The stupidity that imbues The Lockhorns becomes even more intense today as Loretta openly displays the hatefulness that characterises her marriage. My God, woman...if you loathe him that much, get a divorce and stop torturing us with your pointless griping. Backhanded griping is one thing; sticking a photo of your husband to a dark board with his left eye in the centre target seems an indication that you might be happier not married to him. Honestly...anybody want to draw these morons up some divorce papers? If I could, I'd do it myself. What the hell is the point? Loveless marriages are no longer traps for helpless women. PAY ATTENTION, CARTOONIST.
This comic only makes sense if it takes place in the Middle Ages, when Loretta would not only not have had the power to divorce Leroy but would not have been expected to love or even like him. Clearly, Loretta is a rich merchant's daughter foisted off on a landless knight (his name, after all, means "the king"; it is possible he is a sixteenth cousin of royalty with really optimistic parents) who needs her money, even as she needs his title. They can't stand each other but stay together for convenience's sake. Their children will be wealthy minor nobility; that is all they care about, though they are beginning to think that they may not ever have children. Here, Loretta gleefully flaunts her marriage's farcical nature. The cartoonist is commenting satirically on marriage as a medieval institution and cynically implying that its reality does not live up to its ideal.
It's really too bad it happens to be 2008 at the moment. It really is.
*At one point, I found myself staring at my notes and realising that I didn't understand what the hell they were saying. I fumbled around for an excruciating minute or two, then gave up, said something about how one's brain stopped working when one stayed up to four to mark, and moved on. The students were all catatonic, and I just wanted to go home.
4 comments:
Thank God you posted! I leisurely checked "Japes" at midday, found no October 30 update, and immediately began to experience harsh symptoms of withdrawal.
Well, you know ... students. I've got a batch right now which are suppose to be doing an exercise to demonstrate that they've mastered the concepts ... and they're completely lost. This is the fourth day I'm giving them the same information, and they are just so dim! Grr.
Jessica: I simply had no time to post all day. Thursdays are bad for me in the first place, but I generally manage by doing the translation as soon as the comics come out on various websites at midnight the night before. This time, I had to mark and write lecture notes until the wee hours, so I couldn't. It is entirely possible that this will happen again, but never fear: sooner or later, there will be Japes.
Davimack: Yes. I am also wondering why it is apparently so difficult for students to follow instructions. If a question on your midterms asks you to discuss X element in Y text, why on earth would you discuss every element except X? Do you think I am issuing you a logic puzzle? I just want you to answer the damn question, guys.
Angry Kem: I've been up all night enduring/grading bad essays, so I sympathize. I'm grateful to have Japes at any time of day.
Davimack: If the time stamp on your post is accurately adjusted for time zone, then I'd guess your students are shocked and confused to find themselves in class completing exercises at four in the morning. That's one hell of a tight ship you run.
Post a Comment