THX1123
Tele-Afflicted
A comment I made on another thread inspired this. I had asserted that Wile E. Coyote's desire was his undoing, his downfall. His desire is a specific kind – in Buddhism I believe it is called Taṇhā – a kind of desire or thirst that is paired to, and leads to suffering and unhappiness (Duhkha).
His blind obsession with his desire is the reason we find his failures amusing. We see him trying to solve his simple problem (hunger) in excessively complex ways, usually by purchasing and using technology from Acme Corporation.
Such considered absurdity and chaos are why my last band is called Acme Anvil Corporation. I love randomly (or not so randomly) falling anvils, an idea that is not limited to The Road Runner.
The violence we see as a result of Wile E’s desire is excessive and carefully & cleverly crafted. The slapstick appears chaotic and unplanned, but it is typically anything but. I’d argue the violence/results of Wile E’s desire are the most considered aspects of the show and the gags.
The Roadrunner is free from desire. He wants naught but to run and be free and eat. The Roadrunner is therefore free from all the trappings desire creates, and that is why he seems to always prevail and escape without effort. This effortlessness might be why we secretly want to Coyote to succeed, someday?
There are rules in this universe. Chuck Jones described them in his book, and in the DVD commentary for the cartoons. The rules are:
1. The Road Runner cannot harm the Coyote except by going "meep, meep."
2. No outside force can harm the Coyote -- only his own ineptitude or the failure of Acme products. Trains and trucks are a major exception.
3. The Coyote could stop anytime -- if he were not a fanatic.
4. No dialogue ever, except "meep, meep" and yowling in pain. (I have seen cartoon with written dialog, on signs, usually “Yipe” for example - and I also recall seeing Wile E. speak in some cartoon, possibly after the Chuck Jones era?)
5. The Road Runner must stay on the road
6. All action must be confined to the natural environment of the two characters -- the southwest American desert.
7. All tools, weapons, or mechanical conveniences must be obtained from the Acme Corporation.
8. Whenever possible, make gravity the Coyote's greatest enemy.
9. The Coyote is always more humiliated than harmed by his failures.
10. The audience's sympathy must remain with the Coyote (this is the reason the show works? We want him to succeed, but we also don’t? We can see the errors in his reasoning and actions, but we still root for him anyway?).
11. The Coyote is not allowed to catch or eat the Road Runner.
One other thing – Until I drove through the Western USA I had no idea the landscape and the mesas and plateaus out there in the cartoons was actually not too unlike real life.
His blind obsession with his desire is the reason we find his failures amusing. We see him trying to solve his simple problem (hunger) in excessively complex ways, usually by purchasing and using technology from Acme Corporation.
Such considered absurdity and chaos are why my last band is called Acme Anvil Corporation. I love randomly (or not so randomly) falling anvils, an idea that is not limited to The Road Runner.
The violence we see as a result of Wile E’s desire is excessive and carefully & cleverly crafted. The slapstick appears chaotic and unplanned, but it is typically anything but. I’d argue the violence/results of Wile E’s desire are the most considered aspects of the show and the gags.
The Roadrunner is free from desire. He wants naught but to run and be free and eat. The Roadrunner is therefore free from all the trappings desire creates, and that is why he seems to always prevail and escape without effort. This effortlessness might be why we secretly want to Coyote to succeed, someday?
There are rules in this universe. Chuck Jones described them in his book, and in the DVD commentary for the cartoons. The rules are:
1. The Road Runner cannot harm the Coyote except by going "meep, meep."
2. No outside force can harm the Coyote -- only his own ineptitude or the failure of Acme products. Trains and trucks are a major exception.
3. The Coyote could stop anytime -- if he were not a fanatic.
4. No dialogue ever, except "meep, meep" and yowling in pain. (I have seen cartoon with written dialog, on signs, usually “Yipe” for example - and I also recall seeing Wile E. speak in some cartoon, possibly after the Chuck Jones era?)
5. The Road Runner must stay on the road
6. All action must be confined to the natural environment of the two characters -- the southwest American desert.
7. All tools, weapons, or mechanical conveniences must be obtained from the Acme Corporation.
8. Whenever possible, make gravity the Coyote's greatest enemy.
9. The Coyote is always more humiliated than harmed by his failures.
10. The audience's sympathy must remain with the Coyote (this is the reason the show works? We want him to succeed, but we also don’t? We can see the errors in his reasoning and actions, but we still root for him anyway?).
11. The Coyote is not allowed to catch or eat the Road Runner.
One other thing – Until I drove through the Western USA I had no idea the landscape and the mesas and plateaus out there in the cartoons was actually not too unlike real life.
