Rant #1,249 (July 16, 2014): The World Has Gone Mad

I don't know about you, but I think the world has been off its normal axis for a long, long time.

Things that were once unacceptable are now very acceptable, considered to be very normal, considered to be part of our landscape.

But some things go on and on and on and don't change, because they aren't supposed to.

Take Archie Andrews, the All-American Boy of Riverdale, Anywhere, U.S.A., who has been around for decades and decades.

His life traditionally revolves around home, school, his friends and his girlfriends--basically, a typical American teen's life.

He gravitates between Betty and Veronica, with Reggie thrown into the mix to keep him on his toes, and Jughead to provide comic relief.

But in these politically correct times, Archie's life has become a bit more complicated than who to date--blond or brunette--or how to one-up Reggie.

Yes, in this PC world, where every grain and morsel of our being has been put under a microscope, Archie has become more active in the world as we know it--and now he has paid for it with his life.

In today's installment of the "Life With Archie" daily comic strip, Archie is shot down and murdered, taking a bullet meant for his friend, a politician.

Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you. The politician, his friend, just happens to be gay.

The episode is the last one focusing on the adult adventures of the Archie universe of characters, and he will live on in comic books and other media.

"The way he dies is everything that you would expect of Archie," said Jon Goldwater, Archie Comics publisher.

Wait a minute ...

What is he talking about, and why is Archie all of a sudden such a heroic figure?

Archie and his pals were created for very young children, and his comics, and comic strip, are often the very first comics that kids read before they graduate onto Superman, Batman and Spider-Man.

It has been like that since 1941, when the character debuted.

I understand trying to make the character more adult, more with it, more savvy on the world of today.

But, my goodness, you are dealing with readers who, because of their age, probably have no idea what you are talking about.

I do not have statistics in front of me, and I am just using my own experience--and that of my younger sister--to illustrate this point.

I would estimate that the average reader of Archie comics is probably five or six years old, with the daily comic strip drawing in readers who are probably a little bit older.

And I mean a little bit, maybe like seven or eight.

And most of the readers are female, although I am sure that plenty of boys read Archie too.

Whether male or female, they have no comprehension, at this age, about politics, sexuality, etc., so why use Archie to spread an obvious agenda that you have?

When is this PC nonsense going to stop?

Sure, you can say that spreading this agenda to kids at an early age will only help them to understand, to be more open to things, as they get older.

But what happened to childhood? What happened to the joys of being a kid, discovering things on your own?

I don't know about you, but when I was five or six years old, or even seven or eight years old, the furthest thing from my mind was a person's sexuality.

Heck, I didn't even know what that meant.

I read comics for pure enjoyment, nothing more.

And comics were fun, whether you read them in the newspaper or bought them off the newsstand.

There have been attempts in the past to make Archie more relevant.

I remember as a kid, they had a series of comics where Archie and the gang became super heroes.

It did not work, and that series did not last.

I also remember that Archie and the gang started to wear clothes that their generation was wearing in the late 1960s, their hair got a little longer, their skirts got a little shorter on the girls.

Heck, they became so relevant that the Archies even had a number one record as a band, "Sugar Sugar."

But this latest attempt at relevancy is ridiculous, going to the extreme to push several buttons, none of which their average reader can possibly understand.

Whatever happened to innocence?

Must we, as adults, push our agendas onto young kids too?

The world has gone mad. I am convinced of that.

Next, we will probably hear that Popeye is having an affair with a young woman, and Olive Oyl is running for President of the United States.

Oh, um, we have already had that scenario in the White House with the Clintons, so that wouldn't really be original, would it?

OK, let's make Popeye into somebody who came out of the closet, announced that he was having an affair with Wimpy, and he ends up taking a bullet for Blutto, spinach or no spinach.

Don't Mickey Mouse me.

This type of nonsense is what our PC world is about now, and you know what ...

I am truly sick of it, had it up to here, and feel bad for the young kids of this country, who are being indoctrinated into schizoid thinking way before they are ready to handle such things.

And you liberal thinkers out there, please, don't even try to convince me that this is the right way to go.

I will answer you in one way:

Whatever happened to childhood?

Why can't kids be kids anymore?

Enough is enough. Let's stop this nonsense now.

I have a personal matter that I have to take care of tomorrow, so there will not be a Rant tomorrow.

Speak to you again on Friday.