Once again, Burl and Joy find themselves at a funeral, or more precisely a funeral luncheon, focused on the food. This panel doesn't have much in common with that one, however (unless you fixate on the minor detail of Burl's jacket slung jauntily over his shoulder).
More interestingly, today's panel represents the second time in a week that The Dinette Set has ambitiously tackled large philosophical questions. The first time, it raised more questions than it answered. This time, it provides a metaphoric insight into Freud's structural theory.
First we have our background couple, representing the Id, driven by pure hunger (for food and preferential seating), gesticulating unashamedly and rushing with wild abandon. The requirement for immediate gratification of the pure Id functions overwhelms any concern for external or social niceties.
Next we have Verl, representing the Super-Ego, defending Burl and Joy from their own Id desires and providing a necessary social counterpoint. Admittedly, Verl's rationale for opposing their desire to rush for the best seating at the buffet doesn't quite rise to the level Freud would have argued, being based on self-preservation (or purse-preservation) rather than cultural regulations. Still, she will have to do as far as The Dinette Set is capable of portraying a conscience.
Finally, we have Burl and Joy, the Ego, mediating between the Id and Super-Ego. They enable limited expression of the Id's desires (getting the best seat), but only when consequences are manageable (they can do so without appearing tacky themselves). They are the least well rendered part of the metaphor since the only way in which they represent the conflict between the Ego and Id is through inaction, which is attributable as much to their inherent laziness (fairly standard fare for the Dinette Set) as anything so grand as the Ego.
Of course, in the world of The Dinette Set, Freud's principles are undermined with the same pen strokes which render them. With no one present to witness their actions, the first-movement advantage of the Id couple will be rewarded without consequence. In contrast, the dallying of the Ego and Super-Ego, which in Freud's theory is what keeps society from imploding, will lead only to frustration, recrimination, and negative reinforcement leading to eventual supremacy of the Id.
Strict Freudian marginalia:
- Nice dress to wear to a funeral Joy. The joke, of course, would work better if Mrs. Id didn't undermine it by also wearing a similar dress.
- That mass of dark spots in the background...do you figure that is supposed to be the people attending the funeral service? If so, it is a definite candidate for "least well rendered crowd scene."
2 comments:
I'm pretty sure that Burl means it would be tacky for others to steal the purses, so they would be unlikely to do so. Burl remains blissfully ignorant of his own tackiness, and I took his comment to be a pro "Grab the table" stance. That blissful state they enjoy is almost a zen state, and it's starting to weirdly grow on me.
The idea that the kind of person who would steal a purse from a table in general, would refrain from doing so because they are at a funeral amuses me. I'm picturing either a gentleman thief, possibly a young Chirstopher Plummer or David Niven, who would never do anything so uncouth as to disrupt a funeral, or perhaps a mob guy, who would say something like, "Yo- youse don't loot a funeral, Joey, it's disrespectful! Hey, dere's da guy-let's follow him home to whack him like da boss said."
Our artist could draw him in the ambivalent "immigrant" style she likes, and he could kill Burl with a canoli. On a Stick. On Ice.
Oh! I guess the blobs are supposed to be the other funeral-goers. I thought something was on fire when I first looked at it.
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