I have no problem with Douglas Kneeland`s Nov. 13 column ”On cartoons and controversies.” I do have a problem with many recent cartoons which are obscure or intelligible only to certain insiders. I thought cartoons were supposed to simplify and clarify complicated issues, not confuse them.
Case in point: the cartoon which appeared on the same page the previous day. As I interpret it, several old ladies are taking a cab home after attending a performance of Shakespeare`s ”Henry V.” One of them says, ”And we can`t wait for ”Malcolm the Tenth.” This stopped me for a moment until I realized that she was referring to Malcolm X, about whom a movie is now being promoted. So far, so good, but why are the ladies all carrying small dogs? Is there a point here I am missing? I am 84 years old, but I don`t think my brains have completely congealed. So what`s the deal?
Hardly a week goes by without one or more cartoons that don`t make much sense to me. Perhaps I`m just a fussy octogenarian who, like Bush, ”doesn`t get it.” But I really don`t think so.
