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To what extent do political cartoonists use popular culture references to make sense of political culture? seeing images in 2004, depicting Vice President Dick Cheney as Darth Vader from Star Wars, John Edwards as the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, and John Kerry as Frankenstein's monster, it is clear that some editorial cartoonists make connections between our popular culture and our political culture. Why, and with what possible consequences?
The distinction between popular culture and political culture continues to blur, with a recent example being Bill Clinton's demand that television network ABC change its miniseries, "The Path to 9/11," aired in fall 2006, on the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Based on the 9/11 Commission Report the film was not a documentary, but Clinton and those who had served in his administration argued that it contained false depictions. Not only does popular culture reflect our political culture, but the attention to the former may impact our impression of the latter.
To be featured in a political cartoon is to be the subject of satire, but when a political campaign is compared to a television reality show such as Survivor, some may consider that to be ridicule of political institutions as well. The 2004 online JibJab animations featuring John Kerry and George W. Bush in their version of "This Land is Your Land," with references of a "liberal wiener" for Kerry and "right-wing nut job" for Bush, were anything but flattering of the presidential candidates. But the animations were wildly popular and entertaining, and may have reached a broader audience than traditional political messages ever could. Political cartoons that reflect popular culture references work in a similar way; they focus on potentially provocative political issues, but tie them to imagery and references from entertainment that may unexpectedly draw readers to politics.
This paper assesses the use of popular culture references in editorial cartoons of the 2004 presidential election, and analyzes two cartoonists' approaches of reflecting popular culture in their work.
Political Cartoons of Presidential Campaigns
Presidential candidates featured in political cartoons have been the study of past research; contemporary examples include the study of representations of George W. Bush and Al Gore during the 2000 presidential campaign (Edwards 2001), of Bob Dole and Bill...