War and Animation
An Interview with Local Filmmaker Chris Harding
by Ashley Duncan
Pawnee High School Warrior
December 1, 2004
Local animator Chris Harding has just finished a new film and is currently submitting it to film festivals around the country. The style looks like something out of the 1950s, and although it is very funny and very bloody, it has a very serious topic: war. I interviewed Chris Harding about the cartoon and why he made it.
WARRIOR
Is Learn Self Defense an anti-war film?
No. It's more about the idea of... kind of... taking a casual attitude toward war-- using it as a tool, instead of a last, desperate resort. In this cartoon, the main character is assaulted very, very brutally in the beginning. I don't think anyone would fault him for fighting back. Even seeking revenge would be, if not the high road, at least understandable.
But instead, in his vulnerable state, he is convinced by a persuasive, invisible narrator to adopt coercion as a strategy for dealing with every challenge, until it isn't really defense anymore-- it's offense.
Also, there's this ridiculous idea that we could all somehow be safe from all danger if we just put all our efforts into self-defense, and forget about every other priority. That's just never going to happen and it leads to insane paranoia and the erosion of regular life.
In defense of the war, I think there are a lot of people who feel it is the genuine responsibility of the US to protect the international community from monstrous dictators. I can see that point of view, but I just think there's a logical fallacy in the idea that democracy can be spread through force, or that absolute safety can ever be attained. Representing that on an individual scale with a cartoon character is my sick way of arguing that point.
WARRIOR
Are people seeing the subtle distinctions that you intend?
HARDING
People have seen more subtlety and variety in it than I was expecting, which is great. There have been people who seem to like it as pure funny slap-stick-- they don't see any subtext at all, which amazes me a little. Other people seem to take it as, "Yeah! Go get 'em, George!" which is interesting. One guy wrote me that he thought it was funny until someone explained the political subtext to him, and then he didn't like it anymore.
WARRIOR
The main character's name is George. Is Learn Self Defense anti-Bush? Will it become irrelevant after his administration ends?
HARDING
Maybe, but I hope this thing is about more than one little man. These attitudes have been running through humanity forever. A lot of intelligent people feel that it is necessary, and that our situation was inevitable. I'm still naive enough to think of war as the very, very last resort, and to believe it's worth bending over backward to avoid that kind of destruction. Obviously, I could be wrong.
Anyway, this cartoon uses our current situation as a reference point,
for sure. But you'll notice the character of George doesn't really
instigate any of the action. He's a small player in a bigger game. The
muggers in the alley are real and dangerous. And the invisible narrator
calls all the shots from there. It's really about that narrator, and
what he's proposing. George doesn't have any ideas of his own to speak of.
WARRIOR
But you don't really offer a solution to the problems you highlight.
HARDING
No. But if you're going to write about what's on your mind at the moment, that's what you get sometimes. I don't have a solution. But to point out something you think is wrong, that's legitimate. That's step one-- to say Why are you doing that?
So if anything, it's about asking a question: If you're standing in a room with a guy who you think may or may not be about to punch you in the face, is it possible to brainstorm a solution besides punching him first? Because once you do that, you begin to resemble him quite a bit.
The one simple goal here was to take this "Roger Miller's Golden Rule" approach to foreign policy-- do unto others before they do it unto you-- and apply it to an individual's personal behavior. I know this is a simplification-- international relations can require choosing between evils-- but I still think it's interesting.
WARRIOR
So what you're saying is that you don't think the idea of preventative
war would pass Kant's Categorical Imperative test?
HARDING
What? How old are you again?
WARRIOR
17.
HARDING
I don't know if that's gonna be popular material for an Arts and Entertainment interview, Ashley. But yes, kind of... Would we want to make preventative war the rule we live by and expect others to live by? Maybe we don't. That's the big debate, or at least it should be.
WARRIOR
Do you really think a five minute cartoon can really make any difference or change anyone's mind?
HARDING
Hell no. It's supposed to be funny and entertaining. That is the absolute main purpose. It's just that I don't usually find pop culture references and fart jokes entertaining enough to get me through those long nights of animation. It's hard to get motivated enough to finish a project unless I'm really wrapped up in the ideas. Dr. Strangelove is one of my favorite movies because it's so incredibly well done from a comic point of view, while at the same time it's about something very important. At the time, Stanley Kubrick was genuinely freaking out about the possibility of a nuclear holocaust. It was a very, very serious threat in the early sixties. But the whole idea of mutual annihilation was just so absurd, the only way to address it was with humor.
My friends and I have a rule: if it's funny, it's OK to say it. There's nothing to be gained by treating everything seriously in conversation. In fact, there's a direct correlation between the seriousness of an issue, and how potentially funny it is.
Anyway, I'm not trying to change anyone's view. You just have to write about what's on your mind at the moment. And I don't see why entertainment should be trivial. Or, rather, I don't see how trivia is entertaining. Strange thing for a cartoonist to say, I guess...
WARRIOR
What's your next project? Do you plan on doing more political stuff
in the future?
HARDING
I don't know. Spending months working on something that was mostly driven by anger was very taxing. I'm really sick of thinking about this stuff. I need a change of pace. World-wide religious fundamentalism is pretty hilarious. Maybe I'll do something about that.
WARRIOR
Well, good luck to you.
HARDING
Thank you, Ashley.
reprinted with permission of the Pawnee High School Warrior
GO TO THE LEARN SELF DEFENSE PAGE
GO TO THE ARTICLES ARCHIVE