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Jan. 1st, 2021
Losing Calvin & Hobbes
Jan. 1st, 2021 04:12 pmA couple of my FB friends have linked to this paean to Calvin & Hobbes ( https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2020/12/31/calvin-hobbes-bill-watterson/ ) and I find myself disagreeing. And I think the problem comes with my strong disagreement with:
"So many 20th-century comics feel embalmed in their era because of topical references or period-specific jargon and humor, but 35 years after its launch, the spirit of “Calvin and Hobbes” feels snowflake fresh. Sure, the strip knowingly decorated its interiors with throwback furniture — Watterson noted how fun it was to draw mid-century styles — but little else looks antiquated."
I have several Calvin & Hobbes collections, I used to really like it, but now I have difficulty re-reading them, because I don't think they've aged well in one, very important, way: gender roles.
The entire world, and everything presented, is so strongly traditional-gender-roled that I now have trouble ignoring those bits to enjoy the rest. And that makes the whole strip feel very antiquated.
Father: goes to work at an office job downtown. Comes home, sits in his lounge chair.
Mother: stays at home, cooks all the meals, looks after Calvin.
Ok, not 100% of the cooking... Dad BBQs.
School teacher: woman
School principal: man
Police officers: men
Baby Sitter: girl
Or, we can look at the whole Calvin & Susie interactions... the repeating of the whole boys thinks girls are icky thing. "GROSS - Get Rid Of Slimy girlS" club. And, perhaps even worse, when Hobbes likes Susie, it is in a sexualized and/or romanticized way -- kisses, wiles, etc.
Or we can look at their fantasy scapes... we see Calvin as an explorer whether land or space, captain of an expedition, time-travelling, etc. Whereas our glimpses of Susie's fantasy-scapes are tea-parties and playing house.
I'm sorry to lose them.
"So many 20th-century comics feel embalmed in their era because of topical references or period-specific jargon and humor, but 35 years after its launch, the spirit of “Calvin and Hobbes” feels snowflake fresh. Sure, the strip knowingly decorated its interiors with throwback furniture — Watterson noted how fun it was to draw mid-century styles — but little else looks antiquated."
I have several Calvin & Hobbes collections, I used to really like it, but now I have difficulty re-reading them, because I don't think they've aged well in one, very important, way: gender roles.
The entire world, and everything presented, is so strongly traditional-gender-roled that I now have trouble ignoring those bits to enjoy the rest. And that makes the whole strip feel very antiquated.
Father: goes to work at an office job downtown. Comes home, sits in his lounge chair.
Mother: stays at home, cooks all the meals, looks after Calvin.
Ok, not 100% of the cooking... Dad BBQs.
School teacher: woman
School principal: man
Police officers: men
Baby Sitter: girl
Or, we can look at the whole Calvin & Susie interactions... the repeating of the whole boys thinks girls are icky thing. "GROSS - Get Rid Of Slimy girlS" club. And, perhaps even worse, when Hobbes likes Susie, it is in a sexualized and/or romanticized way -- kisses, wiles, etc.
Or we can look at their fantasy scapes... we see Calvin as an explorer whether land or space, captain of an expedition, time-travelling, etc. Whereas our glimpses of Susie's fantasy-scapes are tea-parties and playing house.
I'm sorry to lose them.