Has global warming alarmism finally jumped the shark? If so, then perhaps its jump the shark moment can be traced to last Sunday when global warming alarmism was openly mocked in the Zippy the Pinhead comic strip.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Zipster, here is a brief biography... Zippy was born in a satellite dish outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. His mother is a Las Vegas pizza waitress and his father is a truck driver who works part time as a writer for People Magazine. Zippy's favorite meals often consists of corn nuts and polysorbate 80 followed by a delicious desert of yogurt covered with taco sauce.
Zippy is also the wonderful creation of cartoonist Bill Griffith and is easily the best comic strip out there. A key element in the humor of this comic strip is that Zippy processes all information with equal weight. A chili dog has the same impact on Zippy as a hydrogen bomb explosion.
Many novices to the Zippy the Pinhead comic strip will scratch their heads in puzzlement at first, trying to figure it out. My advice is to give it a couple of weeks and you will probably become a devout acolyte of the Zipster as you learn to appreciate his humor. And the latest in Zippy the Pinhead's humor is this comic strip about global warming. Here are the first couple of panels from that strip:
Read the entire Zippy the Pinhad comic strip here to understand why this just might be global warming alarmism's jump the shark moment. Despite the relentless global warming propaganda by the mainstream media that is about as subtle as being hit over the head by a two by four, it is very hard to survive mockery by Zippy the Pinhead who has achieved cultlike status among his comics readers.
Something similar to this happened in the 1960s. After an initial period of confusion about exactly what the hippies were all about, the media quickly began treating that movement with great respect as if they had something important to say because they had reached a "higher conciousness." In fact, hippies even inspired the popular musical, "Hair," which premiered in October 1967. However, just a few months later, hippies reached their jump the shark moment when Mel Brooks' "The Producers" premiered in March 1968 because featured in that movie was perhaps the greatest comedic moment in cinematic history. It was the moment when Dick Shawn, as Lorenzo St. DuBois (LSD), appeared on the screen as a hippie singing "Love Power." Watch the video and you can see why the hippie movement quickly wilted away under the weight of the satiric mockery.
Will the same thing happen to global warming alarmism? Although the MSM relentlessly attacks global warming skeptics as "global warming deniers," it is hard to see how global warming alarmism can survive being openly mocked by Zippy the Pinhead.
Oh, and if it sounds like your humble correspondent is an overly enthusiastic fan of Zippy the Pinhead, it is because he is. And now to enjoy some yogurt covered with taco sauce.
—P.J. Gladnick is a freelance writer and creator of the DUmmie FUnnies blog.
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Comments Policy
I must be psychotic (or is it psychic?)
July 15, 2008 - 18:12 ET by jay_1975Just earlier today I was on one of "those" blogs commenting on how "Gorebull Warming" had jumped the shark. People have finally heard enough from the warm mongers. The sky may be falling (thanks Sun) but it is at little to no fault of mankind. I propose that there be coined a new phrase to villify those that would make a profit from those gullible enough to fall for carbon scams... "Big Green". I am tired of all of the profits "Big Green" makes from their falled carbon offset schemes. They need to be taxed until they bring down thier costs for solar panels and wind farms. Big Green is all that is wrong with capitalism.
(please forgive any misspellings)
I thought "Zippy the
July 15, 2008 - 18:17 ET by the strugglerI thought "Zippy the Pinhead" was already taken by Olbermann.
Duuuude!!!
July 15, 2008 - 20:06 ET by Eileen RightI have dim memories of Zippy (Zap Comics I think) many, many years ago.
"I'm under a polar icecap in need of a kleenex" Zippy, 19 somethin or other
Sorry, this one Zipped right by me, over my head
July 15, 2008 - 20:44 ET by JayTeeThere are plenty of "Jump the Shark" moments in the Global warming debate....Zippy here just isn't one of them.
$4.00 a Gallon Gas....now THERE's a Shark Jumping moment that will Clean out Congress in very short order.
The Republican Revolution will not be Televised
yeah JT
July 15, 2008 - 21:27 ET by bigpapait zipped right over my head too..
and I can be way out there,,, never could do the zippy cartoon..
but.. I do despise hippies....
Honor your local Vietnam Vet.... Napalm a Hippie!!!
NOBAMA 08 !!!
BigPOP....This was a jump the Code pink moment
July 15, 2008 - 21:42 ET by JayTeeCheck this Shark jumping Moment out ........
The Republican Revolution will not be Televised
Outstanding
July 15, 2008 - 22:02 ET by bigpapaOut freaking standing!!!!
NOBAMA 08 !!!
Figuring Out Zippy
July 16, 2008 - 05:08 ET by P.J. GladnickOne of my favorite Zippy the Pinhead strips shows people at an airport reading Zippy the Pinhead strips and NONE of them can figure it out. Question marks over their heads.
that strip makes no sense at
July 15, 2008 - 21:56 ET by pepsiman127that strip makes no sense at all , but what i got out of it was a mockery of condi rice not a mockery of global warmers at all..with all due respect i think this whole piece is a bit of a stretch...love power song greatest comedic moment of all time ? come on
Zipster Nation
July 15, 2008 - 22:42 ET by P.J. GladnickYou need at least two weeks of constant Zippy the Pinhead observation in under to understand the Zipster Nation. A key sign of this is when you begin to have cravings for yogurt covered with taco sauce.
Agreed
July 15, 2008 - 23:59 ET by TheCitizenI have no idea how that could be construed as "mocking" global warming.
Objectively, that comic was in no way ridiculing alarmist hysteria. In fact, whether it was read within, or completely removed from, the presupposition afforded to us by the writer of this piece (that it mocked global warming nutjobs), it made little, if any, sense to me. If this actually DOES somehow satirize the chicken-littles, it would have to be predicated on an
absurdly well developed inside joke. Are we presumed to know something about
the characters that exists outside of the four corners of this strip? Aren’t
comic strips supposed to stand alone in their message and humor? Or is it just
so abstract that it’s rendered ineffectual? The official site of the strip gives credit to my charge, as it actually has a tutorial to help people understand the strip.
I'm reminded of a classic strip from Calvin and Hobbes (truly the greatest comic
strip of all time) in which Calvin explains the significance of his artwork;
Calvin:
People always make the mistake of thinking art is created for them. But really,
art is a private language for sophisticates to congratulate themselves on their
superiority to the rest of the world. As my artist's statement explains, my
work is utterly incomprehensible, and is therefore full of deep significance.
Hobbes:
You misspelled "Weltanschauung".
Calvin:
A good artist's statement says more than his art ever does.
Anyways, to each his own, I suppose. Personal taste in comic strips is certainly nothing worth arguing over. But this is global warming’s “jumping the shark” moment? With all due respect to Mr. Gladnick, I simply couldn’t disagree more.
Frozen Toxic Waste
July 16, 2008 - 04:58 ET by P.J. Gladnick"Frozen toxic waste from far away is released as glaciers recede."
Did you read panel #3? It makes FUN of the supposed causes of pollution. Then in panel #4, Fenwick gives the over the top "solution" that "we must vote out every last Republican or we're all doomed."
Maybe one has to follow the Zipster on a regular basis to understand him...sort of.
Introduced to Zippy from
July 15, 2008 - 23:42 ET by stratmanIntroduced to Zippy from The Fabulous Freak Brothers comic books in the 70's. Would never have believed Zippy would appear on NewsBusters, though, in retrospect, I think he has posted here under different pseudonyms. ;-)
Big fan of Fat Freddie's Cat, but I do love the Zipster on occasion.
Not convinced the cartoon means what you think it means PJ, but that's the beauty of art: Whatever is is... in each person's mind.
The only true way to understand Zippy is to become as severely impaired cognitively as Zippy. No way I'm trying that!
Understanding Zippy
July 16, 2008 - 05:03 ET by P.J. GladnickZippy the Pinhead is unlike all other comic strips. No final punchlines that neatly wraps everything up. Remember, to Zippy all incoming information is treated equally. It takes at least 2 weeks of intensive Zippy study to sort of understand this strip. Actually no one ever achieves full understanding of Zippy. If you think you do, then you don't.
Are we having fun yet?
agw tie to atheism
July 16, 2008 - 11:01 ET by ort777The only thing this article left out was the global warming tie to atheism. I've been on a youtube debate for over a month and young, old, male or female, to a person, I've got them pegged. I they support agw, they are atheist. Right now, I'm going at it with a college grad student pursing a physics degree who professes himself to be a hippie and states evolution to be a fact. They stay agw is right no matter what. If anyone wants a good laugh, check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r87wJ1QmyYw&eurl=http://hotair.com/archives/2008/05/21/video-aging-icon-saves-rainforest-by-waxing-his-chest/