Im sorry, yall, but I have something I have to get off my chest: I am not Charlie. I have been searching for some way to say that since the day after the attack. I fully support the freedom of expression and the freedom of the press. I am 100% against assassination and mass murder. I shouldnt really have to say either of those things. It feels necessary, though, since some will say that I must be either against free speech or in favor of murder in the name of some warped vision of Paradise in order to say that I am not Charlie. But, all the same, I am not Charlie. I dont think their cartoons were particularly funny. I tried really hard to enjoy their cartoons- it felt like I had an obligation to, even. But mostly, in the end, I just dont believe the cartoonists at Charlie Hebdo want the same world I want. Their cartoons definitely dont seem to me to be building a world of mutual respect and open dialogue. I changed my profile picture to one of their cartoons in some vain effort to make it clear that I didnt agree with what was done to them. I subsequently took that photo down because I realized after looking at it for a few days that it was supremely racist and a little homophobic- the Arab gentleman (and it had to be an Arab gentleman, as all of Charlies Islamic caricatures are) had the most profoundly crooked nose and the whole joke was somehow vaguely built on the assumed absurdity of two men making out. I dont believe that you have to identify with someone or agree with how they went about something in order to be against their cold-blooded execution. I dont believe that news agencies and others who have refused to reprint Charlie Hebdos cartoons are inherently cowardly or somehow in cahoots with the so-called enemy. I think many of them, like many of us, just find the cartoons to be in poor taste. Crude and irreverent isnt always automatically funny. May those who lost their lives that day rest in peace and rest in power. May those who find their cartoons funny find in them some solace and joy. And may we all find some way to honor their lives and their deaths without simply using it as yet more fodder for our hatred and violence.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 02:08:01 +0000
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