I sat down to my weekly bagel on a date with my husband. We only get one day every so often to spend together. Then I found the Brent Brown comic in the Sept. 18 Xpress. I was shocked!
How dare you make light of obesity! Is this what the Mountain Xpress thinks of overweight people? Is this how you see larger people: Carnival snackers without the ability to control themselves?
We live in Asheville, the most diverse, accepting place in America — as long as you're not fat, though, huh? Nice.
I'll be sure to let everyone know.
— Dani Ruska
Asheville
Thanks for reading through to the end…
We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.
We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.
Once again, the common misconception that a cartoon published in a newspaper reflects the views of the newspaper and not those solely of the cartoonist rears its ignorant head.
Mr. Cohen is correct. Not only does the Mountain Xpress have no hand in creating or influencing the content or topics of this comic/cartoon published in their paper (other than an understanding that it will relate to a local topic in some way); they have at times refused to run those they felt would cause them to fend off undue negative, litigious or indignant responses, such as yours.
Thank you for encouraging a continued paranoid and overly cautious humor-killing environment where sterile, safe, bland attempts at appeasing every possible segment of society that could possibly have a problem with anything that might be seen as nothing less than positive and superlative and cautiously generic are the goal! The eventual watered-down result will not please (but at least not offend) anyone, (except for people who prefer prickly puns to patronizing pablum, but you can’t please everyone, I guess.)
“the Mountain Xpress ha(s) no hand in creating or influencing the content or topics…”
“…they have at times refused to run those they felt would cause them to fend off undue negative, litigious or indignant responses…”
Those seem somewhat contradictory. I agree with David that the majority of the credit/blame resides with the cartoonist, but the publisher, with the ability to (and history of) refusing to print certain cartoons, has a measure of responsibility.
I suppose that, in a sense, the act of approving certain cartoons and rejecting others could indirectly lead an exasperated contributor to use that experience to adjust their submissions thusly, and that would amount to an influence in the type of cartoons that were created thereafter. Whether that is the same as directly requesting the cartoon to be about something or not is a nit I will leave for more argumentative people to pick. I only meant that the MX never tells a contributor “hey, do a cartoon making fun of fat people” as is implicitly stated here.
Cartoons are meant to be edgy and provocative.
Asheville is easily the most entertaining city I’ve ever seen- but not for music, theater, guest speakers, etc.
The thin-skinned residents who wage PC language war upon others like a touchy feely box of chocolates are the true entertainers- one never knows who will be offended.
Meanwhile, Mtn X’s other cartoonist portrays many local residents as some sort of bucktoothed, (overweight),provincial troglodytes- sometimes he even draws pictures of old people that feature wrinkles! I think we need to get rid of all cartoons in all forms!- think of the children!
I think I also am offended by:
-how minorities are portrayed in cartoon form
-how minorities are not portrayed in cartoon form
-how long haired hippy types are portrayed
-how long haired hippy types are not portrayed
-how alternative lifestyle types are portrayed
-how alternative lifestyle types are not portrayed
-how animals are portrayed
-how animals are not portrayed
-how women are portrayed
-how women are not portrayed
-how cartoons do not include subtitles in every
other language
-lack of warning labels on cartoons as children
may read them
-lack of children in cartoons
-portrayal of children in cartoons
-portrayal of handicapped
-lack of portrayal of handicapped
I hope I’ve covered at least some of the possible ways I’ve been offended.
Oh yeah, and the whole black letters on white pages in print form only serves to draw attention to racial tensions. I’m also offended by how it’s not addressed as racial tension is important to talk about.
And I’m offended by a lack of American Sign language translations both in print and online for the hearing impaired.
And I’m offended that Mtn. X. does not offer a Braille form of its website online.
To be absolutely thorough, I’m also offended by any past, present or future posts that do not agree with me 100% as my precious self esteem may be negatively affected.
Why are you letting it bother you?