The Decline of a Child Actor
Among the UNGODLY number of gifts my darling daughter received this year was a doctor's kit, complete with scrubs, crash cart with defib paddles, and a doctor's bag full of doctorly doodads. One of said doodads was this tube of what one must assume is a sort of panacea salve called Soothe:
So, Liv and I are playing with the kit today, examining her Dora the Explorer doll and removing the duck we heard quacking from within her guts (the same duck Liv would later remove from my guts, which was very disturbing), when I look closely at this ersatz salve and very nearly say "What the fuck?" out loud.
Because, and maybe you saw it right away, I'm quite fairly completely certain that is Calvin from Bill Watterson's genius Calvin and Hobbbes strip, mugging for Soothe pseudo-salve.
What the fuck is Calvin doing here?
Now, I realize this little fake tube o' goo was likely made in China, where intellectual propeties are pretty much viewed as free clip art, but this is still odd for so many reasons. The little cartoon head as placed doesn't really make any sense, regardless of whether it is a famous cartoon child or not. Obviously, the fact that this is just one tiny piece in a set that wastes an astonishing amount of natural resources proves that the fact it is Calvin made no difference to the manufacturer - Calvin isn't having his likeness cashed in for sales, he isn't the draw, he's just a graphic nugget of convenience.
And maybe that is the hardest thing to accept. I was a HUGE Calvin and Hobbes fan back in the day, and credit Watterson with preserving whatever childhood glee remains in my withered husk. Watterson is to be respected for bowing out at the strip's height, and refusing to sign on to merchandising deals (millions of bootleg peeing Calvin stickers notwithstanding) that would have made him crazy wealthy. Calvin is a figure of integrity, and is now relegated to visual filler on cheap plastic imports.
It was a surprising injection of nostalgia into my day, and one whose implications are very depressing.
I think I need my tiger.
So, Liv and I are playing with the kit today, examining her Dora the Explorer doll and removing the duck we heard quacking from within her guts (the same duck Liv would later remove from my guts, which was very disturbing), when I look closely at this ersatz salve and very nearly say "What the fuck?" out loud.
Because, and maybe you saw it right away, I'm quite fairly completely certain that is Calvin from Bill Watterson's genius Calvin and Hobbbes strip, mugging for Soothe pseudo-salve.
What the fuck is Calvin doing here?
Now, I realize this little fake tube o' goo was likely made in China, where intellectual propeties are pretty much viewed as free clip art, but this is still odd for so many reasons. The little cartoon head as placed doesn't really make any sense, regardless of whether it is a famous cartoon child or not. Obviously, the fact that this is just one tiny piece in a set that wastes an astonishing amount of natural resources proves that the fact it is Calvin made no difference to the manufacturer - Calvin isn't having his likeness cashed in for sales, he isn't the draw, he's just a graphic nugget of convenience.
And maybe that is the hardest thing to accept. I was a HUGE Calvin and Hobbes fan back in the day, and credit Watterson with preserving whatever childhood glee remains in my withered husk. Watterson is to be respected for bowing out at the strip's height, and refusing to sign on to merchandising deals (millions of bootleg peeing Calvin stickers notwithstanding) that would have made him crazy wealthy. Calvin is a figure of integrity, and is now relegated to visual filler on cheap plastic imports.
It was a surprising injection of nostalgia into my day, and one whose implications are very depressing.
I think I need my tiger.
posted by JJisafool at 4:34 PM
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