Simone Lia report

SIMONE LIA REPORT 
Simone Lia born in the UK is a cartoonist and author well known for her graphic novel 'Fluffy' because of her use of anthropomorphism. A style where you humanise animals making them seem normal to humans. The graphic novel about  'Fluffy' is a bunny rabbit in denial which resembles a young child who treats a normal human man as its father Published by Jonathan Cape, 2007. I feel like there is a very high likability in the character 'Fluffy' because of simplistic features which is quite child like. This allows the audience to feel some sort of emotion from this character as the story isn't exactly made for children as the meaning behind it is much deeper than just a bunny rabbit in denial then become a much more interesting graphic novel which even much older audiences can have a read and feel some sort of way. Simone Lia uses the little things that has happened in her life and illustrates than as stuff that appeals to her. In an interview with Laura Barton Simone Lia talks about some of her inspirations for 'Fluffy' and how her weird everyday life moments contribute to the graphic novel. 'One day my boss's son sat on my lap and said, 'You smell like my daddy.' And I thought that was a weird thing to say…decided to turn the weird thing into a picture. "I thought if I draw a rabbit it will be sweeter than a child…I think rabbits represent something very vulnerable and small and furry and cute' (1). The fact she adds real life situations using real people it starts to make the Fluffy the bunny rabbit come alive. by using real life situations she creates a realistic image in an imaginative simplified way based on the image she sees in her head. This is similar to Shaun Tan as he bases his work on his own personal experiences but doesn't make it so obvious its about him and works around a narrative and theme to his ideas and stories.

I have also noticed that there are questions about the character Fluffy's gender Simone said " if you draw an object for example it doesn't necessarily have a specific gender…I didn't write into the story its gender - a lot of people emailed me to ask whether Fluffy was a boy or a girl. Interestingly the girls said she was a girl and the boys said he was a boy. I think the reader subconsciously finds a way that a character relates to him or herself and looks for similarity" (2).

In this graphic novel Fluffy acts like a normal 5 year old child but just so happens to be a bunny. Simone says "I think being five is a really cool age they can communicate really well, but they're so innocent and their imaginations are all over the place and they come out with such funny things"(1). Michael the father figure that takes care of Fluffy but reassuring that Fluffy knows that he is not his real father. however Fluffy can become stubborn can cause a tantrum thinking he's is his real father and he isn't a bunny rabbit. 'He tells Fluffy that Fluffy is “a bunny rabbit.”  Fluffy is horrified by this, throwing a temper tantrum and screaming, “You’re a bad daddy for saying that!” What Fluffy’s anthropomorphism expresses is a desire to belong…Lia explores the childhood desire for belonging that is such a common part of human experience' (2). 

The colours used in this graphic novel are a lot of blues, which is makes the one colour pallet very simple. The colour blue can is  a very calm colour but it creates a sense of worry for michael as a father figure to Fluffy and makes you think if Fluffy will ever realise that he is a bunny rabbit and michael is not his real father. This becomes very sensitive you may find it funny that Fluffy thinks he's a human child however it gives you a concerned feeling which gets you very interested towards these two characters. 

During a Skype interview with Simone Lia she let us in on her inspirations and how she works to make her work and narratives. Simone Lia let us know how to picks out the colours for her stories, she told us she generates a colour pallet on the internet so it looks pleasing to the audience and suites the story of the illustration the theme and how it makes people feel. She also told us how she gets inspiration for her narratives which Simone explained “It starts off with little snippets of interesting conversations I hear in different places like the bus, and then I build on it". This gives a real vibe which people may relate to or have heard in there own life experiences.

Bibliography

(1) http://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/feb/14/fiction.laurabarton Wednesday 14 February 2007 interview with Laura Barton accessed- 02/12/14

(2) http://cotlzine.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/simone-lia-interview.html accessed- 02/12/14