Scary Garfield

I stumbled across this article linked by Garfield Minus Garfield. First of all, G-G is perhaps one of the most surreal, hilarious ideas I have ever come across. If you have a warped sense of humor, it might be worth the click. Although, if you're a regular reader of this blog, you already have a perverse sense of what's funny. Essentially, the author of the website removes Garfield from the comic strips and it makes Jon look like he belongs in a painting by Edvard Munch.

But I digress. The article itself references a dark comic done by the Jim Davis which imagines Garfield in different settings and times. One of these versions is "Primal Self". How is this the first time I am hearing of it?! I'm not usually a comic guy, but this is intriguing.

What is it exactly about seeing something we've taken for granted in another light? If someone just wrote an existential graphic novel, I would most likely be nonplussed. But seeing Garfield as this dark, creepy being is something that truly piques my curiosity. *SPOILER ALERT: don't read the next sentence* It's like when you find out Alan Alda is the killer in Murder at 1600. Hawkeye?! I couldn't believe it. If it was any other actor, I probably wouldn't be so surprised. It really knocked me for a loop. He's always so likeable and genial. I never saw it coming. Perhaps that's it. It's the truly surprising that gets our attention. The human brain loves novelty.

This brings me to another somewhat unrelated, but relevant topic. Why I wasn't truly in love with the new Star Wars. It didn't really broach anything new and exciting. Even Lucas was finally quoted as saying that he would've never done a movie like that because he doesn't do "retro pieces". And that nicely summed up how I felt. It's kind of a rehashing of the old story lines. It doesn't do justice to the vision that was so intriguing about the first trilogy. As long as I'm getting on everyone's nerves. I actually liked the prequel trilogy. It painted for me a world exactly how I exactly envisioned it. It had political intrigue, major turning points and summed up nicely a lot of the things only hinted at in the original movies. I really was giving the film a chance. I finally punched out when the resistance was talking about the "Star Killer Base". I distinctly remember it being something like.

"So it's another Death Star?"

"Yeah, but this one is a really, REALLY big Death Star!"

It was like an unintentional punchline. I waited around for the credits just to see if Mel Brooks was credited as a writer. I mean seriously.

Glad I finally got that off my chest. Also, Skellig Island was a horrible choice for a location. If Luke was hiding out somewhere off the charts, why would you put him on a place that's recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site? Might as well had the Jawas roll by the pyramids in Giza.