• Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    And then you had other panels where the whole joke was Calvin being pounced on by Hobbs. A recurring event that as a kid I always compared to Charlie Brown trying to kick the football.

    The difference is, Charlie Brown makes no attempt to substitute the ball holder, and continues to get frustrated at an obvious outcome.

    Calvin is a child playing by himself, using imagination to create a fantasy world where he’s sailing the seas, or exploring the moon, or being hunted by dinosaurs…and then he pretends his best friend uses his distractions to tackle him at 60mph.

    When you think about it, Calvin & Hobbs is really the story of a lonely boy seeping deeper and deeper into mental illness, while he struggles with low self esteme due to lack of a social life.

    Meanwhile his parents mostly ignore him. Only being used in panels where Calvin needs discipline. Which is ironic, because the most famous image of Calvin is him peeing.

    • DaGeek247@fedia.io
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      4 months ago

      When you think about it, Calvin & Hobbs is really the story of a lonely boy seeping deeper and deeper into mental illness, while he struggles with low self esteme

      What? No, not even. First of all, Calvin and Hobbes is written specifically to allow for a Toy Story situation; they’re only pretending to be not alive when adults are watching.

      Second of all, Calvin never had any major mental illnesses (except maybe undiagnosed ADHD), much less “seeping deeper and deeper” into it. The author never intended that, and I damn sure never got that from any of my re-reads either.

      Meanwhile his parents mostly ignore him. Only being used in panels where Calvin needs discipline.

      Again, not even close. It wasn’t even hard to find counter-evidence for this.

      the most famous image of Calvin is him peeing

      Only in the same way that Shirley Temple is most famous for her childhood acting, despite being a US diplomat later in life. What Calvin and Hobbes is most widely recognizable as has no bearing on what the majority of the comic was about.

      • Sotuanduso@lemm.ee
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        4 months ago

        Calvin never had any major mental illnesses (except maybe undiagnosed ADHD), much less “seeping deeper and deeper” into it.

        Events are always reinterpreted when values change. We need new versions of history to allow for our current prejudices.

    • Seleni@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Having an imagination counts as a mental illness now, according to this revisionist.