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"Point the Finger"
Cover of Hup issue #3
StoryRobert Crumb
InkRobert Crumb
DateNovember 1989
Pages6[1]

"Point the Finger" is a 1989 comic book story written and illustrated by American cartoonist Robert Crumb for Last Gasp. The story appeared in the third of the four issue series of his solo title Hup. In the story, Crumb goes after then real estate businessman Donald Trump and imagines having an argument with him. Two possible endings are shown to the reader. In one, Crumb is arrested by the police for having wasted Trump's time; in the second ending, two women give Trump a swirlie in the toilet. Critics described the story as both sexist and prescient. The comic received additional attention in 2016, when Trump was elected president of the United States.

Background

In the 1980s, American cartoonist Robert Crumb continued to satirize the culture of the United States in his work, but his style of underground art changed and became more refined as he studied older work like the 16th century Flemish artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525–1569).[2] The Crumbs were living in Winters, California, but were unhappy with the rise of Ronald Reagan, his cuts to education, and the resurgence of the Christian right, members of which were attacking Crumb for his art. Reagan's cuts to education had eliminated art and music classes at their daughter's school, so the Crumbs began volunteering their time teaching drawing, but students stopped showing up after a Christian minister told members of their community that the Crumb family were "agents of the devil".[3] Unsatisfied with the transformation the United States had undergone from the counterculture of the 1960s to the culture of the 1980s, Crumb and his family left California two years after "Point the Finger" was first published and moved to a village in Southern France.[4]

Development

In 1987, Donald Trump's book Trump: The Art of the Deal became a bestseller. American cartoonist Robert Crumb read Trump's book and was offended. He thought Trump came off as an "arrogant, reprehensible, total dick"; this inspired him to develop the story for "Point the Finger".[5] Crumb created the story during the late 1980s, when Trump was known for his real estate business ventures, not his politics; the story is therefore not, as Romain Becker of the Ecole Normale Supérieure notes, about the politics of the United States, but rather a commentary on its financial system.[1] Years later, Crumb rethought the framing of the original story, thinking that he gave "too much credit [to Trump] for possessing a bit of class and sophistication"; Crumb came to believe Trump was more of a thug instead.[6]

Plot

Crumb addresses the reader to explain that he is "going to point that merciless finger at one of the more visible of the big-time predators who feed on this society..one of the most evil men alive...real estate tycoon Donald Trump". Trump is brought into the panel by two women, Tracy and Marny, while Trump and Crumb trade barbs. Crumb brings up Trump's history of controversial evictions, while Trump defends himself by claiming he donated millions to the homeless. Crumb loses to Trump, as the then 42-year-old real estate developer, uses his wiles and charisma to attract the two women into his orbit and invites them to a party at Mar-a-Lago. Crumb suddenly realizes that Trump is the living, modern-day embodiment of Trimalchio, a character from the Roman work of fiction Satyricon by Petronius (c. AD 27 – 66). The women happily leave with Trump just as the police arrive to arrest Crumb, guns drawn, leaving the reader with a sad quote from Laozi about the difference between the ways of nature and man. But just as the story has finished, Stan-the-Man Shnooter (a metafictional character parody of comic book editors Stan Lee and Jim Shooter) appears, encouraging Crumb to change the ending. The reader demands, Shnooter tells Crumb, "justice, retribution, [and] blood". Crumb gives in to his editor and a new ending is shown; this time, Crumb wins, as Trump is escorted to the restroom by the two women and given a swirlie in the toilet.[7][8]

Critical reception

Daniel Worden notes that in both endings, male figures assert dominance over each other as well as the females, lessening the difference of both endings. "Crumb projects himself as a countercultural, outsider hero who does not conform to traditional standards of masculinity," writes Worden, but this image is an illusion.[8] Edward Shannon writes that "Crumb positions himself as a lone (and often impotent) defender of the oppressed—a victim of the fascists he just as often wishes to emulate".[8] This image is described as an example of "geek masculinity" by Anastasia Salter and Bridget Blodgett, where "relationships between men and women within geek media are defined according to deeply gendered beliefs despite existing as a response to traditional masculinity".[8] Seen in this light, Worden notes that the nontraditional masculinity espoused by Crumb is based on regressive gender norms which can't escape its traditional masculinity.[8]

The comic received additional attention in 2016, when Trump was elected president of the United States.[9] Cory Doctorow describes the story as "weird, self-deprecating, sexist, and before its time. Long before 'Make America Great Again,'" writes Doctorow, "Crumb had Trump's number."[10]

References

  1. ^ a b Becker 2022, p. 72.
  2. ^ Heritage Comics and Comic Art, 2008.
  3. ^ Miller 2022, p. 54.
  4. ^ Halliday 2016.
  5. ^ Wood 2017.
  6. ^ Sayej 2019.
  7. ^ Hock 2020, pp. 5-6.
  8. ^ a b c d e Worden 2021, pp. 13-15.
  9. ^ Knudde 2023.
  10. ^ Doctorow 2016.

Bibliography

  • Becker, Romain. "How a German Publisher Appropriates Comics It Did Not Originally Publish". In Berndt, Jaqueline (ed.); Noonan, Patrick (ed.); Kukkonen, Karin (ed.) (2022). Comics and Agency. Aesthetics, Histories, and Practices, Vol. 1. Walter de Gruyter & Co. pp. 59-79. ISBN 9783110754483. OCLC 1349351778.
  • Doctorow, Cory (June 21, 2016). "R. Crumb v. D. Trump, 1989 [NSFW]". Boing Boing. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  • Halliday, Ayun (June 20, 2016). "R Crumb, the Father of Underground Comix, Takes Down Donald Trump in a NSFW 1989 Cartoon". Open Culture. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  • Heritage Comics and Comic Art (2008). Comics and Comic Art Auction #828. Lot 42060. Robert Crumb-Hup #3 Cover Original Art (Last Gasp, 1989). Heritage Comics and Comic Art. May 22–23, 2008, Dallas, Texas. Heritage Auctions.
  • Hock, Stephen (ed.) (2020). Trump Fiction: Essays on Donald Trump in Literature, Film, and Television. Lexington Books. ISBN 9781498598057. OCLC 244482651.
  • Knudde, Kjell (2023) "Robert Crumb". Comiclopedia. Lambiek. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  • Miller, M.H. (September 18, 2022). "The Last Provocateur". T: The New York Times Style Magazine. p. 54. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  • Sayej, Nadja (March 7, 2019). "Robert Crumb: 'I am no longer a slave to a raging libido'. The Guardian. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  • Wood, Alex (January 17, 2017). "Crumb On Others: Trump, Castro, & More". Crumb Newsletter. Alternate link. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  • Worden, Daniel (ed.) (2021). The Comics of R. Crumb: Underground in the Art Museum. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781496833808. OCLC 1244620552.
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