Todays Nation 25th Of June

[Plus]

Look how he had drawn men kneeling around Neda - look how their eyes and eyebrows are drawn as a single line, they look very serious and sad, and determined, and very much Iranian at the same time.

At least their depiction was not meant to be funny.

Now, millions of hits and five star rating on "youdie" site is really a shot at us, at our enjoyment of being "part of history" by watching this girls death. We are all so sure and have all the answers, and we support Iranian rebellion from behind of our monitors, contributing keyboard strokes, but it's those men around Neda that are going to do it in real life, and they don't look as hopeful and optimistic as us, the Internet warriors.

And then we'll leave them hung and dry as Iranian state ruthlessly crushes them, and we'll go and contribute more hits to some Panda sneeze video. Mission accomplished.

We cheer them to fight and feel so righteous about it, but it's not us who get shot.

So go on, add another star to that girl's death.

[TAWP]

What a dumb.. dumb cow,

You must be pretty dumb to misunderstand the whole point of the cartoon.

The artist obviously also disapproves of how people can enjoy watching such videos and is bringing light to the sick fact through satire.

The statement the artist is trying to bring forward is however based on the artists lacking understanding of the medium and peoples reactions as highlighted by your comment, showing the same misunderstanding...

The video is not given 5 star for 'funny' or 'good watch'. People aren't watching it because it is funny.

[madjbs]

What???

You are not making sense.

I think you will find that people enjoy watching gruesome and gory videos on the internet. There are several sites set up for the very purpose, plus many such videos and comments on youtube. That is obviously the point of the cartoon.

Edited June 26, 2009 by madjbs

[jeffer]

The cartoonist explains

The problem is that many readers go for the initial understanding of my cartoons and invariably get emotional about them. The idea of this cartoon was to show the cynicism of YouTube and the five-star ratings on a video of someone dying. I do not deny that this video was useful because it was the only information available on the event.

The problem is that information is getting more and more emotional (emotion is the enemy of real information and the beginning of a demagogy). Do you think that the millions of people who saw this video care much about Neda or whether they simply watched it to get their daily thrills - consciously or not? It's like watching the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It's purely emotional, and if you watch it 20 times like most of us have done, you do it for the emotion it provokes, not for the information it brings. YouTube is useful but it is also setting a new trend where the lines between information and entertainment are becoming more and more blurred. That is why in my cartoon I put the "five-star rating" that YouTube put on its version, to show that I did not like the "entertainment" aspect of it.

The other misunderstanding, mainly from Americans readers, is that all political cartoons are supposed to be funny. 

As a French person myself, I can say that European cartoonists are generally more serious, more cynical, more tasteless, more bloody, more realistic and less funny or politically correct. Yes it's a cultural difference that has sometimes caused problems when readers of an English-newspaper overseas can be very homogenous.

No, this cartoon was not meant to be funny at all. It is very serious and is meant to carry a lot of gravity. The idea that I wanted to depict something funny is what usually causes outrage among readers. But the biggest mystery is that some readers actually assume that I would be so insensitive as to make fun of a young dying girl. If my cartoon is not clear enough, the first thing that should come to the mind of the reader is "Alright, it can't be that the cartoonist is making fun of Neda dying because no journalist in his right mind would do that. So what is he really trying to say in his cartoon?"

Also, why should the cartoonist become the villain in this? Shouldn't it be the Supreme Leader of Iran? I didn't kill anyone…

STEPHFF - THE CARTOONIST

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/topstory/30106079/Was-it-a-misguided-joke-or-just-an-insensitive-car

[Plus]

I agree with Stephff that people watch this stuff for emotional response, just like with 9/11 videos - you won't learn anything new, just make your blood boil once again.

Not necessarily fun or entertainment, but a strong emotional response nevertheless.

And then revenge starts...

[TAWP]

I think you will find that people enjoy watching gruesome and gory videos on the internet. There are several sites set up for the very purpose, plus many such videos and comments on youtube. That is obviously the point of the cartoon.

And that is obviously not the reason it got 5 stars or why people link it or news-agencies did.

Chock-value for some papers perhaps, but not for enjoyment or entertainment.

The cartoonists explanation is just sad.

That is why in my cartoon I put the "five-star rating" that YouTube put on its version, to show that I did not like the "entertainment" aspect of it.

I suppose he failed to 1. understand who puts stars on videos 2. fails to understand what it means for most people

[phazey]

Some images say a thousand words, i think this "cartoon" says 1001. It's depicting the freedom information in the digital age....

[mahtin]

Whilst there may be plebs who use Youtube as an online circus, JingThing makes a very good point about its usefulness as a political weapon available to anyone with a connection.