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My Turnby Toni Tabora-Roberts |
 |
From The Asian Reporter, V18, #36 (September 9, 2008), page 6.
Punny business
A couple weeks ago, my friend Sun shared a copy of The Oregonian Sunday comics from August 17, 2008. Yes, August of this year. Yes, The Oregonian. Let’s just say I was stunned.
The comic in question was "Mother Goose & Grimm," also known as "Grimmy," by Pulitzer Prize-winning artist Mike Peters. The strip follows the antics of an energetic yellow dog named Grimm and the characters in his life including Mother Goose, his owner; Attila the cat; and his dog friend, Ralph.
In this particular strip, Grimm is talking to Ralph. I’ll describe it in detail here, but the strip is available online at the official website, <www.grimmy.com/comics.php>. Look in the archives for August 17, 2008.
In the first two panels, Grimm tells his friend that Ralph has received a fan letter. In the next panel he notes the fan has been told he looks like Ralph. In frames four and five, Grimm reports the fan is interested in meeting with Ralph, taking him for a walk, and having him for dinner. In the penultimate frame, Grimm delivers the set up to the punch line, pronouncing Ralph’s fan lives in Korea. The final panel shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il holding a photo of Ralph saying, "Wok the Dog! Wok the Dog!"
I’ll repeat that, in case it didn’t read correctly. The comic strip showed Kim Jong-Il saying "Wok the Dog! Wok the Dog!" Ha, ha — taking the dog for a walk and having him for dinner. Get it? So punny!
It’s hard to believe this ran, not only in The Oregonian, but also all over the country wherever "Mother Goose & Grimm" is syndicated.
This is the latest in a slew of un-funny Asian "punnery." A few years ago, Abercrombie & Fitch got reamed for their line of Asian-themed t-shirts, including one depicting stereotypical caricature drawings of two Chinese men — complete with Chinese conical bamboo hats and slanted lines for eyes — of the Wong Brothers laundry service with the tag line "Two Wongs Can Make it White."
Another icky t-shirt line, sold by a bunch of retailers including mall chain Spencer Gifts, uses the stereotypical Asian font to depict faux businesses such as a poultry farm and Oriental gardens with names that are expletive puns of Asian-sounding words. They’re too shocking to print here. Unfortunately, the shirts are still sold online. As of today. Seriously.
Why do these offensive puns and stereotypes continue to be perpetuated? How does a Pulitzer Prize-winning comic artist not see the racism inherent in his work? Does anyone think these things are funny? Are there people who really don’t see why these things are offensive? These are questions that will forever elude me. Obviously, the majority of people who see them do not yet grasp the racism embedded in these types of jokes, otherwise we would see less of it.
I suppose one explanation is most newspaper comics are very short — from one to 10 panels. Stereotypes are quick shorthand for artists to get a story across in a few words. Doesn’t make it funny, doesn’t make it right, but it does make it easier, I suppose. This spurs not only racism in cartoons, but also a healthy amount of sexism, too.
I’m trying to figure out what the artist’s point was with this "Grimmy" comic. What was he trying to get across? Is it commentary on the cliché that Koreans eat dog? Is it a jab saying Kim Jong-Il looks like a comic strip dog? Or is it just a sad attempt at making use of "wok" and "walk" as homonyms? Oh, one more thing: woks are historically associated with China, not Korea. But then, again, all those Asian countries are the same, right?
I have written to the artist to express my disappointment with his comic strip. For folks who want to share their point of view, contact Ben at "Grimmy" comics, <ben@grimmy.com>, with the subject "Grimmy Feedback." (Thanks to the Kimchi Mamas who blogged about the cartoon and posted the contact information at <www.kimchimamas.typepad.com>.) Folks who want to contact the editors at The Oregonian can do so at <comics@news.oregonian.com>.
What next? I’ll keep on the lookout for bad puns, cringe-worthy jokes, and offensive humor. Discussions can start here and elsewhere to bring them to light. This punny business must be stopped.