Perhaps one of the biggest buy-ins in political cartoons is that one picture is worth a thousand words. The cartoons often combine a series of elements such as satire, imagery, metaphors, and even hyperbole to draw attention to certain events in the real world such as corruption, social ills, and political upheavals. Political cartoons do not only exist just for the sake of it or just for laughs but serve important functions in the society. Cartoons tell a story (mostly a political story) in a humorous way. Cartoons offer a powerful way to express opinions about events going on in the world (Reis 236). They are targeted and uncanny in the way they tell stories that mere words would not capture and are often associated with the moment or period in which they are published. Political cartoonists use caricatures of real politicians and exaggerate their facial features but to an extent that the public can actually point out a particular person without their name being mentioned.
The editorial cartoon under review, for instance, tries to tell the story of the alleged affair that President Donald Trump had with an adult movie actress and the implications that the affair may be having on his marriage with Melania Trump. In the cartoon, Trump is seen as having been thrown out and living in a Kennel as his wife is at home and watching a newsflash about the story. In the editorial, the president is seen trying to explain his way out and possibly have his wife let him back in to the house. The cartoonist takes into account the fact that there was hush money paid to the actress to silence her from mentioning their alleged affair when the president married the first lady in 2006. Besides, the images on the television screen are not caricatures but real life photos of the president and the lady in question, perhaps to put the focus on the virtual and realities in the Trump household.
The editorial cartoon by Jeff Darcy tends to put rather a lot of focus on the words of the characters than the characters themselves. The words on the image express the feelings and the stories of the characters. For instance, the cartoonist takes into focus Trump’s common habit of blaming news houses for fake news regarding his actions. This is a line that he tries to use to get himself out of trouble by purporting that the story was concocted. However, he juxtaposes the words of a begging Trump figure with the words on the TV screen where the words on the screen state that there was actual money paid. The facial expressions on the faces of the characters also show their feelings with Melania showing anger on her face and Trump typically not showing remorse.
From the entire image, the words, the colors and the facial expressions of the characters, it is obvious that the cartoonist bears rather interesting opinions on the situation. The president is seen as a rather proud individual who would not show remorse but look for scapegoats to escape blame for a mistake. The first lady, on the other hand, is seen as a rational individual who remains calm but emotional in the face of the scandal.
In a nutshell, the cartoon by Jeff Darcy not only gives the president’s thought on the implication of the scandal but also the tentative implications that it has on his family and marriage to Melania Trump.
Reference
Reis, Sally M. The Joyful Reading Resource Kit: Teaching Tools, Hands-on Activities, and Enrichment Resources, Grades K-8. John Wiley & Sons, 2009.
