Was flipping through the pages of a collection of Calvin and Hobbes comics (It's a Magical World by Bill Watterson) a little while ago and came across something very interesting. Thought I'd share. Here goes:
Calivn: Doesn't it seem like everybody just shouts at each other nowadays? I think it's because conflict is drama, drama is entertaining, and entertainment is marketable. Finding consensus and common ground is dull! Nobody wants to watch a civilized discussion that acknowledges ambiguity and complexity. We want to see fireworks!
We want the sense of solidarity and identity that comes from having our interests narrowed and exploited by like-minded zealots! Talk show hosts, political candidates, news programmes, special interest groups... They all become successful by reducing debates to the level of shouted rage. Nothing gets solved, but we're all entertained.
Man, that kid is deep.
For those of you who haven't yet had the fortune to read this simply awesome comic strip, I highly recommend getting your hands on a copy of at least one of the available titles.
It's about this kid and his softy-toy tiger who, in the kid's ultra vivid imagination, is a living, talking, but very mild, tiger, and their hilarious misadventures and thought provoking conversations about life that border on the deeply philosophical. The above excerpt ought to give you an idea. :)
Easily one of the best comic strips ever to have been published. Very good read. Go get your copy now!
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Image courtesy Wikipedia, copyright Bill Watterson; Calvin and Hobbes collections published by Andrews McMeel Publishing and distributed by Universal Press Syndicate.
