(no subject)
Does anyone know who "Penelope the Cat" is in Looney Tunes? You remember her...she's the one that "Pepe le Peu" chased around all the time. She was a black cat who'd always somehow end up with a stripe of white paint along her back, making her look like a skunk...and making her look quite tempting to Pepe. Pepe, being the master of love, would try to seduce her...but his stench drives her away and many a cartoon was based on this premise. More often than not, Pepe would somehow loose his smell somewhere near the end of the episode (usually something to do with flowers or perfume) and Penelope would begin to chase HIM.
Anyway, last night my sister Katey walks into my room and says, "Hey, Kyle...check out my new shirt!" So, I looked to find that she was wearing a bright pink shirt with green lettering (that I can't recall) and to the right of the lettering was the figure of Penelope the cat from Looney Tunes. I said, "Oh! I remember her...do you know who that is, Katey?" And she said, "No. I just liked the shirt...it's Looney Tunes!" So I said, "Yeah, it's Looney Tunes, but why would you get it if you didn't even know which Looney Tunes character it is?!" At this point she started getting upset and I backed down.
This whole situation bothers me for some reason. I think it's because Pepe le Peu and Penelope Cat were always one of my favorite Looney Tunes segments...I mean I loved them on the show...and here's my sister with a Penelope shirt NOT because she likes Penelope or even knows who she is, but because she's a victim of fashion. She bought the shirt because it was cute...but she's wearing a shirt that would represent a fan of the show. She's wearing it as if SHE was the one who knows who Penelope is and when people see her on the street, they will think that SHE knows what she's talking about...but she has no idea. I'M the one who knows who Penelope is...I'M the one who loved Pepe. She's wearing MY memories!
This isn't the firt time this has happened...and I blame Hot Topic. First, I want to say that I like Hot Topic. They have a lot of really cool merchandise, a lot of it based on obscure movies and television and music that I loved as a child (i.e. Back to the Future, The Goonies, Transformers, G.I. Joe, etc.). But, the problem is that they put out SO much shit that it becomes TOO much of a fad and gets people wearing their clothing JUST because it's Hot Topic and looks cool and NOT because of what is ON the article of clothing. What happens is that they bring back an old movie or cartoon and it gets out of control. For example, Hot Topic's big thing (for a while now) has been and is "The Nightmare Before Christmas." It was cool in the beginning because I had always liked that movie and the music that's in it. But now it has ceased to be cool and it's simply something that everyone has JUST because they got it at Hot Topic...and it's become sort of an Emo thing. I got a Jack Skellington face decal for my car window like a year ago and I get people commenting on it all the time...except they're NOT the kind of people I'd like comments from...they're people who THINK they like Tim Burton or THINK they like Danny Elfman's music but in actuality they're tools of a great marketing device created to facilitate the selling of the "Emo" image, which has adopted "Nightmare" as one of it's many mascots. At the same time...all Hot Topic has to do is pick a show at random and produce an entire line of products from that show and the visuals from the show will become an automatic "in" thing...REGARDLESS of whether or not anyone knows (or even cares) where the origins of their merchandise lies. A specific example...Care Bears or Strawberry Shortcake. These products sell like MAD and just yesterday I saw a commercial for new Care Bear dolls that you can write on and then wash or something. I'm willing to bet that 80% of the people who buy all this Care Bear paraphanalia (my sister included) have NO FUCKING IDEA that the Care Bears was a TV show...and furthermore I will bet money that 98% of the general population can't even sing me the Care Bear theme song. They just get it because someone tells them it's cool...if it's at Hot Topic it MUST be cool. If the head slut at your slutty little school has a Care Bear, well then you better get a little something Care Bear, too or else the slut won't regard you as one of her elite group of fellow sluts and you'll just become an outsider. I was a Care Bear fan when I was a kid...I can sing you the Care Bear theme song...I can recall plots from actual Care Bear episodes, but I don't own anything Care Bear because a.) it's gay, b.) I don't want to facilitate this fad and c.) I dont' need to prove my Care Bear pride by wearing fancy-marketed clothing to prove that I'm a fan.
This sentiment is much like the sentiment I have for my fellow "filmmakers" and "film buffs." You get all these people saying that "I'm a film buff" or "I love film" or "I know so much about movies" or "I want to be a filmmaker because film's an art"...but then you come to realize that these same people either a.) only know the things about movies that someone else told them was important or b.) doesn't know jack shit about movies. I hate when people half-ass their "devotion" to something that I take very very seriously. In the same way, I hate people who half-ass knowledge or devotion to a show or movie that I loved very dearly at one point in my life. They're horning in on MY memories and MY passions and are stepping on my toes in the process. Stop saying you're a film buff and return that fucking Penelope the Cat shirt before I kick you in the goddamn nuts.
Anyway, last night my sister Katey walks into my room and says, "Hey, Kyle...check out my new shirt!" So, I looked to find that she was wearing a bright pink shirt with green lettering (that I can't recall) and to the right of the lettering was the figure of Penelope the cat from Looney Tunes. I said, "Oh! I remember her...do you know who that is, Katey?" And she said, "No. I just liked the shirt...it's Looney Tunes!" So I said, "Yeah, it's Looney Tunes, but why would you get it if you didn't even know which Looney Tunes character it is?!" At this point she started getting upset and I backed down.
This whole situation bothers me for some reason. I think it's because Pepe le Peu and Penelope Cat were always one of my favorite Looney Tunes segments...I mean I loved them on the show...and here's my sister with a Penelope shirt NOT because she likes Penelope or even knows who she is, but because she's a victim of fashion. She bought the shirt because it was cute...but she's wearing a shirt that would represent a fan of the show. She's wearing it as if SHE was the one who knows who Penelope is and when people see her on the street, they will think that SHE knows what she's talking about...but she has no idea. I'M the one who knows who Penelope is...I'M the one who loved Pepe. She's wearing MY memories!
This isn't the firt time this has happened...and I blame Hot Topic. First, I want to say that I like Hot Topic. They have a lot of really cool merchandise, a lot of it based on obscure movies and television and music that I loved as a child (i.e. Back to the Future, The Goonies, Transformers, G.I. Joe, etc.). But, the problem is that they put out SO much shit that it becomes TOO much of a fad and gets people wearing their clothing JUST because it's Hot Topic and looks cool and NOT because of what is ON the article of clothing. What happens is that they bring back an old movie or cartoon and it gets out of control. For example, Hot Topic's big thing (for a while now) has been and is "The Nightmare Before Christmas." It was cool in the beginning because I had always liked that movie and the music that's in it. But now it has ceased to be cool and it's simply something that everyone has JUST because they got it at Hot Topic...and it's become sort of an Emo thing. I got a Jack Skellington face decal for my car window like a year ago and I get people commenting on it all the time...except they're NOT the kind of people I'd like comments from...they're people who THINK they like Tim Burton or THINK they like Danny Elfman's music but in actuality they're tools of a great marketing device created to facilitate the selling of the "Emo" image, which has adopted "Nightmare" as one of it's many mascots. At the same time...all Hot Topic has to do is pick a show at random and produce an entire line of products from that show and the visuals from the show will become an automatic "in" thing...REGARDLESS of whether or not anyone knows (or even cares) where the origins of their merchandise lies. A specific example...Care Bears or Strawberry Shortcake. These products sell like MAD and just yesterday I saw a commercial for new Care Bear dolls that you can write on and then wash or something. I'm willing to bet that 80% of the people who buy all this Care Bear paraphanalia (my sister included) have NO FUCKING IDEA that the Care Bears was a TV show...and furthermore I will bet money that 98% of the general population can't even sing me the Care Bear theme song. They just get it because someone tells them it's cool...if it's at Hot Topic it MUST be cool. If the head slut at your slutty little school has a Care Bear, well then you better get a little something Care Bear, too or else the slut won't regard you as one of her elite group of fellow sluts and you'll just become an outsider. I was a Care Bear fan when I was a kid...I can sing you the Care Bear theme song...I can recall plots from actual Care Bear episodes, but I don't own anything Care Bear because a.) it's gay, b.) I don't want to facilitate this fad and c.) I dont' need to prove my Care Bear pride by wearing fancy-marketed clothing to prove that I'm a fan.
This sentiment is much like the sentiment I have for my fellow "filmmakers" and "film buffs." You get all these people saying that "I'm a film buff" or "I love film" or "I know so much about movies" or "I want to be a filmmaker because film's an art"...but then you come to realize that these same people either a.) only know the things about movies that someone else told them was important or b.) doesn't know jack shit about movies. I hate when people half-ass their "devotion" to something that I take very very seriously. In the same way, I hate people who half-ass knowledge or devotion to a show or movie that I loved very dearly at one point in my life. They're horning in on MY memories and MY passions and are stepping on my toes in the process. Stop saying you're a film buff and return that fucking Penelope the Cat shirt before I kick you in the goddamn nuts.