<\/p>\n
Political cartoonists often flirt with a fine line between offensive and funny. Sometimes offending can be effective, sometimes it turns people off.<\/p>\n
Shan Wells, a cartoonist for the Durango Telegraph, and Ricardo Cat\u00e9, a cartoonist for the Santa Fe New Mexican, talked craft, strategy, history and regret Saturday at the Sunflower Theatre at KSJD in an event called \u201cFake News: Political Cartoons,\u201d the first of three panel discussions hosted by the local radio station.<\/p>\n
As a Native American cartoonist, Cat\u00e9 said he could easily draw cartoons that offend every white person, but he said he prefers to have people read his comic. That doesn\u2019t mean he holds back.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get away with a lot of things because I\u2019m Native, and I plan on taking advantage of that,\u201d Cat\u00e9 said.<\/p>\n
His cartoon, \u201cWithout Reservations,\u201d centers on two characters: the chief, a Native with a big nose and a headdress, and the general, who resembles Gen. George Custer. He said the general speaks for the dominant culture, and the chief speaks for Natives.<\/p>\n
Cat\u00e9 said he turns traumatic events from his life and Native history into humor as a way to mend wounds. One of his memorable single-panel cartoons depicts the chief standing with his son in front of a vast open field with mountains in the distance. With arms outstretched, the chief says, \u201cSomeday son, none of this will be yours.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Cat\u00e9 comments on the ironies of life from a Native perspective, Wells deals with politics in Durango and the nation. He said he got started in cartooning in 2002 because he wanted to participate in his community. Running for office was off the table because he doesn\u2019t like people very much, but Wells said he can be a loudmouth, so cartooning suited him.<\/p>\n
He said cartooning is all about taking complex issues and reducing them down to simple ideas. Recently, he\u2019s taken several jabs at President Donald Trump, and his caricature has evolved over time.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrump is what we call a target-rich environment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He started depicting Trump as a typical large, rotund man in a suit with funny hair and a bald spot. But he said that caricature was too complex for the president. He then reduced Trump down to essentially a spherical blob with a long tie and tuft of hair pointing to a poster that reads, \u201cBreak shit.\u201d The caption states: \u201cThe Trump \u2018Doctrine\u2019 Explained.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wells said that was still giving Trump too much credit. More recently, he caricatured Trump naked except for a tie and an iPhone in hand. A shadow of an ax is cast over the president with the words, \u201cMueller Probe.\u201d He asked the audience what idioms the cartoon referred to. Several gathered at the full-house event called out, \u201cEmperor with no clothes\u201d and \u201cWaiting for the ax to fall.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSlogans, idioms, metaphors \u2013 these are all part of the tools for a political cartoonist,\u201d Wells said.<\/p>\n
In Durango, Wells has caricatured Sheriff Sean Smith as an action figure for his work during the 416 Fire this year. That was a positive caricature, but Wells said he received blowback after mocking locals. He said he now prefers nonviolent cartoons that make a point without directly attacking people.<\/p>\n
One cartoon depicts Uncle Sam looking into the mirror with a disfigured face marked with the words, \u201cracism\u201d and \u201cgun violence.\u201d<\/p>\n
During a panel discussion, KSJD Morning Edition host Daniel Rayzel asked Wells and Cat\u00e9 whether they have regretted cartoons they published.<\/p>\n
Cat\u00e9 said he wouldn\u2019t necessarily use the word \u201cregret,\u201d but the most criticism he\u2019s received was from a violent cartoon. In the first panel, Trump and the chief are standing at the edge of a cliff, as the president says, \u201cLet\u2019s Make America Great Again!!\u201d In the second panel, the chief pushes Trump off the cliff and says, \u201cI just did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe newspaper got a lot of phone calls about that, but they loved it, the fact that they got a lot of phone calls,\u201d Cate said.<\/p>\n
Wells, on the other hand, said he regretted caricaturing a Jewish man with a large nose because the actual man had a big nose. He was quickly attacked for being anti-semitic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went back and looked at it and said, \u2018Yeah,\u2019\u201d Wells said. \u201cThat was really stupid because I knew that that was something that was used during World War II with the Nazis as anti-semitic propaganda to draw Jews with big noses, and yet I had done it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he has become more aware of how political art exists in history.<\/p>\n
Sunflower Theatre director Desiree Henderson, who planned the series with Rayzel, said the two thought it would be fun to host discussions that explore the changing landscape in news, journalism and media.<\/p>\n
The first of the \u201cFake News\u201d events focused on cartoons, but Henderson said events in January and February would focus on the limits of free speech and lies and misinformation.<\/p>\n
She said increased use of digital platforms has introduced more accessible news sources, but that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s quality journalism.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s more room for misinformation \u2026 because you don\u2019t know what the sources actually are,\u201d Henderson said. \u201cAnd people don\u2019t seem to care in some instances.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the political cartoon event featured two speakers with contrasting experiences and perspectives, a theme that will continue with the upcoming events.<\/p>\n