Any MORE thoughts?
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The idea of forcing an artist, be he a cartoonist or otherwise, to include certain characters in his strip in order to be published is just odious to me. I know that it's not the way things work in this politically correct world we live in, but I think an artist's work should be judged on its merits, not on how "racially equal" it is. Hampering creative freedoms like that is just one of many smalls steps that would eventually lead to an Orwellian society like that depicted in "1984".

It also seems pretty stupid to force someone to write about or draw characters that he may know nothing about! Many cartoonists base their strips on their own lives and experiences. (A very good example of this would be "For Better or For Worse.") How can you expect a cartoonist to suddenly throw in, say, a New Zealander into their comic strip, citing a need for racial equality, when that artist knows nothing about New Zealand's people and culture? That character is going to seem forced and stereotypical to say the least.

There's nothing wrong with an artist *studying* up on a new people and culture if he wants to add some diversity to his work. But it should be something that the artist *wants* to do, and it should make sense as part of his storyline. He shouldn't be forced into creating a contrived character by his publisher in order to be "PC".

Gri"wow, I didn't know I had that rant in me!"shny