January 8, 2014

Blink Blink

By Tammy Derouin

It’s a Looney Tune world!  I end the year with the Coyote and begin the year in an Elmer Fudd like scene.  Duck Season!  Wabbit Season!  Duck Season!  Wabbit Season!  Will it or won’t it happen?  I eventually heard the shot.  My beak, filled with holes, landed on top of my head.  I’m left holding a handful of buckshot, blink, blink.

And so the year begins.  As the coaster pulls away, I begin the year without a job.  I will be separated, for a little while, from the job that pays the bills.  I’ve been through this before but now I’m the only source of income.  It’s supposed to be short term.  I’ve been given no reason to think otherwise but still, not a welcome beginning to the year. 

Those who know me, know how much I value a sense of humor.  I grew up watching Looney Tunes.  I’ve referenced those classic Bugs Bunny cartoons many times throughout my life.  Childhood laughter continued as an adult.  Most cartoons are age oriented.  Good humor doesn’t change with age.  If anything, the older you get, the more you appreciate Looney Tunes.

I guess this is where my appreciation for sarcastic humor began.  Who else but Bugs Bunny could calmly look down the barrel of a gun, chew on a carrot and get the better of his opponent?  Oh yes, while delivering a one liner such as, “Shhhhhhhh!  I’m about to defy you.”   There really are lessons behind the gun powder.

Bugs Bunny’s life is full of interesting characters.  Most stay true to their characteristic form, when they deviate, there’s a motive.  As much as I love to watch Daffy Duck and Yosemite Sam lose their temper, you never turn your back on them.  Sylvester will always chase Tweety.  Marvin the Martian wants to destroy the earth.  Tasmanian Devil will destroy everything in his path to obtain his desired goal.  Is this life imitating art or art imitating life? 

I remember some controversy in my early adult years involving Looney Tunes.  Would Little Johnny run off a cliff thinking he would recover from the fall?  Would he climb into an oven, swallow dynamite, or paint a dog’s tongue – before or after beating his backside?   Most of these cartoons were made years before, no casualties to report.    

There was a time when common sense was either something you were born with or something life taught.  I once worked with a girl who felt Looney Tunes were too violent.  Stupid is what stupid does.  Some guys had convinced her that her tail lights weren’t working.  During lunch she went out to check.  She pressed the brake down and quickly ran to the back repeatedly, to see if they were working.  I’m not kidding! 

The guys provided a real life Looney Tune moment, and they knew it.  I sat back and enjoyed the show.  It was difficult to watch but some life lessons are painful.  Unfortunately, she left thinking her tail lights weren’t working.  Oh, to be the mechanic at the garage!

Somewhere along the line, those who have a common sense deficiency have made it their goal to wrap everyone in bubble wrap.  How did man make it so far without government intervention?  How is it that man is the dominate species?  We have a brain that learns from our experiences.  We are even so advanced that some logic doesn’t need to be learned.  We will actually stop at the edge of the cliff.  We aren’t sheep mindlessly following the herd or are we?

Most of us grew up in the real world where there were consequences for our actions.  Taking the gun off the mantle was only done to hunt, protect your family, home and property.  It was understood what pulling the trigger meant.

The younger generations have been gravely overprotected.  Because of this error, they haven’t been able to learn or feel the consequences of their actions.  The government and society have overstepped their boundaries.  Protection is so extreme that one feels negligent if Little Johnny isn’t wrapped in bubble wrap to go outside and play.

 I survived riding in vehicles without seat belts and learned to ride a bike without a helmet and every pad now available.  I skinned my knees, got bumps and bruises and I lived to tell about it.

Cartoon violence in my day was understood to be entertainment.  It was funny because it wasn’t realistic. Kids didn’t act out what they watched.  Today’s cartoons, video games and entertainment, in general, are very violent and are being recreated with morbid results.

What has changed in our society?  We’ve allowed ourselves to be taken out of the driver’s seat.  The government now thinks for us which means we’ve strapped ourselves to the herd.  Will we survive the impact?  Blink, blink.

“And remember, ‘mud’ spelled backwards is ‘dum’.

Bugs Bunny