Sweet dreams, Opus
Okay, so I know I've kinda been dead lately, and am very slowly coming back to life. Real Life tends to do that. Anyway, I wanted to post something about a certain penguin who I'm going to miss very, very much. *points at userpic*
I absolutely adore Opus and the denizens of Bloom County. They helped me get through otherwise-boring Sunday afternoons at my grandparents' house. Because of them, I now know and understand more about 80s politics and pop culture than any kid I know in my generation. They were my introduction to political satire. They reminded me how to appreciate the little meaningful things in a huge, impersonal, and scary world.
I have mixed feelings about Opus's end. Berk Breathed has good reasons for it--with the world becoming as dark as it is, he doesn't want to be yet another naysayer chattering on about the political climate and other such depressing things--and he definitely doesn't want our beloved penguin to become that, either. Opus is loved because of his optimistic and naive personality--something it'll be hard for Mr. Breathed and many others to keep as time goes on. Thus his decision to quit comic strips and political satire altogether, and write children's books to lighten up the coming days. At the same time, I can't help but think that said upcoming days will be just a little bit darker without a certain penguin there to make us smile as he philosophizes in his meadow.
So while the election goes on and the economy continues in its downward spiral, I'm going to take some time to fondly remember a large-nosed penguin and his enchanting optimism. I will always love dandelions. Patches of blue flowers will always make me think of "running nekkid through the periwinkle". To Kill A Mockingbird will always be a classic. Bill D. Cat will always be a better presidential candidate than anyone in the Real World. Bowties and Carmen Miranda fruit hats are stylish, basselopes and the Starchair Enterpoop are awesome, Anxiety Closets are neccesary evils, Billy and the Boingers is the greatest band in existence, and "I've got a waffle burning!" is the perfect excuse for running away from any situation.
And I have to hand it to Berkeley Breathed--as sad as it is to see Opus and everyone else in Bloom County go, he managed to pull it off beautifully. The same humor, political satire, nostalgia, and meaningfulness that have made the last twenty-eight years of strips so amazing are still present in these last seven. And I have to say that the last three strips here really make me choke up. The not-quite-ghosts of Binkley, Oliver, Portnoy, Cutter John, Milo, and Bill were a perfect final reminder of days gone by. And Steve's face in the second-to-last one really gets me...I've never seen the hedonistic jerk so...man, I don't even know what that emotion is, but it's an emotion, and it's beautiful.
Thank you, Mr. Breathed, for the past twenty-eight years, even though I wasn't alive for eleven of them. Sweet dreams, Opus.
I absolutely adore Opus and the denizens of Bloom County. They helped me get through otherwise-boring Sunday afternoons at my grandparents' house. Because of them, I now know and understand more about 80s politics and pop culture than any kid I know in my generation. They were my introduction to political satire. They reminded me how to appreciate the little meaningful things in a huge, impersonal, and scary world.
I have mixed feelings about Opus's end. Berk Breathed has good reasons for it--with the world becoming as dark as it is, he doesn't want to be yet another naysayer chattering on about the political climate and other such depressing things--and he definitely doesn't want our beloved penguin to become that, either. Opus is loved because of his optimistic and naive personality--something it'll be hard for Mr. Breathed and many others to keep as time goes on. Thus his decision to quit comic strips and political satire altogether, and write children's books to lighten up the coming days. At the same time, I can't help but think that said upcoming days will be just a little bit darker without a certain penguin there to make us smile as he philosophizes in his meadow.
So while the election goes on and the economy continues in its downward spiral, I'm going to take some time to fondly remember a large-nosed penguin and his enchanting optimism. I will always love dandelions. Patches of blue flowers will always make me think of "running nekkid through the periwinkle". To Kill A Mockingbird will always be a classic. Bill D. Cat will always be a better presidential candidate than anyone in the Real World. Bowties and Carmen Miranda fruit hats are stylish, basselopes and the Starchair Enterpoop are awesome, Anxiety Closets are neccesary evils, Billy and the Boingers is the greatest band in existence, and "I've got a waffle burning!" is the perfect excuse for running away from any situation.
And I have to hand it to Berkeley Breathed--as sad as it is to see Opus and everyone else in Bloom County go, he managed to pull it off beautifully. The same humor, political satire, nostalgia, and meaningfulness that have made the last twenty-eight years of strips so amazing are still present in these last seven. And I have to say that the last three strips here really make me choke up. The not-quite-ghosts of Binkley, Oliver, Portnoy, Cutter John, Milo, and Bill were a perfect final reminder of days gone by. And Steve's face in the second-to-last one really gets me...I've never seen the hedonistic jerk so...man, I don't even know what that emotion is, but it's an emotion, and it's beautiful.
Thank you, Mr. Breathed, for the past twenty-eight years, even though I wasn't alive for eleven of them. Sweet dreams, Opus.