National Lampoon December 1977

National Lampoon 
December 1977

December, 1977, and Andy Gibb's song 'Love is Thicker than Water' is in heavy rotation on FM radio's pop and Top 40 channels.

The latest issue of the National Lampoon is out, and with P. J. O'Rourke as editor, the magazine has a more biting, edgier tenor to its humor. And the December issue is a good issue.

An 'alternate' cover presents the bloodthirsty Ugandan dictator Idi Amin as Santa Claus..........! The picture rewards careful scrutiny. Truly, an exemplar of bad taste.

An advertisement for Heavy Metal magazine tells us all we need to know about that seminal publication.

There is a satirical depiction of the American Legion's membership as constituting thoroughly upright, all-American, upstanding white men who are the pillars of their communities. Although a  little bigoted, perhaps.

A sidebar article derives cruel amusement from the plight of starving Ethiopians.

There are some cartoons about Santa.

'Ming Fu Boogaloo', by Joe Schenkman, is a rather chaotic comic that makes fun of Asian people, punk rock, and the broken English used by Asian people ('grue' = glue, 'dlink' = drink, 'Roritta' = Lolita........you get it). I am ashamed to admit that I laughed out loud while reading 'Ming Fu'.

A feature article on 'Texas' manages to offend both Asians and Mexicans.

 Shary Flenniken's 'Trots and Bonnie' takes aim at a sanctimonious feminist.

'The Appletons' makes fun of gay people.

And the Lampoon doesn't shy from offending black people, with the comic 'Goobers'.

We'll close this 46 year-old cavalcade of transgressions with a batch of advertisements from the end pages of the magazine, where rates were low, camera resolution poor, and the counterculture most in evidence. And.............can you believe, that back in 1977, Haiti was a vacation destination ?!

Merry Christmas 1977, and a happy 1978 !