Popeye is interesting to me because of my personal affiliations with him, yes, but mostly for his ironically defiant sense of self. Saying things such as “I am what I yam,” he pretty much makes himself up to have a profound understanding of who and what he is. Yet, he is merely a cartoon with idealized morals that he enforces with low tolerance. I mean, he only uses one eye. I think it’s because the smoke from his pipe gets in it.
Remember when he would save Olive Oyl from Bluto? He’d save his sweetheart, be the heroic protagonist, and would continue being the same old Popeye. It’s kind of funny how he never changes once the epic task of saving his damsel in distress is done. Remember how he would consistently save the day by eating spinach and accessing super human power; knocking out the bad guy in a cloud of motion lines; turning back into the skeptical faced Popeye. As if he can access something that skims the super ego at whim. How much more perfect can he be? He gets to slap extra ideal onto himself. If only we could slap extra ideal onto ourselves and be as morally sound and eat spinach and be strong enough to handle what ails us—but alas, we’ve only got therapists, placebos, and steroids.
