Inside jokes and subconscious weirdness

 So let's extend the discussion of niche-y inside humor from Saturday's posting with today's Heart of the City.

I'm not a huge movie fan, and certainly not enough of one to know all the directors. I know the ones who genuinely become brands, so a gag like this PBS from 2003 is not lost on me and, in fact, made me laugh enough that I snagged it for my files:

But I'm better off with gags like this Mad Magazine piece, where some people see it as a take on the filmmaker but I saw it more as referencing the movie itself and the upcoming war:

In fact, I think seeing it as anything more than I did is overthinking the matter. The smaller print (click for readable size) says a lot more about its purpose as political commentary than as a spoof of a particular producer or director.

And to be honest, when comic/geek fandom erupted a few weeks ago over the idea that Abrams was taking on Star Wars, my thought was of Harry, not JJ.

Harry J. Abrams publishers have stepped into the graphic novel sector of the book business in a very big way, not only with the blockbuster "Wimpy Kid" franchise but with the work of an artist particularly close to this blog, Brian Fies. And if Harry's name were Jerry instead,well, then, he'd be JJ Abrams, too, wouldn't he? 

In any case, it didn't take me long to realize that they weren't saying there was about to be a new, high-quality series of Star Wars graphic novels but rather a new Star Wars movie.

Okay. We'll see if Fonzie can un-jump that shark.

Meanwhile, what works so well in today's HotC is that the gag is equally funny if you have no idea who JJ Abrams is or why Dean is so excited. In other words, Heart's reaction is more or less my reaction, and this is a very well-played bit of insider humor.

Today's Brevity plays the insider game a little closer to the edge. It's not unreasonable to ask a general audience to catch the  BB gun joke from "A Christmas Story," since the movie, an icon among those under 40, gets enough chatter and airplay that you've really got to live under a rock not to get jokes that reference (A) a lamp shaped like a leg, (B) a tongue stuck to flagpole and (C) "You'll put your eye out."

The Nick Fury reference, however, makes it an insider joke, because, unless you know that Nick Fury wears an eye patch, the whole thing falls flat. Granted that Nick Fury has had that eye patch for half a century, he still dwells in the Marvel universe and not even at the top of the pile there.

But this may be more a case of a "passing of the guard" than niche humor, because the old-school gag would reference "The Hathaway Shirt Man's mother ..." and there are more people alive today who would get the Nick Fury reference than that one. Plus, having an actual name makes it flow better.

The Hathaway Shirt Man is only 12 years older than Nick Fury, but still, I think, qualifies as pretty long in the tooth for comic strip references, and I'm quite certain that Stan Lee is better known today than David Ogilvie.

Conclusion: It's always good when you can let the Old Farts in on the gag without destroying it, but there's a point at which you have to shrug and just make the right joke. This was the right joke.

Other Conclusion: And then there are times when you kind of hope the older readers don't get the joke. I think it's time to call social services about the Lucy and Ethel of the funny pages ... 

 

Meanwhile, back on the Mandatory Mush watch:

Dave Blazek may or not have had Vermont Teddy Bear commercials in mind when he drew this, but the joke is nearly as absurd as the real thing:

The panel is funny to begin with, but it got a whole lot funnier when Vermont Teddy Bear launched a commercial -- which may only be regional but I think is national -- promoting a freaking giant teddy bear as the perfect Valentine's Day gift.

And this is a 2012 commercial, so it must have worked last year, which is kind of scary. Check this out:

 

I think a girl would be better off with the hungry, prey-seeking bear from the side of the road than dating a guy who thinks this is a great gift. And for whom a successful opening advertising gambit is the overt suggestion that giving his girlfriend a giant teddy bear will somehow compensate for the inadequacy of his penis.

Aside from the tone-deafness of not recognizing that it is precisely the fragility and temporary nature of cut flowers that makes them a great gift, or the general weirdness of that whole take on chocolate, there's something really creepy about giving a woman such a inescapably huge, "guaranteed for life" present.

She's kind of stuck with displaying it, isn't she, unless she has so much spare closet space that she can tuck the damn thing away somewhere?

I mean, it's not like giving her a ring or a diamond pendant that she could stick in a drawer if there were an occasion when she didn't want to explain a ring or a diamond pendant to someone.

There's a photo currently floating around on Facebook of a woman whose boyfriend persuaded her to cover half her face with a tattoo of his name. That, certainly, is creepier and more controlling than buying a four-and-a-half foot bear to guard her apartment.

But still.

Jeez.

Why don't you just lift your leg on one of her bedposts?

Comments

[Brian Fies]

You seem particularly stream-of-consciousy today, which is always welcome. It all holds together and you're right about the creepiness of the giant bear.

I kept a four-foot-tall Scooby Doo atop a dresser in my bedroom for more than a decade, not because I love Scooby Doo (never really cared for him) but because I won him by throwing a ring over a Coke bottle neck at a carnival, one of the great victories of my life. Like the Dad in "A Christmas Story" (ah, it ties in!), I'd won my Major Award and was determined to display it. A few years ago I finally passed Scooby on to a good home and haven't for a moment missed having a stuffed Great Dane staring down at me as I slept.

This post is so good I apologize for pointing out that my publisher's founder was Harry N. Abrams, not J. Such are the risks of free association. It's the first thing I think of when I hear "Abrams" too.

[Brent]

If this was a couple months ago, I'd have to take issue with "A Christmas Story" being general knowledge. I was shocked to discover that almost no one I knew was familiar with the film. Over or under 40. Maybe it's been run more often and for a longer time in the US... I only first saw it a couple years ago myself here in Canada. Nick Fury was like a zillion times more well known among my friends and family until I exposed people to it last December.

Which brings up a point about the strip... if you don't know "A Christmas Story", that reference is completely lost to you without someone explaining it. Is Martha concerned that it will lead her son into a life a violence? Anyone knowing Nick Fury might well assume that, and miss the eye thing.

If you don't get the Nick Fury reference, though... well the fact that a very specific name was used stands out. Enough that it should pique the interest of most people that don't know Nick Fury that there's something more. And in the past, they'd be lost at that point... but now we have Google. So inside jokes can reach a general audience now... you just need to make sure there's enough of a hint that there's more going on and a good search term, so anyone that cares to know the answer will look it up.

[Geoffrey Cubbage]

"In any case, it didn't take me long to realize that they weren't saying there was about to be a new, high-quality series of Star Wars graphic novels but rather a new Star Wars movie."

For what it's worth, long-time grist mill of Star Wars comics Dark Horse isn't getting any new contracts from the newly-Disnified franchise. So I don't know about "high-quality," but we can expect a new series of Star Wars graphic novels soon, presumably from fellow Disney vassal Marvel.

[Mary in Ohio]

Yeh, the Teddy Bear commercial is not just regional. And I thought it was creepy too.

But the line "You'll shoot your eye out" was first spoken by a long, long line of parents before the movie came out - the movie was riffing on that time-honored parental caution. So if you're REALLY a geezer, like me,you'd get it anyway, without knowing the movie. In fact, I didn't know who Nick Fury was either, but I could make an educated guess.

[Mike Peterson]

So, I guess the Jerry J. Abrams publishing company joke doesn't work at all. Nevermind.

Meanwhile, is there a difference between a "zombie comic strip" and a "Star Wars" film that wasn't directed by George Lucas?

Inquiring minds want to know. But note that Dean wasn't shouting "Yippee!"

[Brent]

George Lucas is still alive. But also, Lucasfilm is still producing the movie, and Lucas will be consulting. The fact that there's a new director makes a bit of difference... but the director still needs to answer to the producers, and so Lucas still has his hand on the rudder, even if he's not involved in the day to day. That's not enough for some purists.

Zombie comic strips are undead... the creator is dead, and yet they still lumber on with new strips every day.

[Richard J. Marcej]

About that Nick Fury/Christmas Story referenced cartoon....

It works for me because I've seen CS dozens and dozens of times and have been reading Marvel comics since the early 70's.

I can see how someone today would recognize the name Nick Fury, but is it because of the comic books or because of all of the movies from Marvel in the last few years?

I'm guessing that the average person, who are familiar with the BB gun line from CS and know of the name Nick Fury from only the recent films will be confused because in the movies he's black (Samuel L. Jackson).