May 11th, 2014
by Wayno & Piraro
Bizarro is brought to you today by Just Do It.
As I knew I would, I got more than a few questions about the meaning of this cartoon. Many seem to have assumed that the man to the left of the king is Christopher Columbus. He is not, he’s just a member of the court dressed the way those guys used to dress.
Though a bit shrouded, the concept behind this gag is simple: these guys are assuming that a tragedy is their god’s response to their tolerance of something they deem to be wicked, but which is actually a genetic feature of a percentage of the public. It is a matter of historical record that many people used to consider left-handedness to be wicked; a sign of the devil. Children with this proclivity were forced to learn to use their right hand so they would not be ostracized by their society. Sound familiar?
In my opinion, one of modern human society’s worst crimes is our attitude toward and treatment of people whose sexual wiring is not strictly heterosexual. If we don’t cause our own extinction first, there will most certainly come a time when people look back at the current day and cringe at the way we viewed homosexuality as archaic and superstitious. I hope I live to see it.
The next cartoon is fairly self-explanatory, so I’ll let you get back to what you were doing. But first, this.
VINTAGE JAZZ PICKLAGE: In 2006, I did another cartoon with the same motif. I’m still very proud of this one and encourage you to share it with any young people you know who are struggling with their sexual orientation. Or, just someone you think will find it funny.