Hayao Miyazaki on Last Month’s Charlie Hebdo Attacks

The world was shocked last month when Islamic Fundamentalist Terrorists killed pretty much the entire staff of the French Magazine, Charlie Hebdo. Within hours of the news, the world was uniting under the banner of “I am Charlie.” Condemnation of the attacks on artistic expression were strongest among those in the art community. One famous artist, Hayao Miyazaki didn’t really have anything to say on the matter until an interview just last week. While his take on the situation might not be what most people want to hear, it is definitely one that is worth listening to.

When asked about it, the 74-year old animator’s answer was pretty concise:

“I think it’s a mistake to caricaturize the figures venerated by another culture. You shouldn’t do it. Instead of doing something like that, you should make more caricatures of you own country’s politicians.”

There’s a lot to be said on both sides of the argument, one big point being that fundamentalist Islam has become a big part of French culture already. What do you think?