Review: ‘Mr. Cunty’ – by Roger Hargreaves
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Roger Hargreaves‘ previously unpublished and supposedly “lost” instalment in the ‘Mr. Men’ series of children’s books has finally been released, posthumously, after nearly forty years spent gathering dust in the vault of Egmont Publishing.
‘Mr. Cunty’ was written during a dark chapter in Hargreaves’ life when his battle with acetone inhalation had reached crisis point and he was committing armed robberies to support his £1,500 a week varnish habit. The notably bleaker tone and subject matter of this ‘Mr. Men’ book is immediately apparent.
Reading as a sharp and brutal protest against social convention, the titular Cunty spends the 32 pages systematically attacking and upsetting other characters for no apparent reason, giving vent to a formless existential rage. Among his acts of malicious, anti-social contempt are clear incidences of criminal malfeasance, including theft, vandalism, assault and arson, which Hargreaves presents as fun and free of consequence. Indeed, the book could be seen as an incitement and celebration of destructive criminality.
[image error]Written in 1980, the book was originally refused publication.
The absence of the expected redemptive arc or lesson within the text is almost certainly deliberate. Hargreaves is presenting a demonstration of moral relativism, with Cunty’s normative perspective clearly holding his actions to be acceptable or justified by his antipathy toward society’s rusted-on mores, and challenging the reader (ages 3 and up) to ask themselves by what criteria can they objectively judge the character’s decision to fill his neighbour’s mailbox with dog excrement.
Mischief-makers will enjoy Mr. Cunty’s antics in their own right, clapping in delight as he paints a massive phallus on the window of the local post office or throws darts at senior citizens on the street, but fans of the author’s previous works may lament the sharp departure from his more wholesome offerings and morality tales. Missing here is the embracing, humanistic content found in such seminal classics as ‘Mr. Tickle’ or ‘Mr. Bump.’ The bright, vibrant art remains the same as before, but this bitter, iconoclastic U-turn on Hargreaves’ part is clearly the reason for this work’s having been originally withheld from publication. One can relate with Egmont Publishing‘s difficult position, especially when turning to the final page whereupon Mr. Cunty breaks the fourth wall, pointing directly at the reader, snarling: “And fuck you, too!”
-J. Green
★★☆☆☆
