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Is this just a party, or the beginning of something more troubling?

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Mickey Mouse, one of the world’s most recognisable symbols of comedy and innocence, is depicted giving a Nazi-style salute. His armband carries the X logo rather than a swastika, directly referencing Elon Musk’s controversial gesture at Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2025.

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Musk later described the gesture as an expression of his affection and, when criticised for its similarity to a Nazi salute, dismissed the controversy as a “tired attack” and made light of it, describing the gesture as a joke. The seriousness of the gesture was therefore reframed as humour rather than something requiring reflection or apology.

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The choice of Mickey Mouse is intentional. In 1938, only weeks after Kristallnacht, Walt Disney welcomed Adolf Hitler’s principal propaganda filmmaker, Leni Riefenstahl, to his Hollywood studio. While much of Hollywood distanced itself from her in protest at the Nazi regime’s actions, Disney received her and publicly showed her around his studio.

 

So, can humour or entertainment make something less offensive, or more acceptable, simply because it is presented in a light-hearted way? Is a Nazi salute  less significant when made as a joke? Does an association with extremism diminish  if it is presented through entertainment?

 

Public figures and cultural icons with enormous audiences also carry great influence, and with that influence comes a responsibility to recognise the potential impact of what they say, do and normalise. The framing may be light-hearted, but the meaning — and the influence that comes with it — remains.

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The title plays on the double meaning of “party” — both political and celebratory — adding an intentionally naïve note to the work. It also hints at the possibility of a new political movement just getting started.