The (Sorcerer's) Apprentice
While I was wondering about what to draw for this issue’s cartoon, I came across an article about Alan Sugar in TheLondonPaper.
For non-UK readers: Alan Sugar is the business tycoon who hosts the UK version of The Apprentice. It’s Donald Trump in the US, isn’t it? Or is it Martha Stewart? Or is she in jail? I think The Apprentice: Death Row Edition could be a goer. Instead of “You’re Fired” it could be “You’re Fried!” Tasteful.
Also for non-UK readers – divided by a common language - TheLondonPaper is a free newspaper you get handed on weekdays in central London. Primary focus: celebrities getting out of cars, house prices, and people getting stabbed. I don’t know if they have them in America too, but they’re the lowest amoeba on the Rupert Murdoch food chain here.
Anyway, I’ve never actually seen any version of The Apprentice, but it seems to be mostly about Mr Sugar (or Trump) pulling angry faces and telling people they’re fired.
I couldn’t tell you why the sight of Mr Sugar’s snarling face in the paper made me think of Mickey Mouse.
Maybe it went something like this: Alan Sugar > ugly, brutal, survival-of-the-dastardliest-there-is-no-society-only-a-bunch-of-bastards-stabbing-each-other-in-the-back competition > Corporate world > Branding > Mickey.
Maybe there’s something a little sinister about a face that you see on logos and lunchboxes everywhere, watching you like Big Brother with those big black and white eyes. It’s the ubiquity: hereeeeeeeee’s Mickey!
Or it could just be word association. The Apprentice > Sorceror’s Apprentice > Fantasia. That’s the simplest explanation, which probably means it’s true.
