Monday Morning Miscellanea

[vovat]

1. I feel somewhat obliged to defend Lady Gaga, inasmuch that a lot of the criticism of her that I see tends to be along the lines of, "She thinks she's a performance artist/shocking/weird, but she's really not!" (Either that or "she's a man," in response to which I direct you to this, a creation of not_glimmer.) I guess I don't really know what Miss Germanotta is going for, but if she's just a regular pop star who enjoys playing dress-up, is there something wrong with that? Why does someone wearing a goofy costume have to be seen as shocking or controversial? Oh, and speaking of Lady Gaga, do you think this is real? (WARNING: Picture not safe for work.)


2. What was Sarah Palin THINKING by not signing the books of people who'd waited in line to meet her? Wait, I just used "thinking" and "Sarah Palin" in the same sentence, didn't I? Maybe that answers my question right there. Really, though, the woman obviously isn't afraid of alienating people, but it always seemed previously that her disdain for certain people and institutions was calculated to make her Joe Six-Pack base like her more. The strategy apparently didn't work too well in her bid for vice president, but there's a certain amount of sense to it. But these people who came to her signing actually LIKE her, and bought her book to prove it! Does she really want to risk turning these people against her, if she really IS hoping for a presidential run in 2012? Well, maybe her friends in the right-wing media will find some way to spin this in her favor, like how she wasn't REALLY drastically unprepared and in over her head at the Katie Couric interview, but was simply taken aback by Couric's audacity in bashing Alaskans by asking if she reads any newspapers. People who like Palin might well be a vocal minority by this point, but they still baffle me.


3. As you might have seen if you read my Twitter updates, I was pondering the other day over how many cartoon characters have nephews, but no children of their own. Just offhand, I can think of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Scooby-Doo, Popeye (actually, he might not count because I believe Swee'pea was originally conceived as being his adopted child, but the cartoons put her in Olive Oyl's care), Bugs Bunny, Kermit the Frog (not a cartoon, but it's the same basic idea)...I'm sure there are plenty of others as well. I suppose it's easier for characters who have been established as single not to have unexplained children, but in how many of these cases do we see the sibling who did reproduce? I believe Huey, Dewey, and Louie have been officially established as the sons of Donald's sister Della, and the Duck Family Tree obscures the name of their mysterious father. It's interesting that Goofy apparently reproduced when Mickey and Donald never did, though.

Comments

[poisonyoulove.livejournal.com]

I like Lady Gaga. I think the outfits are interesting, I like that she is creative about that. But I grew up worshipping Cyndi Lauper, so I'm inclined towards flamboyance, ha ha. Also, the "she's a man" stuff annoys me, partly because it's obviously not true, and partly because some of the people saying it give off a rather homophobic vibe.

Levi Johnston once said that Sarah Palin was lazy. I keep thinking of that every time news like this comes out. She quits everything, because she's lazy. When asked about doing a talk show, she said she'd rather write books, but her book WAS GHOST-WRITTEN. LOL

The thing that always weirded me out about the cartoon nephews . . . why are there always three of them? And always the same age/size?

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Also, the "she's a man" stuff annoys me, partly because it's obviously not true, and partly because some of the people saying it give off a rather homophobic vibe.

I'm not entirely sure how her gender would affect much of anything anyway. Well, I guess if you were sexually interested in her, you wouldn't want there to be any surprises down there, but otherwise I can't say I get it. And yeah, I also tend to like her outfits (I can't say I like all of them, but even the ones that aren't so appealing are creative), and her music is pretty catchy.

When asked about doing a talk show, she said she'd rather write books, but her book WAS GHOST-WRITTEN.

Yeah, while having a book ghost-written doesn't necessarily mean you don't have a lot of input (hey, some people have interesting stories to tell but lack writing skills), I've heard the book was really short and lacking in content anyway. Well, maybe next she can try her hand at a trashy romance novel.

And if Levi Johnston says you're lazy, that HAS to be significant. {g}

The thing that always weirded me out about the cartoon nephews . . . why are there always three of them? And always the same age/size?

Well, Popeye actually had four, and I believe they predate Donald Duck's, so maybe Disney just liked the idea. Actually, it isn't too surprising that a duck would have three kids of the same age who look basically the same, but it's rather less likely for a human.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

Goofy probably only reproduced because he was the only character that HADN'T been given an extended family in backstory already, and by the time they got around to making that Goof Troop cartoon it had finally become socially acceptable to portray single fathers on television where impressionable children could see them (I was outright happy that they gave Darkwing Duck a daughter rather than, you know, a nephew). Anyway, the nephew thing always bugged me. Why was it ALWAYS nephews? Why not nieces, or unrelated neighbor kids, or adopted kids, or yes actual biological offspring? Are there really that many nephews hanging around with their uncles comparatively as regularly in real life? And why were their actual parents never around?

[vovat.livejournal.com]

There were actually some older Goofy cartoons in which he had both a wife and a son, but I don't think the wife ever appeared on-screen. bethje told me about one where it was pretty directly implied that the wife was having affairs with the milkman and other service people, so maybe that's why they're no longer together. {g}

I know that Daisy had three nieces named April, May, and June at one point, but I don't think they ever made it to animation. Apparently they were at least partially the influence for Webby in DuckTales, although she was actually Scrooge's housekeeper's daughter, or something like that. And if I remember Darkwing Duck correctly, Gosalyn was the daughter of a scientist who died before the first episode. I do think making him a single dad with a daughter was an interesting move.

[arfies.livejournal.com]

Yes, the "nephews" thing got to me too. I think, as you do, that it's a way to have all those Krazy Kiddie Hi-Jinks ensuing as plot devices without having to change the canon to include them ALL the time. Only when it's convenient.

[bethje.livejournal.com]

Ah ha! This is so great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGDsmGPGc8I

I can think of at least one other cartoon with the little boy, but I'm not so sure about his wife. I never would give Goof Troop a fair shake, because of these. "That is NOT Goofy's son," I thought about that Max kid.

Growing up, I was a huge fan of the Goofy sports and how-to cartoons, but now I'd have to say I love the everyman cartoons most.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I guess Goofy's wife has a type, since all the service people look kind of like him. Not the firemen, though.

[chu_hi.livejournal.com]

I feel that people wouldn't be so harsh toward Lady Gaga if she were a man. Double standards are weird.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think that's definitely possible.