Pax Nortona – A Blog by Joel Sax
From the Land of the Lost Blunderbuss
Melting like Gumby
Posted on August 9, 2003 in Childhood Weather
Temperatures are up again. Weekend projections run into the upper nineties (upper thirties for you Celsius aligned nations). It feels as if I’m wearing a bonnet or a shell made of warmed over air and I can see it taking its toll on my writing and my thinking.
The bright guy is still around, but he’s moving around like Gumby. And Gumby’s melting.
Speaking of Gumby, does anyone else out there harbor a secret passion for the original Lean Green Thing? When I grew up, it was the job of my older brother to disparage him. When he had a son of his own, he naturally banned Barney from the house and allowed his son only to watch Thomas the Tank Engine with its message of capitalist servitude (e.g. “truly useful engine”).
I envision Gumby as the original Mr. Bill but with the twist that no matter what life did to him, he always managed to spring back into his true form. Gumby was no quitter: he survived.
I’ll be back after this heat wave abates or we get the air conditioner fixed, whichever happens first.
Here’s a interesting tidbit from the official Gumbyworld site about why Gumby is the way he is:
Art wanted to have a tall, slender shape, but he didn’t want it to become a phallic symbol. “We put a little bump of wisdom on his head to give him the bump of wisdom that the Buddhists have. The only difference is that they have it over the center of their head and Gumby’s is over to the side….Regarding color, Gumby looks kind of like a leaf of grass: “I am sure Walt Whitman would have been pleased,” Art chuckled. He chose the color green because it was allied to nature, and reflected a love of the environment. It was not until years later that Art learned that the color of the heart Chakra is green.
Hear that chari? Gumby’s got good karma!
His social instincts are also good. Gumby’s often coming up against the Blockheads, who represent the dead conformity of American consumer society. The Blockheads are constantly trying to impose their values and mindset on others:
In The School for Squares, the Blockheads put Indian children who have tee-pee heads into a press that turns their heads into blockheads. Fortunately, Gumby is able to repair their heads on a potter’s wheel. The Blockheads never leave well enough alone!
With a few symbolic changes, this little fable could be told about gays, lesbians, African Americans, Muslims, or any kid who is “just different”. I’m sure many of you have your own stories about how a blockhead attempted to press you into her or his idea of the model child.
Pax Gumby. How’s that for a blog title?
