8 INSANELY CUTE Child Soldiers

[Courtesy Flush]

http://www.theonion.com/articles/slideshow-8-insanely-cute-child-soldiers,31003/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_campaign=standard-post:headline:default#slide-5



The Onion hits another one out of the park.

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. omg

[nick of time]

2. The RUF in Sierra Leone was well known for recruiting children

to fight in their civil war.
Disgusting.

[notadmblnd]

3. You do know that these children don't just sign up to fight for fun and games?

That often times they've watched their families and communities murdered by thugs. You do know that the only choice they are given is fight or die?

[Arctic Dave]

5. Did you notice the link?

It's a spoof.

[notadmblnd]

9. Just because it's the Onion, doesn't mean it is funny.

sorry, maybe others will get a huge laugh but I did not find it funny.

[Posteritatis]

12. The Onion stopped being just about humour awhile ago

Articles like that are supposed to make you uncomfortable.

[notadmblnd]

15. Uncomfortable in what way?

maybe it's over my head, but I don't get it. The plight of child soldiers is tragic so could someone explain to me what exactly the message was supposed to be?

[Posteritatis]

19. Your reaction's probably not far off from the intent, actually

A lot of what the Onion does is straight-up satirical humor, but in the last year or so they've gotten angrier about some things as well. Every few weeks they'll bust out something like this with the intent of shocking people out of their comfort zone by reminding them of something a lot of us would rather pretend wasn't going on, or being really in-your-face about a problematic attitude or something similar that people like to euphemize.

Put another way, a lot of people are likely to just have their eyes slide over a news article about child soldiers without actually noticing much about it - in part because those articles are often pretty sanitized, unlike, say, the picture the OP included in the article. Something like that in the Onion gets noticed much more starkly - as happened in your case - and that makes the problem mentally just a bit harder to ignore.

You can tell what issues really get people at the Onion genuinely angry, as opposed to the more normal "oh, hey, satire fodder!" reaction, because they channel it into stuff like this or something similarly rain-of-anvils subtle.

A local political cartoonist whose work I follow (Bruce Mackinnon - I'd recommend him to anyone, though probably half his work is very local-relevant) has been working the same way most of his career; he'll do a steady stream of funny, sometimes cutting, sometimes downright venomous political toons around the usual jokes and satire of the field. If something comes along that makes him genuinely angry, he cuts loose in a different style, no attempts at humor (or if it's there it's the very bleakest kind), and the results stick in peoples' heads for days.

I see something very similar in more of the Onion's articles lately.

[notadmblnd]

25. Thank you for explaining The Onions attitude towards this subject

Contrary to some posters opinion of what I posted to the OP, I was not being disingenuous or mean when I asked if they were aware of the plight of child soldiers. I think many people are not aware that these kids are torn from their families and communities and forced to fight by the thugs that recruit/capture them.

Some of the captions under the photos led me to believe that the article was portraying these children as eager to kill and I found that a poor attempt at humor.

There is nothing funny about the exploitation of human beings, especially children who are forced to kill against their wills.

[deutsey]

29. When the Onion does this type of satire it reminds me of National Lampoon's

Vietnamese Baby Book back in the '70s, "a vividly anti-war parody of the familiar 'baby book' diary, in which the unfortunate parents fill in items such as 'baby's first shrapnel.'"

http://www.marksverylarge.com/people/mod.html

Or this famous cover after the My Lai massacre:

[Posteritatis]

33. I'm pretty sure they're incredibly aware of it and framed it this way to spread that around

The contrast between the captions and the pictures is about as jarring as you can get working in that sort of medium. The Onion's usually about turning things on their head a little anyway; stuff like that certainly takes it a few steps further than their usual content.

When they go in that direction that harshly, it's usually something they're very aware of, and something they're upset that other people aren't very aware of.

[notadmblnd]

37. I know others aren't aware. It was the point of my question to the OP

because others aren't aware of how such an atrocity comes about. These children don't just go and join up with for fun and games or because they want to kill. IMO, the captions in the slide show that The Onion posted doesn't reflect the reality of a child solders plight, and someone who isn't aware of that might get the impression that the article implies that this is something the children want to do. I didn't find it humorous satirically or any other way and I really don't get what the Onion was trying to say.

I wasn't criticizing the OP as some here who read my post seem to think and am honestly taken aback at some of their responses to me for asking someone to explain what the Onion was trying to say. I also think it is ironic that those who accuse me of being critical are so critical of what I post to the point of being downright rude.

So I want to take a moment and thank you for giving me an honest answer.

Thank you

[kestrel91316]

20. Satire has been used to make political statements since, oh, about 2500 BC.

If you don't like it you can go back to that head-buried-in-sand thing. No need to be nasty to the OP.

[notadmblnd]

23. I was not being nasty and my head is not buried in the sand

I said I did not find the slide show funny. I was told I was missing the point. Asking if the OP is aware of the plight or asking someone to explain to me how this satire is humorous is not being nasty to the OP.

[OldDem2012]

24. If someone has to explain to you The Onion's raison d'etre....

....chances are probably very good to excellent you'll never understand what they're trying to say.

[notadmblnd]

28. That's why I'm asking someone to explain it

Because I don't understand what they are trying to say. But I find myself beginning to wonder if anyone else understands it either because only one person here has made the attempt to explain what it is the Onion was trying to say.

So are you telling me that you get it but can not explain it, or are you telling me that you don't get it either?

[OldDem2012]

31. How many more explanations do you need? Posters in this thread have repeatedly tried to explain....

....to you the intent of The Onion by publishing this article and you're still not grasping the basic concept. It's not our fault that you seem completely incapable of understanding satire. If you don't understand the meaning of the word "satire", look it up.

My advice to you at this point is to contact The Onion directly and discuss this issue with the author instead of continuing to play the "righteous indignation" game in this thread.

[obamanut2012]

26. It isn't supposed to be funny, it's satire

[Logical]

14. You are missing the point. n-t

[notadmblnd]

18. please, tell me what the point is.

because you are right. I am missing it.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

32. Step One: Grasp stick firmly

Step Two: Remove from butt

[notadmblnd]

34. Really, that is what you had to say?

Really?

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

35. Yep. That is what I had to say.

Really.

[KittyWampus]

4. father of my friend's son was from Guatemala. He was taken by guerillas around age 9.

Wandered around with them for a while til he met up with his older brother and they both walked to Costa Rica where he can't leave cause he has no papers.

He didn't even know what "side" the guys were from that took him, either.

[joeybee12]

6. OMG...I am SOOOO Glad this is The Onion

I was afraid at first to click on this!

[Posteritatis]

7. The Onion's got some fangs lately, even by their own standards.

Their last year or so has been pretty impressive.

[GeorgeGist]

8. My fav ...

[pinboy3niner]

10. All the more horrifying to those of us who have 'been there, done that'

They portray combat troops as 'Rambo'--having not a clue about what that costs us--deserved or not.

As a combat vet, seeing children sent to war just breaks my heart.

[derby378]

11. You might be interested in this memoir from a child soldier who survived

He's written a book about his ordeal called A Long Way Gone. I've heard him speak before, but I need to get his book.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7519542

[Brigid]

17. He was on The Daily Show a couple of years ago.

I need to read his book.

[Alameda]

22. My grandfather was a child soldier

.....he was only 14 years old, during WW l he was sent to do trench warfare. He came out with a sever case of "shell shock", from which he never recovered. He was gassed and suffered from the chemicals he was subjected to. Needless to say, he died young.

I look at his photo in uniform, a baby face.....so sad.

[sarisataka]

13. It may be from the Onion

but child soldiers are no joke. It is estimated in 2007 that there were 200,000 to 300,000 children under the age of fifteen who were fighting as active combatants in wars.
Groups who use young children find them to be among their most effective troops. Opposing forces often hesitate to fire back at children and given the psychological development, the children cannot grasp their own mortality so are among the most fearless on the battle field. They are also known to be the most ruthless not stopping until every opponent is dead.

I see no humor in these photos, just some of the lowest depravity of the human race.

[kestrel91316]

21. And that, ultimately, is the point of this satirical piece.

[deutsey]

30. +1

[pinboy3niner]

16. As a combat vet, seeing children sent to war just breaks my heart. :cry:

The trauma is overwhelnming for adults.

[ellisonz]

36. I think this may be the first time I found The Onion to be un-funny.

Perhaps if it were more direct in its satire, but otherwise, it's just kind of making light of the subject.

[CBGLuthier]

27. the really sad thing is if they were all ten years older and americans

some would cheer their bloodthirsty desires as patriotic and invite them to join our armed services so they can travel the world and kill people who are not like them.

They may have meant for us to point at and "laugh" but instead it is just another fun house mirror,