Sunday, February 29, 2004
Seattle is closer to France than to Texas
By DAVID HORSEY
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL CARTOONIST
Thibault Mear's colorful drawing reflects
what many French children picture when
they think of America: fast food and fat
people.French schoolchildren know the Statue of
Liberty was a gift from France. Romain
Gueraud's drawing shows what he imagines
is Lady Liberty's current state.The typical citizen of Seattle would feel more at home, ideologically speaking, in Paris than in Dallas. Yet, even a liberal Seattleite would be shocked by the images of America drawn by French schoolchildren.
In January, a cartoon festival was held in the town of Carquefou, just outside of Nantes in the northwest corner of France. Students of all ages competed in a contest to illustrate their vision of the United States. They drew obese Americans devouring Coca-Cola and McDonald's hamburgers. They drew the Statue of Liberty with fangs or in chains or being run over by a wicked Uncle Sam on a motorcycle. And they drew George W. Bush: Bush riding a tank to war; Bush taking over the world; Bush as a liar; Bush as a monster.
There were a few lighthearted drawings of Hollywood and Las Vegas and fast food (hamburgers, always hamburgers) but, predominantly, from ages 8 to 18, the French students sketched images of a fierce and fearsome country. One cartoon summed up American villainy with a series of three hands. The first was a fist representing Stalin's Russia. The second was a saluting palm, representing Hitler's Germany. The third was another fist clutching a cross, representing Bush's America.
More at the
Seattle Post-Intelligencer