My goodness...
Nothing in this panel makes sense. I recognize each word as English. I can even define each word in isolation. But strung together in this fashion, it's like The Dinette Set shifted into a foreign language and I have no idea what they are talking about.
Artist Julie Larson makes a critical assumption, believing it will be obvious to everyone why Burl and Joy have a poppy on their rearview mirror. And that everyone will know to whom the "they" and "their" in Burl's punchline refers (I use "punchline" in the loosest possible sense).
She couldn't be more wrong in her assumption.
At first, I went with the obvious assumption that it was an air freshener and tried to rationalize that Burl and Joy borrowed a friend's car and were discussing whether they could remove the air freshener. Long story short, that path leads to madness.
Next, I located a reference to a "Golden Poppy Pass" used in California parks as a parking permit.
I leapt at the possibility that the poppy indicates Burl and Joy have paid a daily admission to some sort of national park, tourist attraction, or parking lot. Presumably they are driving away and Joy is wondering how far one has to get before they will be safe from bat-weilding park rangers who menace the occupants of cars not displaying the appropriate poppy. Or perhaps safe from evil spirits warded off by the poppy.
In that context, I assume Burl's reference to changing color has to do with the poppy color indicating for what day a pass has been issued. In which case, leaving it in place is a deranged attempt to maximize the value of the price of admission. Despite the fact that, in reality, it makes no sense whatsoever and tends to paint Burl more as a crazed pack rat than a miser.
To summarize the delimma...we may (or may not) have a nonsensical example that may (or may not) hint at Burl's general thriftiness which may (or may not) hinge on the reader grasping the symbolism of a mystifyingly specific item, which may (or may not) be a parking pass.
Alternately, we have a reason to march on Ms. Larson's publisher weilding pitchforks and torches.
As if the margins matter...
- "I Blow O's"? Am I wrong to think that's an opium/drug-related reference?
- Joy's arm and head are at very freaky angles to her body. Especially her head. Why is she looking backwards when referring to the rear view mirror?
- Unsuprisingly, Joy and Burl don't wear shoulderbelts. And have managed to find a car without a passive shoulderbelt restraint system. So we can hold out hope that a crash and a trip through the windshield are in their future.
- I'm not a car person, so can anyone elighten me on what car brand Ms. Larson is mocking with the "Ameba"?
5 comments:
Maybe blowing O's refers to blowing smoke rings. Could the car be an Edsel.
Everything else has me stumped.
I can remember when I was a kid that there was a charity that collected at stop lights, and when you gave money, they gave you a little flower made of rolled crepe paper on a little florist's wire wrapped in florist's tape. You could then wrap the wire around your rearview mirror. I can't remember what the charity was. Firemen? Disabled kids? March of Dimes? I'll do a little research and see if I can find out.
I think it may have been the American Legion on Veteran's Day. See ...
http://www.calendarmine.com/Holidays/American_VeteransDay.asp
But this inteesting theoy requires us to believe that either Joy or Burl have donated money to charity. We're talking about people who won't pay $10 to have their septic tank pumped because they could do it themselves. Maybe after having borrowed a friends car they're debating the propriety of removing the offending air-freshener because Burl is worried that others will believe he donates to charity. You can almost hear him; "But Joy, if you give to one all the others will want one too."
I think that on veteran's day you give money to a veteran's charity and they give you a poppy that you then can show as you pass another charity collector to show that you have already given. I guess the joke is that joy and burl are so cheap that they have kept the poppy year to year so they never have to give again?????
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