Today's Bizarro is brought to you by Double Entendre Wine.This is a gag that would not have flown 15 years ago. Newspapers have always been very conservative about the kind of humor that appears on their comics pages. I can't blame them, they know that children read the comics and many parents don't want to be faced with answering what they consider to be difficult or embarrassing questions over the breakfast table. I'm happy to report, however, that in recent years they have loosened their standards somewhat.
I was always honest with my daughters, no matter what they asked, and found that they always accepted my answers casually and moved on unharmed. Contrary to what many parents fear, children do not become promiscuous because they know what sex is, or homosexual because they are aware of its existence, or drug addicts because someone explained to them what marijuana was when they were "too young." Knowledge of a behavior or lifestyle is not what makes a person choose that path for themselves.
More simply, what I've always wondered is why a parent feels they must answer a question they are not comfortable with. If my precocious 3-year-old asked me what this cartoon was about and I didn't want to go to the trouble to explain the concept of penis envy, I'd just say, "I'm not sure. I don't get it either." I suspect that 100% of children would then say, "oh," and forget about it. This seems like a much more logical approach to the situation than writing to the newspaper editor about how offended you were that such a pun was included in the comics page. Choose your battles, that's all I'm saying. And be honest with your kids, then have faith that they'll make good decisions. That's another thing I'm saying.
I did this with my kids and both of them are well adjusted, productive adults. At least they were before they went to prison and I have no reason to believe they won't be when they get out.
31 comments:
Absolutely true...
P.s.: Your cartoons are really excellent!I make it a point to read them every morning.
What self-importance. You must surround yourself with mindless idiots.
anonymous is on a rampage lately.
May I ask what YHDP stands for?
That's freaking lovely!
bwwahahahaha!!!
fyi, i added you to my blog network on facebook, so there is now a fan page for your blog. you should check it out! =)
hmmmm being 350 lbs...of course you are hung like a pimple..i think its due to your thigh size stunting your penis's growth...so naturally penis envy is there...but of course living at times in rode island where prostitution indoors is NOT illegal..you will get laid...and coming from a wealthy family helps to ...hey anonymous drop by my house so i can anonymous your face...jim davis loving wannabe pile o shit
Comments are welcome, but I really don't want this to turn into one of those internet slug fests. Please keep it civil.
derek:I appreciate your defending me, but chill a bit.
Anonymous: I'm sorry mom kicked you out of the house again, I'll talk to her. But come on, you're 37.
lol you got it bro..i would suggest erasing the other one to......i dont tolerate those schmucks.....good to see your alright man.....boy i only bolgged the first timemaybe 16 hours ago..hahaha..peace
Funny how the only un-"civil" comments are coming from the drones. Keep slamming your heads on the keyboard, maybe you'll form a word or two.
BTW, the comment deleted was non-anonymous. I'm guessing it was full of more incoherent swearing.
Hahaha, Dan. That's good stuff. A living-with-your-mom joke. So original, so fresh.
Great cartoon and good read. I think if you're honest, not overly protective and trusting. Worked out for me, I think.
Got to love these anonymous cowards that hide behind a keyboard.
Yeah, I agree. There are a LOT of cowards on this board posting under a name with their profile blocked. Of course, I could do the same, but what exactly would be the point?
I, too believe in honesty. If your kid is anything like my son, the "I don't know" comment doesn't work, his reply is always "Can we look it up online?" when I use that.
And anonymous, if you don't like the comic, don't read it!
Dan, you are a genius!
I've never said I don't like the comic. But thanks for your brilliant analysis.
your cartoon replacement is either not funny or over my head...come back soon dan
Ah, another happy customer. I'll try harder next time.
took me a second to realize your point, but it made full circle and i like a good search.
i work at a news station and got a call the other day from a lady who said what we had just reported was inappropriate for children, and she had to turn the channel because he kids were in the car. the news report was about a decapitated baby that was found in a garbage can, and was found by a guy who was just walking by who then called police. she said she didn't want to have to explain to her children what it meant, and thought they were too young to hear such an awful thing. after we get cranky calls about something we just aired live from our own studios, i always tell the news anchor about the call mentioning that they may want to re-word it or take it out of their cast. it's always up to them, though because i'm nowhere near the status to tell then what they can and cannot write. my anchor said she couldn't help that the news wire said her exact words, and she was not going to reword something because a mom said she felt it was inappropriate and didn't want to explain it to her children. this usually happens though, because we don't really care if people think what we air is appropriate.. they have every choice to turn the station.
but thank you for sticking to your guns, and being the awesome writer you so subtly are. peace..
Interesting that you don't think this would have worked 15 years ago...I perceive the world at large becoming more and more of a tight-assed old spinster at every turn. Think of "All In The Family" and imagine anyone even suggesting such a show now. We've become PC to the point where it's stifling everything.
And...politics aside (because I personally think that's the main cause of it) think of how the Vietnam war was exposed on TV compared to the "war on terra". There are virtually no video or still images from Iraq and Afghanistan...in part because Mommy and Daddy don't want to sully Junior's eyes. Any time anything even remotely out of the realm of vanilla runs on the front page of the paper here, parents fire off letters to the editor about how it's so very inconvenient for them to have to hide the paper from their kids. I swear...then they can't figure out why the precious little darlings aren't fit for adult life and are still in the basement decades later.
I am encouraged that at least the comic pages are relaxing a little bit. ;-)
If you're incapable of explaining things to kids, you aren't competent to have kids. Stuff happens. When my daughter was in grade school, her classmate was an incest victim. You have to be prepared to deal with that kind of thing when it happens, with or without newspapers or TV. It's part of being a parent.
you didn't get the fish cartoon doug? i thought that was friggin' great! i think cez is just as funny as dan, but a different kind of funny.
If you are incapable of allowing a kid to be a kid, you shouldn't have kids.
Im sorry dan my friend but for months you wEre hitting everyday,This guest writer stinks with a capital ST
Pun humor, huh? Tank is running a little low, I see...
Your suggested tactic was exactly my mom's when I was growing up... "I don't know, I don't get it either", and I'd say "Oh.. ok. What a dumb cartoonist/tv show/whatever, the jokes don't make sense" and I'd stop watching. Of course if you're going to use that tactic, you have to keep yourself from laughing at the joke in front of your kids...
Look at it from a professional standpoin. On several occasions Dan has mentioned on his blog that hes been going through some tough times. But to bring in this fool and his unfunninessw ill only make times worse. On some of Dans cartoons you see with Brandt. I always thought Dan was saying look dont blame me for this awfuljoke blame brandt. I thoought Brandt was badbut this week's guy takes the cake, cake factory and any country that produces cakes.
Look at it from a professional standpoin. On several occasions Dan has mentioned on his blog that hes been going through some tough times. But to bring in this fool and his unfunniness will only make times worse. On some of Dans cartoons you see with Brandt. I always thought Dan was saying look dont blame me for this awful joke blame brandt. I thought Brandt was bad but this week's guy takes the cake, cake factory and any country that produces cakes.
I'm confused by the name changes, this was Dan that wrote this blog entry right? For some reason I got a feeling it was someone else, especially when s/he was talking about kids. Maybe its because I haven't seen him writing about his kid/s before.
Damn The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act seems to be getting everyone thrown in jail these days.
Seriously, great points. It's always best to be honest with children and give them sincere answers to their questions.
Jeremy: it was dan, he has two daughter's I believe he's mentioned them before in previous posts.
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