Controversial cartoon
The cartoon depicts a Nazi storm trooper in Berlin of 1943 buying "Jew free soap". It was published in Finland and caused a lot of controversy -- for various reasons. You can read the discussion here.
Finland was allied with Germany in WWII so Finns know the history of Nazism better than most and I think that part of the disquiet in Finland over the cartoon was an awareness that Nazis were a lot like modern-day Leftists -- and modern Leftists (particularly obesity warriors and Greenies) are very keen on products being "free" of various demonized components. So it could be seen as a mockery of the modern-day Left. And later comments by the cartoon author tend in that direction
The Nazis were in fact nature freaks so the comparison is a fair one.
The cartoon has been taken down from its original source in a major Finnish daily. Once again, certain topics are not supposed to be even thought about.
5 comments:
If they wanted the cartoon to remain, all they had to do was make it anti-Christian.
It couldn't have been much of a public reaction since this is the first I hear about it. I do read the Helsingin Sanomat daily but obviously I should pay more attention to all the "important" stuff.
As for the cartoon, it's not the funniest of the series which is usually very good and one of the funniest cartoons around. Quite often it makes fun of politically incorrect things and has used the Nazi theme many times before. Word plays like this one are also common.
There is a mistake in the translation though. The joke is not that it's "Jew free soap" but that it's "Free Range Jew soap". So the storm trooper is happy that he can buy soap that is made from ethically treated Jews that are free to roam the camp site instead of the Jews kept in cages.
How do we know the character in the cartoon is a Nazi?
I don't see any identifing symbols such as the Swastika or the SS badge.
For all we know he could be a Finnish Boy Scout Leader.
The cap on the guy is a Sturm Abteilung cap
I thought that trying to win an argument by trying to compare an opponent's position to the Nazis (no matter how out of time, place and context) was now considered an admission of failure or desperation.
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