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'Calvin and Hobbes' at 40

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Re: 'Calvin and Hobbes' at 40

#101

Post by JuniperMesos »

complianceowl wrote: post #32
NiloCK wrote: post #26

That is just two years after I burst onto the page. Calvin and Hobbes was a major part of my childhood - I loved it. For something casually consumed on the daily at the breakfast table, it was so earnestly, so obviously, smarter than the median cultural offering. Smarter also then the local nightly news broadcasts. Smarter also than the median educational intervention I experienced through elementary and middle schoo…

You know, your comment reminds me of something my wife and I were talking about. We have been starting to let our child have a little more screen time and choose what he wants to watch (within the parameters we set). Some shows and movies seem harmless, initially, but then we noticed in so many kids movies (e.g., Zootopia, Sing), they're always yelling at each other, expressing anger, frustration, and hostility towar…

Human beings yelling at each other, expressing anger, frustration, and hostility towards each other, seems like a human universal, rather than something children would only learn to do from watching recent tv and movies.

Re: 'Calvin and Hobbes' at 40

#102

Post by sebastos »

NiloCK wrote: post #26

That is just two years after I burst onto the page. Calvin and Hobbes was a major part of my childhood - I loved it. For something casually consumed on the daily at the breakfast table, it was so earnestly, so obviously, smarter than the median cultural offering. Smarter also then the local nightly news broadcasts. Smarter also than the median educational intervention I experienced through elementary and middle schoo…

I see what you're getting at, and your sentiment is thoughtfully expressed, but come on... it's Calvin and Hobbes! It's part of that rarefied echelon of media that taps into something true about the human condition. Calvin doesn't need to be a manual for how to live your life - it's enough to be an island you can sometimes visit when you're in a Calvin mood.

Re: 'Calvin and Hobbes' at 40

#103

Post by adw »

d-us-vb wrote: post #91
chaostheory wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They’re not supposed to be pro-social. The characters are supposed to represent the philosophers, John Calvin (predestination) and Thomas Hobbes (man is an animal). Watterson is probably making fun of them.

Watterson explicitly stated that the names have no relation to the characters' personalities or philosophical views. As someone familiar with John Calvin's views and writings, I can say safely that Calvin is not much in any way similar in personality or spirit to anything John Calvin ever taught or expressed. At best, Watterson is projecting the typical libertine caricature of John Calvin as a cantankerous and disagr…

The joke is that Calvin is aligned with Hobbes’s philosophy and vice versa.

Re: 'Calvin and Hobbes' at 40

#104

Post by mikkupikku »

JuniperMesos wrote: post #100
mikkupikku wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It could have been so much worse, and did become so. Late 90s / early 00s had Cartman being a role model to kids.

Cartman was not a role model for kids, he was portrayed as a lazy, fat, and stupid asshole in an edgy comedy show not intended for children.

He was, factually, a role model for kids. I was there. Everybody watched South Park, everybody thought Cartman was awesome.

It's absurd to even deny it, Cartman was admired and emulated by a whole generation.

Re: 'Calvin and Hobbes' at 40

#105

Post by geephroh »

keepamovin wrote: post #39
NiloCK wrote: post #26

That is just two years after I burst onto the page. Calvin and Hobbes was a major part of my childhood - I loved it. For something casually consumed on the daily at the breakfast table, it was so earnestly, so obviously, smarter than the median cultural offering. Smarter also then the local nightly news broadcasts. Smarter also than the median educational intervention I experienced through elementary and middle schoo…

The first C&H comic strip compared to the last one: https://imgur.com/a/semJX :.)

That last one still makes me tear up. What a beautiful way to exit the stage.

Re: 'Calvin and Hobbes' at 40

#106

Post by rullelito »

dingaling wrote: post #83

It's curious that of all the famous American syndicated strips, only The Far Side, and maybe Garfield, seem to have bridged the Atlantic divide to the UK. Maybe C&H and Peanuts were just too rooted in US suburban family culture. Dilbert had a niche following here and beyond that I struggle to even name another strip.

I think it was quite big in Sweden.

Re: 'Calvin and Hobbes' at 40

#108

Post by soiltype »

JuniperMesos wrote: post #100
mikkupikku wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It could have been so much worse, and did become so. Late 90s / early 00s had Cartman being a role model to kids.

Cartman was not a role model for kids, he was portrayed as a lazy, fat, and stupid asshole in an edgy comedy show not intended for children.

Cartman typically had the most and funniest jokes and almost always got his way. He exercised power over others and only extremely rarely did the way he acted have negative consequences for him. That's a pretty attractive role model for the type of kid who's going to watch South Park. Role models don't have to be consciously selected, that's kind of the point, you see success and you imitate it. South Park is an especially stupid show but you'll see this in plenty of TV - it's basically the sitcom model: some character will be an asshole to everyone around them, but the show will frame it as a joke and consequence-free. The writers want you to think that character is funny and you probably do if you continue watching, so if you want to be a funny person you probably start acting like an asshole. Most adults can't see that for what it is - kids are screwed.

And South Park was (is?) on TV during daytime hours, of course kids watched it.

Re: 'Calvin and Hobbes' at 40

#109

Post by hocuspocus »

dingaling wrote: post #83

It's curious that of all the famous American syndicated strips, only The Far Side, and maybe Garfield, seem to have bridged the Atlantic divide to the UK. Maybe C&H and Peanuts were just too rooted in US suburban family culture. Dilbert had a niche following here and beyond that I struggle to even name another strip.

When I was a kid, C&H strips were translated and published by the main newspaper in Geneva.

The "complete" box set is the first thing I ordered from Amazon US as a teenager, in 2000 or 2001 iirc.

Re: 'Calvin and Hobbes' at 40

#110

Post by jmdeon »

next_xibalba wrote: post #57
NiloCK wrote: post #26

That is just two years after I burst onto the page. Calvin and Hobbes was a major part of my childhood - I loved it. For something casually consumed on the daily at the breakfast table, it was so earnestly, so obviously, smarter than the median cultural offering. Smarter also then the local nightly news broadcasts. Smarter also than the median educational intervention I experienced through elementary and middle schoo…

I think Calvin was of a common archetype of that era. The sarcastic, mildly anti-heroic protagonist. And I think that archetype did all of us who grew up in that era and imbibed the culture were done a disservice. I, too, have found my way to respecting and admiring the pragmatic, the persistent, and even the earnest among us over the smart alecs and the sarcastic wits.

I was going to comment something similar. I think I'm about the same age as the commenter grew up reading C&H, and also had a disaffected attitude. I don't think it was Calvin that made me that way, but the broader media at the time. Heck, most kids at my school did not read it but the general way to be cool was to be aloof.

I think it was a hangover from Gen-X and the 80's. Ferris Bueller was pretty aloof and angst'd to the gills wasn't he?

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