The Pros And Cons Of Political Cartoons

Political cartoons are frequently made by artists to express their frustration with certain issues, politicians, and sometimes even the public as a whole. What initially appears to be a simply humorous cartoon is actually so much more. In these two cartoons, two completely unrelated issues are addressed: the Flint water crisis and global warming. Yet, both topics are discussed by displaying criticism that natural disasters are frequently disregarded until one’s career is at stake and even then, issues are ignored. When looking at these two political cartoons side by side, one can observe that these cartoons are not only used to show clear turmoil stemming from current natural disasters in our nation, but also they are used to criticize both …show more content…
This refusal to accept empirical evidence, that can be as massive as a whale, makes the nation as a whole incapable of properly addressing critical issues and in turn dissuades the government from taking action. In addition to criticism, many artists subtly try to persuade the viewers of their artwork to take action.
The first image I looked at was a political cartoon by Steve Sack from The Minneapolis Star Tribune regarding the Flint water crisis. This cartoon depicts Governor Snyder on a rowboat next to some measuring spectrum and a buoy that is labeling “Flint water supply”. The characteristic of this image that stood out to me the most from the beginning was the lack of color. The two dominant colors in this cartoon are red and brown. The body of water that the governor is rowing on is varying shades of brown. This incorporation of color represents several things, the most obvious being a reference to the flint water crisis. The issue being discussed in this image is a water crisis that made a lot of water unsafe to drink and in many cases the water turned brown. So, by making the water brown Sack was simply reminding the viewers what exactly the crisis. Next, the use of brown in particular evokes a response. Brown …show more content…
This image depicts the public’s perception of the issue of global warming. In this image a whale that is labeled “global warming” is seen to be tipping over a mass of ice that a group of penguins are on. Bagley very intentionally placed specific objects to represent ideas that have much greater meaning. First, the author could have chosen any animal to depict the the issue of global warming, yet Bagley chose a whale. The reason behind this deliberate choice is that whales are the biggest animal on the planet. So, by using a whale to represent the issue of global warming, Bagley was suggesting that the issue of global warming is one of the biggest on the planet at the moment. Additionally, whales are often given a connotation of being harmless animals, especially when looked at in comparison to sharks, yet many whales actually prey off of sharks. Showing how the whale in this image symbolizes an issue that is disregarded due to its lack of severity but in reality is a very dangerous issue. Additionally, the way that the ice is angled carries great significance. The way that the ice is presented represents a few things. The first thing it exemplifies is the state of our world. The fact that the ice is being tipped up is still floating above the water shows how this is just the beginning. The crisis of global warming is a threat to the world, yet it hasn’t taken full effect yet. This is only the