Garfield minus Garfield
Do you know how long it’s been since I last thought of Garfield?
Well, actually it’s been about 3 and a half minutes…
…but before that, well we’re talking at least 8 years, 3 months, 2 weeks and 4 3/4 days (approximate guess).
How I used to like Garfield, he made me smile. Back in those long distant days where happiness was something I felt daily instead of for a few fleeting bi-annual moments. Pookie made me smile too, but then how could Pookie not make you smile?
Then I am informed about a website which takes Garfield to a whole new level. Basically you remove Garfield from the comic strip. With that one element removed everything changes. It’s like when you take happiness from your life, everything changes, everything looks different, and people see it and you differently. It becomes something else, something much closer to the daily struggles of bipolar, schizophrenia and chronic loneliness. It does something new, imparts a message which people may not be able to understand in other ways. No matter how many words are written, sometimes it takes a visual slap on the butt to get something across, for example:
May hit home on loneliness as a daily way of life for some people in ways words in badly written blog posts may not. My life has moments like this on most days, as do many the world over.
Or take these examples:
All of which take you to far more disturbing, unsettling and uncomfortable emotional places than if that familiar cat was also in the frame. I guess that’s what happens when you remove happiness from the picture; your life becomes empty.
But not pointless.
Have some more Garfield-Less fun at: http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/
