A free world needs satire
-
0:01 - 0:07I've been a political cartoonist
on the global stage for the last 20 years. -
0:08 - 0:11Hey, we have seen a lot of things
happen in those 20 years. -
0:12 - 0:15We saw three different Catholic popes,
-
0:15 - 0:19and we witnessed that unique moment:
-
0:19 - 0:22the election of a pope
on St. Peter's Square -- -
0:22 - 0:24you know, the little white smoke
-
0:26 - 0:28and the official announcement.
-
0:28 - 0:29[It's a boy!]
-
0:29 - 0:31(Laughter)
-
0:31 - 0:35(Applause)
-
0:37 - 0:41We saw four American presidents.
-
0:41 - 0:42Obama, of course.
-
0:42 - 0:45Oh, Europeans liked him a lot.
-
0:45 - 0:47He was a multilateralist.
-
0:47 - 0:48He favored diplomacy.
-
0:48 - 0:51He wanted to be friends with Iran.
-
0:51 - 0:56(Laughter)
-
0:58 - 0:59And then ...
-
1:00 - 1:02reality imitated caricature
-
1:02 - 1:07the day Donald Trump became the President
of the United States of America. -
1:07 - 1:10(Laughter)
-
1:10 - 1:14(Applause)
-
1:16 - 1:18You know, people come to us and they say,
-
1:18 - 1:23"It's too easy for you cartoonists.
I mean -- with people like Trump?" -
1:24 - 1:26Well, no, it's not easy
-
1:26 - 1:30to caricature a man
who is himself a caricature. -
1:30 - 1:31(Laughter)
-
1:31 - 1:32No.
-
1:32 - 1:36(Applause)
-
1:37 - 1:40Populists are no easy target for satire
-
1:40 - 1:42because you try to nail them down one day,
-
1:42 - 1:44and the next day, they outdo you.
-
1:44 - 1:47For example, as soon as he was elected,
-
1:47 - 1:51I tried to imagine the tweet
that Trump would send on Christmas Eve. -
1:52 - 1:54So I did this, OK?
-
1:54 - 1:57[Merry Christmas to all!
Except all those pathetic losers. So sad.] -
1:57 - 1:59(Laughter)
-
1:59 - 2:01And basically, the next day,
Trump tweeted this: -
2:01 - 2:04[Happy New Year to all,
including to my many enemies -
2:04 - 2:06and those who have fought me
and lost so badly -
2:06 - 2:08they just don't know what to do. Love!]
-
2:08 - 2:09(Laughter)
-
2:09 - 2:10It's the same!
-
2:10 - 2:13(Applause)
-
2:13 - 2:16This is the era of strongmen.
-
2:16 - 2:21And soon, Donald Trump was able to meet
his personal hero, Vladimir Putin, -
2:21 - 2:24and this is how the first meeting went:
-
2:24 - 2:26[I'll help you find the hackers.
Give me your password.] -
2:26 - 2:29(Laughter)
-
2:29 - 2:32And I'm not inventing anything.
-
2:32 - 2:36He came out of that first meeting
saying that the two of them had agreed -
2:36 - 2:39on a joint task force on cybersecurity.
-
2:39 - 2:41This is true, if you do remember.
-
2:41 - 2:46Oh, who would have imagined
the things we saw over these 20 years. -
2:46 - 2:50We saw Great Britain run towards
a European Union exit. -
2:50 - 2:51[Hard Brexit?]
-
2:51 - 2:54(Laughter)
-
2:56 - 2:59In the Middle East,
we believed for a while -
2:59 - 3:02in the democratic miracle
of the Arab Spring. -
3:02 - 3:06We saw dictators fall,
we saw others hang on. -
3:06 - 3:09(Laughter)
-
3:09 - 3:13And then there is the timeless
Kim dynasty of North Korea. -
3:13 - 3:16These guys seem to be coming
straight out of Cartoon Network. -
3:16 - 3:19I was blessed to be able
to draw two of them. -
3:20 - 3:21Kim Jong-il, the father,
-
3:21 - 3:25when he died a few years ago,
that was a very dangerous moment. -
3:25 - 3:26[That was close!]
-
3:26 - 3:28(Laughter)
-
3:28 - 3:30That was --
-
3:30 - 3:33(Applause)
-
3:35 - 3:38And then the son, Kim Jong-un,
-
3:38 - 3:40proved himself a worthy
successor to the throne. -
3:40 - 3:43He's now friends with the US president.
-
3:43 - 3:48They meet each other all the time,
and they talk like friends. -
3:48 - 3:49[What kind of hair gel?]
-
3:49 - 3:52(Laughter)
-
3:54 - 3:56Should we be surprised
-
3:56 - 3:58to be living in a world
-
3:58 - 4:00ruled by egomaniacs?
-
4:01 - 4:04What if they were just
a reflection of ourselves? -
4:04 - 4:06I mean, look at us, each of us.
-
4:07 - 4:09(Laughter)
-
4:10 - 4:13Yeah, we love our smartphones;
-
4:13 - 4:15we love our selfies;
-
4:15 - 4:17we love ourselves.
-
4:17 - 4:21And thanks to Facebook,
we have a lot of friends -
4:21 - 4:23all over the world.
-
4:23 - 4:25Mark Zuckerberg is our friend.
-
4:26 - 4:28(Laughter)
-
4:31 - 4:34You know, he and his peers
in Silicon Valley -
4:34 - 4:37are the kings and the emperors
-
4:37 - 4:38of our time.
-
4:39 - 4:44Showing that the emperors have no clothes,
-
4:44 - 4:46that's the task of satire, right?
-
4:46 - 4:47Speaking truth to power.
-
4:47 - 4:52This has always been the historical role
of political cartooning. -
4:52 - 4:56In the 1830s, postrevolutionary France
under King Louis Philippe, -
4:57 - 5:01journalists and caricaturists fought hard
for the freedom of the press. -
5:02 - 5:05They were jailed, they were fined,
but they prevailed. -
5:05 - 5:09And this caricature of the king by Daumier
-
5:09 - 5:11came to define the monarch.
-
5:11 - 5:13It marked history.
-
5:13 - 5:19It became the timeless symbol
of satire triumphing over autocracy. -
5:19 - 5:22Today, 200 years after Daumier,
-
5:22 - 5:26are political cartoons
at risk of disappearing? -
5:28 - 5:34Take this blank space on the front page of
Turkish opposition newspaper "Cumhuriyet." -
5:34 - 5:37This is where Musa Kart's
cartoon used to appear. -
5:37 - 5:42In 2018, Musa Kart was sentenced
to three years in jail. -
5:42 - 5:44For doing what?
-
5:44 - 5:48For doing political cartoons
in Erdoğan's Turkey. -
5:48 - 5:54Cartoonists from Venezuela, Russia, Syria
have been forced into exile. -
5:55 - 5:56Look at this image.
-
5:58 - 6:00It seems so innocent, right?
-
6:01 - 6:03Yet it is so provocative.
-
6:03 - 6:05When he posted this image,
-
6:05 - 6:08Hani Abbas knew it would change his life.
-
6:09 - 6:13It was in 2012, and the Syrians
were taking to the streets. -
6:13 - 6:18Of course, the little red flower
is the symbol of the Syrian revolution. -
6:19 - 6:22So pretty soon, the regime was after him,
-
6:22 - 6:23and he had to flee the country.
-
6:24 - 6:27A good friend of his,
cartoonist Akram Raslan, -
6:27 - 6:29didn't make it out of Syria.
-
6:29 - 6:32He died under torture.
-
6:35 - 6:39In the United States of America recently,
-
6:39 - 6:44some of the very top cartoonists,
like Nick Anderson and Rob Rogers -- -
6:45 - 6:46this is a cartoon by Rob --
-
6:46 - 6:49[Memorial Day 2018.
(on tombstone) Truth. Honor. Rule of Law.] -
6:49 - 6:50they lost their positions
-
6:50 - 6:53because their publishers
found their work too critical of Trump. -
6:54 - 6:57And the same happened
to Canadian cartoonist Michael de Adder. -
6:58 - 7:00Hey, maybe we should start worrying.
-
7:01 - 7:04Political cartoons
were born with democracy, -
7:04 - 7:06and they are challenged when freedom is.
-
7:07 - 7:09You know, over the years,
-
7:09 - 7:14with the Cartooning for Peace Foundation
and other initiatives, -
7:14 - 7:17Kofi Annan -- this is not well
known -- he was the honorary chair -
7:17 - 7:18of our foundation,
-
7:18 - 7:21the late Kofi Annan, Nobel Peace Laureate.
-
7:21 - 7:23He was a great defender of cartoons.
-
7:23 - 7:28Or, on the board of the Association
of American Editorial Cartoonists, -
7:28 - 7:34we have advocated on behalf of jailed,
threatened, fired, exiled cartoonists. -
7:35 - 7:39But I never saw a case
of someone losing his job -
7:39 - 7:40over a cartoon he didn't do.
-
7:42 - 7:43Well, that happened to me.
-
7:45 - 7:49For the last 20 years, I have been
with the "International Herald Tribune" -
7:49 - 7:50and the "New York Times."
-
7:51 - 7:52Then something happened.
-
7:53 - 7:56In April 2019,
-
7:56 - 7:59a cartoon by a famous
Portuguese cartoonist, -
7:59 - 8:03which was first published
in a newspaper "El Expresso" in Lisbon, -
8:03 - 8:05was picked by an editor
at the "New York Times" -
8:05 - 8:08and reprinted in
the international editions. -
8:10 - 8:11This thing blew up.
-
8:11 - 8:14It was denounced as anti-Semitic,
-
8:14 - 8:17triggered widespread outrage,
-
8:17 - 8:18apologies
-
8:18 - 8:21and a lot of damage control by the Times.
-
8:21 - 8:24A month after, my editor told me
-
8:24 - 8:28they were ending
political cartoons altogether. -
8:29 - 8:33So we could, and we should,
have a discussion about that cartoon. -
8:34 - 8:38Some people say it reminds them
of the worst anti-Semitic propaganda. -
8:38 - 8:40Others, including in Israel,
-
8:40 - 8:43say no, it's just
a harsh criticism of Trump, -
8:43 - 8:46who is shown as blindly following
the Prime Minister of Israel. -
8:47 - 8:49I have some issues with this cartoon,
-
8:49 - 8:52but that discussion did not happen
at the "New York Times." -
8:52 - 8:55Under attack, they took the easiest path:
-
8:55 - 8:59in order to not have problems
with political cartoons in the future, -
8:59 - 9:01let's not have any at all.
-
9:02 - 9:04Hey, this is new.
-
9:04 - 9:08Did we just invent
preventive self-censorship? -
9:09 - 9:12I think this is bigger than cartoons.
-
9:12 - 9:14This is about opinion and journalism.
-
9:14 - 9:17This, in the end, is about democracy.
-
9:19 - 9:21We now live in a world
-
9:21 - 9:24where moralistic mobs
gather on social media -
9:24 - 9:26and rise like a storm.
-
9:27 - 9:30The most outraged voices
tend to define the conversation, -
9:30 - 9:32and the angry crowd follows in.
-
9:33 - 9:35These social media mobs,
-
9:35 - 9:38sometimes fueled by interest groups,
-
9:38 - 9:41fall upon newsrooms
in an overwhelming blow. -
9:42 - 9:46They send publishers and editors
scrambling for countermeasures. -
9:46 - 9:51This leaves no room
for meaningful discussions. -
9:51 - 9:55Twitter is a place for fury,
not for debate. -
9:57 - 9:58And you know what?
-
9:58 - 10:03Someone described pretty well
our human condition in this noisy age. -
10:03 - 10:04You know who?
-
10:05 - 10:07Shakespeare, 400 years ago.
-
10:07 - 10:11["(Life is) a tale told by an idiot, full
of sound and fury, signifying nothing."] -
10:11 - 10:14This speaks to me.
Shakespeare is still very relevant, no? -
10:14 - 10:15But the world has changed a bit.
-
10:15 - 10:17[Too long!]
-
10:17 - 10:18(Laughter)
-
10:18 - 10:19It's true.
-
10:19 - 10:24(Applause)
-
10:25 - 10:29You know, social media is both
a blessing and a curse for cartoons. -
10:30 - 10:34This is the era of the image,
so they get shared, they get viral, -
10:34 - 10:37but that also makes them a prime target.
-
10:38 - 10:41More than often, the real target
behind the cartoon -
10:41 - 10:43is the media that published it.
-
10:43 - 10:45[Covering Iraq?
No, Trump!] -
10:45 - 10:48That relationship between
traditional media and social media -
10:48 - 10:50is a funny one.
-
10:50 - 10:53On one hand, you have
the time-consuming process -
10:53 - 10:55of information, verification, curation.
-
10:55 - 10:58On the other hand,
it's an open buffet, frankly, -
10:58 - 11:01for rumors, opinions, emotions,
-
11:01 - 11:04amplified by algorithms.
-
11:05 - 11:11Even quality newspapers mimic the codes
of social networks on their websites. -
11:11 - 11:14They highlight the 10 most read,
the 10 most shared stories. -
11:15 - 11:19They should put forward
the 10 most important stories. -
11:19 - 11:26(Applause)
-
11:28 - 11:33The media must not be
intimidated by social media, -
11:33 - 11:38and editors should stop
being afraid of the angry mob. -
11:38 - 11:44(Applause)
-
11:45 - 11:49We're not going to put up warnings
the way we do on cigarette packs, are we? -
11:49 - 11:50[Satire can hurt your feelings]
-
11:50 - 11:51(Laughter)
-
11:51 - 11:53Come on.
-
11:53 - 11:55[Under your burkini
you could be hiding a sex bomb] -
11:55 - 11:59Political cartoons are meant
to provoke, just like opinions. -
11:59 - 12:03But before all, they are meant
to be thought-provoking. -
12:03 - 12:04You feel hurt?
-
12:04 - 12:06Just let it go.
-
12:06 - 12:07You don't like it?
-
12:07 - 12:09Look the other way.
-
12:10 - 12:14Freedom of expression
is not incompatible with dialogue -
12:14 - 12:16and listening to each other.
-
12:16 - 12:19But it is incompatible with intolerance.
-
12:20 - 12:25(Applause)
-
12:26 - 12:33Let us not become our own censors
in the name of political correctness. -
12:33 - 12:35We need to stand up, we need to push back,
-
12:35 - 12:38because if we don't,
we will wake up tomorrow -
12:38 - 12:40in a sanitized world,
-
12:40 - 12:44where any form of satire and political
cartooning becomes impossible. -
12:44 - 12:50Because, when political pressure
meets political correctness, -
12:50 - 12:52freedom of speech perishes.
-
12:53 - 12:57(Applause)
-
12:57 - 13:01Do you remember January 2015?
-
13:02 - 13:07With the massacre
of journalists and cartoonists -
13:07 - 13:09at "Charlie Hebdo" in Paris,
-
13:09 - 13:14we discovered the most
extreme form of censorship: -
13:15 - 13:16murder.
-
13:16 - 13:18Remember how it felt.
-
13:18 - 13:19[Without humor we are all dead]
-
13:19 - 13:22Whatever one thought
of that satirical magazine, -
13:22 - 13:26however one felt about
those particular cartoons, -
13:26 - 13:31we all sensed that something
fundamental was at stake, -
13:31 - 13:35that citizens of free societies --
actually, citizens of any society -- -
13:35 - 13:39need humor as much as the air we breathe.
-
13:40 - 13:42This is why the extremists,
-
13:42 - 13:48the dictators, the autocrats and, frankly,
all the ideologues of the world -
13:48 - 13:50cannot stand humor.
-
13:52 - 13:55In the insane world we live in right now,
-
13:55 - 13:58we need political cartoons more than ever.
-
13:59 - 14:01And we need humor.
-
14:02 - 14:04Thank you.
-
14:04 - 14:11(Applause)
- Title:
- A free world needs satire
- Speaker:
- Patrick Chappatte
- Description:
-
We need humor like we need the air we breathe, says editorial cartoonist Patrick Chappatte. In a talk illustrated with highlights from a career spent skewering everything from dictators and ideologues to selfies and social media mobs, Chappatte makes a resounding, often hilarious case for the necessity of satire. "Political cartoons were born with democracy, and they are challenged when freedom is," he says.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 14:29
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for A free world needs satire | ||
Yasushi Aoki commented on English subtitles for A free world needs satire | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for A free world needs satire | ||
Yasushi Aoki commented on English subtitles for A free world needs satire | ||
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for A free world needs satire | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for A free world needs satire | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for A free world needs satire | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for A free world needs satire |
Yasushi Aoki
11:53 - 11:55
[Under your bikini
you could be hiding a sex bomb]
# bikini -> burkini
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burkini
Yasushi Aoki
I think the following texts in the pictures also should be included in the subtitles:
00:50 [barack wants to become your friend NO/YES]
01:07 [U.S. Democracy]
03:06 [Assad]
04:26 [Address Book]