1) DESCRIPTION :
The cartoon depicts three men, all of them are standing. We can clearly see in the picture, the two men in the left interviewing and recording the man on the right.
Describing the scene more accurately from left to right, the first man we can see is a cameraman. He is holding a big camera focusing on the man of the right, it conceals his face with two microphones on top of it. In the camera there is a sticker on which it's written "TV NEWS". He is wearing a plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a dark fleece vest. He wears normal jeans and sneakers. The camera cables are behind his back. In the back pocket he has a little machine.
The man in the middle is interviewing the man on the right. He is wearing a black suit, with a white shirt, a patterned tie and lace-ups shoes. He has a very big head, a flat top haircut and a smiling face. He is the tallest of them. He has a receiver earphone and he is holding a microphone on which it's written: "TV". He is saying: "We're here live with the 300 millionth american! How do you feel about this milestone, sir?". He seems to be very excited.
The last man, is short and plump. He is wearing a cap, a sleeveless white dirty undershirt and jeans ripped at the bottom. He has no shoes. The man has chest hair and a moustache. Under his arm, he has a rolled sleeping bag, in the other hand he is carrying a paper bag full of objects. He has barbed wire clinging to his pants. He seems confused and he is saying "¿Qué?".
2) INTERPRETATION
First of all, I would like to point out that the main idea of the cartoon is the fact that a big part of americans are immigrants and more particularly illegals, depicted by the man on the right of the cartoon who is a stereotyped Mexican. We can't deny that around 11 million immigrants have no documentation. There is no doubt whatsoever that this is a problem with several aspects. On the one hand, it may be asserted that firstly, it is a crime. and on the other hand,and speaking personally the most important issue, is the condition of immigrants that can be inhuman, they have not social security, their working conditions are not right most of the time, etc. Another aspect that must be emphasized is the hard journey that these illegal immigrants have had to make these illegal immigrants which is depicted by the barbed wire clinging to the pants of the man of the right that is obviously a Central American. This cartoon satirizes the fact that out of 300 million Americans, as is said in the cartoon, a large part are immigrants. Beeler proves it drawing a confused immigrant that just crossed the border and who has no idea of English.
3) How far does it illustrate the Spaces and Exchanges notion?
This document illustrates the notion of Spaces and Exchanges, in the first place because it depicts an illegal inmigrant arriving in the USA, after crossing countries and borders. Another way of looking is the fact that when someone immigrates he has to integrate in the culture and the customs of the country but in this case. Immigrants in USA are so many that instead of integrating the US customs, they share their culture (food, songs, etc.) and this is a kind of exchange, a cultural exchange.
And last but not least, I wonder about the fact that the media are also depicted in the cartoon which also shows a kind of exchange because it is information circulating around the USA but also around the world. Which means that the image of the immigrant will, as he did, cross countries and borders.
OK María.
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