Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Incredibleness

Bizarro is brought to you today by My Distant Cousins.

There is much we can learn from The Incredible Hulk. We all feel the pressure to be incredible all of the time but for most of us, it just isn't possible. True, some people achieve it – Rush Limbaugh is an incredible jerk all of the time, Paris Hilton is an incredible disappointment to her parents all of the time – but most of us will never reach that level of consistency.

Also like the Hulk, most of us will grow out of our clothes at some point. I can't wear the pants I wore when I was 18 any more than the Hulk can fit into the purple jeans he wore moments before his archenemy made him so angry. And we all lose our cool from time to time and bust up the place. That's just life.

I find comfort in the knowledge that even super heroes like the Incredible Hulk have many of the same problems I do. When I'm feeling embarrassed by my behavior or my clothes are splitting off of my rapidly expanding body, I often sooth myself by remembering that this happens to the Hulk, too. At least I'm not green and my hair is manageable.

7 comments:

David said...

Very nice sensitive post. I'm going to remember it, next time I can feel myself turning into the Hulk. This will help my road-rage and my stress levels at the supermarket.

Anonymous said...

What are you going for here? Laughs or indigestion?

doug nicodemus said...

did the guy in the piano cartoon fart? it sure looks like it...

i am a huge fan of comic books and the theories of how to "tell a story"...many people have commented on the danger of story telling that gives it's central character too MUCH power...as the character approaches omniscience or god like powers the stories become less interesting because the character can snap his fingers and "it happens" ...superman was like that...the writers eventually had to give the story line kryptonite to rein him in a bit...the Hulk was like that in the comics ...the TV show did the story much better...of showing us Bruce Banner...in fact they actually went whole episodes where the Hulk never showed up...

real funny cartoon you are on a roll.

Unknown said...

Really, ANOTHER Limbaugh joke? I'm sorry Piraro, I agree that Rush is annoying, but these slams against him are becoming cliched.

And as I've said before, it's no challenge to insult people on the other side while giving the loudmouths on your side a free pass. Why not badmouth Michael Moore as well; he's just as obnoxious and conceited as Rush.

Piraro said...

@ Josh...
I never tire of taking shots at Limbaugh. His politics, his tactics and his motives are utterly despicable in every way and he continues to attempt to bring the nation down to his level.

Moore, on the other hand, while just as obnoxious as Rush and having crossed my mind as a possible candidate for that link, is not "despicable."

Con: He is an insufferable whiner and an abusive eater.
Pro: I suspect his motives are (relatively) pure (he wants to help the little guy battle the giants) and I agree with his politics.

So it isn't as much fun to bash him. I will take your suggestion to heart, however, and look for a place to jab at him sometime. I agree that he doesn't deserve a free pass and sometimes I think he does progressives as much harm as good.

If anyone is wondering, Rush's chart would look like this:
Con: Everything
Pro: He won't live much longer

Unknown said...

Piraro: Thank you for your response. Again, I'm not defending Rush, as I think he is a jerk. I blame him, as well as Moore, Keith Olbermann, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Rachel Maddow, and all the other empty-headed pundits on the left AND the right who promote this foolish divisiveness, the mentality of "Our side is right, the other side is wrong and evil, therefore we must demonize them."

You say that you agree with his politics, and I think it's that reason why you're hesitant to criticize him: he's on "your side", and you don't want to badmouth him, so you give him a free pass. Again, this is another thing that ticks me off about the two mainstream parties: they point out flaws in the people on the other end of the spectrum while ignoring the same flaws seen in people in their camp.

I think Moore does want to see improvements, but I disagree with the way he wants to bring them about. I fear he, like Larry King, believes that someone needs to "think for the masses", and I disagree with that wholeheartedly. Overall, my opinions on MM can be summed up in this quote by Penn Jillette:

You know, the problem I have with Michael Moore is the problem I have with a lot of people who are fanatical and push really hard on things, which is not willing to say the other side is wrong. They have to be evil.
And what I'm looking for is him to just say, maybe people are making mistakes. But it's always this conspiracy thing. There's always a conspiracy out to get him and a bunch of people doing things that are evil and psychotic and not simply wrong. And he's so cynical. He's so incredibly cynical.
... and yes, I know that Penn is the fat, loud guy on our side (libertarians), but dammit, he's not hateful or condescending like Rush or Moore.

Karl said...

I've never trusted psychiatrist types since I went to one many years ago, whose first question was; Do you and your wife have sex? So I'm sitting there thinking; why the hell is that any of your business?