Saturday, April 17, 2004
Huey's Alter Ego
Aaron McGruder of The Boondocks is the subject of a lengthy profile in The New Yorker this week. A few highlights:
--He flipped out the audience at The Nation's 138th anniversary bash last December by telling the largely white, old-line liberal audience that they were not nearly as courageous as they were making themselves out to be, and that he voted for Nader in 2000.
--The Green Party asked him if he wanted to run on their ticket for president this year. (Cluelessness, thy name is Green.)
--His first editor, in college, was disgraced New York Times reporter Jayson Blair.
--His greatest comedic influence is Monty Python.
--He doesn't actually draw the strip anymore--he only writes it, and "writing" occasionally consists of a phone call to the artist who draws the strip to pass along an idea.
--He's finishing up a pilot for a Boondocks TV series for Fox. (Does Bill O'Reilly know this?)
What comes through the strongest in this profile is that those of us who enjoy The Boondocks had best better savor it, because it's not likely to capture McGruder's attention much longer. He's got bigger ambitions, yes--but he also sounds a little bit like the kind of guy who would happily pull a Bill Watterson, take his money, and ride into the sunset without looking back, even though McGruder is only 29 years old.
Aaron McGruder of The Boondocks is the subject of a lengthy profile in The New Yorker this week. A few highlights:
--He flipped out the audience at The Nation's 138th anniversary bash last December by telling the largely white, old-line liberal audience that they were not nearly as courageous as they were making themselves out to be, and that he voted for Nader in 2000.
--The Green Party asked him if he wanted to run on their ticket for president this year. (Cluelessness, thy name is Green.)
--His first editor, in college, was disgraced New York Times reporter Jayson Blair.
--His greatest comedic influence is Monty Python.
--He doesn't actually draw the strip anymore--he only writes it, and "writing" occasionally consists of a phone call to the artist who draws the strip to pass along an idea.
--He's finishing up a pilot for a Boondocks TV series for Fox. (Does Bill O'Reilly know this?)
What comes through the strongest in this profile is that those of us who enjoy The Boondocks had best better savor it, because it's not likely to capture McGruder's attention much longer. He's got bigger ambitions, yes--but he also sounds a little bit like the kind of guy who would happily pull a Bill Watterson, take his money, and ride into the sunset without looking back, even though McGruder is only 29 years old.
