#fagettyr-blog

[ducktracy]

“Bugs bunny is who we want to be, Daffy Duck is who we are” I really wanna hear your thoughts on this quote?

SEE, i have a hard time taking that quote to heart because every time i hear it, without fail, my first thought is "but what if i want to be Daffy?"

i get that Chuck was (rightfully) saying that with his interpretation of the characters in mind, but the reason Daffy struck such a chord with me personally is because i could absolutely relate to how obnoxious, overzealous, passionate, overzealous, impulsive but social, friendly and charismatic he was.

A Pest in the House was the first Daffy short i saw as an adult (ironically a Chuck cartoon!) and there's a scene where he repeatedly hassles this poor shmuck just trying to get to sleep by waking him up and HOWLING laughing about this hilarious joke he just remembered, he's crying and wheezing and grabbing at this guy's shoulders and shaking him around... only for him to forget the punchline in a hilariously deadpan yet earnest moment of realization before carrying back on again. and i don't know what that says about ME personally (maybe for the best that way HAHAHA), but i had NEVER!!! NEVER EVER saw myself in something more than i did in that scene, instead of finding it annoying i was absolutely blown away and transfixed and new i had to seek out more of his cartoons.

i'm not one to constantly search for characters to be represented with, but i do stand firmly by the fact that Daffy is THE character i relate to and see myself most in (though as we all know i love Porky for very similar reasons, i certainly see a lot of my attributes in him as well) and is my favorite fictional character for that reason. i get how that sounds conceited--especially trying to say “oh i don’t relate to the greedy MEAN Daffy!” and not sound like i’m humblebragging--but i have never felt that sort of connection with any character before! and i’d be lying if i said i never had a “what would Daffy do” moment. i get how hilarious this is talking about these specific characters in this context because i mean... it IS animated slapstick... but i certainly do believe watching those Daffy cartoons has led me to reconcile and embrace my own less-than-admirable attributes; look! Daffy is doing that thing that i also do! i really relate to this a lot! if i enjoy seeing him do it so much, then maybe it’s okay for me to embrace that side of myself as well.

IT’S A HARD THING TO ARTICULATE... it’s not something that will really make exact sense unless you experience it for yourself, so i know how silly this may sound but i won’t let that negate the positives of it. ANYHOO, i’ve had a hard time taking that quote seriously because DAFFY is who i want to be! i get that i’m blatantly disregarding the ego/greed aspects, but the Daffy i’m targeting certainly isn’t flawless and has the same ego/bouts of cynicism/greed that Jones’ duck does, just executed in more palatable ways (and if Jones’ Bugs is the Bugs he mentions wanting to emulate then i CERTAINLY want to be even more like Daffy. much less stale and more fun that way...)