Pete Smith’s Cartoons of Genius – Floundering in society without culture.

This was a very quick sketch . The original was a pencil drawing that was much more developed. It was a comment on our society. It represented people lost in the meaninglessness of the society, floundering around in search of meaning and purpose and drowning in the pointlessness. Desperate mental tendrils were being fired out like grappling hooks – looking for purchase, for something to cling on to, for some substance worthy of living for.

I can’t help thinking that things have progressed and become even worse since 1971 when Pete drew this. We are now heavily into celebrity culture and the shallowness is all too clear. Where is the purpose, meaning and substance?

We are being distracted with mindless entertainment and converted into consumer units to be bled dry. Too many mindless sheep for me. The cartoon takes on even more relevance.