Well, here it is. Writing this blog post has been quite the trainwreck. Not only have I been busy, but the content to follow has been rather difficult to write. I have enjoyed Garfield for years, and I've had many a great day editing this wiki, so, I've decided that there is no better thing to do now but write my true thoughts on Garfield.
A Sad, but True History[]
If I had to guess, I'd say that I probably found out about Garfield in 2008 or 2009. At a second hand bookstore, I found a large blue book, with a cartoony orange cat on the front. The title read "The Garfield Super Gallery", and inside was a collection of strips dating back to the early 1980s. I found the design appealing, and decided to purchase the book. Back home, I read through the book as many times as I could. I thoroughly enjoyed what the comic was. I found the the characters amusing, the format interesting, and so, that was enough to begin my love for Garfield.
Still in 2009, back when we still had a subscription with our service provider, DSTv, Boomerang began to air Garfield's latest show, The Garfield Show. Having enjoyed the comics, I was really looking forward to the new show, and decided to check it out. This had a massive effect on my love for the character (sad, I know), and soon after, I was looking for every Garfield DVD I could possibly obtain. I got my hands on the specials, and again, everything I saw that involved Garfield, further fueled my love for the character.
Later, I found out that Boomerang was to air a new season of The Garfield Show, one that was unlike any of the previous. I watched it, enjoyed it, and decided to check if there was any information online regarding what I had seen, but alas, there was nothing. Determined, I decided to create a Wikia account, and add the information myself. Since then, I have contributed to this place for years, gaining my adminship, defending the place from trolls, and having a good time with the other administrators... After all that, you'd assume that I'd still be a Garfield fan, right? No. As the years have trickled by, I've realised that Garfield is nothing more than an unfunny mess.
I truly am tired of Garfield, and what his franchise has to offer. What once brought me joy, has been rotting in the back of my mind, and that is why I'm here with this blog post; To point out why I have developed a severe dislike for this franchise.
And That's Capitalism![]
There is no lying when I say that Garfield is just here for the sole purpose of money. Everyday, Garfield proceeds to become more and more money-related. Sure, we can all agree that in this life, money is everything, but that does not mean you cannot love the creation/work that brought you your money. We're all aware that Davis has been a sellout, concerning his product. All he seems to do at this current point in time, is have products made for the sole purpose of money. No love involved.
“This whole line of work is to make people happy and smile. Getting paid for it is just a bonus. People should learn to laugh at themselves. That's the closest I come to making a statement.„
— Jimbo
While Davis may say that getting payed is a "bonus", I think most of us can agree that this is nothing more than a false flag. We just need to look at the thousands upon thousands of merchandise this man has greenlit, from plush toys to calendars to cereal. Need proof? The horror of the Garfield emoji plush speaks for itself. Why you would do that to a creation you love dearly, is far beyond me. Now, from that last statement, I'll have to address the fact that Davis had an issue with plush toys he percieved as inferior, and sent them back, even if it would cost him tons. Apparently Davis doesn't share this ideal anymore, as he we've reached a point in which we can just scrap Garfield's face altogether. Definitely showing his love for his creation.
Some further fuel to add to the fire, is that we can help my argument that Garfield is nothing more than a money grabbing scheme by asking Mr Nathen Mazri. I'm sure he'd love to tell you about his ambition to open GarfieldEats in 200 other locations, because Garfield is a marketable character. I have known people in fast food, and I can definitely tell you how marketable you want that business to be. So, who better than a famous comic strip character that thousands of people are aware of?
In addition to GarfieldEats, I think we've all heard that Davis and Nickelodeon had a deal. Jimbo truly sold out by giving Viacom, possibly the most unashamedly, greedy business around, EVERYTHING GARFIELD. Viacom who started a full blown "war" with Youtube because Viacom could not deal with the fact that people uploaded clips of Viacom shows. These are also the same people who, immediately after Stephen Hillenburg had passed away, announced that they were going to make a prequel series to Sponegbob Squarepants, something that Hillenburg stated he did not want. I'd like to top this Viacom rant off with this recently made tweet. GarfieldEats writes:
“We share our condolences with our licensing partner #Nickelodeon. We are saddened here at the restaurant and proven difficult to work given this death tragedy of #Kobe and his young daughter. We are heartbroken!„
— Money-Grabbing A**hats
Why on earth would you explicitly state, "Hey, we're partners with these guys (go check 'em out), and we're sad that this guy and his daughter died.". Not to mention that "we're struggling to work at the the restaurant" is nothing more than a pure lie, build for sympathy. Davis has entrusted these exact people with his franchise, and I think that proves that he has no actual love for his creation, and instead wants everything that Viacom will give. No doubt, he can do what he wants with his franchise, but again: Whatever Davis loved, he sure doesn't anymore.
Garfield is a F*cking Joke, and an Unfunny One at That[]
Sure, we can argue that my top rant is unfair to Jimbo, because we live in an age of super business. Thus, we can't blame Davis... So, if you're still under that impression, let's move to something that we can definitely blame him for.
I don't think that any of us are fooled by the lack of creativity when it comes to Garfield's comic and franchise. With such little care for the franchise, it shouldn't come as a shock that there has been a massive drop in quality. While a lot of people attribute it to the point in the middle 2000s when Garfield started to get films and such. However, I am here to argue that this actually started as early back as the mid 1980s. If you pay hard enough attention (and you really don't have to), you can see that Garfield has already become set in his ways.
So as Jim had taken a turn toward the financial sector, his characters had taken a turn toward repetition. Davis appears to have made his characters more two-dimensional, excuse the pun. I will list three characters from the early period (excluding Garfield), and point out things I noticed in the space of just a few years.
- Jon Arbuckle was first presented an bachelor who enjoyed a simple life, nothing too out of the ordinary. He actually appeared more human to the reader, someone people might relate to. But as you read on, it soon becomes apparent that Jon evolves into nothing more than a useless joke who complains about his lack of lady-luck and vibrant lifestyle. He is now just there for a punchline, no real other reason.
- Odie, like Jon, was pretty ordinary, and funny enough, just like Jon again, he evolved into a pure punchline. There is no true value to Odie.
- There is absolutely no doubt that Lyman was severely underused. Unlike Jon, Lyman never actually had the chance to become a fully-fledged character because Jon and Garfield's uninteresting conversations about lasagna were apparently good enough.
So, why'd I exclude Garfield from that? Simple. Garfield is a whole issue on his own. Davis overused his titular character. How that is possible, is beyond me. Davis gives absolutely nothing to his other characters, and wants Garfield to forever stay in the main light. Of course the overused Garfield, and underused other characters would become inhuman, because there is absolutely no fine line between main and major characters.
Skipping from characters to comics, we can find that the lack of ideas becomes more and more noticeable as time progresses. The most famous example of this is the December 3rd, 2001 and December 7th, 2002 comics. One year and four days apart... The same strip. There is something so bizarre to that, that I've actually never been able to tell if it was intentional or not. Another interesting thing to point out is, and while it may not be as clear, that both strips share a punchline from the December 2nd, 1988 strip. Don't even get me started on strips that involve food and drink. You can find hundreds of examples. I won't continue as people have touched on this loads of times, and you'd be hard-pressed to miss the evidence.
So, if Davis wasn't able to break the bounds of the repetitive strip, there were always other people. As long as computers, the internet and editing software existed, anyone could join in the fun. Our first looks at Garfield in a satirical were the edited strips you found in the early late 2000s, with things like Square Root of Garfield and Barfield. A couple of years later, we'd be graced with PilotRedSun's Garfielf, a good look at the Garfield comic's narrative. He pokes fun at the fact that Garfield only consists of a four word rule "Food. Complain. Companions. Sleep". PRS captured everything about the strip to a T, and his video still stands up to this day.
Oh my God, an Actual Garfield Fan! I Thought Those were Extinct![]
I'll be honest with everyone who's actually had the patience to continue reading. At this point, to be considered a Garfield fan is actually embarrassing. I cannot stress how humiliating it is (was) to love a drawing to much, and to know every single detail about it. A ton of people, even some of my closest friends, know some pretty personal details, expect for the fact that I literally edit a wiki about an orange slob who eats lasagne and berates his owner. If I told people, there is 90% chance that I'd get one of these two things:
- The memes, "STUFFIN YOUR FACE AS USU-AL" or "BULLETS DON'T WORK, JON"
- The awkward, "You edit a children's wiki?" or "Why don't you do something more constructive?"
As far as anyone can tell, those are both difficult to answer. Do I laugh, or try defending an activity I've kept on for years? As I said, I haven't encountered this, and I have no desire for it. We're gonna step away from Jimbo's actual feelings on Garfield, and instead, as a longtime administrator, I'll be stating my opinions on the sectors of the supposed Garfield fandom.
Memers[]
The first group that greets us is definitely the most familiar, with their dedication toward "Lord Garfield", his obsession to destroy the world, and their sexually charged feelings for Garfield's "manly pose". Don't believe me? Check out R/ImReallySorryJon (Checking it out is yourown deal. I'm taking no blame). Now, I am by no means against anyone's odd humour, but as an actual fan, it's probable I'll likely be lumped in with this crowd, and have to read about Jon drinking dog semen. Fun.
In terms of memes, it's definitely not a new thing with Garfield. It stems quite a long time back, but was really accelerated by the prior mentioned Garfielf. The issue is that the Garfield fanbase did a total 360 with this, and everything just fell further with William Burke and Lumpy Touch's "I'm Sorry, Jon". It appears that once a meme touches something, it can't be untouched. As stated, I have absolutely no issue with these guys. In fact, I love a lot of their stuff. But being a Garfield fan is cringe at its peak.
I'd like to point out that LumpyTouch suffers from the crazy fandom in the long term. While his own fandom grew from Garfield, and that he may enjoy making short Garfield skits, it will be the thing that clings onto his name forever. He puts in tons of time and effort into his other creations, only for the memers to only have an interest in his Garfield-based content.
Actual Fans[]
Our second group happens to be where I am sadly located. The actual fans will defend Garfield at absolutely no cost, and this really seems to be a common trait with fandoms it seems. One notable thing I'd like to bring up is that a ton of proper fans seem to have an obsession with a character or group of characters, and will stop at nothing to defend them. While I understand that you like "Character A", having an aggressive attitude and the constant obsession for a drawing is bizarre to me. Please calm down with your love.
And again, with all fandoms, you have the weirdos on websites such as dA and Fanfiction.net, usually associated with character obsession. Is it bad to say that the previously mentioned dA and Fanfiction are actually worse in R/ImReallySorryJon. This really does prove that being a Garfield fan is actually a social stigma. If you really need evidence, I'd say the perfect example of the crazy Garfield fandom oddities is "Shakespearehemingway". Type him in and you'll be directed to Garfield's adventures in which he defeats Prince Harry and Prince William so he can, quote unquote "crawl on [women] like sexual salamander licking their bodies with tongue of love". You can't make this sh*t up.
The People No Ones Cares About[]
To end this section, we can end on the various vandals I have met. Our most notable is a 40 year old redneck, who actually does have teeth missing, and a mentally-unstable egoist who cannot cope with the fact that six graders would not hang out with him. This is absolutely ridiculous, but am I surprised? No, not really. As I pointed out, these fandoms mean that you have to deal with all types of nutcases and jokers, and frankly, I no longer desire to waste my time fighting with them.
A Farwell[]
So, I'm sure at this point, no one actually cares about anything I've said, so I'll get end this pointlessly long blog post by saying: I have no desire to continue my time on the Garfield wiki for reasons concerning my personal life as well as the social pitfalls of being a Garfield fan. After this, I doubt I will do anything major here, if anything at all, so I would not expect a change in heart or mind.
The ride has been fun, and I hope the other admins keep this place running fairly smoothly. Farewell to all.