Episode 491
July 21st, 2006 | Uncategorized
God. I’ve been meaning to put this up since yesterday. Finally, at 4pm, I’ve gotten around to it. Thanks, as ever, to Nichael for hosting the large-print version. [Episode 491 is now visible here.]
God. I’ve been meaning to put this up since yesterday. Finally, at 4pm, I’ve gotten around to it. Thanks, as ever, to Nichael for hosting the large-print version. [Episode 491 is now visible here.]
63 Responses to “Episode 491”
Drama.
Ahhhhh! Sydney’s always looking to promote herself someway…..I wonder if she will forget more about Mo in her quest to impress Dean Haverstick after all these years?
Good god, when did you draw that!!?? I was going to make a joke because you went like 30 hours without posting on your blog. I thought maybe you were taking a day off with Amy, but no, you were driving to PA *and* drawing Dykes!
By the way, they don’t look like weeds to me, more like ferns. I’d just let them grow. Probably the moose would love them. (Obviously I didn’t grow up with your Dad! Most common comment on my garden “wow this is cool — kind of like — wilderness”)
Miss Bennet, there seemed to be a prettyish kind of a little wilderness on one side of your lawn…
🙂
Hey Jaibe,
For what it is worth (worth an easing of our fan minds?), this strip was drawn weeks ago. I believe Alison still sends out her two monthly strips together to the newspapers that publish them.
Brent’s Battalion – brilliant bon mot!
OK, what’s the deal with the person in the
third panel dressed in a banana costume?
What does it say on the front “?????? Juice”?
I’m assuming this is some relevant allusion;
but I admit I’m currently stumped.
Thanks
this may be my last posting on Alison’s blog for quite awhile as my girlfriend, subtle and proper wasp that she is, may soon wish to ban me from posting for;
…conduct unbecoming a reasonably normal person with a life beyond the internet…
so, before she does, I’ll stop myself.
But,
couldn’t resist telling you that my kid, whom I caught reading Fun Home a few weeks ago, after I explicitly told her, yes this is a cartoon but it’s a cartoon for grownups…it’s mine, hands off…is now, right now as I type reading and enjoying the Indelible Alison Bechdel.
and I decided, I’m not gonna try and stop her.
(tho now that she’s tall enough to reach all of the drawers in my dresser and curious enough to snoop thru my stuff…oy vay…I am going to take all of my “erotica” and my extensive toy collection to the safety deposit box with my fine jewels asap…)
I bought her one of those books this year “everything a girl needs to know so her mom doesn’t have to speak with her directly about getting her period and other sex stuff” and she read as much as she wanted to and then put it aside when she had had enough so…I’ll trust her to regulate what of Alison’s work is too much for her little eyeballs and emerging psyche.
I mean, it can’t be as bad as calling her into my workspace to see a dead guy’s thingy, right?
and tho I did dogwood-nap this past Spring
and she was mortified when I went over to my down the road neighbor and said, hey, Tim, can I borrow a shovel, there’s a stray dogwood over there by the lake and I wanna take it home…
I didn’t make her help me dig it up and it died anyway…
guess you do need some strong kids to help you dig cause I think I didn’t get enough of the rootball…
and lilacs are and always have been my favorite flowers
and I’m a creative homo but…
other than that,
I’m not at all Bruce-like.
And Alison turned out pretty good afterall…doncha think?
it’s gonna be okay, right?
just to make sure that I nip any lingering narcissistic need to be the center of attention…and don’t totally rattle my polite and dignified wasp luhvah…
I bid you adieu…until we meet again.
with love and affection,
auntie
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Auntie, I will miss you.
Dear Anonymous.
If you like my prettyish sort of little wilderness, you should see my hermitage.
NLC, the banana kid is advertising Jamba Juice. I don’t know what that is, I just found a photo of someone at a Relay for Life event wearing a Jamba Juice banana outfit.
Ellen, thanks for pointing out that yes, I drew the cartoon a couple weeks ago.
Thanks for the posts, Aunt Soozie.
Re: Jamba Juice..
I think it’s a west coast thing. I have a friend from California who used to work there.. and there was a kid (also from CA) who sat in front of me in algebra class many years ago who was always wearing t-shirts advertising the stuff.
I’ve never actually been to one, but I’m of the impression it’s kind of like Starbucks.. only they’re hocking juice instead of coffee.
Jamba Juice came from Hawaii. They are a chain that makes fruit smoothies. They are nutritious and there are no preservatives or anything in them that are bad for you. The fruit is organically grown as well. They are really good! They have been in Oregon for a while. They are worth a taste!
I am sitting at my computer…..too hot to sleep! It’s 9:12PM and still 94 degrees! Argh!
arch anti-classist 19th/21st c. repartee AND smoothie dialectic. where else but in this cyber cultivation? speaking of which, jamba juice has come to the standard franchise areas of manhattan. including flagship Times Square outlet. little outfits and cheery logo and too-bright lighting like Baskin Robbins in a Clockwork All-Natural Orange.
And well, as far as cultivated patches, while I mostly do eat organic for all kinds of health and environmental reasons (maybe that’s the connection Jamba Juice is trying to foster being at an event like the one in this strip), we could digress onto the subject of Industrial Organic methods of distribution. like all the shipping involved to get everyone their mango concentrate for all seasons… which might bring us back to the greenhouse emissions question and 94 fahrenheit long after sundown. I mean, not that Conventional Agriculture doesn’t do the same long hauls and more, but there’s locally grown and other paradigms to seek out while we’re trying to improve the world one fruit item at a time. Although when you’re drinking smoothies or any juices, the residues are that much more swigged together than they would be if you were eating just an individual piece of fruit ~ so back to avoiding the sprayed produce in its drink form. Realizing it’s not cheap, but neither are the health effects on our bodies and planet from chemically-dependent farming.
I knew I shouldn’t have read this.. now I’m in the mood for a smoothie!
Alas, Jamba Juice has yet to infiltrate my neighborhood. All we’ve got are those god-awful Dunkin’ Donuts yogurt smoothie things (*gag*).. and that’s just not going to suffice.
Boo.
ES- I’ve often pondered that (pesticides and such vs. emissions) when people have told me they preferred to buy organic foods for environmental reasons. I’m sure it’s different in some locales, but where I am, it seems that none of that stuff is grown even remotely nearby. The same goes for much of the non-organic produce, though.. so I suppose it’s probably still making a lesser impact. I don’t know.
Well certainly on the one hand it’s really important to support farming methods that don’t pollute (and the carcinogenic potential of even golf course pesticide runoff is just horrifying). And the actual vitality of our food and farm soils is so intrinsically related to health for plants and all the way up any food chain. But to let the USDA definition of Organic make everyone feel it’s automatically better for us all … I’m really not an expert, but a friend of mine just told me about Michael Pollan’s writing on this topic.
Eating seasonally is a good start I would say, that is foods that are in season in our own hemisphere at least! I am also loving going to farmer’s markets for as much of my food as I can, and there are these CSA groups for ordering food delivered directly from rural producers. Though I can’t manage that kind of advance order personally. I do feel much healthier and the stuff tastes pretty amazing, including the breads and cheeses, which I hardly ever eat from anywhere else any more; and I eat less of it when it’s this good, and a little expensive, yet it’s so satisfying. Also I tend to run into pretty nice people there. It’s interesting, when the big Whole Foods opened across from Union Square, people were afraid of the impact it might have on the farmer’s market days in Union Square (which are now four a week all year round I believe). But they both seem to be going stronger than ever.
During the summer, I only go to the Farmer’s Market in Eugene. The food is fabulous, organically and locally grown……and harvested without savagery. I have a good time going to the market and seeing how all the produce is so beautifully displayed or just going to the back of a local farmers truck and getting 15 ears of white corn for $1. Eugene is pretty progressive. I think this is a town of about 136,000 of old hippies. I love living here even though we are having the 3rd day in a row of record heat both day and night. It only got down to 74 last night! I cringe to think of all the freons going out into the atmosphere due to the increased air conditioners…..though most of us don’t have them….or need them in Oregon. I refuse to get one. NPR local now said we were nearing a bad pollution index for the city………first time in how many years due to the heat. I got up at around 4:30 and went swimming in the pool in our complex…….it was wonderful. Wish I could have gone skinny dipping! Thanks for letting me ramble.
There are Jamba Juice stores all over NYC now. Very good, but expensive.
Dear Anonymous
I should be glad to take a turn in it, if you will favour me with your company.
Deb,
Trust me, it’s no cooler in Forest Grove. Arrrghggggghhh.
Deena
I bet! It’s now 104.8 here in Eugene. I definately AM going skinny dipping tonight!
Okay Alison, you’ve gotta tell us this: why are you giving a tip of the nib to Amy Rubin, your partner?
Confess all, or we’ll assume that it’s because one of you is fixated on elderly Radcliffeans at the expense of the other. 🙂
OT, Stranger review of Fun Home:
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=44563
Well, auntie, if you want reassurance that you are not the only person who perhaps pays too much attention to certain comics, try this:
1) One of the earliest DTWOF strips shows a seder at Naomi’s. It ends with Mo, Lois, Toni, Clarice, and Naomi singing “Oh Mary Don’t You Weep.”
2) A calendar cartoon reprinted in the Indelible Alison Bechdel shows Mo, Lois, Sparrow and Ginger leaving the Michigan Womyn’s Festival. Lois asks if anyone would like some Top 40 and Mo cries, “It’s important to acclimate slowly. One bar of Bruce Springsteen and we could get the bends!”
3) Bruce Springsteen’s latest album is a batch of protest songs associated with Pete Seeger. Including a rockin’ version of “Oh Mary Don’t You Weep”
Really, Alison, I’m not a stalker. Really.
Thats just wrong.
I know…the whole Bruce doing Pete Seeger stunned me. I do love Pete Seeger tho…you gotta love him…really.
there are alot of versions of put your finger in the air that I have personally sung…and Deb, honey, I meant whack in the most loving of ways…it’s nothing I wouldn’t say, and frequently, about myself.
(…friggin’ Sirens…always a sucker for the ladies…da-ahm I have no self discipline, none…)
*Blushes in a very femme-like way* Thanks Soozie! I appreciate the clarification!
yeah, yeah, I’m commenting on a post that’s about 3 days old….give me a break, I just finished grad school and am unemployed (read: have too much time on my hands)!!!
Anyway, to go back to the Jamba Juice thing: They’re tasty and have fruit in them (usually enough to count as a couple of your “five servings a day”). The unspoken thing, though, is that they usually have ice cream or sherbet in them that usually isn’t all too healthy and can come in pretty violent shades of orange or pink that don’t occur in nature…..just saying…..
(sorry, I worked in an [independent] smoothy bar in high school that I’m pretty Jamba ripped off when they got to California….)
“Colorectal…It’s not the sort of thing one trumpets about.”
har! In an awful way.
Since Sydney was diagnosed with cancer, I feel that Mo has not been compassionate or supportive of her at all, but seems unmoved and her usual self-absorbed political whiner that she has always been that drove her last partner Harriet away. Sydney needed support, intimacy in a time of need which Mo did not provide so she turned to her old flame Madeleine and now turns to Dean Haverstick because what does Mo really given Sydney lately; her daily dose of politically-correct preaching which is probably worse than the chemo!
Harsh…….but there may be some truth there.
Sydney’s reply to Mo with ‘Support!’ implies a motive on Mo’s part that the relay is more about her own well-worn left-winged political-correctness and liberal awareness than anything remotely “Agape” that has to do with the fact that her partner has cancer. Mo has shed tears at Gulf war protests, in her therapy, when Harriet left her and when Ginger’s dog died but never for Sydney.
It is harsh… but for whom? Mo seems to take life for granted with all the time she has wasted on bitchfests about the world’s ills but ignores the most threatening and serious ones right at home, with Sydney. Sydney left Mo a long time ago by retreating into the networking cyber world, where she gets more compassion and support than Mo could spare, between her rants.
I disagree about Mo not being connected and supportive during Sydney’s bout with cancer. She was hugging her on the bed. It was touching. Then she was freaking while Sydney was matter of fact (only one in 12 lumps is cancer, etc). Syd said Mo was supposed to reassure her (not the other way around): but that’s just it, she didn’t need much reassurance, could do it herself.
I would agree that it could be said Sydney found it more helpful in her style of doing things to interact with people who had tougher stances — her Dr. Rommel, the tech above (Brent’s mother), her stoner students. While Mo was out of town, Clarice had offered to be there for her but Syd drove over there and drove on by (upon seeing the sunshiney scene of the gang out having fun in the yard). The personal touch is just not her favorite.
I just reread these about a month ago is partly why I feel so sure about this.
It was also interesting to see in Thea’s retelling of their breakup that it was Madeleine she went to when Thea was diagnosed with MS. Syd perhaps dissociates when illness comes up, even if it’s her own, and prefers being around people who handle such things more impersonally as well. And this is apparently the same person she is constantly in touch with online.
Blah blah blah LOL.
I think the scene where Syd drives past Ginger & Sparrow’s house is one of the best AB has done. What is Syd feeling . . . scared? insecure about how much anyone cares about her? alienated by the touchy-feeley feminist breast cancer rhetoric? too vulnerable for the intimacy of her friends?
Syd reminded of people I’ve known with cancer who just want you to have fun with them and not spend time talking about the cancer, because they themselves are sick of thinking and worrying about it. (My father’s words during his battle with non-hodgkins lymphoma.) I got the impression that her radiation tech supported her via their jokes and banter, getting her out of the grim space that cancer treatment can be.
Sadly Mo is so fixated on what she thinks Sydney needs that she can’t even ask Syd what she wants. Of course, Sydney is not exactly Ms in-touch-with-her-feelings, so who knows if she’d be able to answer.
Syd is in a perfect position to “move on” and out of Mo’s life as I see it. She is extremely ambitious and competitive (remember her father) and it feels like Syd is poised to connect more with Dean Haverstick because more of her needs will be met there. Remember when Syd realized that Mo was her “mistress” and her primary relationship is her work/tenure. She could have that all that as well as perhaps some of the “touchy-feelie” emotional understanding around her cancer issues with Haverstick that she may not have been able to get connect with in Mo. I think Mo gave as much as she could at the time. As a therapist, it was so cool to see Mo talking to a therapist! She uses her rants and kevetching as a great distraction from pain and as a cover-up to real issues. The more Mo kevetches, the deeper she loves, feels and cares.
Mo is capable of showing emotion and has before but she has never shed a tear for Sydney.
What has Mo’s kvetching accomplished? other than driving those closest to her away or into cyberspace? Mo likes to whine and complain and doesn’t think about anyone else’s feelings, opinions or views. Brent’s mother, a war-supporting conservative, yellow magnetic ribbon and all showed the support when Sydney needed someone to reassure her. So much for the ranting and raving!
I’m w/Suzanonymous about Mo’s having been there for Sydney. it surprises me that Sydney seems to be a more sympathetic character than Mo for some of us out here! who is the more self absorbed, Sydney or Mo? seems to me that Sydney wins that one hands down. she certainly left Mo long ago, although she hasn’t had the decency to own up to it. when she muses about why she stays w/Mo, it seems that she doesn’t realize that she hasn’t.
it’s possible that Dean Haverstick would be “better” for Sydney — shared intellectual interests, both cancer survivors, perhaps more temporamentally similar. could it be, though, that Mo’s been there for Sydney but simply hasn’t been successful meeting — or understanding — her gf’s emotional needs? Brent’s mom has the advantage of having worked with many, many cancer patients, as well as just being a softer (and less politically aware?) person. Mo doesn’t have those qualities.
I wonder if Sydney would be willing to abandon her online affair w/Madeleine if she left Mo for the Dean. sure she would, for a time, but I suspect she’d resume cyber contact if something threatening came up in her life. it’s too easy to rationalize — why shouldn’t she maintain ties w/a fellow academic?
my biases are showing here . . .
Mo underestimated certain facets of Sydney’s personality.
That Sydney left during Thea’s time of need, that she subtly undermines every attempt of Mo’s at intimacy, that she is adamant that work remain her primary relationship, that she competes with her father, all suggest a need for her to be constantly in control of relationships.
Cancer was the turning point, their test if you will. Both were unable to find comfort in each other: Sydney rationalized shopping as cancer comfort and Mo rationalised her librarian crush as epitomizing her newfound learning. It is sad, really sad, that neither took greater responsibility, and neither sought appropriate advice.
I am skeptical. I think both remain in denial for fear of loneliness in their older years.
I wish a brave, honest move from either of them.
Come on, people, Syndey’s a turd. How can you complain that Mo isn’t being “supportive” enough to Sydney because she hasn’t been seen crying over her illness yet justify Sydney’s first cheating on then leaving Thea when she was diagnosed with MS by saying that Sydney dissociates from illness? Mo held Sydney when she was diagnosed. She went with Syndney to all her appointments, researched chemo regimens for her, and came with her to the survivor’s run. That’s a heck of a lot more support than “oops, you’re sick…I’m outta here” which was what Sydney did to Thea.
Has Syndey ever once been seen supporting Mo? Never, that I can remember. All that she lacks towards being the classic abuser is a couple of scenes of her hitting Mo.She belittles Mo’s attempts to get a better, more interesting job, puts her down at every possible juncture, tries to isolate her from her friends (remember her jealousy of Harriet?), and published her erotic writing without her permission. Every time Mo tries to confront her about anything (cheating, buying binges, refusal to take “no” for an answer), she pulls the old “but I’ve got cancer” card to derail the conversation.
As I’ve said before, Mo needs to DTMFA.
Someone said ‘The more Mo kevetches, the deeper she loves, feels and cares.’ So much that she has driven two partners away. Mo should put her money where her mouthpiece is and ‘go join the Red Cross’ as Sparrow once told her when she had come home from working all day at a shelter. Sydney’s advanced education is conducive to not ranting and raving about hot-button issues where she seems to pause and allow herself time to evaluate variables, recognize bias and contemplate, where Mo is constantly spinning her wheels and stuck in the mud. She is about as evolved as Daffy Duck where sucking sulkily on succotash (lisp included) is her idea of a romatic dinner. Mo is your typical liberal-elitist armchair politician that does nothing but complain. She should volunteer with the Peace Corps where she can eally see how others live and stop taking her environment for granted.
I agree that Syd is a scmuck and treats Mo like crap. Mo is very dysfunctional too when it comes to relationships and tends to push everyone away with her tirades! She keeps us informed and allows us to displace our rage and anger against the “man/machine” out there but only temporarily finds solace for her own personal demons. Will she ever be able to find a relationship where she can take as well as give back? Will she ever be able to nurture as well as allow someone to nurture her?
Mo knew what Sydney was about before she got into a relationship with her. Mo made her own choices with an informed mind, was forewarned by Thea and she got exactly what she asked for. Sydney may treat Mo like a doormat but Mo willingly accepted that. Sydney’s tenured position has allowed Mo to live a lifestyle where she is comfortable enough to sow her own seeds of discontent. Let’s put Mo back into her little apartment with furniture from Goodwill (or left out for the garbage) or, better yet, send her to Darfur so she can help stop the ills of the world that she complains about. Let her live amongst poverty, death, disease and famine as well as snakes, mosquitoes and limited water supplies.
Dianne, loved your comments. I didn’t mean to make it sound like it was okay for Syd to leave Thea like that. I was going too far in trying to feel for Syd, in a way.
It’s a good thing it wasn’t Mo who got cancer, because Syd would have been out of there, or unsupportive/distant even if she had physically stayed. Mo would have been freaking out and basically alone. This is what is so strange to me about the posts that say Mo was like that (and stated with apparent vehemence). There are people like that and Mo’s actions have not fit the profile.
Mo is the most cartoony of all the DTWOF characters, right down to the always-striped shirt. Probably in real life I’d hate to see her with Syd, but in a cartoon it’s been interesting and often very amusing (the Martha Stewart fantasies especially). But it does seem their time may have run its course. (I’d not be protesting if they broke up.)
Maybe if Mo had something serious to freak out about she would not kvetch and whine so much anymore. She and Clarice have become “tired” where Sydney and Toni have tuned them out. They only seem care about what’s going on the world while their laundry piles up at home.
I don’t understand Liz’s vehemence against Mo. certainly Mo knew about Sydney’s personality when they got involved, but she doesn’t “willingly” accept Sydney’s treatment. she protests it. she agitates for change. she continues hoping that Syd will do the right thing, show some caring, woo her again. Sydney used considerable charm to win Mo, and they had some fun times together. it’s only human to want a return of better times.
still, Mo’s not doing herself any favors agitating and waiting for change in Sydney. if that was going to work, it would have had an effect long ago. I’d like to see Mo take stock of her situation and take more responsibility for her own happiness. we can’t always count on others to do what we want them to do . . . in fact, we frequently can’t. Mo hasn’t seemed to consider what she can do besides continuing her failed practices. or does she think she’s making progress?
I agree with Liz that Mo would benefit from a more hands on approach to helping others and correcting perceived injustices. in that sense, Mo is living in her head (instead of reality) as much as Sydney. I honor Mo’s concern about the larger picture, but she (and anyone who’s got a social conscience) has got to do more than say “somebody DO something.” we’re all somebody . . . and actually doing something can be quite rewarding. when it’s not totally frustrating!!
a stray observation about Fun Home: one of Alison’s college buds looks an awful lot like Sydney! makes me wonder about her inspiration for this witty and maddening character . . .
she’s said she identifies w/Sydney, and I can see some resemblances in the father/daughter relationships. and they’re both incredibly erudite! but was Sydney originally based on someone else?
Liz: Conversely, Sydney knew what Mo was like when she got involved with her.
Suzanonymous: Thanks. I was afraid I’d gotten too vehement, but I feel like people are making excuses for Sydney. In a reversal of the usual sexism, I think people are accepting behavior in Sydney that would lead them to call for Stuart’s head or other bits on a platter if he started exhibiting them.
I have to say that I loved the Martha Stewart episodes and the idea of a Martha Stewart kink in general. During that period it looked like Sydney and Mo’s relationship was workable. They’d worked out a way for Syd to get out her aggressive/domineering side and for Mo to get out her submissive/doormat side safely and seemed to have a relatively egalitarian relationship outside of that….Then Syd sold the emails to “Panthouse”. Oh, well, some characteristics can’t be suppressed altogther.
Last stray fan-girl comment: It’s a tribute to Allison Bechdel’s genius that we can sit here gossiping about her characters as though they were real people. Another reason that Bechdel is simply the best cartoonist out there right now. (Ok, I’ll stop now…just had to get it out of my system.)
Regardless of what you think of Sydney, I do like AB showing a side of illness that we don’t often see elsewhere. I’ve known women who hate the cancer walks with their survivor t-shirts and rah rah photo shoots. The experience of illness is a lot more complex than the pat media images we get.
And gosh, people really feel strongly about Mo & Syd, who don’t even exist. That’s fun – perhaps someday we’ll have DTWOF conventions and dress up like the characters.
Somebody mentioned that Mo was a cartoony character but we forget about her best friend Lois, who has not surfaced for a while. I would say Lois is the most cartoony with her penchant for vibrators and her once insatiable appetite for women (which has waned over time) where she wanted to hop into bed with every new one she could make time with. Lois’s rolls in the hay have been replaced by the other characters lifestyles of busy work schedules, child-rearing and going to lifeless places like Starbucks for a psuedo-active lifestyle fueled by caffeine, which was ushered in with the closing of Madwimmin Books. The strip has grayed over time.
So disturbed that I forgot my biggest gripe.
Sydney cheated on Mo big time. Not that Mo did not embark on some emotional adultery of her own. I cannot get over how the two of them are simply processing and procrastinating over this death-by-denial relationship.
I mean. Betrayal is so not okay! How can theoretical intellectualizing smokescreen that?
My vehemence is not against a fictional character as much as it is against the hypocrisy-bystanderism that is so common in the lesbian community. It is been my observation, again and again, that gay women talk the political rhetoric, they try to impress (or attract) others with the pretense of being evolved but in reality most are so absorbed in their own issues that they are unable to support each other, let alone any feminist cause. They cry injustice at discrimination at the system on a macro scale but are not supportive when one of their own is discriminated against. Most times they couldn’t be bothered, unless there is an attraction or personal interest. I find gay women, who try to act so with it (too ON), liberal and cool to be a major turnoff, and can go find another tree to leg up on.
Wow, harsh here! We are playing hard ball with fictional characters that represent the good and bad of not only our community but our humanness. Don’t you find that most of the developed characters on the strip are dual-faceted? They are all good/evil mixtures, just like real life. The characters, to me, reflect the dual relationships that Alison herself portrayed so well in Fun Home. The stark and achingly empty people inside an over-furnished and almost gaudy shell…..which was in itself empty. LOL Can you image all of us at a DTWOF convention? Yikes! We will know it is happening when striped shirts start disappearing from the shelves of our local department stores!
DTWOF could become a cult in some gay communities like Rocky Horror with role-playing at theaters and coffehouses. If gay men can get into costumes so can gay women. There would be numerous Mo types, Gingers, Sparrows, Lois and Gloria characters (never a shortage of those), many, many Harriets, Clarices and Sydneys. Old characters would be brought back from the past. Alison could be onto something where she tours and is greeted by her characters in every city
What a hoot! I would love it! And you know……I would pay money to do something like that!
Wow. First time callers beware. I feel as though I have stepped into a psych class, and have forgotten my books.
The scene that sticks in my head as the quintessential definition of the Mo/Sydney relationship is one from the beginning…I’ve not got the book here in front of me for reference but it’s something like…Mo standing naked, yelling at an equally naked Syd in bed, “Oh, so you only wanna see me when you want to bump libidinal surfaces rather than theorize about them?”
Somehow the nature of their relationship always seemed to me to be one of “if it ain’t good, it’s at least familiar”. That has it’s temporary charms, but then…
Alison: Is the intensity of our attachment to and obsessions about your characters freaking you out just a tiny bit?
🙂
It’s not attachment as much as it may be familiarity with some of them may remind us of people that we know. Her characters have come to life and seems almost as though they now have lives of their own.
Absolutely Hazel! Actually, if I had to identify with any of the characters, I think I would be a combo of Harriet and Sparrow! Now THAT’S scary! LOL
I like all the character analysis here. Thanks for your various perspectives.
I’ve been following “Dykes” for ages, in the past few years on Planet Out. I’ve been really busy since the spring so I haven’t had a chance to catch up with the gang in a while. The PO archives end with 480, the “current” episode that’s up is 483 (Brokeback Mountain). The episodes on this site start with 484. Was there a 481 & 482? Did I miss anything important. If they exist, where would I find them…?
Inquiring minds want to know.
I like the new site & look forward to reading “Fun Home”
I am waiting for the next strip!
the banana costume caught my eye too. since you mention it, i am guessing that the young-looking person in the banana costume is advertising a juice bar (??), perhaps because produce is cancer-preventative?