Toon Town

The current flap concerning the New Yorker’s “Obamas in the Oval Office” cover has caused the magazine’s management to offer up some pretty esoteric theories about humor and satire – theories that have failed to satisfy anyone (including themselves, I imagine). What they would like to say, but can’t, is that the New Yorker – and especially its cartoons – are so sophisticated that no one west of the Hudson River can possibly be expected to “get” them. This is, in fact, a fair statement… and they would certainly not lose any of their elite readership by making it clear that this has been their premise all along. To gain entrance to some sort of high priesthood of the cultural intelligentsia, it has always been required that one be able to comprehend New Yorker cartoons. In fact, when one tries to visualize one of the “effete elite”, the image that comes to mind always includes them holding the latest issue of the New Yorker and chuckling quietly over the cartoons. C’mon, let’s admit it! An effete intellectual snob without his New Yorker would be like a redneck without his Caterpillar cap – it just ain’t done. But neither side in the current controversy is willing to admit to the basic facts of the matter, which include: (1) The New Yorker was never meant for the “unwashed”, which means for just about anybody outside of Manhattan; and (2) Its concept of humor is way too rarefied for the average slob; and (3) Ne’er the twain shall meet; and (4) Why should they? It’s a free country, and the “New Yorker types” should be able to enjoy their exclusivity without being harassed by the hoi polloi or the media who serve them, don’t you think?