George Files

Cartoon Propaganda - The Truth Behind Those Lovable Characters

Yes, Bugs Bunny is racist, and not just the quiet racist type, he’s violently racist and likes blowing up “slant eyes“. Maybe we should let the dead past bury its dead, and allow our childhood favourites to exist in their own happy innocent bubble, or maybe not. I liked Bugs, goddammit, he was a bunny and that makes all the difference. You can’t make Bugs Bunny a racist and not kill off the cartoon childhood of any person. Hey, we know that you were at war and stuff. We know you had to make them out to be stupid and you had to use stereotypes to promote support but why the hell did you have to drag this guy into it. He was supposed to be a practical joker, not some replacement G.I. Joe. And then there’s the retarded SNAFU cartoons with evil spy women with microphones on their breasts. And surely during this time of war you would want to unite your population, yes? No. Because, hey! The blacks are all lazy and big-lipped. They like wearing bones through their noses and they beat on drums and throw spears at the nice white people. They also beg for money to buy war bonds with. The Japanese have an equally bad time, but I can’t say it as well as the guy who wrote the article can. Heck, they get beaten up by Popeye and compared to dogs. But then, here in India, we’re no strangers to that are we? Treating people like dogs, not getting beaten by Popeye.

A quote from the Head Injury Theater article Nazi Nipples is GO:

It sucks to be black in old cartoons. It sucks to be Japanese because you’ll be short, need glasses, and a lot of orthodontic work. Germany has bad leaders. Wait a second. Why is it that in these cartoons they depict the Japanese as being evil down to the last man, while when it comes to Germany they only depict the country’s leaders as being goofy morons? Is it because you couldn’t demonize people of Germanic descent because that would include a large chunk of America’s population?

Ha ha, nice question at the end.

Posted by roshan.george under Art, Internet, Musings, Random |