mozli Review of Popeye the Sailor

Popeye the Sailor (1933)

Ambivalence hangs over enjoying this series

[6/10 · 5 October 2008]

I'll start off by saying what incredible artisans and crafts-persons Fleischer, Segar and Co. were. They achieve a type of brilliance that even Disney(during that period)doesn't quite match. Now, that said I seriously doubt I would allow children to watch it even though I did. Its just too violent and the consequences of the extreme nature of it is played for laughs. Popeye's world in the cartoon is an impoverished one and its heavily suggested that the violence is a necessary part of that environment. I see it as part of life during an economic depression. Everything is heightened, gender roles, racial stereotypes and a sense that the rug has been pulled out from under all the characters(they change jobs a lot). Spinach takes on a weird quality and I thought about street drugs being the actual little helper that Popeye may be using. PCP anyone? Sherms? Crack? Crank?