Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for August 05, 2022

If that flickering light turned the brain to tapioca, then what came a few years later turned it into gruel.

The TV is pleased.

YOUR GOD REQUIRES BLOOD SACRIFICES

yeah, Mom, what the…?

The modern American alter. Any screen will do.

Half step above most deities

And that was before the Internet with Facef*ck and Twits everywhere.

Mom is secretly saying, Thanks for keeping Calvin out of my hair.

Mom is like, “WHY is there a bowl of TAPIOCA on the FLOOR?!”

At least she didn’t step in it.

And this was written decades ago, when the effect of TV on our lives was but a fraction of what is today …

Bed hair lol

When you live alone you have nobody to speak with and you hear nothing.Sometimes you have the requirement to hear someone speaking, than I turn on TV!

@Bilan Is it still that low? Seems more like half. And the FreeVee stuff harks back to the beginning of tv advertising with multiple repeats of the same ad, flash, glitter and nothing promises. Won’t be long before the pill/med insurance/soc security ads become the majority.

His brain really did turn to mush!

And the deity has elevated it’s self to the smart phone and the brain is now pablum. As the devices get smarter the population gets dumber.

Nowadays, people worship computers, iPhones, tablets, etc.

And they don’t dance around in mid-air—or do they??

Duh!

The updated version would be making the offering to an iPhone and it would be a White Chocolate Mocha. Pumpkin Spice Latte when in season. And so much more true today.

Talk about having one’s priorities in order!

Of course, Calvin doesn’t have to pay the electrical bill for having the flickering light on forever!

In 2022, the allure of the television has long been replaced by the allure of social media. Have a few hours of your life to give up? Open Facebook and get sucked in…

Today, it’s smartphones.

If this is “bestow”, what would “worstow” be like?

Good thing it’s no longer relevant.

Media’s effect today, in it’s many forms, leaves brains that could only aspire to be tapioca.

TV in the morning, TV in the evening, TV all the time/

If you watch enough TV your brains will turn to slime!

Slick way to avoid nutritious food!!!!

I’m not sure how much sincerity there is in Calvin’s comments. He could be seen as mocking himself and the TV. He’s intelligent enough to know that his emotions are being manipulated and that TV offers unrealistic, oversimplified solutions. These are among the points that he is making. He may be accepting that TV is manipulative and unrealistic and that he, like millions of other, enjoys having his emotions manipulated.

As I said in one of my replies to earlier comments, I don’t think that TV is stifling Calvin’s imagination. I think Calvin is well aware of his irony in saying that.

It is still amazing Bill Watterson’s Calvin & Hobbes is so current in explaining Fux Spews & its devoted cultists.

Internet killed the TV star. Not exactly the first song played on MTV, but pretty close.

The problem with the media is that it gives us exactly what we want. If you have an issue with it catering to the lowest common denominator, perhaps you should work on raising that denominator.

A C & H classic!

How does the kid get warm tapioca in the middle of the night?

I remember flickering light fondly, before CRTs were replaced with LCDs

Years of relentless advertising were not enough. It took the development of the “smart TV” to literally turn it into a vending machine.

I hope that’s not a Sony Trinitron KV-2643R!! https://www.wired.com/2015/03/poltergeist-gadgets-and-gear/

Calvin, how many times do we have to tell you??? TURN OFF THE TV WHEN YOU ARE DONE WATCHING IT!!!

“I’m gonna kill that kid someday.”

Tapioca used to be called ‘fish eyes & glue’.

Surprised Calvin was able to turn on the TV and walk away from it.

You gotta love the way Bill Watterson criticized television. “The late 20th century drug of choice.”

Does no one else think that maybe the TV turned itself on in response to Calvin’s wish and/or the offering, and that’s why Mom is confused?

LOL… Calvin is a regular Yogi, today…

I’ll bet Calvin’s mother must think at times: “…This kid actually came from me???”

Neil Postman would have liked that.

1992

The bowl of tapioca is not really enjoying the informecials that’s blaring on the TV, and neither is Calvin’s mom.

Speaking of tapioca, the improv show Whose Line Is It Anyway did a fun “Greatest Hits” singing game about that dessert. Search YouTube for “Whose Line tapioca” …

I miss when we could put links directly into comments on this site.