The term paper is about how different types of satire were received by the Indian audience. For this paper, I have taken 6 cartoons of the renowned cartoonist Mr. R.K. Laxman, which talk about some social, political & religious issues in a satirical way as seen through the eyes of his character: ‘The Common Man. I have also taken 6 different memes that were popular on social media be it WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. After describing the cartoons and memes & describing the argument they are trying to make, we have compared the cartoon and meme based on the same argument. We have talked about “how the laugh changed with time”.
According to Oxford Dictionary, the word ‘satire’ is defined as ‘The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. Satire can be used in different forms, be it cartoons, essays, stories, films, serials, songs, etc. Strong irony and sarcasm are known as the strongest forms of satire.
In today’s world, satire is mainly found in memes on social media.
Political Satires of different countries
In the paper ‘Polls and Elections: Editorial Cartoons 2.0: The Effects of Digital Political Satire on Presidential Candidate Evaluations’, the writer Mr. Jody C. Baumgartner has explained about how the editorial cartoons were taken over by digitally created animated flash cartoons with the decline of editorial cartoonists. With the examples of Reagan, Bush, Obama, and Clinton, Mr. Baumgartner has shown how these personalities were portrayed in cartoons, be it in fake TV Shows or websites during the different US Presidential Elections. This paper has been prepared on the basis of the evaluations of the effects of these cartoons on the youth in the age group of 18 to 24 years. The central argument was: ‘Humour, and that too in the online format has a positive effect on political participation.
In the paper ‘When satire is serious: how political cartoons impact a country's brand’, the writers Mr. Alessandro Bigi, Mr. Kirk Plangger, Mrs. Michelle Bonera, and Mr. Colin L. Campbell have introduced the concept of “nation branding” by linking it with the politics of the particular country. With the main setting of Italy, most of the theories have been applied to the cases of the Italian Prime Minister, Mr. Silvio Berlusconi. By taking the examples of ‘Incredible India’, ‘Amazing Thailand’, ‘Sparkling Korea’, etc., the writers have shown us how ‘brand promotions’ of a country is a very serious job, as there are risks in this field and it’s very important for the country to maintain its reputation in the world. The satirical cartoons (caricatures) of Italy’s Berlusconi are the most talked-about topics in this paper. The central argument is: ‘A negative image and reputation of a country’s political leader can have a very bad impression of the country on the world.
In the final paper ’Caricatures, cartoons, spoofs and satires: political brands as butts’, the concept of political branding has been introduced to us this time. The writers Mrs. Anjali Suniti Bal, Mr. Leyland Pitt, Mr. Pierre Berthon & Mr. Philip DesAutels have told us about the South African President Mr. Jacob Zuma. There was a cartoon made by the famous South African cartoonist Mr. Jonathan which was very controversial because it questioned Mr. Zuma’s image as a leader. It portrayed Mr. Zuma as divisive & contentious behavior. The central argument is: ‘Making fun of a political brand in a marketing environment is increasingly becoming common.
There was a common link between the three research papers. It was how the political readers were portrayed in a funny way. Be it the USA or South Africa, the political leaders have been made fun of. These three papers have a few keywords in common: politics, satire, cartoons, caricature, elections, humor, etc.
‘Cartons of yesterday’ VS ‘Memes of today’: The changing notion of comical satires among the people of India
R.K. Laxman, as people know it, was a well-renowned Indian cartoonist. He is best known for creating the character: 'The Common Man in the national daily 'The Times of India', who used to make fun of everything in the year 1951. This character used to appear in the comic strip 'You Said It. Few cartoons affected the Indian audience to a very great extent.
Similarly, the concept of 'Memes' came on social media. With the decline in the popularity of cartoon strips in print media, memes started filling the voids. Be it the cartoon strips of yesterday or the memes of today, some of them have been successful in making the audience laugh.
The problem with cartoons was that the laugh that they produced could be understood very well by our previous generation because they saw this event and could understand it very well.
In 2001, R K Laxman drew a cartoon that featured a beggar who contributed from his side to help the victims of the Gujarat Earthquake. The caption stated '…Here, At A Time Like This, Nothing Is Too Small…'. This made people think that if a poor person can help the earthquake victims by donating, then they can also do that.
Similarly, there was a cartoon that Laxman made right after the infamous 'Salman Khan Hit & Run Case' of 2002, in which many poor people were killed. In the cartoon, a man is sleeping in the middle of the road. When a police constable sees him, the man says, 'It is safer to sleep in the middle of the road than on pavements these days.' The central argument is that the life of a common man has no value or worth, compared to the momentary thrill and pleasure that the rich and famous derive out of their antics. In this case, the antics refer to over-speeding.
In the 1970s, there was yet another cartoon. This time it portrays the reality of voters before & after elections. The cartoon is divided into two parts: 'TODAY' and 'TOMORROW'. In the TODAY part, the common man, who is the voter is given the status of a god by the politicians on the day of elections. However, in the TOMORROW part, he is shown as a very small person, as small as an insect. He is treated like a pauper by elected politicians. It gives the argument that after elections, the voter has no value. He is portrayed as if he doesn't exist.
In the year 1965, there was another cartoon strip published in the newspapers that talked about the anti-Hindi agitations in Tamil Nadu. Famous Dravidian leaders such as C. Rajagopalachari, Periyar, C. Annadurai, etc. have been portrayed in the cartoon. There is a blackboard which states 'ASSURANCES NO HINDI! ENGLISH TO CONTINUE! NO COMPULSION TO LEARN HINDI. NO HINDI! ENGLISH FOREVER! ETC. ETC.' When an agitated student starts showing his frustration by throwing stones on the ground, one of the politicians comments that 'THE BOY CAN'T READ ENGLISH EITHER.' The agitated student is representing the people who cannot read even English. The argument the cartoon shows is about the problems people have to face who can read, write & understand only their mother tongue (which is Tamil in this case).
In the 1990s, there was a cartoon he drew that was also published in his book 'Brushing Up the Years' in the year 2008. The cartoon was set during that period when people fought for building temples and demolishing mosques. It was mainly set during the time of the Babri Masjid issue. In the cartoon, it can be seen that politicians, religious leaders, etc. are busy giving speeches on a stage. The common man is seen reading a newspaper with the headline 'THE NATION IN PERIL'. A lady next to him, maybe his wife asks him 'Were to HAVE ALL OUR LEADERS GONE AT A TIME LIKE THIS'. The satire that Laxman tries to show us is that the political leaders, who should be dealing with these kinds of severe issues are not available at a time when they are needed the most. It can also be said that they use them as their weapon for gaining power.
Now, in today's world where social media is used by almost everybody, memes (or satirical memes as can be said) became more popular than these cartoons. These memes were popular everywhere; be it on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. On social media, the hashtags made the memes more interesting.
On July 18, 2019, there was a meme uploaded on Facebook by 'Bihar se Hai', mocking how the situations in Bihar are ignored by people. In the meme, a photograph of the flood-affected areas of Bihar & it quotes, 'Ignored by people, not a big issue, no help… coz it's Bihar, not Mumbai or Kerala' and 'Sad Reality! Bihar is Drowning.' It was created by a man named Abhishek Thakur.
13 years after R.K. Laxman mocked the 'infamous' Salman Khan Hit-And-Run case in his cartoon, there was a meme posted by RVCJ (Rajnikant Vs. C.I.D. Jokes). In the meme, Salman Khan is seen sitting at a table next to two police officials and the quote says, 'MAINE TOH PEHLE HI KAHA THA… BHAI JAIL NAHIN DABANGG 3 KI SHOOTING KE LIYE LOCATION DEKHNE GAYE THE...', which means ' I told you already that Bhai has gone to jail just to see the location for shooting his film Dabangg 3'. The central argument of this meme was the same as that of Laxman's cartoon, i.e. a common man's life is of no value when compared to that of the rich and the famous.
On September 29, 2019, RVCJ created another meme during the state elections of 9 Indian states i.e. Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland, Karnataka, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan & Mizoram. The meme well-expressed the situation of the states where Congress formed the government. This meme, similar to Laxman's cartoon, was divided into 2 parts: 'BEFORE ELECTIONS' and 'AFTER ELECTIONS'. The first part featured the Congress' election i.e. hand, which symbolizes that they are always for the people(voters) at the time of trouble. In the second half, there is a photo of comedian Kapil Sharma's famous 'Babaji Ka Thullu', showing that the elected ones turned their backs and walk away from the promises that they have made to the people.
Related to Anti-Hindi agitations, there was a popular meme whose stills were taken from the film 300. In the meme, when 'Hindians' asked Thamizhs to accept Hindi, the Thamizhs replied 'Well…This is Tamizh Nadu.' The central argument was that language cannot be imposed on anybody.
In the year 2016, there was a meme on Facebook during the time of the 2016 US Presidential elections. The meme featured a photo of Leonardo DiCaprio. The cation of the meme stated “Says All Politicians’ Need is Common Sense. Ignores the problems of people.” The argument can be easily found.
While comparing the cartoon and memes, it could be seen that the issues were different at different times. However, the arguments were the same (In this case, Salman Khan). But it was on the theme of natural calamities where the arguments contrasted. On one side, Laxman’s cartoon tried to convince people to come together to help the victims of the Gujarat Earthquake. On the other side, the victims of the Bihar Floods are ignored. In the theme ‘Before & After Elections’, we came to know about the life of a voter, who is always disheartened by the people who try to win their faith.