Ten days ago I spoke here about Maus. It’s been revealed that one week before then, on January 10, Maus was banned from a school district in Tennessee.
Jonathan Pierce, the board member who initiated the vote to remove Maus from the eighth-grade curriculum, said during the meeting that the Holocaust should be taught in schools, but this was not the book to do it.
Today happens to be Holocaust Remembrance Day. So now the question is, what Holocaust books does the McMinn County School Board allow in its schools? Being Tennessee, gotta wonder if they’re teaching “Intelligent Design” as scientific fact.
Last week I noted that Art Spiegelman’s Maus won a Pulitzer Prize. It was the first, and so far it’s the only, graphic novel to be awarded that distinction.
The category of graphics that the Pulitzer people have recognized for exactly one hundred years is editorial cartooning. But no more. From now on, the category will be called Illustrated Reporting and Commentary. Cartooning is not illustration, and if they think this somehow dignifies the craft, it doesn’t work for me.
The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists seems to be taking the change in stride. Maybe some of their Illustrated Reporters and Commentators will have something to say about it.
FYI for cartoonists entering the @PulitzerPrizes. From their site: "The Editorial Cartooning category is now called Illustrated Reporting and Commentary. Redefined last year, the category recognizes "a distinguished portfolio of editorial cartoons or other illustrated work"
This segment on Marketplace discusses beauty products for women. Note that the conversation isn’t politicized, and no blame is placed on men for influencing women to want these products. *Whew!*
The expression “for sure” is used, and in the original broadcast both reporters say “totally,” but that’s edited out here. Which reinforces my impression that today’s speech patterns continue to reflect the influence of a Frank Zappa single, released 40 years ago.
It’s funny that, in contrast to the other girls, Zappa’s daughter (now 54 years old) was dressed like she was auditioning for a part in “Little House on the Prairie.” Sean Penn performed the male version of the twang that same year in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
The name of this post isn’t taken from the title of the famously long-running Agatha Christie play. It’s from chapter 6 in volume 1 of Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel, Maus.
“My Father Bleeds History,” and volume 2 of Maus, “And Here My Troubles Began,” present an unblinking and unsparing look at the Holocaust, as related by Spiegelman’s father. In harrowing detail, Spiegelman depicts the desperate efforts made by his father to survive, even when it meant favoring himself and his family over other Jews.
Like the Agatha Christie play, last night’s featured segment on 60 Minutes is a murder mystery. It grapples with an instance of Nazi collaboration by Jews, and one member in particular of the Jewish Council in Holland. The greater truth is that, when it’s a matter of survival, there will always be collaborators.
Acts of betrayal made under tragic life-and-death circumstances are rationalized as, “I did what I had to do to survive.” Sad to say, a feckless variation of that, “I was following orders,” was used as a defense by Nazi soldiers who were accused of atrocities.
Once again I will mention Arno Maris, my drawing instructor in college. Under cover of night, Arno escaped from Nazi occupation in the Netherlands in a row boat. Having no expectation of surviving, by an incredible stroke of luck he was rescued by a Merchant Marine ship.
