Ma Penny has long been The Dinette Set's most tragic character, hounded as she is by the specters of death and dementia. And today's panel examines what it is like to live in Ma's world.
Her home, which I believe we are visiting today though that is pure speculation, is a clear metaphor for a failing mind. She cannot remember her own daughter's phone number, yet takes the time to commemorate that fact in writing on the wall. She has lost her car keys. And she has forgotten to fill in her own mnemonic device, despite its massive size and prominent placement.
Narratively, Ma mistakes the salad spinner for a serving dish, or possibly an implement intended to distribute salad dressing, clearly a sign that she is in need of assisted living.
This appears, on the surface, to be an incredibly simple joke. And yet, paradoxically it doesn't work, which is the author's clear intent. The key is the deliberate and conspicuously imprecise use of the word "tossed." On one hand it is brilliant because of its pun-like quality and could add to the joke. But on the other hand it causes the reader to wonder if, perhaps, the panel's meaning runs much deeper than is evident on the surface. Should we be looking for puns or double-entendre visually as well as verbally? Is the meaning actually something beyond what we are seeing on the surface?
Once the reader starts down this path, we are given a chance to experience what it is like to be Ma, trapped inside a failing mind which cannot make sense out of even the simplest things.
I can't remember where I left the marginalia:
- Looks like Ma broke out the fancy, and I mean fancy in a jewel-encrusted way, goblets for Joy and Burl.
- A good rule of thumb would be: if you can't draw salad on Burl's fork that is distinguishable from a mass of squiggles or a pair of busted eyeglasses, then you'd be better off not drawing them at all.
3 comments:
Of interest to me is Joy's shirt, "YMCA Spinning Team". Anyone who has ever taken an Spinning class should know that it has NOTHING to do with twirling in place on the sort of playground toy depicted on Joy's belly. It involves riding on what amounts to stationary bikes. And it's not a team sport.
So, I leave it to you: Clever Joke or Ignorance?
I do think she meant the "Spinning Team" as a joke. I always thought "spinning" was a pretty stupid name for using a stationary bike. I think the joke would have been funnier with a spinning wheel on the T-shirt, but then again, I'm weird.
But then it would have been funnier if it hadn't been the YMCA spinning team then. Some other spinning team, such as cal-sag, would have implied a bunch of local hens getting together and making their own team. I just cannot suspend disbelief enough to think that a venerable institution such as the YMCA would make such a joke.
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