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The axing of Leunig

By Dara Macdonald - posted Monday, 1 November 2021


But again instead of seeing the big message of hypocrisy, his critics called him an old white man, a misogynist, and assumed the worst intentions, as this Tweet illustrates nicely (or rather meanly):

"Is he having a sly dig at abusive government? Or at people who believe coercive control is abuse?
It's Leunig, so my money's on the latter.
Which makes his "Isn't this how we're all kept in line" defense horrifying.
Gotta keep the missus in line, amirite boys?

#EnoughIsEnough"

So, Leunig was already in the bad books of many of those that peruse the Fairfax papers looking for outrage when he submitted a series of cartoons that were apparently beyond the pale.

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The most recognisable is the illusion to Tiananmen Square which didn't get published but was widely circulated on social media as it hit a chord for many that objected to the vaccine mandates.

All of this outrage follows a similar theme, of a lack of appreciation of illusion and the non-literal. Earlier this year the editorial cartoonist for the Australian, Johannes Leak, had a finding against him for a cartoon depicting Joe Biden's pandering to identity politics as being racist rather than satirising racism, but in doing so they had to view this cartoon as entirely without the intended satire.

In many ways the fate of Leunig is the fate of all artists that play with illusion at a time and in a culture that no longer has the faculties to grasp or appreciate the non-literal.

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This article was first published on All Minus One.



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About the Author

Dara Macdonald writes at The Conservative Vagabond.

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