the right, Mr. Sarkozy issued statements to the effect that “everybody does it”. Which led to even more criticism.
Toonpool.com artists have attacked the President for undermining the French ideals of liberté, égalité & fraternité (here, here & here). They have also pointed out the support for Sarkozy by Italian premier Berlusconi (here & here) and, in one case, blamed German Chancellor Merkel, too, for the expulsion of Gypsies. Personally, I liked these two cartoons for their original ideas. Some French people might complain about the use of the Disney versions of Mr. Hugo’s characters but that’s a small price to pay.
Introducing…
Claudio “Pipi” Sposito is from Argentina. Like many other newcomers to toonpool.com he has contributed only three works so far. These three are similar yet quite different at the same time. The first one is an illustration/cartoon on the recent overabundance of films on superheroes and about the difficulties one might have choosing between them. The second one is about the difficulties one might have when it comes to choosing between destinations for family vacations. A similar topic, but done in a very different way: this one looks like something from the Aardman studios. You almost expect it to move any moment. The third one is a narrative piece about the skull used in Hamlet. Once again my Spanish skills fail me, but it sure looks great.
Marian Kamensky was born in Czechoslovakia, moved to Germany in 1980 and lives in Vienna these days. His cartoons have been published in various renowned magazines. Part of his works are classic gag cartoons like this desert island cartoon. Others are comments on recent events. I liked this one on the Sarrazin hysteria (mentioned here), this one on nude scanners, and this one on relocating polar bears. If this ever happens we will think twice before making fun of zebras again.. or of those prissy white tigers.
Cartoons of Interest
I know that portraits of evil Pope Benedict XVI are a relatively easy thing to do. It’s probably much harder to make him look nice. Also, I think that Pope-bashing or demonizing Catholicism often is a sign of a limited and black-and-white world view that no self-respecting cartoonist should have. Despite all of this, I thought “Pope” by Hentamten was funny. Maybe it’s the vintage-looking structure Hentamten has added or the perfectly circular eyeballs… I don’t know.
Tags: France, last week, letzte woche, Sarkozy
