cartoon!, Let's laugh and respond...

[Mij]

WillowJ, I took another look at the cartoon and I guess I can understand the humour now Many years ago I used to subscribe to our monthly ME News Letter that included ME jokes and I got a chuckle from them because I could relate, but I guess after 20yrs of illness some jokes need a little digesting(no pun intended ).

I just wish the author didn't sell them as post-cards to send out to friends etc. : /

 

[Nielk]

I think the idea of submitting our own cartoon to the New Yorker is a great idea but, if we really want them to publish it, we have to come up with a simple version and a one or two sentence punch. That's the style that they go for.

I was thinking more in the style of the original offensive cartoon. Instead of showing one couch, show behind it an infinite amount of couches behind it fading into the background with woman, man and child laying on them. No one else in the room.
caption on the bottom saying over a million women, men and children laying on couches across America. On top it would say from the CDC: We can't handle all these sick people suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome. Let's just tell them it's all in their head and they'll go away!

 

[JT1024]

Mark...don't be discouraged if "someone" thinks it is not ready for the New Yorker. There a many who could give a rats a$$ about the New Yorker.

Getting the key point across is the what is important. Each market needs its own message to understand the implications of XMRV and other replication competent retroviruses that may have been inadvertently created and dispersed among the general population.

 

[jeffrez]

Absolutely, don't get discouraged. There are many other venues than the New Yorker. If you are aiming for that market, however, you are really barking up the wrong tree. It's just not their thing at all. They typically have cartoonists on staff, I believe, or if not staff then a "corral" of known regulars from which they normally publish. It's a pretty selective publication - they don't publish things from just anybody. It's kind of strange to presume that they would, in fact. It would be kind of like walking into an upscale restaurant and asking them to let you work alongside their chef who was making all kinds of modern cuisine to cook a hamburger and fries. They would probably look at you like you were a little bit crazy even for asking.

I'm not really sure why people seem to think the response to the NYer over the CFS cartoon itself needs to be in the form of a cartoon, anyway. Why not just write a simple letter? And if you just want to make cartoons, there are plenty of other places to publish, including the web, where anyone can publish virtually anything they want very easily. No editors needed.

 

[*GG*]

View attachment 5290

I had a go. Now at a readable size!

edit- you do need to click on it a few times to get it bigger.

I did, but I still cannot read most of the test. FYI

What does it say?

GG

 

[WillowJ]

Hi Willow. One lady is pushing a carrage of a soon to be autistic child.

I agree we need to add proof, maybe we can adjust the cartoon to add proof and be factual as possible? Think it would be a powerful tool then. Actually somebody already gave me the name of an illustrator to contact who has CFS. Maybe if we come up with a good cartoon, we can ask for her help to illustrate..

Not sure what you meant about adding in biological stuff, but I can try to think of some way to incorporate that, unless somebody else has suggestions.

Mark,

I understand the pram now, but I'm not sure this is something you can convey in a cartoon. All you'll be expressing is the approximate age of the lady pushing the baby stroller. Unless you want an inside joke. If you're working with a more advanced artist, however, you might be able to get them to draw a child who is staring off in the distance, but I'm still not sure that can be conveyed in these two frames of a cartoon.

The biomedical research could be in a wastebasket at the gov't agency, or one of the patients could give it to the doctor who could throw it in the wastebasket because it was "experimental" since it didn't match the gov't-approved psychobabble research. (I seriously had a doc write in my chart notes that I brought him experimental research, lol). Or the research he consults could be in three parts: two side-by-side that say psychobabble and biomedical, and one above that says psychobabble summary/conclusion (if there's fine print it could say the biomedical findings are inconsistent and therefore not real or experimental, since they can't be replicated in the psychobabble research).

You might consider labeling the "Drugs" with "SSRI" or "Elavil" something like that which makes it more clear that the Dr. is NOT treating the patients as people with a non-depression disease or even treating them as bona fide sick people. Or perhaps better yet, label it "placebo".

You'd also have to somehow explain the background of psychobabble, that these are studies using a totally wonked inclusion, no proper controls, and manipulated conclusions. Maybe a health reporter who reads the research, exclaims over it, and writes an article but the Spin Media Rep won't publish it.

 

[WillowJ]

Mij, my guess is the postcards are for one PWC to send to another PWC. Nobody else would appreciate them.

To the thread: I think much of the purpose of sending cartoons to the New Yorker is to educate the staff. I also doubt most newspapers publish freelance cartoons. However every reporter, editor, cartoonist we can educate... is a reporter, editor, cartoonist who has a better idea what this Disease is and what sorts of barriers and obstacles we face (and have faced for decades). To cultivate education amongst individual members of the media is to help our cause regardless of whether any of these cartoons ever get published.

 

[WillowJ]

Instead of showing one couch, show behind it an infinite amount of couches behind it fading into the background with woman, man and child laying on them. No one else in the room.
caption on the bottom saying over a million women, men and children laying on couches across America. On top it would say from the CDC: We can't handle all these sick people suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome. Let's just tell them it's all in their head and they'll go away!

That's great. Someone should totally draw that!

 

[markmc20001]

Thanks Mr Kite,JT, Willow and All.

I guess The thread started out as a response to the New Yorker, but really tuned into a thread for cartoons that can describe the comically (mostly disgusting) situation we are facing with the media. Not just cartoons, but news media and more.

At the same time, figuring a way to easily and effectively convey a message to the people we need to communicate with.

Great Cartoon Neilk! We need a good illustrator!

 

[markmc20001]

Mark,

I understand the pram now, but I'm not sure this is something you can convey in a cartoon. All you'll be expressing is the approximate age of the lady pushing the baby stroller. Unless you want an inside joke. If you're working with a more advanced artist, however, you might be able to get them to draw a child who is staring off in the distance, but I'm still not sure that can be conveyed in these two frames of a cartoon.

The biomedical research could be in a wastebasket at the gov't agency, or one of the patients could give it to the doctor who could throw it in the wastebasket because it was "experimental" since it didn't match the gov't-approved psychobabble research. (I seriously had a doc write in my chart notes that I brought him experimental research, lol). Or the research he consults could be in three parts: two side-by-side that say psychobabble and biomedical, and one above that says psychobabble summary/conclusion (if there's fine print it could say the biomedical findings are inconsistent and therefore not real or experimental, since they can't be replicated in the psychobabble research).

You might consider labeling the "Drugs" with "SSRI" or "Elavil" something like that which makes it more clear that the Dr. is NOT treating the patients as people with a non-depression disease or even treating them as bona fide sick people. Or perhaps better yet, label it "placebo".

You'd also have to somehow explain the background of psychobabble, that these are studies using a totally wonked inclusion, no proper controls, and manipulated conclusions. Maybe a health reporter who reads the research, exclaims over it, and writes an article but the Spin Media Rep won't publish it.

Great ideas. Love the Placebo!

The biological research needs to be addressed for sure....

 

[markmc20001]

Mark...don't be discouraged if "someone" thinks it is not ready for the New Yorker. There a many who could give a rats a$$ about the New Yorker.

Getting the key point across is the what is important. Each market needs its own message to understand the implications of XMRV and other replication competent retroviruses that may have been inadvertently created and dispersed among the general population.

still working on that one!

 

[Nielk]

I have sent an e-mail to the New Yorker last week. I got an instant automatic e-mail confirming that they received my e-mail
but, no other response. My e-mail probably is probably laying in a garbage dumpster by now.

I guess if you are insulted by this cartoon like me, we can just stop buying the magazine. (I's sure the 5 of us who would boycott the New Yorker, will bring it down financially)

 

[Boule de feu]

I think the idea of submitting our own cartoon to the New Yorker is a great idea but, if we really want them to publish it, we have to come up with a simple version and a one or two sentence punch. That's the style that they go for.

I was thinking more in the style of the original offensive cartoon. Instead of showing one couch, show behind it an infinite amount of couches behind it fading into the background with woman, man and child laying on them. No one else in the room.
caption on the bottom saying over a million women, men and children laying on couches across America. On top it would say from the CDC: We can't handle all these sick people suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome. Let's just tell them it's all in their head and they'll go away!

I also think it is a good idea. I would change one thing: I would put two CDC guys in the room with the patients.
One would say to the other: Woooo! Do you see how sick they are? What can we do to make them better? Would an anti-viral help?
The other guy would respond: Naaaa. Don't bother. We'll just tell them that they are not very sick. It's all in their heads. Maybe then, they will go away.

 

[WillowJ]

what is a keyword for neglect, patronization, persecution, abuse, stigmatization, of and prejudice towards patients?

 

[Boule de feu]

what is a keyword for neglect, patronization, persecution, abuse, stigmatization, of and prejudice towards patients?

WESSELY !

Did I win something? LOL

 

[WillowJ]

WESSELY !

Did I win something? LOL

LOL, that's all too true!

no prize, I was just adding keywords to the thread and wondered what someone would search for, if they didn't know about CFS but were generally looking for human rights abuse situations, prejudice, stigma...

 

[Boule de feu]

Oh, well. I tried. LOL