Jim Carrey hasn't given up acting, but he has chosen to spend more of his time expressing himself through painting. On Twitter, he often shares vibrant portraits that brutally satirize right-wing politicians and scandalous public figures. And the artwork is much more entertaining than that awful Dumb and Dumber sequel, so I'm cool with his new career path.
Last month Carrey painted Donald Trump as the nihilistic Batman villain The Joker, mocking the president's bullheaded decision to withdraw from the Iran agreement. He followed that up with a portrait of the National Rifle Association's new president, Oliver North, depicted as a giant snake with "NRA" dripping in blood in the background. Carrey's next piece of artwork was a harrowing image of ICE agents separating asylum seekers from their children at the border. "1500 innocent children ripped from their mothers’ arms at our border," the actor wrote, in a scathing caption.
In his latest portrait, Carrey mocks the historic meeting between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. Under Kim's brutal dictatorship, there have been atrocious human rights violations. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, an estimated 100,000 North Koreans are held in squalid prison camps, where they are subject to torture, starvation, forced labor and even rape. The US State Department's human rights report described some of these horrors:
"Mothers were in some cases reportedly forced to watch the infanticide of their newborn infants. Rape and other forms of torture, beatings and brutal interrogations were also common for people whose alleged crimes might have been nothing more than falling asleep at a political event or playing foreign music."
Trump's meeting with Kim could lead to some very good things, like complete denuclearization, the release of more prisoners and the end of human rights abuses. Reportedly the understanding is that North Korea will denuclearize, and the United States will withdraw troops from South Korea. But as of this writing, the details of the agreement they signed have not been released. In the past, Kim has promised to denuclearize many times in theory, but never actually done so. Some people have criticized President Trump for "legitimizing" a brutal dictator on the world stage.
In the politically charged portrait, Carrey portrays Kim Jong-Un in a rocket costume, holding a sign that says "Little Rocket Man." On the front of his costume are the blood-red words, "I starved my people to make this missile." Meanwhile, Trump smugly grins, holding a microphone to Kim like a reporter. In the caption, Carrey writes, "Let’s Make A Deal: You’ll be a real world leader. I’ll sway the midterm elections. And together we will save the world from the bloodthirsty Canadians."
"Bloodthirsty Canadians" is a reference to Trump's nascent, baffling feud with our neighbors to the North. At the G7 summit, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau called Trump's aluminum and steel tariffs insulting. He explained, "Canadians are polite, we're reasonable, but we also will not be pushed around." On Twitter, Trump lashed out at Trudeau, calling him "dishonest and very week." He added that his comment "would cost Canada a lot of money."
So, now we're friends with North Korea and enemies with Canada? And the dude from Ace Ventura is a political cartoonist? What a time to be alive.