I just wrote Sean Delonas an e-mail

Tell him I said for artistic merit, i'll give him a 7 or 8. For originality, -1.

I should've thought of that, Cin

Can I ask what you did say? You don't have to share if you don't want, i'm just curious.

I think it's a compliment to Joe - he looks better dead than Keith looks alive.

I think it's funny so does Keith when he see this and as bigbang quoted compliment to Joe.

__________________________

Here's what I had to say:


Dear Sir,

I am writing to you in regards to your cartoon which was published in the November 14th, 2006 issue of the New York Post, which depicts Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger reminding two undertakers that it is his recently deceased father who has died, and not the oft-joked upon Keith Richards, who is often satirized as being near-death.

I am a 20-year-old college student living in the midwest who is also a Rolling Stones fan. I write to you not from the viewpoint of a Rolling Stones fan, but rather, from the position of a human being. I am more than certain your work meets daily criticism unlike the very same that I am relaying to you in this correspondence. Not being entirely familiar with your body of work, I can only assume that you regularly strive for the lowest common denomenator in your cartoons through shocking, yet topical references such as the one you make in today's piece. The "joke" that you attempt to make is one that is
in poor taste, and moreover, demonstrates your lack of deceny and humanity. Shakespeare once wrote that "the quality of mercy is not strained; it droppeth like a gentle rain from heaven." However, in your case your quality of remorse and mercy I am sure is of the same variety found in any crack den or jail cell. The mere fact that your "work" is published in the New York Post affirms this.

How can you feel justified in making light of a family's obvious anguish and grief at such an occassion. I am reasonably certain that any member of the Jagger family will not pick up a copy of such drivel, but were they to, what would your work say to them? What did you hope to accomplish by formulating such an idea? Did you hope that your work would inspire, or would invoke a positive outlook on daily life in others?

You are at a level where you are saying: "hey, laugh at this joke I made about someone's father dying. Aren't I funny?"

The obvious question to ask is this: Your father dies tomorrow. Someone (though I can't imagine who would waste column space mentioning you) pokes fun at the fact that he has just taken a dirt nap.

How would YOU feel?

I understand that humor helps us through grief, but I think that's much farther down the line in the process, and not to the extent that you have carried it out.

I don't expect a reply back from you, I merely want you to think about the consequences of your work. You're obviously not concerned about being a decent human being, so at the very least you should hope to not make other's lives miserable. And if it takes a 20-year-old to tell you that, then you're truly lost.

Think.

Hoping You Never Have To Endure Such Anguish,

M. Thompson



I probably could've taken more punches, but I thought it was best to level with him reasonably

Nice job Frash.

I would not want to be on the receiving end of that letter, I hope your message gets through to him.

Thanks Cindy.

I don't really like writing things like that, but there are very few occassions where I so feel moved to do so.

I just got really affected by everything of this past weekend. I know I have no right whatsoever to feel the way I did, but I was very saddened by the news of Mick's father's passing. Just imagining Mick being so far away and in a surreal place such as Vegas - so far from home and his family, and the fact that he missed spending his father's final moments with him really caused me to look at my own life, and how we place priorities.

I had to skip on my grandfather's 88th birthday because I had a paper to write for a sociology class. The day the paper was due, the teacher extended the due date, making it completely unnecessary for me to have missed that birthday. I also think about how I don't have very good relations with my father, and how it makes you think about making the time you've got count.

I guess the only other time I've been affected by someone's death that I did not know personally was Marlon Brando, but that's more because I'm an actor.

I hate to see people attacked when they're at their most fragile. I just felt called to action, I guess.

....Hey guys, the best way to register your complaint, in my opinion, is to ignore the cartoon. We have already given this cartoon way more attention than it deserves. I believe that shock artists crave attention, even (or especially) negative attention.

Frash, I admire you for writing a complaint. I wish more people would be vocal about injustices in this world. However, in this particular case I think this is just the kind of attention this cartoonist craves.

I think this same advice applies to certain posts on this forum that some may consider to be offensive. A good example would be these trolls who repeatedly post negative comments to get attention, like the guy who posted absurdly crazy stuff in favor of Paul McCartney. Wouldn't it be nice if their threads died a swift and unceremoniuos death of no attention?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-11-15 00:16 by Lukester.

I understand what you mean.

My sister had a similar situation as Mick. The day my mother died, my sister had to work and left the hospital to go to her job (i think she really didn't believe it was going to happen). As soon as she got there, she basically had to turn back as my mother had died in the meantime. She still hasn't come to grips with not having been there for my mother's last moments. I hope Mick doesn't have to live with that guilt.

It is a tabloid. Like Lukester said, we have already given this too much attention. The more letters you write, the more attention it gets. They are a tabloid. There whole purpose is to shock and and get attention. The sleazier the better. That is why crap like the national enquirer sells so much. You want to protest the NY Post. Don't buy the rag, don't talk about it. Let them dig their own hole. If anybody in the stones camp has any serious problems with it, they have the resources to do something about it.

Thank you Cindy, as you turned the subject into our own experiences with the death of those closest to us. I had a livelong struggle with my father but will always remember his smile at me first, lying there when I sat at his bedside. He died of cancer and it was an eleven month period of obviously knowing the end.
But: At the end I couldn't (could NOT? - or had to be somewehere else for someone else's sake like your sister!) be there (just like some years later when my mother died - so I feel - probably not guilty but very uncomfortable twice).
When my sister called me up and said that it happened I had listened to the radio. They had played Almost Hear You Sigh at the moment of his death and I had thought of him... I loved to play that song on the guitar but haven't done for ages and never will.

These are sad stories.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-11-15 00:48 by Lukester.

Send 'em a box full of poop. That'll get the message across!

As soon as I saw the title of this thread, I knew exactly what it was about......

I enjoy the NY Post, if you live/work in NYC, it is part of the fabric of the City, if you don't live in NYC, it is hard, if not impossible to see the paper in context--by the way, for a "rag" it is pretty influential and "balances" out some of the other print media of NYC.

As for the cartoon, there have been way worse, way,WAY worse Page 6 cartoons. Not saying it makes it right simply that it is far from the most outrageous thing they ever came up with.

I do agree the portrayal of Keith as "walking death" is kind of played, and as such, less funny. Although, if you look at the recent photos..........

it gave me a giggle, is it tasteless? sure, is it low-brow? most definitely! should that preclude it from making me laugh? certainly not. Whether Joe was a public figure or not is not the issue most people who see the cartoon know only that micks very elderly father died, for most of the public it will give them a quick giggle as they turn the page. THAT is the beginning and the end of it for me.

OLDKR

in a word.....lame

oldkr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> it gave me a giggle, is it tasteless? sure, is it
> low-brow? most definitely! should that preclude it
> from making me laugh? certainly not. Whether Joe
> was a public figure or not is not the issue most
> people who see the cartoon know only that micks
> very elderly father died, for most of the public
> it will give them a quick giggle as they turn the
> page. THAT is the beginning and the end of it for
> me.
>
> OLDKR


Well put, OLDKR.

Glass Slide Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As soon as I saw the title of this thread, I knew
> exactly what it was about......
>
> I enjoy the NY Post, if you live/work in NYC, it
> is part of the fabric of the City, if you don't
> live in NYC, it is hard, if not impossible to see
> the paper in context--by the way, for a "rag" it
> is pretty influential and "balances" out some of
> the other print media of NYC.
>
> As for the cartoon, there have been way worse,
> way,WAY worse Page 6 cartoons. Not saying it makes
> it right simply that it is far from the most
> outrageous thing they ever came up with.
>
> I do agree the portrayal of Keith as "walking
> death" is kind of played, and as such, less funny.
> Although, if you look at the recent
> photos..........


Hey GS, thanks for some perspective from someone who lives in NY.

No problem, you are quite welcome sweetcharmedlife. The NY Post is as NYC as a Black and White cookie.

Gazza Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A 'tabloid' is still a daily newspaper, regardless
> of how low-brow it may be.
>
> The nearest equivalent to it in the UK would be
> "The Sun", and even they wouldnt publish a joke as
> tasteless as that one

yep; and both are owned by the devil, i, er, . . . rupert murdoch.

you can't catch me!

plain tasteless and tacky

"Well my heavy throbbers itchin' just to lay a solid rhythm down"

I think the Cartoon is pretty easy to explain.
To a Stones fan it's humiliating and retched. How dare anyone be so crass about a man losing his father? That is what ever boy fears the most as he grows older, how will I feel when my father dies? For that reason alone this cartoon is sick.

On the other hand the Stones have been fodder for crap like this for years. The only thing remotely humorous is the Richards drawing. Keith will surely get the last laugh as he has his whole life.
I personally feel that this guy is a shmuck for such a gratuitously horrific attempt to get attention.
The saddest thing about this is that New York is the Stones town. How dare someone take a cheap shot at Mick Jagger? Mick/Bianca and Andy ruled that town for NYC's best years.

just a cheap shot. not funny.

Being a lifelong New Yorkster and a Rolling Stones fan, I laughed at the cartoon.

Living in NYC, we're jaded to so much stuff. The Post is toilet paper with print on it, you take it for what it is.

I love jokes, but there are situations in life where all jokes have to stop. this cartoon is rude, disrespectful, tasteless.

bit of a cheap shot at the Jagger family, whilst they mourn and prepare for a funeral....not good.

My God ... THIS THREAD is the joke. I can't believe how offended or bored you people are by this stuff. Yes, Keith and death has been joked with thousands of times, but that cartoon was actually witty and real well drawn. It was a new twist to an old joke, and a great one at that, IMHO. I think neither the Jagger family nor Keith would be offended by that picture. You guys are overreacting and you make Stones fans seem stuck up and pretentious.

is it really funny and well drawn? I work in the graphics industry and that sort of stuff is fairly common. Come up with a tag line and off you go.

And I find the 'joke' fairly obvious and one thats been done a few zillion times.