TOW #21: Visual Text

In this political cartoon by Andy Marlette, a political cartoonist for the Pensacola News Journal in Florida as well as the nephew of Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Doug Marlette, Marlette presents the issue of Donald Trump's popular image within the Republican candidacy.  By placing Donald Trump as  the new and upcoming Father Time going into 2016, Marlette is trying to emphasize how big of a role Donald Trump will play within the year due to his already popular image in the media.  By making Donald Trump tell the old father time of 2015 “You're fired loser,” Marlette paints as picture for an audience of voters how immature and ignorant Trump i of others.  He makes Trump out to be the control freak that he is by taking over 2016.  Overall, I believe that this is a great representation of Donald Trump due to the message it sends to the public.  While the cartoon is strong however, it lacks in a sense that it only references how big of a threat Donald Trump is in the year 2016.  By doing so, Marlette recommends that Trump does not have a chance at winning the presidency.  While his view is that he obviously opposes Donald Trump, he must make it clear to his audience members how big of a threat Donald Trump could be if his campaign does end up succeeding.  By just referencing 2016, the political cartoon comes off nearly as a joke as to how Donald Trump's presidential race appears currently opposed to a message about the dangers this presidential race could lead to.  This is how Andy Marlette message tends to fail in informing his audience of the repercussions that may occur as a result of the 2016 presidential election.