So I watched this video by the YouTuber SuperEyepatchWolf and it's about Garfield and the Internet fandom that made it such a memeable phenomenon on the internet.
I just want to say right off the bat, despite being a bit pretentious with the meta analysis and whimsical eccentricities of the creator in his skits, I really liked this deep dive into the Garfield fandom. If your barely familiar with Garfield and the analysis of it, you'll know about the meta analysis of how if you distill Jon Arbuckle, he's actually a very lonely and depressed bachelor in many respects and there are reddits (r/ImSorryJon etc) and huge fandom communities and webcomics and the like that really satirize and explore it.
(Hyperlink is video queued at 1:01:24 when the claim is made)
But what I was more interested in discussing was about an hour into the video, the YouTuber made the claim that Garfield was Evil.
He stated that fans might argue, Oh no... Garfield isn't evil. He's just selfish and lazy etc but the YouTuber doubles down and states that a fifth of the comics he's read (and he read a thousand of them) has the main joke of the comic being Garfield torturing or bothering or annoying Jon Arbuckle in some way... AND THEN the YouTuber states that in the THOUSAND comics he's read... Garfield didn't display any empathy for Jon Arbuckle in a single one of them. ZERO times.
So naturally I found this somewhat shocking... and looked on the (since largely deactivated) Random Garfield Comic Twitter account that the YouTuber stated that he used to source many of the comics he read for his analysis and three comics in... I see this:
Is Garfield not smiling? The comment is witty and satire, but Garfield is shown to be happy for Jon. But maybe it's not a clear display of Empathy. Two more comics down is this weekend strip.
Jon literally throws out a Girl who is clearly uninterested in him and then makes a demand that either the cat goes, or he does and while it's not shown... I'm assuming it's Jon, not Garfield that throws him out. And Garfield salutes him. Is that not a display of empathy? Or at least... positive behavior towards Jon?
So then I went to GoComics and probably random checked about twenty or thirty comics and found... maybe a tenth of them have Garfield showing empathy towards Jon?
Like this one.
www.gocomics.com
And this one.
www.gocomics.com
And this one... I mean... he is hugging him at the end right?
www.gocomics.com
And maaaaaybe these ones?
www.gocomics.com
www.gocomics.com
www.gocomics.com
And I just love this one... LIterally showing empathy... even if he's not.
www.gocomics.com
Or this one RELEASED JUST THIS WEEKEND!
www.gocomics.com
This is a pretty pointless rant but I had been watching this video for an hour (on background but still) it kind of annoyed me in that I actually believe this YouTuber did read and analyse a thousand comics... and got the results he said he did, but I feel like there are two explanations. One... maybe he didn't read any of the Weekend comic strips... which is possible. The format of the three panels is the one constantly referenced in the video. But that wouldn't lead to ZERO examples of Empathy in a thousand comics I feel.
I think its just a case of Confirmation Bias. And the point of this thread... OMG I can't believe I'm ranting about a Garfield Fandom Lore Video tbh is that... this video which again, is really good, has almost eight million views and I'm just wondering... did anyone actually bother looking into whether what he was saying about Garfield somehow being evil and sociopathic for themselves? Because it's not that hard to see that's just not the case. The initial impression of Garfield as selfish and lazy as opposed to wanting to DESTROY Jon... is the correct one IMHO. And analyzing a thousand comic strips, a well made hour long YouTube video with eight million views and establishing 800,000+ strong Reddit communities to convince me otherwise won't work when I can see for myself that's just not the case.
Maybe this thread is a Meta Analysis of a Meta Analysis.
Anyways that's all.
Evil? I'm Sorry Garfield.
I just want to say right off the bat, despite being a bit pretentious with the meta analysis and whimsical eccentricities of the creator in his skits, I really liked this deep dive into the Garfield fandom. If your barely familiar with Garfield and the analysis of it, you'll know about the meta analysis of how if you distill Jon Arbuckle, he's actually a very lonely and depressed bachelor in many respects and there are reddits (r/ImSorryJon etc) and huge fandom communities and webcomics and the like that really satirize and explore it.
(Hyperlink is video queued at 1:01:24 when the claim is made)
But what I was more interested in discussing was about an hour into the video, the YouTuber made the claim that Garfield was Evil.
He stated that fans might argue, Oh no... Garfield isn't evil. He's just selfish and lazy etc but the YouTuber doubles down and states that a fifth of the comics he's read (and he read a thousand of them) has the main joke of the comic being Garfield torturing or bothering or annoying Jon Arbuckle in some way... AND THEN the YouTuber states that in the THOUSAND comics he's read... Garfield didn't display any empathy for Jon Arbuckle in a single one of them. ZERO times.
So naturally I found this somewhat shocking... and looked on the (since largely deactivated) Random Garfield Comic Twitter account that the YouTuber stated that he used to source many of the comics he read for his analysis and three comics in... I see this:
Is Garfield not smiling? The comment is witty and satire, but Garfield is shown to be happy for Jon. But maybe it's not a clear display of Empathy. Two more comics down is this weekend strip.
Jon literally throws out a Girl who is clearly uninterested in him and then makes a demand that either the cat goes, or he does and while it's not shown... I'm assuming it's Jon, not Garfield that throws him out. And Garfield salutes him. Is that not a display of empathy? Or at least... positive behavior towards Jon?
So then I went to GoComics and probably random checked about twenty or thirty comics and found... maybe a tenth of them have Garfield showing empathy towards Jon?
Like this one.
Garfield by Jim Davis for June 12, 2020 | GoComics.com
View the comic strip for Garfield by cartoonist Jim Davis created June 12, 2020 available on GoComics.com
www.gocomics.com
And this one.
Garfield by Jim Davis for December 07, 2003 | GoComics.com
Garfield: I love Christmas. I love Christmas. I'm a carrier.
www.gocomics.com
And this one... I mean... he is hugging him at the end right?
Garfield by Jim Davis for April 21, 1985 | GoComics.com
Jon: I'm leaving for a few minutes, Garfield. You be good, hear? Garfield: Good! Jon's gone! Now I can do all the fun stuff he won't let me do! I can run in the house. I can eat the ferns and swallow without chewing. I can jump on the bed. Jon: Garfield, I'm home! Garfield: Thank goodness...
www.gocomics.com
And maaaaaybe these ones?
Garfield by Jim Davis for May 10, 2005 | GoComics.com
View the comic strip for Garfield by cartoonist Jim Davis created May 10, 2005 available on GoComics.com
www.gocomics.com
Garfield by Jim Davis for March 11, 1993 | GoComics.com
Jon: Garfield, you're lazy! I am NOT, Jon! Garfield: Thanks.
www.gocomics.com
Garfield by Jim Davis for September 25, 2006 | GoComics.com
View the comic strip for Garfield by cartoonist Jim Davis created September 25, 2006 available on GoComics.com
www.gocomics.com
And I just love this one... LIterally showing empathy... even if he's not.
Garfield by Jim Davis for March 01, 2013 | GoComics.com
Jon: Liz thinks I'm sweet. Garfield: Of course she does. It's because he's about as bright as a powdered donut.
www.gocomics.com
Or this one RELEASED JUST THIS WEEKEND!
Garfield by Jim Davis for August 20, 2023 | GoComics.com
View the comic strip for Garfield by cartoonist Jim Davis created August 20, 2023 available on GoComics.com
www.gocomics.com
This is a pretty pointless rant but I had been watching this video for an hour (on background but still) it kind of annoyed me in that I actually believe this YouTuber did read and analyse a thousand comics... and got the results he said he did, but I feel like there are two explanations. One... maybe he didn't read any of the Weekend comic strips... which is possible. The format of the three panels is the one constantly referenced in the video. But that wouldn't lead to ZERO examples of Empathy in a thousand comics I feel.
I think its just a case of Confirmation Bias. And the point of this thread... OMG I can't believe I'm ranting about a Garfield Fandom Lore Video tbh is that... this video which again, is really good, has almost eight million views and I'm just wondering... did anyone actually bother looking into whether what he was saying about Garfield somehow being evil and sociopathic for themselves? Because it's not that hard to see that's just not the case. The initial impression of Garfield as selfish and lazy as opposed to wanting to DESTROY Jon... is the correct one IMHO. And analyzing a thousand comic strips, a well made hour long YouTube video with eight million views and establishing 800,000+ strong Reddit communities to convince me otherwise won't work when I can see for myself that's just not the case.
Maybe this thread is a Meta Analysis of a Meta Analysis.
Anyways that's all.
Evil? I'm Sorry Garfield.
