Soldier firing a water pistol ‘street art’ illustration
This cartoon has a number of meanings.
One is that the games that children play are more serious than some people would like to think. Play is a preparation for adulthood, so playing with toy guns is in some ways an actual preparation for using real guns in adult life.
The soldier is using a toy water gun to highlight the link between childhood play and adult aggression.
The illustration is definitely not a simple interpretation of the feminist phrase toys for the boys – an expression that I take strong exception to as it misinterprets the nature of play and attempts to trivialise and infantilise the male personality.
While I was drawing this picture it occurred to me that it had something of a piece of Banksy artwork to it, in both its subject matter and its style, so I checked that I wasn’t just unconsciously copying a piece of Banksy graffiti, and as far as I can tell there is no equivalent Banksy picture. By the way, I’ve drawn in this style and on this type of subject for more years than I wish to remember, so there’s no question of Banksy plagiarism involved here!
A cartoon about the nature of play, toy guns, warfare, male aggression, toy weapons, water cannon, male psyche, psychology of warfare, the military mind.
Cartoon reference number: a305
