More on the Book English Characature (1620 to the present)

Just in the middle of summarising the intro to this interesting book Im reading about characature. Im Predominantly interested in William Hogarth and James Gillray.

(Page 10) The introduction (which summarises the history of caricature in much detail), clarifies that caricature was at its most vital in the closing years of the 18th century and was an art form considered to be "as British as Roast beef and beer" and it added a third dimension to the national school of portraiture and fine art.

Mockery of the individual was but one function of caricature, but also the progress of human culture, folly, greed and lechery, often embodied in the corruption of such professionals as the church, the Army, Law, high poloitics and Medicine.

One thing I didnt know was that this mode of drawing (graphic distortions of the salient points of a persons appearance or habitual costume) was FIRST practised by Annibale and Agostino Carracci in Italy at the end of the 16th Century, which was 150 years before caricature was adopted by satirists in England (WOW, we were late).

(Page 11) It is further argued by satirist Annibale that "a caricaturists task is exactly the same as a classical artists. As both see the lasting truth beneath the surface of mere outward appearance. Both try help nature accomplish its plan. The one may strive to visualize the perfect form and to realise it in his work, the other to grasp the pefrect deformity, and thus reveal the very essence of a personality. A Good caricature, like every work of art, is more true to life than reality itself."

Seth McFarlen VS Aaron McGruder

I chose to compare Seth Mcfarlens 'The Cleveland Show' (Family Guy Spin off http://www.fox.com/cleveland/) up against Aaron McGruders 'The Boondocks' for obvious reasons. They are both savage pieces of satire, but besides from this, they are both cartooons about the lives of black people. Therefore Id like to discuss which I believe to be more relevant (especially since I am black, so to speak, judging from the point of view of a black person as well as objectively).

Since Family guy cloned the plutonic family formula that has made the Simpsons, it therefore still represents the average American white family. So wouldnt it make sense for The cleveland show to follow the same formula for how America sees black people? Yes some would agree it does, but only to a certain extent. After watching the above trailer, alongside a few episodes, it seems to retain a weaker version of family guy humour, and does not tend to deal with issues directly related to the black community. Therefore family guy fans will find it boring because it could be seen a cheap rip off, and black people may find it a little boring becaue it doesnt necessarily address them or their lives that well. There I was a few years back yearning for a black cartoon which could hold the same with wit as Simspons or Family Guy and when one finally does pop up, it doesnt quite fullfill that void within me (since Boondocks didnt quite do it for me).

on the other hand:



The Boondocks is a satirical cartoon based on the lives of black people in America. It addresses the lives of the Average stereotypes of African Americans. As the creator Aaron McGruder studied African American history, it is his main goal to spread a message that makes people open their eyes and realise things with regards to society's political structure in correlation with black history. Especially since the character Riley seems to love all the negative conotations attached to the black entertainment industry. Whilst his older brother Huey has contempt for such topics, therefore is trying to create a revolution.
I do like this cartoon, but on the downside, I just beleive it lacks a certain amount of wit that cartoons like The Simpsons and Family guy hold which make them successful and long lasting. The Boondocks topic matter along with Family guys wit would make the PERFECT , long lasting black cartoon, which Seth Mcfarlen has JUST missed with The Cleveland show.


Aims objectives and main comparison points:
The Cleveland Show:
I believe the main aim of the cleveland show is to identify that cleveland is an interesting enough character in 'Family Guy' to have his own show. Since he is black, I guess Seth Mcfarlen capitalises on black stereotypes here and there to paint a little picture of some african Americans.

The Boondocks:
From what I've seen and read, The Boondocks is a social satire of American culture and race relations (or stereotypes in the world), revolving around the lives of the Freeman family. Ive seen messages of social and political Hierarchy and racial issues often addressed with important eye opening messages behind them. Even though Boondocks is not quite as witty or (arguably) funny as the cleveland show, it still holds an important message for why black people need to wake up.

Its boondocks over the cleveland show all the way in my opinion.

What is so good about Matt Groening's Satire that has kept him around till today???

Matt Groenings "The Simpsons" has been around for decades now and is by far one of the most successful Televison series in the history of animation. I decided to look up what Matt himself actually had to say. One of the things I gathered is from the video above is what my Lecturer on Character design and storyboard development also said. And its to do with how recognisable his characters are just based on the shapes of their sillouettes, making The Simpsons redundant (easily identifiable). Lets face it, The Simspns are a lovable representation of what the average plutonic American family could be like on a day to day basis. Lastly, its easily watchable for the whole family, even though its a cartoon, adults can watch it due to the adult humour, but in saying this, the type of humour is not too raw for young children.

Matt Groening VS Aaron McGruder

Matt Groening Vs Seth Mcfarlen

The Simpsons, to me satires the average American family to some extent, with its subtle, gentle approach, yet graceful delivery, touching on realistic day to day issues. Personally, I feel like The Simpsons is a prime example of a cartoon who follows Aristotles rules of narrative (having a beginning, middle and an end) and sometimes Propps seven lines of action, making it entertaining and critically acclaimable.



Intertextuality is the notion that nothing is original, therefore, alot of our work is stolen from what came before it (and maybe just remodified in some ways). Well in the case of Seth Mcfarlens family guy, this theory of intertextuality could not be further from the truth. Just when I thought it couldnt get any better than the Simpsons, up pops a rather strange new family. Hoewever, family guy differs from the Simpsons due to the fact that its definitely a SAVAGE attack of the satirical connotations of the Average American family. Yes, one could say it is a rip off of The Simspons, except Seth Mcfarlen has somehow managed to master the art of arbitrary humour, whilst unfortunately comprimising the quality of the storylines.

Matt Groening VS Parker & Stone

English Caricature (1620 To the present)

Ive been reading this book lately called "English caricature (1620 To the present)" published by the Victoria and Albert Museum. I picked it up as its mainly about Caricaturists and Satirists, their art, their purpose and their influence. It shows alot about the history of satire, Gillray and William Hogarth (who I was rather interested in, in a previous post).


The first thing that caught my attention was this painting that was One of the first major satires, which was designed by an English Preacher Samuel Ward. In a tent, sit the Devil, the Pope the King of spain and others, plotting against England.

Aims, objectives and Type of satire:

It celebrates the deliverence of England from the Spanish Armarda and the fail of Guy Fawkes attempt to blow up Parliament. The fact that the Pope is juxtaposed with the devil actually sitting down with him, suggests to me this is a SAVAGE piece of satire, which indeed got him in a bit of trouble. Once again reflecting the current affairs of society (I think Im noticing a pattern here).

Steve Bell Award winning cartoonist

In this cartoon, award winning cartoonist, Steve Bell touches on current affairs of how high hopes for postal strike peace deal turned into all-out war.
It seems to illustrate royal mail and post union finding themselves even further apart after talks fail – with less room for compromise than ever.

Some people blame Adam Crozier for employing and paying a high wage to management staff (sven) also for replacing existing infrastructure with expensive new infrastructure (wembley).

Lastly, I particularly love the way the back ground reminds me of the famous Edvard Munch The Scream impressionism. Interesting, but at the same time a lttle spooky.

Aims and Type of Satire:
The fact that Mandy and Adam Crozier are both sticking up their fingers at a post box (which hilariously resembles a garbage can), to me is a SAVAGE attack on the way bell feels the postal service has been treated by management. These are perhaps the types of thoughts he is attempting to provoke within the mind of viewer.

Chris Riddel on Nick Griffin and other political caricatures

Another caricaturist Im quite fond of is Chris Riddell. He is a cartoonist for the observer (http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/series/cartoon) with great backlog of caricaturist work. Here are his views on BNP Party Leader Nick Griffin and his interview on question time. I think Id classify Chriss Riddells work as reasonably savage satire, but it differs from Jonathans Swifts, because it seems apparent that he may want to bring about some form of improvement (which is more what I am about).


In the next image, Chriss riddle portrays the Conservative Party as right wing wolves in sheeps clothing. I think its safe to identify what he means by summing up the tories as capitalist crooks in disguise. This is what Margeret Thatchers rule mat have seemed like, since she had such capitalist policies (even though they placed England in a good position at the time).
He even depicts them as racist in the next image.

AIM:
Politcal satire Id say is quite important in bringing about improvement, because even though the people who run the country are being mocked, its a way of making some members of our society step back and pay more attention to the exact types of individuals who impose laws on us. Hopefully encouraging one to vote more carefully (or even just VOTE IN THE FIRST PLACE) in next elections and for the right reasons.

Savage Indignation

Adresssing the more savage side of satire, Johnanthan Swifts "Gullivers Travels" (written in 1726) made amazing observations of society at the time, including Gulliver's observations on the Court of Lilliput, which is intended to satirize the court of George I (King of England at the time). The book was not only a parody of the travellers tales genre, but also an indirect reflection of human nature and his life with reguards to his experiences in Politics of the preceeding decade. For instance, the episode in which the giant Gulliver puts out the Lilliputian palace fire by urinating on it can be seen as a metaphor for the Tories' illegal peace treaty; having done a good thing in an unfortunate manner.
Gulliver travels to four different remote worlds and on his final return home, he cannot bare to face his family or even normal human beings in general. The fact that he ended up spending alot more time speaking to his horses as a result of his travels, to me seems like a savage attack on the human race and our seemingly unreasonable nature.

One of the main satirical observations I shall take from this story is The horses he met in Houyhnhnms who depict humans (or as they call them "Yahoos") as cannibalistic animals who seldom have any sense of reasoning, therefore simply end up exacerbating the vices that God (or nature if you like) gave them. This is quite a harsh attack. Especially since those horses represented "the perfection of nature." Therefore I classify Johnathans Swifts work here as Savage satire. Its quite cynical and Im not sure if his intentions were at all to bring about improvement (as my definition of satire at the top of this blogg page states), or to simply say, we have no hope as a human race, as history will just continue to repeat itself (just as Solomon observed in the biblical sripture of Ecclesiastes). After all, he could seldom even speak to humans in the end.

Different types of satire

The difference between what determines good and bad satire can only depend on the aims and objectives of the particular satirist we are talking about. Satire is such a vast field to explore (Dating back centuries ago to the days of Aristotle, all the way till now where we have people like Parker and stone creating extreme content for their take on current affairs). Lets face it, there are many parodies , all which are created for different purposes, some being more savage and vulger (with more direct and hard hitting attacks) than others.

Therefore I feel like I have to grab a focus and try to explore:

• The aims and methods of satire
• The different traditions of satire and how these have been adopted and or modified by animators (since I myself am an animator)
• The different purposes and intentions behind both cynical and savage satire

Martin Rowsons Work

This political caricature is a piece of work by Cartoonist Martin Rowson. This shows Alistair Darling acknowledging the pressures of rising petrol prices on families and business. Its funny how satire is only as good as whats going in within current affairs. Id like to know what seperates good satire from bad satire.

Tex Avery (Uncle Toms Cabana) BANNED FROM TV!!

This is another one of Tex Aver's works I like. This is one of the lesser racist cartoons for the time. But, the the african american (black) characters are drawn with those satirically racist characteristics of big lips etc. I totally understand why it was banned. the white character looks like the devil or "white devil" is how I think he was suppose to be portrayed. I actually think Tex was advocating the the African Americans in this one, animating parody's of the racist time like at 3mins 14secs, on the sign "No Dogs allowed, Wolves welcome". This was obviously a satire of the Jim crow laws. Id quite like to take one of these black characters, design my own one in 3d and them animate him.

Red Riding Hood

Here is a Tex Avery cartoon, which I came across. its quite satirical in the context of the characters (the wolf, grandma and red riding hood) at the beginning being sick and tired of how the traditional story of Red riding hood always begins in the same way.
Tex Avery cartoons are classic and always hold very important messages about our society (in particular, American society), which is why I love them so much.

The Art Of William Hogarth

Something I found on the net (I think its) by a History Teacher.
Its a video about a series of sequential paintings by 18th century English artist William Hogarth called "A Rake's Progress", which illustrate in a satirical fashion the life of a fictional character in a series of eight paintings . The canvases were produced in 1732–33 then engraved and published in print form in 1735. The series shows the decline and fall of Tom Rakewell, the spendthrift son and heir of a rich merchant, who comes to London, wastes all his money on luxurious living, prostitution and gambling, and as a consequence is imprisoned in the Fleet Prison and ultimately Bedlam.

Aims and objectives of satire:
To me, this is supposed to show how one who squanders money can end up in absolute disaster. Overspending is a common human trait, and is very easy to adopt by those with a poor mentality. Since Tom was the son of a wealthy man, this story illustrates what being born with a silver spoon in your mouth can lead to. Tom obviously could not handle the responsibility of running his own busines and managing huge finances.

Hogarth and caricature

Here lies an engraving by a Painter, writer and (most importantly) a pictorial satirist William Hogarth, the famous 18th century artist who specialised in "painting and engraving modern moral subjects ... to treat my subjects as a dramatic writer; my picture was my stage", as he himself remarked in his manuscript notes.

Wilkes is seen holding on the end of his staff the cap of liberty, a soft cap worn by Roman slaves who had been freed by their masters. In the eighteenth century, the cap became associated with radical politics and later featured strongly in images of the French Revolution. Hogarth has portrayed Wilkes as a grinning fool, with devilish horns and the cap suspended above his head as if it were a halo. Why this unflattering image? Hogarth and Wilkes had quarrelled, and this was Hogarth’s revenge.
As it seems that William Hogarth is one of the main historical Pinoneers of satire, I think I shall be looking up more of his works along with Michael Moore.

Michael Moore For President

Recently, satirist, Michael Moore made a film called "Capitalism, A Love Story".
I saw "farenheit 9/11" and I remember loving its parody of how American politicaians let down their society with a spider-web of conspiracy theories. This link here is the trailor for the film which serves, more than excessively, as a teaser. I cant wait to analyse the latest matter of his satirical criticsm and what is tells us today about American society in general.