The Monk and the Beggar

I hesitate whether to even include this cartoon and the accompanying commentary. Not because the subject matter is too sensitive, but rather, by this point, this particular image seems a pretty tired and unimaginative rendering by the Burmese artist JMP. It seems he's about scraped the bucket dry and is now just kicking a dead horse.

The translation: a poor and hungry beggar approaches a well-fed monk on a luxurious chair asking for food. The monk responds, "You have good pairs of hands and feet! Why not work to earn a living instead of begging?"

The image further promotes the view that JMP has been at pains to express, that the Burmese monkhood are but a privileged clergy joining hands with the military to use Buddhist symbols and words to further manipulate and oppress the people. While I find some of his other cartoons compelling (even while disturbing), to me, this one just seems rather mean and almost too generalized to make much of a point. There is not much critical nuance here, as the monk is depicted as an overbearing bully that is somewhat ironically calling out the man for "begging" when it is quite clear that this is how monastics acquire food and other requisites.

And yet a cartoon like this seems less willing to invite a delicate conversation on a sensitive topic, as some of JMP's better images have done, and is more going down a road of pontification and gross characterization. In other words, rather than inviting the viewer in for a reflection, he's jabbing a finger to his chest as the imagery has all the nuance of a hammer smashing a nail.

Here's to hoping for more insightful commentary from a talented and important artist in the future.