THE FLOOR OPENS UP FOR TORONTO-BASED COMIC ARTIST
Story by James Harrison
Jason Kieffer has a hate club, and this past week he took them out for a drink. The award-nominated comic artist took the stage on Thursday in a small but crowded room at Toronto’s Central bar in order to discuss, and ultimately defend, his latest book, The Rabble of Downtown Toronto. In addition to the artist’s friends, fans, and family in attendance was a complement of critics, there to challenge the book as offensive, hateful, libellous, etc.
The Rabble has ruffled feathers for its controversial treatment of marginalized persons. The book consists of about 40 profiles of those in the absolute lowest social strata, some real and others composites, all derived from Kieffer’s observations based on a lifetime of downtown living.
At first glance, the book’s candor could easily be construed as offensive. It reads as unsympathetic. The art pulls no punches, clearly identifying every stain, illness, and addiction – the driving force behind much of the controversy. Characters like “retarded crackhead” and “escaped mental patient” really do make the reader feel uncomfortable.
Controversy in art often stems from interpretation, and in this case it seems as though Kieffer’s detractors have missed the point. He isn’t drawing from his perspective necessarily, but rather from a more general viewpoint. Despite our occasional sympathies, this IS how we view these people. Our experiences with marginalized people is reduced to our own little dossiers of nicknames, anecdotal hearsay and brief encounters. Kieffer has drawn the stains because we see them.
Despite seeing this on a nearly daily basis as Torontonians, we allow the problems facing these folks to persist, preferring to cross to the other side of the street than risk an encounter with the byproducts of myriad failing social systems. We leave it up to the politicians to “fix” the problem. From the stage, Kieffer expressed a disdain for those who ignore his subject matter in day-to-day life. In a sense, The Rabble takes what people really do see and think, and shoves it squarely in the reader’s face, which is what makes it so hard to read. It’s difficult to see things that you’re not proud of drawn out in front of you.
Opponents have attacked The Rabble for so many reasons that it’s difficult to defend them all: that the book encourages violence towards the homeless; that the characters in the book were not asked for permission for their inclusion; that some of the information about certain characters is inaccurate; that marginalized people are incapable of defending themselves; that the book demeans them; that Kieffer is exploiting them; that Kieffer has committed libel; the list goes on, I’m sure (the reductio ad Hitlerum came early in the evening).
Given Kieffer’s devotion to marginalized people in his work (this is his eighth book on the subject), many of these criticisms don’t hold much water. To his “hate club”, at worst Kieffer is some Zundel-esque hatemonger, pathologically bent on the destruction of the homeless; at best, he is an ignorant child scribbling cruel pictures. The book falls victim to the notion that if something is in cartoon form, then it must be a joke, which perhaps is one of the reasons it has been ill received by some.
Kieffer did his best to defend himself, although it became clear that like most debates, minds were made up before anyone entered the room. Credit is owed to moderator Dave Lapp for diffusing much of the shouting, suggesting that attacks at least be phrased in the form of a question. Some of the issues are perhaps too large to be shouldered by the artist, such as the role of art as provocateur, and the social issues behind Kieffer’s depictions. In some ways, he is forced into the role of spokesperson, unwillingly at times perhaps, although not completely unanticipated.
It might be easy to imagine better ways to help marginalized people than lambasting indie comic creators over their artwork, but despite being misguided, the hearts of the critics at Central seem to be in the right place. They care deeply about the topic, and their anger towards the book is a visceral reaction to the exact issues Kieffer is attempting to raise. They and he are on the same side, but unfortunately this is not something they seem to realize. One can only assume that this kind of infighting within a single side of a cause ultimately threatens any potential for real change.
