Doonesbury character seriously wounded in Iraq

[Gentle Giant]

Doonesbury, the only comic strip to have won a Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning, has pushed the envelope again. This is the strip that has had a character die (in strip) of AIDS (while blissfully listening to Pet Sounds, which had just finally come out on CD!), had another character die in strip of natural causes, had a major character with Alzheimer's, showed two major characters in bed in post-coital afterglow (actually, the man was asleep), and has dealt frankly with homelessness, homosexuality, and every political disaster under the sun (including a tour of Reagan's brain).

This week, one of the strip's major character's, B.D., has been seriously wounded while fighting in Iraq. News reports have reported what his ultimate condition will be, but I won't spoil it if you don't know. Here's a link to Monday's strip; you can use the calendar feature to follow each successive daily installment.

Doonesbury

As background, B.D. is the strip's resident Republican. He's the character that always wore a football helmet (in recent years, an army helmet). He fought in Vietnam (to get out of a term paper), and has always been the foil for the strip's liberal base (Mike Doonesury, Mark Slackmeyer, and Zonker Harris). He's married to Boopsie, the dumb blonde cheerleader-cum-B-movie queen. As you can tell, I'm a longtime fan of Doonesbury, although the last few years I haven't followed it on a daily basis, but I used to have every bound collection that was published.

In the past, Doonesbury strips have been pulled by newspapers across the country for its controversial content. In many newspapers, the strip appears int he Op-Ed pages. The strip's creator, Garry Trudeau, is a brilliant and courageous artist (and married to Jane Pauley).

[patricia]

Originally Posted by Gentle Giant

Doonesbury, the only comic strip to have won a Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning, has pushed the envelope again. This is the strip that has had a character die (in strip) of AIDS (while blissfully listening to Pet Sounds, which had just finally come out on CD!), had another character die in strip of natural causes, had a major character with Alzheimer's, showed two major characters in bed in post-coital afterglow (actually, the man was asleep), and has dealt frankly with homelessness, homosexuality, and every political disaster under the sun (including a tour of Reagan's brain).

This week, one of the strip's major character's, B.D., has been seriously wounded while fighting in Iraq. News reports have reported what his ultimate condition will be, but I won't spoil it if you don't know. Here's a link to Monday's strip; you can use the calendar feature to follow each successive daily installment.

Doonesbury

As background, B.D. is the strip's resident Republican. He's the character that always wore a football helmet (in recent years, an army helmet). He fought in Vietnam (to get out of a term paper), and has always been the foil for the strip's liberal base (Mike Doonesury, Mark Slackmeyer, and Zonker Harris). He's married to Boopsie, the dumb blonde cheerleader-cum-B-movie queen. As you can tell, I'm a longtime fan of Doonesbury, although the last few years I haven't followed it on a daily basis, but I used to have every bound collection that was published.

In the past, Doonesbury strips have been pulled by newspapers across the country for its controversial content. In many newspapers, the strip appears int he Op-Ed pages. The strip's creator, Garry Trudeau, is a brilliant and courageous artist (and married to Jane Pauley).

G.G., Sometimes I think that Doonsbury is in the role that Pogo was when I was growing up. That role was as a a non-threatening, but very political voice, which had the ability to make us think about what the hell we've gotten ourselves into.[Remember "We have seen the enemy, and he is us"?]
Although B.D. is one of my favourite characters, I wonder if letting him die would be best for the statement that Trudeau clearly wants to make.

[moneyp]

I hope his cartoon soul haunts the President forever! :-)

[BFrank]

I thought today's was particularly startling. I don't know how this ends, but the fact is......Trudeau is showing something we aren't seeing on the news - and should.

[Tom Storer]

Wow. I don't know what's more startling - that BD lost his leg or that we see him without his helmet. Powerful comic-strip stuff here.

[crawjo]

Eh, I hate to go sour on this, but Trudeau is just using his characters to make an ideological point. The vast majority of troops in Iraq aren't being killed and aren't losing any limbs, but it sells better if he has something dramatic and gory happen to the character.

[bostontricky]

Uncanny how Darby Conley's "Get Fuzzy" is tackling the same issue at the same time, right down to the lost limb. Wonder if there's some truth to the late night arrivals?

[Gentle Giant]

Originally Posted by crawjo

Eh, I hate to go sour on this, but Trudeau is just using his characters to make an ideological point. The vast majority of troops in Iraq aren't being killed and aren't losing any limbs, but it sells better if he has something dramatic and gory happen to the character.

The vast majority of Israelis and Palestinians haven't been killed or maimed either, neither were the majority of New Yorkers on 9/11. That doesn't mean there isn't senseless tragedy going on. BTW, Trudeau isn't selling anything. His strip would stay in the paper day after day for years by just telling stupid jokes about the inanities of daily life, like so many other comic strips do. Trudeau is using his forum to spotlight a reality that our nightly news isn't showing us. That's both a public service and, in a country "governed" by the current administration, a courageous act.

[Gentle Giant]

Originally Posted by Tom Storer

Wow. I don't know what's more startling - that BD lost his leg or that we see him without his helmet. Powerful comic-strip stuff here.

I agree, and both are major revelations. To my knowledge, in the history of the strip (going back to 1970), B.D. has always had his head covered. In this strip, his humanity is fully revealed; henceforth, B.D. is changed forever.

[clinthopson]

This morning's LA Times had a short article on the wounding. It said that B.D. is sent to Germany for medical care and then back to the States for rehab.

As always, Troudeau makes powerful points with humor.

Too bad Crawjo and his ilk have to scrape up irrelevant "facts" to justify their support for an unwarranted war.

[crawjo]

Originally Posted by Gentle Giant

The vast majority of Israelis and Palestinians haven't been killed or maimed either, neither were the majority of New Yorkers on 9/11. That doesn't mean there isn't senseless tragedy going on. BTW, Trudeau isn't selling anything. His strip would stay in the paper day after day for years by just telling stupid jokes about the inanities of daily life, like so many other comic strips do. Trudeau is using his forum to spotlight a reality that our nightly news isn't showing us. That's both a public service and, in a country "governed" by the current administration, a courageous act.

GG, I hear that, but in general I don't like it when fictional characters get used to send a certain ideological message. I guess that's why I'm not a fan of Trudeau...I don't like it when characters come to symbolize things larger than themselves, because the author is trying to put a particular point across. It seems manipulative. The character seems less real when this is done, in my view.

As for the "reality," I recall reading a very in-depth front page article about soldiers maimed in the Iraqi conflict in the New York Times Sunday Magazine a month or two ago. And the nightly news has been focusing, quite obsessively, I would imagine, on the violence in Iraq, though of course they tend to focus more on the soldiers who die than the ones who are injured.

[crawjo]

Originally Posted by clinthopson

This morning's LA Times had a short article on the wounding. It said that B.D. is sent to Germany for medical care and then back to the States for rehab.

As always, Troudeau makes powerful points with humor.

Too bad Crawjo and his ilk have to scrape up irrelevant "facts" to justify their support for an unwarranted war.

Oh yeah, and who is my ilk? And tell me, Clint, since he made such a powerful point with his strip, where's the humor?

[patricia]

Originally Posted by crawjo

GG, I hear that, but in general I don't like it when fictional characters get used to send a certain ideological message. I guess that's why I'm not a fan of Trudeau...I don't like it when characters come to symbolize things larger than themselves, because the author is trying to put a particular point across. It seems manipulative. The character seems less real when this is done, in my view.

As for the "reality," I recall reading a very in-depth front page article about soldiers maimed in the Iraqi conflict in the New York Times Sunday Magazine a month or two ago. And the nightly news has been focusing, quite obsessively, I would imagine, on the violence in Iraq, though of course they tend to focus more on the soldiers who die than the ones who are injured.

Crawjo, comic strips and satire have been used, traditionally, to counteract propaganda for decades. Check the library archives for similar material, right from World War 2 on. It's a legitimate voice and I commend Trudeau and the other satirists for availing themselves of that voice.

[Darryl G. Thomas]

A few years back the Washington Post moved Doonesbury from the comics section to its Style section because of the cartoon's content. I figure Aarom McGruder's strip will be next.

Actually, BD isn't the only Republican character in the strip. Doonesbury's one also. He kind of represents the folks who were "liberal" in their youth but become conservative as they age.

Having BD lose a limb is probably a more powerful statement than killing him off. One of the hidden aspects of this war is the maimed soldier. Walter Reed hospital in the Maryland suburbs of DC is the main center being used to rehab troops who've lost limbs. Every once in awhile a local newstation will take time out of it's constant coverage of fires and crime to feature the work going on there.

[crawjo]

Originally Posted by patricia

Crawjo, comic strips and satire have been used, traditionally, to counteract propaganda for decades. Check the library archives for similar material, right from World War 2 on. It's a legitimate voice and I commend Trudeau and the other satirists for availing themselves of that voice.

First of all, there's nothing satirical about these latest strips. There's nothing even remotely funny about them. And, of course, the strip in and of itself is its own kind of propaganda.

[Darryl G. Thomas]

crawjo,

Are you saying there is no place for ideology in a comic strip?

[Rob C]

[QUOTE=crawjo]...Trudeau is just using his characters to make an ideological point. QUOTE]

And?

[crawjo]

[QUOTE=Rob C]

Originally Posted by crawjo

...Trudeau is just using his characters to make an ideological point. QUOTE]

And?

I don't find that to be very worthwhile. It's mawkish and overly-simplistic. So, this character, B.D., has been in the strip for years, and yet just NOW his humanity is revealed? So his leg has to be blown off for that to happen? Why? It suggests to me that B.D., as a character, really doesn't have any humanity to him at all. He's just a useful tool...the gung-ho right-winger who goes off to war, loses a limb, and then is changed forever. This is the stuff of dime-store fiction, and yes, it is propaganda.

[crawjo]

Originally Posted by Darryl G. Thomas

crawjo,

Are you saying there is no place for ideology in a comic strip?

Difficult question. I'm not a fan of blatant ideology in fiction, period. I don't like it when fictional characters get warped into a certain stereotypical mold so that then they can be used to make some larger "point." I prefer fictional characters who come across as fully human, in all their complexities, without the need to maim them in order for that to happen. And yes, I know that this stance excludes a lot of "classic" literature. I studied English in college, so I read a lot of fiction, and the stuff I liked the most was the stuff where the characters seemed the most real, in the writings of Proust, or Henry James. I guess the exception is when the satire is really well-done. I very much enjoyed Catch-22. That had a certain ideology to it, but it was able to convey it without the need to resort to the simplistic generalizations favored by Trudeau. In other words, it was genuinely funny, even while it was conveying tragedy at the same time. The humor was in the tragedy, in a sense.

But here, we don't get that. This isn't real satire. This is bathos. In a sense, it's too easy. Blow the guy's leg off, dramatically remove his helmet, and bingo, you hit the reader between the eyes. In terms of trying to convey "the message" that people are being hurt and we aren't seeing that, I suppose it's very effective. But I don't have much sympathy for it as a fictional device. If you're going to be ideological, at least be clever. The other strip posted here makes the same point, but somewhat better. There's still a bit of room for humor (the man at the end going "Shhh.") even as the artist makes what is basically the same point.

[Darryl G. Thomas]

crawjo,

But isn't it easier to do the character development that you like in a book rather than a comic? A comic is a blunt instrument. You make your point then you get out. It reminds me of Branford Marsalis comparing perfoming jazz with performing with Sting. In jazz the solist has the opportunity (the time) to develop his theme. In pop, you have to get to the point.

I've been reading Doonesbury since it first came out in the '70s. In a way it was a breath of fresh air on the comics page for me. Probably because Trudeau's politics appears to be close to mine and the fact that it was so overtly political.

As for the nature of the current storyline it stands out for me because there isn't any humor or satire involved. It is a blatant anti-war statement that was created to shock the reader. I may be reading too deep into it, but perhaps Trudeau is attacking the complacent attitude of the American public. For many of us, the war in Iraq is an abstract concept. We're not paying any costs. So we can "root" for our side as if it was a sporting contest. Maiming a major character personalizes the war.

[crawjo]

Darryl,

Yes, the strip is a different form, but as you say, Trudeau's been at this for a long time. Within the confines of the strip, he's had years to develop his characters.

Again, I would argue that the other strip posted in this thread does a better job of making what is basically the same point.

Also, one point about "shocking" people. Shock is easy. It is really, really easy to shock someone's sensibilities, especially when someone is being complacent. It is also easy to "switch gears" away from humor, the way that Trudeau has done here. It reminds me of those wearisome sitcoms that are funny until you near the end, when it gets serious and the audience receives the "lesson." Yawn. It is much more challenging (but still possible) to make your point with humor, instead of abandoning it as if humor is somehow inappropriate to the material you are dealing with.

[patricia]

Originally Posted by crawjo

First of all, there's nothing satirical about these latest strips. There's nothing even remotely funny about them. And, of course, the strip in and of itself is its own kind of propaganda.

Satire is not necessarily funny on it's face, but makes us look within ourselves and examine the truths we hold. So, satire is more likely to be used as a vehicle for political comment. We laugh, or not, but we see a freely expressed opinion, because of the fact that Doonsbury is a cartoon.
There were many examples of Hitler being made fun of in the strips of that day, but they were, underneath, deadly serious.
That's what I meant and this medium is very effective in reminding us of the many more wounded than dead, although there are plenty of dead, coming out of Iraq.

[crawjo]

Originally Posted by patricia

Satire is not necessarily funny on it's face, but makes us look within ourselves and examine the truths we hold. So, satire is more likely to be used as a vehicle for political comment. We laugh, or not, but we see a freely expressed opinion, because of the fact that Doonsbury is a cartoon.
That's what I meant and this is very effective in reminding us of the many more wounded than dead, although there are plenty of dead, coming out of Iraq.

Satire is more than simply "freely expressed opinion."

The definition I have is "a literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit."

I don't see anything in these latest strips that is either ironic, derisive, or witty.

[patricia]

Originally Posted by crawjo

Satire is more than simply "freely expressed opinion."

The definition I have is "a literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit."

I don't see anything in these latest strips that is either ironic, derisive, or witty.

Of course satire is more than freely expressed opinion. It is sometimes the only way though that an opinion, different than the accepted norm can be expressed.
I see irony in the present set of Doonsbury cartoons featuring B.D. Remember, he's a staunch conservative. The folly is the war itself and that those, like B.D. who are presumably Bush supporters, can get caught in the quagmire of their own making.
No laughs though. I'll give you that.

[crawjo]

I guess we just have differing interpretations. I don't see it as ironic. He's a staunch conservative, and so he goes off to war. To me, there's nothing inherently ironic in the fact that he would get wounded. It's more just a bad thing that happened to him, as I see it.

[patricia]

Originally Posted by crawjo

I guess we just have differing interpretations. I don't see it as ironic. He's a staunch conservative, and so he goes off to war. To me, there's nothing inherently ironic in the fact that he would get wounded. It's more just a bad thing that happened to him, as I see it.

We see different things in the same scenario. That's cool.

My dictionary's definition of satire is:
"the use of biting, often bitter wit, especially in the form of irony or sarcasm , to attack vice or foolishness", so this series of strips falls into the satire genre, I think.

[Gentle Giant]

Keep in mind that this series is only three strips old. How BD (along with Boopsie and the other characters) comes to accept the loss of his leg, how his long-held machismo withstands rehab, and how he justifies the war and Bush's policies are where the zingers are bound to appear.

Doonesbury's characters are very well-developed. In the 80s, he took some time off (three years, I think) to let them grow up, and when the strip reappeared the chactacters had all matured and evolved to new stages in their lives. They were professionals now, with families, and the lens through which they filtered the politics of the day was different.

Also, keep in mind that this is a comic strip, and be mindful of the "laws" of the comic strip universe: characters don't age, they don't grow up, they don't even change their clothes from day to day. They don't marry, they don't divorce, they don't have kids, and they don't die. Charlie Brown is still a little kid with a yellow and black shirt. But Doonesbury's characters do change, the circumstances of their lives change (Mark, one of the original characters, came out of the closet in the 80s), and occasionally they do die. By taking off BD's leg and helmet, Trudeau is offering us a glimpse of the persistence of war. Someday, it will end, all the soldiers will come home, the news will show us the happy reunions. But we will never see the permanently disabled struggle every day of their lives, we will never feel the effects of livelihoods lost, the encroaching emotional strain of reliving scenes of horror. BD will not magically grow another leg. Five years from now, he will still be in crutches, his character advancing a storyline that has nothing to do with this unfounded and foundering war, and yet the mark of that war will be there as an unspoken reference to the blundering hellhole in which our country has found itself.

What Trudeau is doing here I don't even think is satire; this is more like Dostoyevsky with drawings. This is cause and effect, action and consequence, the struggle between right and wrong.

[crawjo]

I was right there with you GG, until you compared him to Dostoyevsky. "Crime and Punishment" this ain't.

The only other comic strip I can think of where the characters age is a bad one: "For Better or For Worse." I don't read it any more, but I do remember their dog dying after he saved one of the kids from drowning, or something like that.

[patricia]

So, Crawjo and G.G. are you saying that L'il Abner, Pogo, Mad Magazine and Doonsbury are not political satire??

[moneyp]

Originally Posted by clinthopson

This morning's LA Times had a short article on the wounding. It said that B.D. is sent to Germany for medical care and then back to the States for rehab.

As always, Troudeau makes powerful points with humor.

Too bad Crawjo and his ilk have to scrape up irrelevant "facts" to justify their support for an unwarranted war.

Paul B!

Oh wait, wrong thread.

Hey, we rarely saw B.D. off the couch anyway in recent years, right? And as Trudeau says, he can't draw feet anyway.