I am very disappointed, not to mention even more offended, by Wednesday, April 23's "Better Than Stick Figures" comic.
The idea that Paul Hebert would think that smiley faces do not offend anyone is ignorant and promotes the assumption that everyone should be happy. It unfairly stigmatizes all those who may currently be in mourning, not to mention cynics, pessimists, English majors, fans of The Smiths and people without lips.
I will not even begin to discuss how offensive it is that the title suggests that stick figures are a lesser form of drawing.
Is your cartoonist so unaware that the opinions he expresses in your paper should be - nay, are obligated - to pander to every last one of your readers' opinions? Any personal frustrations, complaints and other ideas that may suggest the slightest bit of individual thought - no matter how true, obviously ridiculous, ignorant or slightly exaggerated they might be - have no room on an opinion page.
Is he also unaware of how easily manipulated we readers are by such expressions and how quick we take what he chooses to depict as absolute truths? In the few hours alone since I have seen his cartoon, I have noticed friends of mine, ones who normally don't smile much, continuously forcing smiles on their faces just to fit in, in fear that any other facial expression might offend someone.
That's just how dangerously effective his cartoon was (and is), and it is why I demand an immediate apology now, as well as any time in the future that his cartoon suggests something that, although it might something he truly believes, might offend or disagree with me, one of your readers.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
