Fear For Children
Thursday, March 1st, 2007 at 4:18 pm
This is the F Minus strip from yesterday. Tony Carrillo’s creation is one of the best of the new generation of comic strips with very twisted and surreal one-panel funnies. The one above made me laugh, but it also made me think.
Carrillo’s sense of humor is a wonderful mix of the every day with a dash of the dark, so the strip above is not a surprise coming from him. It’s funny, yet disturbing at the same time, which is what Carrillo was probably going for. In my mind, I believe the vagabond simply enjoys entertaining especially kids. I can understand that since kids can be either a great audience or tough-as-nails critics. Ooo, you do NOT want the latter — they do not hold back like adults. At the same time though, kids will give suggestions that adults simply don’t think of or can’t bring themselves to say because — well, dammit, they are adults! Plus kids like it when you fall down a lot, which I love doing.
So why does this strip also bring up the icky feelings as well. Is it because the man is a stranger? Is it because he has no home? Is it the way the wall is drawn so you get the feeling the kids are being unsupervised when you know the dad is probably looking out a window? Is it because the kids are eerily and too easily entertained by origami?
The fact is that most adults like kids and it’s the extreme minority that has ruined our innocence and has caused parents world round to encase their kids in a protective box. I don’t blame them. I’d be the same way. Maybe I’m just living in a movie world where everything is as it seems based on the score being played. In my mind, the hobo in the strip has a light, comedic score playing and everything is fine with the world. It’s one of the inauspicious things of becoming an adult — the slowly dawning knowledge to the evil portion of the world we are living in.
There are several factors contributing to those icky feelings: society, laws, upbringing, morales. I welcome the feelings. It means I have a little cricket telling me right and wrong (and that wishing upon a star will get me what I want. The liar!) It’s that small minority that has ruined it for the rest of us as the saying goes — the ones that seem to have no Jiminy whispering to them that have contributed to the fall in trust in our fellow humans. I want to be believe with all my heart that the toothless, unwashed man simply wants acceptance and that entertaining those kids may even be helping him to better his life, but then those protective feelings raise up and I want to call the kids inside and ask Mr. Origami to quietly live the property. I wish there was a way to trust, but until we can read each other’s minds there is no way of truly knowing someone’s motives.
Even then though, I have a feeling that humans would find a way to disguise even their thoughts and the loss of innocence would continue.
Listening to: Never Tear Us Apart - INXS
The hilarious picket-sign picture was done by Hayes.
March 1st, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Well, yeah it creaped me out at first, but like I told you Howard, upon further looking, I realized that it had more to it doing with the fact that he looks like the creepy old guy from Family Guy always after Chris… But even more so, the creepy 70+ year old guy here at work that seems to like to grope the guys butts here who is “married.” Management has always just responded, “he comes from a different era, it’s harmless, just let him be.”
March 2nd, 2007 at 7:04 am
I personally find clowns creepier than the homeless.
But just barely.
(There’s a story there, but it’s totally one that needs be told in person, so you’re out of luck.)
March 2nd, 2007 at 7:30 am
Hayes:
Yeah, I can take a lot in my humor but the old neighbor even makes me cringe.
Kevin:
Perhaps you can blog about it then?
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:45 pm
“Hey paperboy … I got a freezer full of popshicles down in the bashement. You like popshicles, don’t ya?”
Have you heard the Family Guy CD though? He sings “One Boy” from Bye Bye Birdie. It’s the funniest thing since sliced bread.
And maybe a clown blog is in the cards … we’ll see.
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:51 pm
Yes! It’s excellent!
March 4th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
What makes me sad is how that overall protectiveness makes us suspicious even of ourselves… when a five year old boy was wandering around lost in my neighborhood a couple of winters ago, I had him come to my porch, but being a single man, didn’t invite him into the house… instead, I made him wait out on the porch in full sight of anyone walking by whileI got my phone, so that I wouldn’t be accused of molesting him. I also brought him a coat while we waited for his mom to come down the block, but still… what kind of world are we living in when we have to fear for kids AND our reputations? Sigh….
March 5th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
I know exactly. When I got Joey a present, I also printed out exactly what the CD was that was wrapped up in gift wrap and even wanting for a week and a half to get permission to post that blog about him last year because I was so concerned that I wasn’t over stepping boundaries.
March 7th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
Hi Howard! A friend sent me a link to your blog, and I just wanted to say thanks for the mention. Keep spreading the F word!
-Tony Carrillo
p.s. I also find clowns scarier than bums. They appear frequently in my comics.
March 7th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
Tony:
So very cool of you to stop by. I would say, “Man, I love your strip!”, but I think that is extremely clear in the post. Keep up the great work!