Arts, culture, ideas & expression of a few wild art monkeys living in an arts loft in Jersey City.


Monday, February 21, 2011

Fuck! Im not being ME- I'm just plaguerizing Calvin & Hobbes


So I'm writing a play that deals with the Superior self arguing with the Common self. Its a commentary on the difficulty of being a better more developed person when life seems to reward our common/inferior qualities time and time again.

I've been battling against my alleged opposing forces since I was young. The ones inside me and outside of me, always smart-mouthing and going against the grain. If I'm not supposed to do something, I demand to know why. If I shouldn't say something- I instead test the limits. My whole life I thought this was who I was, how I was born, simply someone who rebelled against the masses and fought to express himself creatively- that was until I realized someone who I grew up with was doing it all along and bigger and better.
Calvin of the infamous Calvin & Hobbes comic strip was Bill Watterson's brainchild and was a favorite of mine growing up. The kid said what I thought and when I hadn't thought it, he made me think it. I read the strip and all the books that were put out. I enjoyed the banter between him and Hobbes and saw how necessary the banter was for Calvin to justify or ignore his own actions.

Calvin is described as an impulsive, sometimes overly creative, imaginative, energetic, curious, intelligent, often selfish, rude, and ill-tempered six-year-old. I never thought though that as I approached 35 yrs old I would feel like I was still behaving like the rebellious 6 yr old boy in the strip, but calling Calvin 6 yrs old is a real stretch. He may represent a 6 yr old in physical appearance and reckless abandon, but he's also quite insightful. Then again calling me a 35yr old man is an even bigger stretch. Regardless, I see now that my quest for originality; to carve out a life distinguishable as my own grand creation was actually an epic fraud because I am nothing more then an overgrown Calvin. I havent stopped expecting the great things Calvin does of himself, havent stopped being irritated by the lack of creativity in the governing system and certainly havent stopped talking to the cynical stuffed tiger in my head.
_Fathom

1 comment:

  1. Nice, a little superego/ego conversation. Yet we know you're just one big (K)ID ;). A discourse which can lead to both ultimate truth and utter self-deception.

    Heather

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