polerno at 9:38AM, July 13, 2010

Kindergarten? The brain washing starts with Disney!

coinilius at 3:40AM, June 21, 2006

Thanks for that - I got the part about the colleges, as I've heard that complaint about US colleges before - it doesn't have the same 'immediatness' for me since, like I mentioned, our universities (at least where I am - probably the more major ones down south would be different) aren't the same. I think the imagery just started confusing me, since I wasn't sure if they were supposed to be in 'opposition' to each other in regards to there politics or not. Again, thanks for that - it's always interesting to hear about American politics from people who live there, rather than just filtered through the media *thumbs up*

KAM at 2:08PM, June 20, 2006

I thought about about putting a graphic on it saying "Red State America", but I hate the term Red State being used to refer to Conservative Americans. Since Red was what Conservatives called Communists I wonder if the term was originally used as an insult to Conservatives. As for the symbolism, it was just my way of trying to indicate that both characters are conservatives: patriotic, religious, & apple pie. The fence wasn't meant to symbolize anything (nor was the fact that the woman in red looks more like a man in drag than a woman.) The flagpole was supposed to come down between them, but I had to rearrange some elements in the picture to fit. The brainwashing refers to the fact that colleges in America tend to have very liberal professors & conservatives worry about this warping their children's POV & morals. Especially since getting a decent job is usually dependent on having a college diploma.

coinilius at 8:11AM, June 20, 2006

I don't think it really has much of an impact on me, this joke - the universities here in central Queensland are, well, not the same experience as college is in America. The symbology inherent in the comic has me scratching my head as well - the woman in red has a few iconic American imagery (the flag, the what-I-presume to be apple pie cooling on the window), while the woman in blue only has a cross on her side. But the cross is a pretty easy symbol to lump in with the apple pie and the flag (god and country and what have you), so I'm guessing there's not ment to be any religious comment involved as well (a cigar is sometimes a cigar, and a cross is sometimes just a bit of background... unless it's not just a bit of background, as it and the pie have such a prominent presence, and positioned on 'opposite' sides of the picture). And yet I can't help but feel more 'weight' is given to the woman in red being more 'American'than the other woman, but on the other hand, the nature of her comment seems to suggest that her child is also away at college being brainwashed. Gah! I'm terribly confused by this comic, which I think I might chalk up to cultural differences :)

Hogan at 3:08PM, June 18, 2006

She is mistaken... the brainwashing starts already in kindergarten! o.o

KAM at 5:17AM, June 17, 2006

Hopefully they'll take everything with a grain of salt & continue thinking for themselves, MM.

magicalmisfits at 9:49PM, June 15, 2006

I get it. Unfortunatly my kids are just about ready for their brainwashing!