Global leaders vie for gold in Mark Knight’s roast of the axis of unrest
Award-winning cartoonist Mark Knight delivers a classic slow clap to world leaders in his satirical spin on the coveted Gold Logie, with nominees noteworthy for woes created in their wake
READING LEVEL: GREEN
The Logie Awards for Australian television have had a resurgence*. Now hosted by talented Australian comedian Sam Pang, he has given viewers a reason to tune in to watch him roast TV networks and make stars of the small screen squirm in their seats.
We have also seen some fantastic local productions streaming on our screens, which were featured in the nominations. And yes, there is Home and Away, which always grabs a few trophies on the night.
I thought it would be fun to use the Logies as a vehicle for presenting awards to political leaders who grace our TV screens on a regular basis. I’m fascinated by the process on award shows when the nominations are being read out on stage and the faces of the nominees are displayed on the screen, smiling, acting calm, but hoping that they will be the winner.
I thought I could use that in a cartoon about presenting the Gold Logie for leadership to a group of current infamous* world leaders. The cartoon would feature Sam Pang reading out the nominations, with of course President Trump first up. He would be nominated for imposing trade tariffs* on all his allies*.
Then Vladimir Putin, nominated for invading Ukraine and the ongoing war and destruction of lives and property there.
China’s President Xi Jinping for his military build up and the escalation* of tensions over his threats to take back Taiwan.
Iran’s supreme religious leader Ayatollah Khamenei is a strong nomination for his intolerant regime, restriction of women’s rights and freedoms, and his military support for proxies* Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Houthis terrorist groups.
Benjamin Netanyahu gets a nomination for his harsh suppression of Gaza, and lastly the leaders of Hamas, who these days don’t last too long if Netanyahu has his way.
What a collection of leaders, one might think. But this is the world we live in.
The cartoon does not announce a winner. What it does do is leave that to the reader to ponder. The cartoon prompts people to think about the actions of each leader nominated and hopefully promotes discussion about their decisions and actions.
POLL
GLOSSARY
- resurgence: a process in which something starts to grow, develop, or become successful again
- infamous: well known for something bad, having a bad reputation, notorious
- tariffs: taxes on goods coming into or going out of a country
- allies: people, groups, or countries that have joined with another for a particular purpose
- escalation: when something becomes greater or more serious
- proxies: authorities given to act for someone else
EXTRA READING
‘Peace in our time’ blast from past
Date night a bust at the ‘G7 bistro’
Trump’s ‘Octagon Office’ diplomacy
QUICK QUIZ
- Who hosted the Logies this week?
- Why was US President Donald Trump nominated in Mark Knight’s cartoon parody?
- Why was Russian President Vladimir Putin included?
- Who is the Supreme Leader of Iran and whose rights has he restricted?
- What do Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Houthis all have in common, aside from receiving military support from Iran?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Values, identities and actions
Study today’s Mark Knight cartoon and answer the following questions about the work:
What values does this cartoon invite us to think about?
Who is this cartoon speaking about? And who is this work trying to speak to?
What actions might the viewpoint in the cartoon encourage?
Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking
2. Extension
How can cartoonists like Mark Knight encourage or change people’s opinions on a controversial subject or topic?
Do you think his work needs approval before going to print? Explain your answer.
Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking
VCOP ACTIVITY
Stretch your sentence
Choose a “who” in the cartoon. Write the person’s name down.
Add three adjectives to describe them better.
Now add a verb to your list. What are they doing?
Add an adverb about how they are doing the action.
Using all the words listed, create one descriptive sentence.
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