“Adult cartoons” is a topic that I have tried to avoid so far. There are mainly two things that I find problematic about the majority of sex-themed cartoons. The first one is that they are often more annoying than anything else. Basically they are the graphic equivalent of someone yelling “PENIS! See, I said PENIS!!!! And there is nothing you can do about it because this is the INTERNET!!! P-E-N-I-S!!!. The second problem is that so many of them perpetuate a sexist ideology that hasn’t changed much since the early days of Playboy.
Still, I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the motivation and thoughts of “adult” cartoonists. Gustavo “Garrincha” Rodriguez is a Cuban cartoonist and illustrator who moved to North Miami Beach, Florida in 2005. I admire many of Garrincha’s works: his vectorized caricatures are inventive and immediately recognizable and his line drawings have have an almost Sempé-ish lightness to them. On the other hand he also does a series of cartoons aptly titled “Dickies”. Hence this interview:
Gustavo, what’s the story behind your series of sex-themed cartoons?
Sex is still taboo to many people. Well, not sex, but talking or joking about it. Which is, as we all know, stupid. And hypocrite. And wonderful to depict.
So yeah, I’m a bit provocative there. I didn’t have a space to publish any of that material back in Cuba. Coming to the States and starting a blog where I can publish whatever the hell I wanted was therapy, catharsis, a test and healthy creative exercise all in one.
Why couldn’t you have done the sex cartoons from Cuba?
I wouldn’t have been able to set up a blog in Cuba mainly because Internet connection is scarce and state-controlled. Even having a computer is a big deal there.
Most artists use computers as an extension of their work in government propaganda, or to talk about politically correct subjects in sports, culture, or technology. Because they want to or because they know they are being watched.
There is that thing with the control and censorship government bureaucrats take so seriously. They keep reminding everybody in earshot that the Cuban Revolution is a superior project. So revolutionary morality – whatever that means – is something they try to keep an eye on.. Soft erotic content is OK sometimes in one of the two humor publications nationally distributed, but drawing penises is a no no, to put it grossly.
I would have thought that Americans would be more touchy about all things sex-related..
Mainstream America is conservative and sometimes prude. But there are pockets or niches. The Internet definitely opens extra doors.
Having a personal blog and a website where I can publish everything is something I could have never dreamed of in Cuba. And so far I haven’t had anybody in the States telling me to shut it down because the content is indecent or politically incorrect.
How is the ratio of sex cartoons to family-friendly ones in your current work?
I would say is a quarter of what I draw, counting comic strips, illustrations, caricatures, editorial cartoons and gag cartoons. Maybe less.
It’s just that I find it relaxing being provocative and finding accomplices in the more familiar or intimate circuit of my reduced number of blog readers, Facebook friends or toonpool.com users. Although the latter two imply a number of readers not as small as I have imagined.
The majority of your sex-themed cartoons takes a males perspective with women and their genitals being demoted to objects of desire for the penile protagonists. Why such limitation?
Because that’s how pathetic we are.
Who is “we”?
Uh… Men as a group? Mankind in general?
I am pretty sure that – at least – one half of mankind would disagree. So, let’s stick with “men as a group”. Do you think that in the end, looking at yourself and other men, it all comes down to that?
Oh, sure! I know for a fact that very few people would admit that they have something pathetic in their lives. Me, I try to stay honest. And self-deprecating helps, no doubt.
I don’t really believe my approach to sex in cartoons should be taken as an “in the end” judgment of any kind. That’s too serious of a stance. It’s like making Bob Dylan’s poetry a philosophy of life, a doctrine. I mean, come on! If my male readers laugh at themselves with my toons, fine! If they don’t, too bad for them.
Some of my cartoons focus on sex sometimes to remind people that indeed they are focused on sex but lots of them won’t admit it. I make that matter public, and I try to do it in a funny way.
Is there something inherently funny about sex and male genitals in particular?
It all depends on whose genitals are we talking about.
So, whose genitals are funny?
“Ha-ha-ha”-funny or “That’s weird!”-funny? Well, I guess Khadafi and Hugo Chavez think theirs are cute. Even each other’s.
Look, penises are cucumbers with an attitude. Women genitalia on the other hand, are very… How to put it? Have you seen Gerald Scarfe’s flowers in Pink Floyd’s The Wall? Scary, huh?
Women are too gorgeous to reduce them to a walking vagina or a dancing pair of boobs. I’m not satisfied at all with the vaginas I draw, I have to say. To sum up, penises are excellent characters to draw about the male brain.
How do people react to your explicit cartoons? Is my question about limitation one that often comes up?
I can only tell from comments and emails, but it has been mostly a popular reception. Men and women alike seem to like ‘em.
How about other people’s adult cartoons? Do you enjoy those?
If you have sense of humor in treating sex as a theme, and if you have good drawing and conceptualizing skills, it means to me that you are a special person who chose to enjoy life.
The wit, the high quality of the drawings and the liberating feeling of mocking our sorry human nature are things not to be taken lightly. So yes, I do enjoy other artists’ cartoons about sex if their work is funny, well-drawn and communicates effectively. I think I should start a club.
Thanks for your time!
]]>
The EHEC epidemic that has befallen Germany about a week ago has spurned a surprisingly large number of cartoons. Admittedly, the infection has had some grave consequences. As of Thursday 4:30 PM, 17 people have died, about 2000 cases have been reported in Germany. While this is certainly a topic worth commenting on (we had similar cartoon peaks with both swine & bird flu), I think there’s another reason for the great amount of cartoons. Looking at last week’s colibacteriatoons, you will notice that majority of them concentrates on the (false) allegations that Spanish cucumbers caused the deadly epidemic.
Cucumbers, it turns out, are an intrinsically funny type of vegetable. One could try to explain this with their utterly harmless watery blandness or their closeness in shape to bananas – yet another intrinsically funny fruit. But I think we should face the truth: Cucumbers are funny because they are shaped like male genitalia. They subconsciously (or very consciously at times) speak to the adolescent in us, the part of us that likes to giggle, point and whisper: “Look, it has the exact shape of a ..”. There are whole websites dedicated to this tendency. Now don’t ask me why we think that penii are hillarious. It’s probably some act of carnivalesque defiance to phallocentric culture or an affirmation thereof. I am sure there is more than one book on this topic. Bottom line is: Cucumbers are funny. Too bad, that they are off the hook now. Let’s wait and see what vegetable options the next days will bring.
Here are five cartoons about EHEC, that I thought were interesting:
Harm Bengen, Ulm
This was one of the first EHEC cartoons on toonpool.com. We didn’t know about Spanish cucumbers back then. The vegetables in question look like carrots and broccoli and those are definitely not as funny as cucumbers
Since we are pretty much back were we started in terms of information about the causes of the epidemic – apart from it being some creepy mutated version of Escherichia coli – newspapers could start using this cartoon again.
Tobias Wieland, Hamburg
Tobias Wieland has a lot of experience in creating anthropomorphic versions of .. well .. things (e.g. here). So, naturally, he succeeds with his grim cucumbereaper.
It has the green fires flaring deep inside his eyes, the inexplicable scythe (how is he going to swing it?), it is of undetermined height – both original and man-size would be ridiculous – and, most of all it has the exact shape of a..
Munguia (Costa Rica)
Francisco Munguia is not the only one who came up with the idea of weaponized cucumbers (here & here) but I like his green terrorist for the maniacal laughter and the alarming red background.
The one good thing about food scandals is that they don’t create the permanent background fear actual terrorism does. They also tend to be suppressed pretty quickly. Or do you know anyone still seriously scared of BSE?
Hayati Boyacioglu, Berlin
Hayati came up with a character named “Mr. Cucumber”, a major suspect in the EHEC case. This one works great with the following cartoon by Matiello.
There is something decidedly sketchy about this Mr. C. People in yellow jackets just aren’t to be trusted. He is probably a used car salesman or a 1990s TV presenter who lives somewhere near Bielefeld.
Ernst Mattiello (Switzerland)
Mattiello combines Tuesday’s acquittal of Swiss TV presenter Jörg Kachelmann with the Spanish cucumber’s acquittal on the same day.
I guess that the judges in the cucumber case didn’t have as many doubts as with Kachelmann. The search for the real culprit will continue. Still I am sure that eventually justice will be done.
Click here to see all current EHECartoons on toonpool.com.
title illustration by Tchavdar
]]>