Happy birthday Charles Schultz!
-
Are you German? They are wonderful people who are quite literal, for the most part. I heard Bob Newhart, an incredibly funny comedian, describe playing gigs in Germany to dead silence?
No. But I do have a sense of humor. I just find Charlie Brown humorless. What's funny about the punch line being "good grief"? Repeatedly? I'm not saying people are "wrong" to like it. I'm just trying to understand what it is they see in it that I don't.
-
No. But I do have a sense of humor. I just find Charlie Brown humorless. What's funny about the punch line being "good grief"? Repeatedly? I'm not saying people are "wrong" to like it. I'm just trying to understand what it is they see in it that I don't.
I think the appeal of the Peanuts strip was not that it was a comedy show with a laugh line every 30 seconds. It was a light-hearted soap opera.
The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.
-
No. But I do have a sense of humor. I just find Charlie Brown humorless. What's funny about the punch line being "good grief"? Repeatedly? I'm not saying people are "wrong" to like it. I'm just trying to understand what it is they see in it that I don't.
I read somewhere that Peanuts was Schultz' way of preaching The Gospel. I never really understood that (there were some examples where I read it, but they didn't make enough sense to stick in my mind) - maybe there is someone out there who can help us :-) This English-language-idea that a brief story expressed as a series of drawings should be comic, laughable in every strip - in several/most other languages there is no such expectations. That could make it easier to see other ideas/values than the comic ones. Peanuts is much about encounters between stereotypes, highlighting the effects of the differences between the caricatures. Another element is stereotyping cultural elements, highlighting them as culture, as opposed to 'nature'. Like when Snoopy is impatiently waiting for his food, reading 'Darwin: Survival of the fattest'. (In the Norwegian translation, he is reading 'Knut Hamshund: Sult' ('hund' is 'dog') - a play on Norwegian Nobel prize winner Knut Hamsun, 'Sult' ('Hunger') was one of the novels earning him the prize.) Snoopy's fascination for WW1 memories when he flies his Sopwith Camel is also a giving a kick to romanticizing the past, the victorious war past in particular. Garfield shares a few elements with Peanuts: The super-stereotype, and how he encounters a million challenges with the same stereotyped response, often illustrating how sub-optimal that might be. I was a Garfield fan for maybe five years, until he started to repeat himself, but sometimes the translators add references that makes it better than the original. Like when Jon gets a new stuffed chair, Garfield immediately attacks the fabric with his claws, tearing it so much that when he jumps onto the seat, one of its springs break through and rockets Garfield into the ceiling, shooting a hole from which he hangs by the neck, commenting: 'As soon as a chair starts to earn your respect, it turns back on you'. Fair enough, but I really did LOL from the Norwegian translation, which back-translates to 'There is always something clandestine with Swedish products'. 'Comics' is sometimes used to describe animated movies as well. If you want to see an animated movie completely void of comic elements, look up 'Waltz with Bashir'. Highly recommended, but it is not a movie for the entire family to enjoy on a Saturday night.
-
Someone please explain the appeal to Peanuts to me. For years I've read the comic strip in the daily papers, and not once I've laughed out loud, or smiled, or smirked, or thought I was looking at anything particular clever. Same with Garfield. A cat that likes lasagna and dislikes Mondays. Wut?
Peanuts never was a "comic strip", in the sense of "funny". It was more a graphic (in the sense of graphic novel) soap opera. Ditto for Garfield. Both Peanuts and Garfield have occasional funny strips, but that is not their intent.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.
-
I read somewhere that Peanuts was Schultz' way of preaching The Gospel. I never really understood that (there were some examples where I read it, but they didn't make enough sense to stick in my mind) - maybe there is someone out there who can help us :-) This English-language-idea that a brief story expressed as a series of drawings should be comic, laughable in every strip - in several/most other languages there is no such expectations. That could make it easier to see other ideas/values than the comic ones. Peanuts is much about encounters between stereotypes, highlighting the effects of the differences between the caricatures. Another element is stereotyping cultural elements, highlighting them as culture, as opposed to 'nature'. Like when Snoopy is impatiently waiting for his food, reading 'Darwin: Survival of the fattest'. (In the Norwegian translation, he is reading 'Knut Hamshund: Sult' ('hund' is 'dog') - a play on Norwegian Nobel prize winner Knut Hamsun, 'Sult' ('Hunger') was one of the novels earning him the prize.) Snoopy's fascination for WW1 memories when he flies his Sopwith Camel is also a giving a kick to romanticizing the past, the victorious war past in particular. Garfield shares a few elements with Peanuts: The super-stereotype, and how he encounters a million challenges with the same stereotyped response, often illustrating how sub-optimal that might be. I was a Garfield fan for maybe five years, until he started to repeat himself, but sometimes the translators add references that makes it better than the original. Like when Jon gets a new stuffed chair, Garfield immediately attacks the fabric with his claws, tearing it so much that when he jumps onto the seat, one of its springs break through and rockets Garfield into the ceiling, shooting a hole from which he hangs by the neck, commenting: 'As soon as a chair starts to earn your respect, it turns back on you'. Fair enough, but I really did LOL from the Norwegian translation, which back-translates to 'There is always something clandestine with Swedish products'. 'Comics' is sometimes used to describe animated movies as well. If you want to see an animated movie completely void of comic elements, look up 'Waltz with Bashir'. Highly recommended, but it is not a movie for the entire family to enjoy on a Saturday night.
trønderen You have clearly given this some thought. Watched trailer for "Waltz with Bashir". You are correct. Not a family viewing. Reminded me of my Father's war experiences as medic in WW2 & Korea. He told me "You never get over it. It can't be undone."
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day" Badfinger
-
Peanuts never was a "comic strip", in the sense of "funny". It was more a graphic (in the sense of graphic novel) soap opera. Ditto for Garfield. Both Peanuts and Garfield have occasional funny strips, but that is not their intent.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.
-
Someone please explain the appeal to Peanuts to me. For years I've read the comic strip in the daily papers, and not once I've laughed out loud, or smiled, or smirked, or thought I was looking at anything particular clever. Same with Garfield. A cat that likes lasagna and dislikes Mondays. Wut?
Peanuts was elementary school angst; with Snoopy side trips; and the question of whether Lucy would ever let Charlie kick the football. Garfield's attraction is the "grumpy cat" image. (e.g. merchandise)
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
-
Someone please explain the appeal to Peanuts to me. For years I've read the comic strip in the daily papers, and not once I've laughed out loud, or smiled, or smirked, or thought I was looking at anything particular clever. Same with Garfield. A cat that likes lasagna and dislikes Mondays. Wut?
Evidently you were one of the Cool Kids. Charlie Brown and his friends was drawn and written for those of us that were not.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
I read somewhere that Peanuts was Schultz' way of preaching The Gospel. I never really understood that (there were some examples where I read it, but they didn't make enough sense to stick in my mind) - maybe there is someone out there who can help us :-) This English-language-idea that a brief story expressed as a series of drawings should be comic, laughable in every strip - in several/most other languages there is no such expectations. That could make it easier to see other ideas/values than the comic ones. Peanuts is much about encounters between stereotypes, highlighting the effects of the differences between the caricatures. Another element is stereotyping cultural elements, highlighting them as culture, as opposed to 'nature'. Like when Snoopy is impatiently waiting for his food, reading 'Darwin: Survival of the fattest'. (In the Norwegian translation, he is reading 'Knut Hamshund: Sult' ('hund' is 'dog') - a play on Norwegian Nobel prize winner Knut Hamsun, 'Sult' ('Hunger') was one of the novels earning him the prize.) Snoopy's fascination for WW1 memories when he flies his Sopwith Camel is also a giving a kick to romanticizing the past, the victorious war past in particular. Garfield shares a few elements with Peanuts: The super-stereotype, and how he encounters a million challenges with the same stereotyped response, often illustrating how sub-optimal that might be. I was a Garfield fan for maybe five years, until he started to repeat himself, but sometimes the translators add references that makes it better than the original. Like when Jon gets a new stuffed chair, Garfield immediately attacks the fabric with his claws, tearing it so much that when he jumps onto the seat, one of its springs break through and rockets Garfield into the ceiling, shooting a hole from which he hangs by the neck, commenting: 'As soon as a chair starts to earn your respect, it turns back on you'. Fair enough, but I really did LOL from the Norwegian translation, which back-translates to 'There is always something clandestine with Swedish products'. 'Comics' is sometimes used to describe animated movies as well. If you want to see an animated movie completely void of comic elements, look up 'Waltz with Bashir'. Highly recommended, but it is not a movie for the entire family to enjoy on a Saturday night.
Interesting thoughts, thanks for taking the time.
trønderen wrote:
'Comics' is sometimes used to describe animated movies as well.
Agreed with that too, and it's really a misnomer. The Marvel movies are based on "comics", but clearly, there's nothing comical about the stories they're trying to tell. OTOH, don't get me started with the term "graphic novel"... :-)
-
Peanuts as a comic is a form of satire. Funny sometimes, but unfortunately it's a deadly allergy. Now Dilbert, is funny and insightful.
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day" Badfinger
-
Peanuts was elementary school angst; with Snoopy side trips; and the question of whether Lucy would ever let Charlie kick the football. Garfield's attraction is the "grumpy cat" image. (e.g. merchandise)
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
Gerry Schmitz wrote:
Garfield's attraction is the "grumpy cat" image. (e.g. merchandise)
Grumpy cat, predating [Grumpy Cat](https://www.google.ca/search?q=grumpy+cat) himself. Never thought of it that way...
-
Evidently you were one of the Cool Kids. Charlie Brown and his friends was drawn and written for those of us that were not.
Software Zen:
delete this;
