Whimsy as an “Idle Notion”

The dictionary definition of “whimsy” is an “odd fancy” or an “idle notion.” I like the “odd fancy” bity. Or put another way: the screwball idea. Most cartoons are built on ideas that are non-senseical: things put together that would not normally be associated. A basic characteristic of cartoons is their unique way of presenting ideas or concepts within a world not constrained by boundaries, the laws of physics, or Aristotelian logic. By whimsical exaggeration and distortion things can be examined from a new perspective. Sometimes that perspective can have significant consequences. Political cartoons are the best examples. In the early 20th century, Thomas Nast’s cartoon “Boss Tweed and the Tammany Ring” led to major political reform in New York politics. During WW II Bill Mauldin’s cartoons elegantly expressed visually what a lot of soldiers could not express verbally. While cartoons can have a serious effect, cartoons also play an important role in counter-balancing depression and despair. A favorite of mine is Liana Finck’s “A Centaur Taking a Shower.” A shower curtain is pulled down over the edge of the bathtub, but the hind quarters of the horse stick out from the tub, rear feet firmly planted on the floor. There are no discernable messages, no point to be made, it is just a very funny cartoon. There is a healing quality in laughter. When people are laughing, they generally are not fighting. Cartoons play various roles: serious or strictly for laughs, but the whimsical aspect is what makes them work.