Recently among the comic chunk of the 'net people have been discussing this statue of Mary Jane Watson-Parker. (Here's one day's worth of posts at When Fangirls Attack. There are way more. It's overwhelming.) I'm pretty sure I know why, but that's not the statue that I want to write about because it's not the comic based statue that most disturbed me this month.
The one that got me was the newest Strangers in Paradise statue of Katchoo.
I can hear people now: "What's so offensive about that statue? Cleavage isn't hanging out as a focal point. She has a more realistic waist size. Her breasts aren't overly huge. And it doesn't imply that women should be barefoot and doing house work like the Mary Jane statue does." And I totally agree.
The reason that the Katchoo statue disturbs me is because all the moments in her story where she's wearing a dress like the one she has on in the statues are the moments when she's under the thumb of Darcy Parker. It's when Katchoo is "Baby June." The dress is a symbol of Katchoo's life in, what is essentially, slavery.
That dress is silken chain that Darcy Parker put around Katchoo when Katchoo was pulled off the streets. And the worst thing is that, in the dress, Katchoo, at least for a while, liked the life she lived with Darcy Parker. She liked being a call girl. She liked extorting money out of people. She liked the lounging by the pool. And she liked Darcy Parker.
In the dress, Katchoo could pretend that Darcy Parker wasn't a monster. She could pretend that Darcy Parker didn't order the deaths of people who wouldn't be extorted. She could pretend that Darcy Parker actually loved her.
To me, Katchoo in a dress, especially a cocktail dress, is always one of the most disturbing images. It represents everything that Katchoo was trying to leave behind and I, as a fan of the series, would never want to own something that constantly reminds me of the emotional and physical horror one of the best characters ever created has gone through.
As "Baby June," Katchoo wasn't a hero, she was a pathetic villain who was always too afraid to do anything for herself or her friends.
I don't understand why anyone would want a reminder of that.
And now that I've written this, I feel silly. I don't mean it as a joke or in any way to slight the reaction to the Mary Jane statue, but for me I find the Katchoo statue to offend me more than the Mary Jane one ever could because I don't care about Mary Jane the character (or feminist icon) like I care about the character (or fictional person) that is Kachoo.
7 comments:
I'd like to comment, but I have absolutely no clue what you're talking about. The comic world is an enigma to me. Right now I'm trying to unravel the enigma of Sci-Fi, so that'll have to do for now.
It's an enigma to me, too, Jazz, and I've been reading comics since I was ten.
Wow, you're right. The first thing I thought when I clicked on that link was the scene in *I Dream of You* where Francine points out Katchoo's closet: No dresses! This is not how I would picture Katchoo at all.
Can´t log in to my google account. I usualy post under the nic booksforlunch ( here via when Fangirls Attack ).
I´m sorry to correct you, but there is a scene where Katchoo wears this dress, and it has NOTHING to do with Darcy, who is long dead at this point.
It´s in Pocket Book # 5 ( no idea which single issue ). It all begins, when Freddie Femur is asking her to go out with him. Yeah, shocking, I know. He asked her because Francine would be on the party he´s about to attend, along with her husband. Katchoo follows the invitation, wanting to cast a look at a `frumpy´ Francine, as a help to get over her.
On this party, dresses are required. Indeed Katchoo feels uncomfortable at the party, but not in the slightest because the dress would remind her of Darcy, but because when she finaly finds Francine, she sees a radiant woman, who seems to have found happynes WITHOUT her (and because she´s with Freddie ).
The thought of Darcy doesn´t even cross her mind, since she is to busy at this point to build up a new life and forget about Francine.
It may be not the best choice for a figure of Katchoo, since she dresses different usually, but it is not reducing her to her Baby June persona, since the instance she is wearing THIS dress, isn´t connected to this either.
Kitty, That scene was my second thought after wondering why people would want a statue of Baby June.
The Nic Booksforlunch, is it really based on that issue? Is there a source? I'd feel better knowing it was.
Though, even if it is, from the first time I saw the picture I thought of Baby June and now I can't stop. To me, Katchoo in a dress is her as Baby June because, with the one excpetion you pointed out, every time she was in a dress it was because of Darcy Parker and Baby June and that will make the statue uncomfortable for me to look at. It's why I never even considered buying it even though I've wanted a SiP statue for years.
It must be Strangers in Paradise Volume 3 #76. She is wearing a black dress, same lenght and cut, plus black court shoes. Only difference is, that in the comic she is wearing a necklace instead of an armlace. So I´m pretty sure it´s the dress from the scene I described earlier.
To be sure I checked the othe instances of her wearing a black dress, and they were all cut different, three of them with long sleeves, and one bareshouldered dress, without support by straps.
booksforlunch
Booksforlunch, First, I feel like an idiot for adding the "nic" before you handle. D'oh!
Second, I pulled my issues, too, and saw that you're totally right about the dress, but I also remembered that my reaction to #76 was pretty bad. Katchoo giving into a jerk-off man and putting on a cocktail dress and then drinking a tray of champagne didn't play for laughs, to me, it made me sad and worried about her.
Third, I found Katchoo wearing a sundress in the last issue of the Vegas story, but I think that dress was more about showing David her ass (and the tatoo) and because waistband rubbing against new tatoo must sting something fierce.
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