The double entendre here is subtle. Do you see it? Hooked for Life? Hooked as in "addicted" and as in "speared by the mouth on a barbed metal device." Either way you interpret it, it's solid godly comedy.And speaking of comedy, how about that perfectly spherical boy working the rod and reel?
The fish, of course, is doing nothing less than his suicidefoodist duty: offering himself as a sacrifice, happily, proudly. Not only that, but he is willing to be hooked "for life." More double entendre! Not for life as in "so that life may carry on," but instead as in "forever and ever." It would appear that his sacrifice is fated to continue in perpetuity. He gladly submits to his destiny, as all righteous animals do.
What any of this has to do with the Bible, we couldn't say. (Our reading of the Good Book has never been a particularly close one.) Still, why does killing have to enter into it? Surely there are more benign pastimes to engage in while we invoke the name of the eternal creator of us all? Hobbies that involve, say, preserving creation instead of tricking creation into biting down on sharp metal barbs, to be pulled, gasping and writhing, from the only home in which it can enjoy its ordained way of life?
And another thing! The fish holds a sacred place in the trove of Christian iconography, does it not? The fish refers to Christ and his miracle of multiplying the fishes and feeding the multitudes. Is Hooked for Life Kids actually encouraging the youth of America to...? We can hardly bring ourselves to ask it. Are they encouraging the youth of America to... destroy God? Are they crypto-Nietzscheans, with a foul Humanist agenda?Probably not. Just more clueless carnivores who know not what they do.
Funny, but until now we never noticed how much that cross in the fish's eyeball area resembles the cartoon X-eye indicating stupor or death.
5 comments:
If anyone is interested in theological aspects of this theme, have a look at Lisa Kemmerer's review of Matthew Scully's "Dominion, the Power of man, the Suffering of Animals and the Call to Mercy", on:
http://www.cala-online.org.
See - even Christian Republicans can see the light if they're a bit sincere!
I think I'll stop being anonymous - it's been me all along.......
Suggested readings: Matthew 4:18-22, Mark 1:16-20.
It's me, Rita, actually.
Don't you hate unexplained things? - I hate unexplained things. I e-mailed the Hooked for Life folks, asking if they wouldn't rather show something a bit more caring as their logo. Only got a form e-mail back, but looking at their webpage, I see that the fat boy is not a fat boy, he's "Mr.Fishing Float". Something cleared up - we all know that carnivores have more weight problems than vegans, but they'd hardly want to use that fact as their calling card - would they?
I grew up evangelical, and weird metaphors are part of the whole thing. I think the fish is meant to represent a child, hooked for life on Christianity--see the second cartoon, with the fish-hook cross. It goes with all the other victim-animal metaphors evangelicals use for themselves (like sheep.) Why you'd think this is appealing to children is beyond me--this type of thing is what sent me running.
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