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Sunday, October 10, 2010

That damned Symbol

What's Mallard raving about today?

Breast cancer, symbols.

WTF? I mean, seriously...WTF?

I'm guessing Mallard's last statement is meant to suggest that he doesn't want his wearing a pink ribbon to be misconstrued as wearing an AIDS ribbon.

But I may be assuming Mallard's a bigger asshole than he really is. Not sure that's actually possible, but, honestly...anyone have a different explanation for the end to today's strip?

17 comments:

Tog said...

Yeah, we're already well aware how much Batshit respects women.

Reality: Batshit was told to go along with the "pink" thing, and rather than "speak truth to power" he went right along with it. Not wanting to seem "sissy," he explains the situation to his base, tries to paint himself as the hero, and tosses in a LIBERLZ IZ STOOPID gag.

...Because stoopid liberals don't know nothin' about breast cancer awareness. And breast cancer awareness is stoopid anyway because heart disease kills more people! Therefore heart disease should get the "P.R." and breast cancer should be ignored! ...Toss another steak on the grill, wouldja?

It's NEOCONSERVATIVES who want to save your life! And libertarians like John Stossel! Remember that! Even if it's not true!

ianmorris said...

my cage is ending and it still has a better comic on the subject.

http://www.seattlepi.com/fun/comic.asp?feature_id=My_Cage&feature_date=2010-10-10

Dicky is Right said...

Way to raise an actual debate about cognitive awareness and human psyche in the douchiest way possible, asshole.
Then proceed the drop the ball with some retarded quip about symbology and 4th wall hijinx.
It's like his brain got startled by some movement in the bushes, warning of an impending attack of Relevancy, and scattered like a herd of frighted gazelle back to asinine and incomprehensible bullshit.

rewinn said...

Once again, the laziest writer in "comics" screws up. This is more evidence, were any more needed, that King Features isn't wasting scarce editorial resources trying to polish the turd that is "Mallard Fillmore".

The first balloon contributes nothing to the message and nothing to any of the failed attempts at jokes. (It's also pure asshattery - basically saying this "Think Pink" thing is meaningless but he's got to go along anyway). The "Heart Disease" snark likewise undercuts the message and isn't funny. The result of these and other wasted words is that any attempt at "humor" is crammed into panels 3-5 which are split up, one in the top row, two in the bottom ... which wrecks the "humor" beat in this one real moment with potential for a laugh.

Then he further wrecks it with the heart disease pendantic asshattery - "Imagine those silly women - don't they know that I, as a man, know what's more important?"

Then there's the last panel. The "humor" is not an unsound concept, especially for a man with obvious "issues" about women; a competent cartoonist could've made it funny in a "gosh-I'm-embarrassed" sort of way. But Tinshley is just cramming garbage into the strip so there's no time or space for this joke. The reader is just glad to have the pain over.

And with this one "comic", "Mallard Fillmore" loses more readers for all time. Geez, doesn't he realize that this stuff sticks around on the internet?

Bill the Splut said...

Almost every comic today went with this theme--even Prince Valiant has a pink sky--but only Dullard felt the need to sit his audience of mental defectives down and explain it.

Steve-O said...

Tinsley has the amazing ability to write an important message that I agree with and still find a way to be a dick about it.

GeoX, one of the GeoX boys. said...

I would be willing to give him a pass on this one, but you don't GET passes when you've shown what a stark raving bigot you are. So fuck off, Tinsley.

Tinsley: Sociopath said...

I had to think about this one for a little bit to figure out why I was offended. Tinsley is saying, "hey, you stupid poor freaks, if you cannot afford proper health care, you are retarded. Giving you meaning symbolic gestures is more than you deserve.

Remember: No matter how offended you are by the obvious messages of Mallard Fillmore, the subtext is far worse. This is like the last few comics, where Tinsley said that Arabs were violent animals, but by showing them being hunted, implied that they should be killed.

b said...

Maybe Bruce did this because King Features demanded it, and is mad that there isn't a "Cirrhosis Awareness Week."

Rebochan said...

Wow. My Cage does an amusing satire of the strange "pink strip" day without insulting breast cancer victims, and they're ending this month.

Bruce Tinsley implies that women with breast cancer are unimportant compared to REAL diseases, and he gets to keep going.

There. is. no. justice.

Kip W said...

b, I'd like to see how he does with Self-Awareness Week instead. It would be jolly to see him realize: "Oh my god, my writing sucks! Oh, hell, I can't draw worth a cigar butt! Sweet Jesus, I'm a bitter hack who'll say anything I'm instructed to!"

Then again, maybe he says these things every day, winks at himself in the mirror, and commences filling that little rectangle with more of the same.

Michael Foley said...

This cartoon becomes funny once you imagine it takes place inside a Chinatown oven.

Kaitlyn said...

Does he realize that men can get breast cancer too?

Also, we can't schedule a mammogram right now, you idiot, it's Sunday.

For some reason that really pisses me off, because I've been sick for a long time, I know you can't call anyone on a Sunday.

We call him out for wasting his Sunday space, today he did not, but he seemed to forget that it's Sunday!

(I have a lot of phone calls to make tomorrow because shit was thrown at me late Friday and I am crabby.)

Ducky is Right said...

I was in the car place today, and on the tv was a football game. many of the players were wearing pink gears, presumably for breast cancer awareness.
So I got $5 that says Tinsh was just pissed about all that faggy girly crap on his precious football macho manly footbally players not gay.

I might be wrong, but it sure makes sense.

CW in LA said...

He sure was passive-aggressively surly about having to make a PSA against cancer, wasn't he? Of course, public service and women are two of his least favorite things.

Rootbeer said...

I don't think the punchline it meant to be a jab at AIDS awareness campaigns... it's just the same "LOL WHY IS CARTOON PINK" joke that a dozen other lazy strips also used.

I should give Tinsley a pass on this strip, for good intentions. I won't even mention his petty attempt to change the subject of the strip to heart disease, or his odd belief that people can schedule medical checkups on Sunday mornings.

exanonymous said...

Wow. Way to mock breast cancer awareness month. Par for course though. It isn't just about scheduling mammograms anyways. And yes, men get it too.

As for the heart disease, well, I might actually think he was sincere if every conservative in America hadn't been mocking Michelle Obama's fight against obesity and defending what they see as their god-given right for companies to legally produce deep-fried sodium-enhanced lard and market it as "healthy". News Flash: The Free Market likes donuts.