I write and draw comics as Appupen. I like comics as a form of expression because it is something funny and irreverent that I can do with limited resources and reasonable independence.
What I have drawn is a series of posters spoofing popular movies, inspired by the current political scenario in India, that provides bite-sized, instant gratification for our social media scrollers. Alas, the truth is bitter and there is only so much sugar-coating that comics can do.
Subverting mainstream ideas and appropriating pop references used to be the domain of great cartoonists and incisive magazines like MAD and AdBusters, but now the governments and their PR machines do them better. At the same time, lampooning the establishment is often met with threats or legal consequences.
Power begets politicians who spew venom with immunity. Big business and big brother have us bound in duct tape. The headlines are more hilarious than the best cartoons can hope to be. Political cartoons are not new in the country, but the way they are perceived is. The joke is on us, with mainstream media acting as the mouthpiece of power.
My point? We have accepted all this and we wait to obey the next diktat. We like and share only what suits our narrative, just like the nation. Thought crime seems the natural next step, so let me clarify that I did not think this up. It is their idea, not mine. I used to do dark political cartoons, but now I have seen the light.
Appupen is a cartoonist who has published a few graphic novels, the latest being Dream Machine, about how AI can be a great tool for an authoritarian regime | INSTAGRAM HANDLE: @APPUPEN