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Roots

The oft-forgotten Christian roots of Christmas are being kept alive by a small number of cartoonists. More often than not these cartoons are centered around the three wise men from Matthew 2 ,  Scripture’s version of the Three Stooges.

"Gender Issues" by Mark Lynch

"Christmas" by David Parkins

"Allergic to Myrrh" by Ian Marsden

Trees

According to Wikipedia, Christmas trees originated in 16th century Germany and Livonia. And, no, I had never heard of Livonia before.

"Christmas Tree" by Fredrich

"Xmas" by Alexei Talimonov

"PF 2010" by R. and S. Svitalsky

Presents

Presents are what Christmas really is about. They are the true reason for the holiday’s global success and have been the driving force behind Christianization for millennia.

"Christmas Card 2010" by Ian Baker

"Batteries" by Til Mette

"Christmas Time" by Tchavdar

The Fat Man

St. Nicholas, Father Christmas, Santa , or Kris Kringle (sic) – you know that sturdy man in red. He is present in an estimated 70 per cent of all Christmas cartoons. A couple of them thematize his uneasy relationship with some of the more canonical aspects of Christianity.

"Santa Claus Church" by Rex May

"Encounter" by Hayati Boyacıoğlu

"Merry Christmas" by Žarko Luetić

That Other Holiday

Christmas always brings to mind the other Christian holiday and its fertile, buck-toothed mascot.

"Recycling" by Matthias Schwoerer

"Merry Christmas" by Sylvio Droigk

"Substitutes" by Bettina Bexte

Rule 34

Rule 34 says that if something exists, porn involving that thing also exists. This is definitely true for Christmas. There must be something about the man in red that makes sexist female versions of his especially attractive. Is it his paternal charms? The uniform? The presents?  Of course sexist female versions of most things draw clicks. 

"Santa Claus" by Martin Guhl

"Christmas Morning" by Dirk Berrens

"Santa Sauna" by Freimut Woessner

Death

One last thing I noticed is a morbid fascination with Santa Claus’ death. There is something inside us that wonders about what would happen if the old man died. I can’t tell if it’s just fear that we might not get our presents, a kind of Oedipus complex or our secret hatred for all things Christmas-sy – but something there is that doesn’t love the man.

"Christmas Bonk" by Gnurf

"Christmas" by Tchavdar Nikolov

"Hanged Santa Claus" by Ludus

.. Anyway: I would like to wish all of you a happy Christmas on behalf of the toonpool.com staff. We hope that you will have a few nice and quiet days – whether you celebrate or not.

Paul Hellmich

There are some cartoons that simply seem to refer to the fact that the assault happened and that it happened to a person no one in their right mind feels pity for (here, here & here). Others try to make the point that Berlusconi has finally felt the power of the Italian people (here, here & here), conveniently disregarding the attacker’s history of psychological problems. The weirdest version, by far, is this Jesus Vampire Freemason Berlusconi thing. Is his ear representing some shape I should know?

While some cartoonists draw parallels to the 2008 Iraqi shoe throwing incident (here & here), others link the attack to the Copenhagen Conference (here & here). To be honest, I don’t think that any of the cartoons is very good. Except for the vampire.. and perhaps this sexy-nurses-in-a-15-year-old-boy’s-room collage. Or these cartoons  I didn’t understand because they are in Italian (here & here).

Cartoons of Interest

Christmas is coming up, so this week’s favorite is another holiday-themed cartoon. Andreas Prüstel’s untitled cartoon ["So.. what are you?" "Same thing as last year."] nicely fits into my personal (and annual) present-finding terror. There is definitely a pattern emerging in the presents I give away. Come to think of it, there has been a pattern ever since I started giving presents away. Oh, well.

This week, there are some other great works I would like to refer to: Junior Lopez has created an amazing portrait of Sherlock Holmes; fellow Brazilian William Medeiros did this cool and classic caricature of architect Oscar Niemeyer. Finally, there’s Rex May’s cartoon about potentate-people relations.

Have a merry Christmas, a happy Hanukkah or a solemn and dignified Kwanzaa.  That is, if you’re celebrating. Otherwise, have some good days anyway.

Paul Hellmich

People are strange – and strangers are people, too!

If there is one religion I belong to, it might be Christianity. I got baptized and attended religion class in school – that’s how it went. I celebrate Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ. I celebrate Christmas at home in Berlin, not far away from the place where Hayati Boyacıoğlu celebrates Christmas with his family, few kilometers between us.
Hayati made this strange cartoon, and maybe Hayati wouldn’t celebrate Christmas at all, because if he belongs to one religion, than it’s Islam. But Hayati has a German wife and two children who grew up in this great city where you are always surrounded by people from countless countries and religions.

Nevertheless I stumble, looking at his cartoon »Meeting«: why is this kid kissing the hand of Santa Claus? I’ve been in contact with Muslims for 20 years, but I do not recognize this gesture. Hayati explains: »the little boy gives the old, wise man a traditional, respectful kiss on the hand, a common greeting in the orient for thousands of years.« The Muslim users laugh, most of the Christian users don’t. Hayati: »Of course, the ones who know this custom with the hand kiss from Islamic celebrations laugh about this cartoon and give good comments, because they understand the “gag” at once. Those who do not know this gesture are puzzled. But in return, I do not understand every gag without background information, too. And I have to live with it.«

It’s not easy for many »binational« families with the culture clash: you have to agree on issues and come to compromises to settle in the new country, though you don’t want to forget where you came from. Especially Christmas can be troubling, when the children want to have presents and celebrate like the other kids in school, when they ask what Christmas really means. »Well, the Christian children get presents«, Hayati says, »but the children who were born here and speak German better than their parent’s language are not visited by Santa Claus or at least not regularly. But that’s how kids are, they are keen on presents, too.«

I really like the cartoon now, like good news for the various cultures of our planet. After all, the Santa Claus symbol derived from Saint Nicholas who originated from Myra – an ancient town beneath today’s Antalya, Turkey, as user Hüseyin Alparslan commented.

In the meantime Hayati’s 11-year old son is making some thoughts about his presents. He prepared a modest wishlist. But the handing out of presents won’t be the last action on Christmas, explains Hayati: »I enjoy Christmas solemnly with my family at the Christmas tree. But we won’t exaggerate with the presents… We won’t disregard the real meaning of Christmas and attend Christmas Eve service (in church). Otherwise it would be like winter sales, just consumption…«

And how do you celebrate Christmas, dear Christian reader?

Hayati Boyacioglu lives and works in Berlin/Germany. He was born 5 May 1960 in Istanbul, Turkey. His started his Career as a caricaturist in his early high school years. During his student Years in Berlin/Germany (German and journalism) he sophisticated his caricatures based on monitoring daily situations, focused on the themes racism, immigration, and encounter.

visit Hayati’s profile page on toonpool.com

Wenn es eine Religion gibt, der ich angehöre, ist es wohl das Christentum. Ich wurde getauft und ging in der Schule in den Religionsunterricht – so war das nunmal. Ich feiere Weihnachten, das eigentlich das Fest zur Geburt Jesu Christi ist. Ich feiere Weihnachten zuhause in Berlin, unweit von dem Ort, wo Hayati Boyacıoğlu Weihnachten mit seiner Familie feiert, nur ein paar Kilometer entfernt.
Hayati hat diesen seltsamen Cartoon gemacht, und eigentlich würde Hayati vielleicht gar nicht Weihnachten feiern, denn wenn er einer Religion angehört, dann dem Islam. Aber Hayati hat eine deutsche Frau und zwei Kinder, die beide in Berlin aufgewachsen sind, in dieser großartigen Stadt, in der man ständig von Menschen aus aller Herren Länder und Religionen umgeben ist.

Trotzdem stutze ich bei seinem Cartoon “Begegnung”: warum küßt das Kind die Hand des Weihnachtsmanns? Ich bin seit über 20 Jahren mit Muslimen in Kontakt, aber ich erkenne diese Geste nicht. Hayati erklärt: »der kleine Junge gibt dem alten weisen Mann einen traditionellen, respektvollen Handkuss, was so im Orient seit tausenden Jahren üblich ist.« Die muslimen User lachen, die meisten christlichen User nicht. Hayati: »Natürlich sind die, die diese Sitte mit dem Handkuss von islamischen Festen, aber auch sonst kennen, besonders angetan und kommentieren sehr gut, weil sie den Witz, den “Gag” sofort verstehen. Diejenigen, die mit dem Handkuss nichts anfangen oder die Geste als solche nicht erkennen, sind etwas befremdlich. Aber auch ich verstehe nicht immer jeden Gag ohne Hintergrundinformation. Und ich muss damit leben.«

Es ist nicht einfach für viele »binationale« Familien mit dem Culture Clash: man muß sich einigen und Kompromisse machen, um in dem neuen Land »anzukommen«, und doch will man nicht vergessen, wo man herkommt. An Weihnachten spitzt es sich besonders zu, wenn die Kinder genauso wie die anderen Geschenke haben und feiern wollen und sich fragen, was Weihnachten eigentlich ist. »Nun, die christlichen Kinder bekommen Geschenke«, sagt Hayati, »aber die Kinder, die zwar auch hier geboren sind und besser deutsch können als die Sprache ihrer Eltern, bekommen keinen Besuch vom Weihnachtsmann oder sehr selten. Aber so, wie die Kinder eben sind, auch sie sind eigentlich scharf auf Geschenke.«

Inzwischen finde ich den Cartoon richtig gut, wie eine frohe Botschaft für die vielen Kulturen dieser Erde. Überhaupt ist der Weihnachtsmann an den Sankt Nikolaus angelehnt, und der stammte aus Myra – einer antiken Stadt in der Nähe des heutigen Antalya, Türkei, wie User Hüseyin Alparslan bemerkt.

Derweil macht sich Hayatis elfjähriger Sohn schonmal Gedanken, was er zu Weihnachten haben möchte. Eine bescheidene Wunschliste ist bereits fertig. Aber beim Schenken wird es nicht bleiben, erzählt Hayati: »Ich verbringe die Weihnachtstage ganz besinnlich mit der Familie vor dem Weihnachtsbaum. Ich achte allerdings akribisch darauf, dass wir mit “Schenkerei” nicht so sehr übertreiben… Wir werden den tieferen Sinn vom Weihnachten nicht aus dem Auge verlieren und auch zum Weihnachtsgottesdienst gehen. Sonst wäre das Ganze wie Winterschlussverkauf, also nur Konsum…«

Und wie feiern Sie das Weihnachtsfest, lieber christlicher Leser?