So, the Oscar Wilde quote that Karen Moy has selected today to pay tribute to our fallen 9/11 heroes is from the play Salomé. In the play, the wickedly insane Salomé, having convinced Herod to bring her John the Baptist's head on a platter, says to the prophet's severed head: Ah! Wherefore didst thou not
look at me, Jokanaan?
Behind thine hands and thy curses
thou didst hide thy face.
Thou didst put upon thine eyes the covering
of him who would see his God.
Well, thou hast seen thy God, Jokanaan,
but me, me, thou didst never see.
If thou hadst seen me thou wouldst have loved me.
I, I saw thee, Jokanaan, and I loved thee.
Oh, how I loved thee! I love thee yet, Jokanaan.
I love thee only. ...
I am athirst for thy beauty; I am hungry for thy body;
and neither wine nor fruits can appease my desire.
What shall I do now, Jokanaan?
Neither the floods nor the great waters
can quench my passion.
. . . Ah! ah! wherefore didst thou not
look at me, Jokanaan? If thou hadst looked at me
thou hadst loved me. Well I know that
thou wouldst have loved me,
and the mystery of love
is greater than the mystery of death.
Karen Moy has quoted some of Shakespeare's greatest villains in the past, thinking their words were noble, completely not understanding that the author was putting virtuous words in their mouths to make them more evil. I've found that funny.
But today, her ignorance has crossed into offensiveness.
Today's Full Strip
15 comments:
Actually, Wanders, I found this whole strip beyond offensive...it made me feel a little sick. Mary looks so cheerful and smug: "Look at me, Lois! I'm sitting on my beautiful patio, enjoying a drink in the sunshine. Happy Tenth Anniversary, Dear Mother!"
Is "Karen Moy" a robot?
Imogene, I agree. Today's installment was a callous attempt to seem noble (or to exploit our sympathies and memories). It would have been better if Moy gave us more of Gina's tiresome whining in the diner booth.
I much prefer Doonesbury's commemoration. BD, who had been a first responder, refuses to watch the TV coverage, instead advising everyone to see the movie Cowboys vs Aliens, "something that makes sense."
Some may not agree with that sentiment, but at least it doesn't toy with our emotions in a condescending, Moy-ish way.
We all deserve better than that. (I'll be glad to return to Whiny Ponytail tomorrow.)
Amen to Wanders, Imogene, and Peggy Olson. How could Moy and Giella come up with these words and illustrations? How emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually tone deaf.
I agree with all of you. Mary is supposed to look noble for making the effort to make this phone call. Meanwhile she is smiling like she's discussing ice cream flavors.
Very uncool.
You just know when Lois saw "Worth, Mary" show up on her caller ID, she turned the ringer off.
Love how they make it look like such a breeze - chill out in the backyard with your tall glass of Metamucil and just throw some platitudes your friend's way. What a gal.
yeah, just leave your platitude on the answering machine, and check off "Do a Good Deed" on today's checklist. Then sit back, drink your cocktail, and be super smug that you lived far, far away in Santa Royale during all that 9/11 "unpleasantness".
Love the dress, Mary! NOT!!
I wrote this on the other thread today:
I thought Moy worked the 9/11 theme pretty well today, though I thought Mary looked downright gleeful as she made her phone call. I wish, though, that Moy had worked the current plot line into today's strip. I think the art ruined the sentiment.
Several other strips in the Mary Worth-vein had 9/11 mentions, like "Apt-3G" (the only comic with plot and characters and art more out-of-it than "Mary".)
I looked at some of the 9/11 strips and by far, the Doonesbury was the best. Of course, Trudeau has been doing social commentary since the beginning - in fact, his strip, which I've followed since it first came out in the 1970's, has lead the way in progressive political thought. The others, like Mary Worth, shouldn't have even tried to mark the occasion. None of them were particularly trenchant or added anything to the conversation.
Did anyone notice the little sidebar phrase "Tip of the hat to Tea." I wonder if Tea is a friend of Moy's who may have been affected by the 9/11 tragedy. Or maybe, it's just a reminder that tea is really awesome.
Aside from the well-commented upon "tribute", did anyone else catch that Mary's "friend" Lois "wasn't home" (i.e. has caller ID)?
Also, that earthquake that hit the east coast last week appears to have reached Santa Royale---the condo appears to be listing badly....
Tip of the hat to Tea?
That one has me stumped. If Tea is somebody directly affected by 911, then this seems like a pretty flippant way to remember them.
Perhaps it's a tea party allusion.
Or maybe Mary's just really happy to have a day off from drinking coffee.
But I think the most likely explanation is that it's a coded message. In fact, all of the incoherent speech used in these strips makes much more sense if they are really a coded message to someone...but to whom?
Peggy, I think "Moy-ish" should be added to the dictionary. Then, when people look it up in the dictionary it's a picture of a person hunched over their newspaper reading Mary Worth, their shoulders shrugged, with a big thought bubble with a question mark in it.
James:
You mean a picture of me, right now looking at Monday's strip - don't you?
Also, what are you doing posting to a blog at 1:44 am? You need your rest for the action-packed week ahead in the Worthisphere.
Lois must have known that Mary was going to call.
Leathery old broad made no friends here.
Peggy: I'm sure if could be anyone, but if you want to volunteer to represent us in Webster's, I say "You go, girl!"
And I'm always up late (I'm a night owl, me.) so 1:44 a.m. is no problem. (Plus I don't go into work until 2 p.m. anyway)
WV: "mythrism"...it's what happens when you read about too many myths.
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