Translator: Panagiota Prokopi Reviewer: Theresa Ranft
I don't know, doctor.
The life of a cartoonist has not become easier during the last years.
But, in fact, it's the story of my life.
I have been wearing this mask for as long as I can remember.
Initially, because as a kid I loved Donald Duck.
(Donald Duck imitation) "Oh, boy!"
But later, it became my shelter.
Yes, I was being bullied and intimidated in my childhood.
I really sucked at sports, I couldn't play the guitar.
But I had a natural talent for drawing,
and I started to make caricatures of the people around me.
They weren't always flattering by the way, on the contrary.
My easiest victims, of course, were my teachers.
Sometimes they felt completely assaulted by my portraits.
Probably they recognized themselves a little bit too much.
I had my first taste of censorship
when one day all 900 covers had to be removed
from the school paper, due to one of my cartoons.
Still, it felt like a great achievement,
and even the school bullies showed respect for my skill.
So, I sharpened my pencils and I knew for once and for all:
if you can't beat them, draw them.
So I went to art school.
There I learned that Belgium beers are the best.
The same teacher who taught me that important lesson,
showed me that, as an artist, you don't need to be the best,
as long as you know how to find spotlights.
Later, I got paid for my first drawings by a local newspaper.
Cartoons illustrating readers' questions, like: "Why does a cat say meow?"
"How big is the universe?"
And, of course, the typical Dutch question:
"Why is the sky gray?"
On May the 6th, 2002,
the well-known Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn was killed.
The country was in shock, just like me,
and I made a cartoon that I showed to the editor-in-chief.
He liked it.
And so my first political cartoon ever was published.
A few days later I made another one about the general election.
This time the local newspaper had no space.
They advised me to sell it to another paper,
so I faxed it to all major national newspapers.
Yeah, yeah, I faxed it.
Hey, this was 2002!
One of them, NRC, responded and published it.
What a great time was that?
Everything was starting to happen.
In a short time my work was being published,
not only in the best newspapers in the Netherlands,
but also in Belgium, and incidentally in other foreign newspapers.
You know, it's awesome to get money
for your bittersweet view on everyday stupidities.
I felt comfortable with the role of being a kind of joker
who is allowed to criticize everything.
But, times are changing, doctor.
After the killings in Paris,
my audience collectively changed their names into Charlie.
My response as always was making cartoons.
But this time I also found myself in the position of spokesman
for the freedom of speech, for whatever that means.
Of course, all those Charlies sincerely stood for the right
to publish provocative cartoons,
as long as they are about other Charlies.
Plus, being Charlie is one thing
but that doesn't give you the right to make provocative cartoons.
You know, they had it coming, those French.
But, yeah, "Je suis Charlie." Uh-huh!
So doctor, where does that leave me?
The fool with his pencils
who believed their sharp points would always be tolerated with a smile.
In short, I think by now...
I think by now I'm the most risky client on your couch.
My bodyguards over there, they are no hallucinations, you know.
I play my new role, but it still feels weird
to be a joker and a front soldier at the same time.
So doctor, can you please help me out of this labyrinth?
(Applause)
Ruben Oppenheimer: He's right, you know,
that insecure and thoughtful version of me on the couch.
He's the part of me that doesn't want to get hurt,
but he knows that the aggression can turn towards him at any time.
You know, most cartoonists are silent, solitary men in their attic rooms,
frustrated about the fact that their first comic book
was never published.
But I appeared to be a different kind,
one with a big mouth.
And in that case, you're very welcome in television and radio shows.
I figured out how to act in a competent, convincing way,
just like all morons do who are invited to talk shows.
Talk fast, overrule everyone, make fun of everything,
show a serious, thoughtful and sensitive side every now and then,
and you're the winner on TV.
But society is changing.
Thanks to the social media, not only me but every nitwit
can have an outspoken opinion about almost everything.
Mostly those who don't read and who don't analyze the actual facts,
they show the most and loudest of them all,
and they all have all the answers.
My cartoons contain no answer to any question,
they don't even need to be based on actual facts.
Most of the time I'm already very happy if I meet my deadline.
But seriously, if a cartoon should be anything at all,
it's the starting point of a reflection, of a discussion.
What I want, first of all, is you to think.
But in order to be able to think at all, you might want to consider slowing down.
Stop for a moment, don't turn that page immediately.
Don't like, share, retweet, call me names, without at least thinking.
Wonder for a moment, "What is that cartoon trying to tell me?"
Most of the time you don't.
You want it all, you want to know?
You certainly don't want a cartoon to hurt your feelings, do you?
You don't.
Let me give an example.
There he is.
A famous Dutch lawyer wrote his memoirs
in which he dedicated a whole chapter to explain that he's a dandy,
but for the love of God, not gay.
Not at all.
OK.
You have to know...
you have to know that this lawyer is being constantly accused
of defamation by his former clients.
But he's not gay.
He explained this in every television show he was on to promote his book, of course.
But did this lawyer stop for a moment
and think about what this cartoon is trying to say about lawyers like him,
famous lawyers, who seem to be more concerned with their image
than their work ethics?
What do you think?
Nope.
Instead, he took me to court.
"An inconvenient affair at most," you'd say, "laugh about it."
But it really became dangerous when the judge convicted me.
"A reader will not take the time
to reflect upon the possible meanings of a cartoon."
A reader will not take the time to reflect upon the possible meanings of a cartoon.
Think about it for a moment, or not, if you choose to follow this judge.
(Laughter)
This is dangerous, not only for me but for all satirists,
because if even a judge follows the immediate impulse without reflection,
that means that every devil's advocate,
the role of every devil's advocate is at risk.
If a cartoonist is only allowed to make easily digestible fast food,
then there is absolutely no future for satire, in general.
That would mean no room for doubts, no room for discussions,
no room for second thoughts,
and of course, no room for provocative cartoons.
Thank God, the Court of Appeal was more realistic,
and now I have my pencils back again.
Hooray, for the freedom of speech...
(Applause)
for now.
By the way,
a few years before we met in court, this same lawyer once urged me
to please continue making as many cartoons as possible about the Islam.
One could say he was Charlie long before it was fashionable.
(Laughter)
But seriously, it makes me wonder, should it be really me on that couch?
Should it be really me who needs medication to calm down?
Is it me who lost contact with reality?
Honestly?
I think it's you.
You, who hire a lawyer.
You who accepts the judge's verdict.
You who's able to formulate an opinion
about Charlie, Muhammad, Islam, Jesus, and the Pope,
in a tweet of 140 characters.
You who should stand up
instead of changing your profile picture into "Je suis Charlie,"
because you are not Charlie.
In my case, it's all clear, "Je suis Ruben,"
hopping from hype to hype, pushing the limits,
walking the thin line, like an elephant, sometimes perhaps.
Not afraid to make collateral insults, turning enemies into friends,
and even more the other way around.
In short, doing everything that a cartoonist should be able to do
in a free society.
I'm your canary in the coal mine.
If I stop breathing...
you're next.
You are the one who has the responsibility.
You create this world as it is.
And no, my friend, you don't need to come up with a tweetable answer
to every question you come by.
Oops!
You know what the music means? Our time's up.
So next time when you see a cartoon, give yourself a time, let it sink in,
and don't hesitate to hesitate.
Good luck with it!
(Applause)