Here we see the problem with Mr. Brian Steinberg’s piece on Funky Winkerbean, much discussed over the past couple of days. The claim was made that Tom Batiuk likes to handle the tough issues, and here we see how he does it–after weeks and weeks of build-up, the “Diversity University Ironton” story is deflated with its defining moment happening off-stage. All we get is the pitiful aftermath.
So, yeah, there’s the Tom Batiuk we all know and love. No matter the story or the theme, it’s always the same–let’s build up the hopes of someone who isn’t Les over and over, and then, in an instant, let’s dash those hopes to the ground, so that they can never be reassembled. Make those characters know their place. As I’ve said on many occasions, I believe Tom Batiuk really hates these characters (except for the ones named Moore) and today’s offering looks like more evidence.
Contrast this with the loathsome Les Moore, on whom fortune shines at all times, and to whom giant checks come calling regularly. Les’ disappointments are all those of the Superior Man confronted by those incapable of appreciating his Genius and Insight. Which sounds, so, so familiar, and quite frankly isn’t helped by pieces such as Mr. Steinberg’s telling Tom Batiuk that he is on an exciting course into uncharted territory. Again, no disrespect is meant to either Mr. Steinberg or Mr. Batiuk, but I sure don’t see any better with this vision.
About that aftermath. I’m assuming–always a bad idea–that Bull was told by DUI that they were considering other candidates, and he passed this info along to his wife, who therefore had no reason to mail a resignation letter…but that’s making an awful lot of assumptions for an idiot like Bull and a shrew like Linda. If DUI didn’t tell him this, then that seems pretty shady. I wonder if, in a month or two, we’ll hear (third-hand, of course) that DUI is being investigated for various things and is probably going to be closed down. It’ll give Bull the chance for a smirk if nothing else.
If the letter went out, will the board let Bull keep his job anyway? Probably, as he has just won a championship…but I bet they’d eye him askance from now on, since he has indicated he would jump ship in a heartbeat in the middle of the semester. (I’m assuming Westview has things like signed contracts, and they tend not to tolerate them being casually violated.)
Bull’s lack of loyalty actually gives him something in common with the unseen and unnamed fellow who scored the DUI job–they’re both opportunists who cannot be counted on and have no loyalty to anyone. Which seem like sound survival traits in the Funkyverse.
Son of Stuck Funky 