Shifting focus

Cartoonist Dan Piraro (Bizarro) had to explain this cartoon to me in his blog because I had missed the point completely. What he says is that he should have made the car keys bigger or more obvious. My take on the panel when I saw it was that the guy is old and he has piercings and tattoos and they look silly on a guy his age. When I saw Piraro's explanation of his joke I realized that I had interpreted the drawing based on my own feelings. It went right by me that the senior moment was because this tattooed, pierced old man had hung the car keys FROM HIS EAR!

Yes, I do feel that way about body decorating. I don't understand the appeal when you look to the future. In the early '70s when I ran the shipping department of a dried foods company I knew a crusty old truck driver who had all the ravages from years of sun exposure. I asked him about the blue blob on his arm, which I took to be a girl. He said, "That's Betty Boop. I got her in the Philippines in '35 when I was in the Navy." My opinion of tattoos came from that; what looks beautiful now on your firm, young skin and beautiful bodies will someday fade or be hidden by your folds and wrinkles.

Back to Piraro: I was taught that cartoons should have readability, which means the artist shouldn't put in a lot of details that cause the reader to shift focus away from the gag. My eyeball was bouncing all over this panel, looking at the tattoos, piercings, thinking how ridiculous all of that is, and I missed the joke.

I didn't miss the joke with this panel by Piraro from 1999. This is very readable and caught me by surprise when I saw it. It's why it's my favorite. Wouldn't you just love to be able to tell someone who had power over you at some point that they were wrong? I'm sure this is a nightmare panel for teachers.