GASTON!! LOL!!!(Gaston Billetes?!!)
Here is a little background on Don Gastón... (Victor, bear with me on the explanation of the double meaning of Gastón )...
Tom, I am sure you will understand....
Gastón Billetes is a fictional character created by Mexican Cartoonist Abel Quezada.
Besides from the character himself, it is a play with words...
While Gastón is a proper name, it also means (in Spanish) "Big Spender", and then the last name Billetes means "Bills" (or notes)...So translating you would have Big Spender Bills I guess in English it would sound better as Bill Spender (or similar).
This character would pray on the rich industrialists and entrepreneurs of the Mexican society, particularly he would make fun of the "nouveau rich" character that some of these real life personas would exhibit in their excesses of everyday life, like Gastón wearing a big fat (and obnoxious), diamond ring on his nose, to show off his wealth. He (Abel, through Gastón), would also criticize the ill-perceived and thought of relationship between the industrialists and the politicians where money would rule all protocol, obviously including the size of corruption, directly related to the size of Gaston's wallet... (or rather his generosity towards the politician).
Mr. Quezada had many characters that reflected the different people of Mexican Society. He would also criticize the relationship between Don Gastón and his US counterparts.
To a degree, given his cartoons of Mexican politics, Abel Quezada could be thought of the Mexican H. L. Mencken. (He would also have a field day with the church).There is another cartoonist (even more irreverent than Quezada) by the name of "Rius" (Eduardo del Rio) he created the characters (and comics) "Los Supermachos" they are hilarious and best, it depicts the entire country perfectly, with all the idiosyncrasies of the different levels and characters of Mexican Society, and even a little of the rest of Latin America. Rius came a little later than Quezada (primarily in the 50's to 70's), Rius started in the mid 60's. Both are excellent and very, very funny, but it is true to really understand them, one must be familiar with Latin American "grace".
Unfortunately I have not been able to find a cartoon of Don Gastón to show it to you... (or the other characters created by Mr. Quezada).
Here is some of the work from Rius. Notice his Sarape (blanket) has an electric cord, showing that he is more "high tech". <g>
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There is also Mafalda (an Argentinean girl created by Quino) Mafalda is a very bright and alert girl (very politically aware). There is a poster that I have kept all these years (although stored away in the basement), that shows Mafalda asking a very logical question to her parents....
"Y si en vez de "luchar" con la vida, por qué no nos hacemos amigos de ella ?"
(And if instead of "struggling" with life, why not becoming a friend of hers ?")
The following one is one of my favorites...
She reads in a dictionary the definition of "Democracia" (Democracy)
"Democracia" (from the Greek: Demos, people; Kratos, authority) Government where the people exercises Sovereignty
and then.....
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