Money? MONEY?? You mean writers sometimes get MONEY for writing? But…but…I thought writing was all about self-loathing, deadlines and crippling doubt? Not only does this comic strip suck but it teaches you NOTHING of any use!
Oh my, the poor, poor Delicate Genius, learning a harsh cold lesson about how his passion in life is merely a means to an end and nothing more. What a blow this must be for the Delicate Genius, who up to this point was so proud and so confident about his artistic mastery of the written word. Poor, poor Les, being forced to accept money for his work like that, will the universe EVER stop heaping the indignities and humiliations upon his tortured soul?
This week has featured Batiuk at his absolute worst. The ponderous drivel about his fictional cancer book being this incredible artistic acheivement is nauseating enough, but the simplistic tripe about the “inner workings” of the television business is laughably bad especially when you consider how it’s coming from a guy who’s “written” maybe two hours worth of “stories” over the last forty years. A “writer” in a medium as shallow as the comic strip business has a lot of balls taking shots at other writers in other mediums, maybe he should write something that isn’t a simplistic piece of garbage before he dismisses an entire industry in one fell swoop. He needs a smack as much as his stupid avatar does.
Son of Stuck Funky 
You know, Tom, if I wanted to hear this “art is only art if you suffer and nobody understands it and if you actually get paid for doing it you’ve sold out!” nonsense, I’d put on my cast recording of Rent. At least then it would be sung well, and voiced by characters who are too young to know better.
Today’s strip is a confession by TB. He’s admitting that he’s not an artist or writer since he’s been getting paid. We should applaud this first step to self awareness which will end when he realizes that even if he wasn’t get paid he still wouldn’t be an artist or writer.
As we all know, including the blue cat, Funky Winkerbean is a tale told by an idiot, lacking even the distraction of any sound or fury to mask that it signifies nothing.
As an antidote, I proffer this heartbreaking work of real genius: Celluloid Heroes.
Apparently Tom Batiuk has never heard of “paying dues”.
Most artists spend their time creating less than artistic work so that they can get their name out. Once they have clout and exposure. they can then produce artwork that is more to their vision. That’s how it works.
It’s not evil on the part of the studio execs. They have to make money as well. There have to make sure that they produce enough shows that appeal to the general public, because many artistic shows will not appeal to everyone.
I hate Transformer Movies, but their apparently insanely popular. Why shouldn’t a movie exec make another sequel rather than producing something “arty”?
Strips like this remind me of that moron that you friend on Facebook. You know…the one that believes he can simplify every major political debate into one meme picture.
I’m reminded of an interview I read once with horror-movie director Herschell Gordon Lewis. He made no secret of the fact that money was his only motivator for making his movies…fair enough, if that’s all he wants, then more power to him. But then he proceeded to ridicule anybody who wanted make movies as an artistic endeavor…he really couldn’t seem to grasp that other directors could have reasons besides the bottom line. The really absurd part came when he named examples of such “unprofitable” filmmakers as Woody Allen and Robert Altman…at that point, I was thinking “Um, excuse me, Herschell, even going by your premise that money is all that matters, those people are richer and more successful than you are.”
So, apparently, both Batiuk and the director of “The Gore-Gore Girls” believe that art and commerce are mutually exclusive, even when they talk about examples that disprove that theory.
Again, switch “making a cable TV movie” with “making a comic book” in these strips, and see how fast Tom Batiuk sputters with rage. “No, no, no! No! Comic books are ART, damn it, and they are profound and say things everyone can relate to! Not like TV or movies!!!!”
Why does the cat keep calling him Cher? He looks nothing like Cher. Hm.
My second choice for a title was “Gypsies, Talking Cats And Thieves”.
You know, if I were a writing teacher and I used this as an example of “on the nose” writing, my students would probably hate me for it because it’s so obvious that it’s insulting.
Here’s a quote for you, TB, from a great artist who will be long remembered after you’re forgotten:
“A writer needs a pen, an artist needs a brush, but a filmmaker needs an army.”
You have to pay for that army.
Not only do we have the stupid moral that ‘true artists die broke, sick and unheeded’, we also get to defame the vast majority of mankind for not heeding said desperate, doomed figures so as to patronize cynical sell-outs who prostituted themselves for mere material success. Paul McCartney had a different take, I remember once hearing him say that he and Lennon got together and said “Let’s go write ourselves a swimming pool.”
Charles: It’s “on the nose” writing, with the added bonus that it’s exactly what the author thinks.
His bizarre attitudes toward writing and the entertainment industry are truly baffling and irritating. And that cat needs to stop using that fake French accent. You’re from Ohio, cat!
I take it that TB believes the writer of a popular 80’s adventure film franchise ought to get paid a royalty for the catchphrase he cribbed in panel 2.
gad more defensive whinging about ‘art’ – and what monsters those people in Hollywood are – and this from a man who gave us a mutli-part story arc about collecting comic books. gad.
I think this is what Batiuk would like the world to be like –
Why does the cat keep calling him Cher? He looks nothing like Cher.
“Cher” is French for “darling”, which makes the entire thing with the cat gross rather than simply self-indulgent.