I don’t think I really need to say anything else here.
EDIT: Apparently, I do. Because some people don’t Get It.
I’m sorry if you don’t understand it, and actually feel sorry for you because you lack the capacity to look beyond yourself and the things YOU cherish, and embrace the universe that is. I’m sorry you can’t stomach that *gasp* Calvin could mature – though, really, it’s Calvin… he was already pretty damned mature for a six-year-old.
Nothing is static in this life. Sacred cows make the best hamburgers. All things grow, and change, and we adults are supposed to pass on the important lessons we’ve learned to our progeny, in order to help them do even better than we did.
I didn’t create this image… but I wish I had. Because it depicts, in metaphor, something that I’ve done literally with my own daughter. I gave her my own stuffed tiger and watched as it came to life for her, just as it had for me. I hope, in due course, she will pass the torch to her kids.
I taught her to read using Calvin and Hobbes. She’s learned to think critically and creatively because of C&H. We’ve made the Snowmen of Horrors (though, we’re in Florida, so they’re really Sandmen of Horrors). Great epic battles have taken place with dinosaurs flying fighter jets, and Spaceman Spiff has met his match in a blonde-and-blue pixie who takes great delight in teasing him for his taste in spacesuits.
Within the pages of the many books of collected strips, I’ve shown her important life lessons – including the one that most people miss: Of all the assets you have in this life, your imagination is the only thing without limits. Well… some people’s imaginations, at any rate.
And, my favorite lesson is one she pointed out to me: If someone DOES try to limit you, they do so at their own peril, for a tiger’s vengeance is legendary.
So… don’t limit those of us who want to give our children the best of what we’ve had ourselves. There’s plenty of us who DO like the image and what it represents. If you don’t like the image, move on.
There’s a great big Internet out there.
Let’s go exploring.