I am personally indebted to The Observer for their now-published written justification of, in general, the publication of potentially offensive comic strips and, in particular, Kaleidoscope McDaniels.
No one would argue that this particular comic strip has not crossed the line on several occasions; however, what some do argue is that the line should never be crossed, while others argue that "crossing the line" is simply an opportunity for a different kind of humor and possibly more of it. Regrettably and with sincere apologies to those offended, I admit I have laughed on occasion at Kaleidoscope McDaniels, but with every due respect to Liam Moran, nothing can be more distasteful than my giggling at others' expense.
Since I am a fan of analogies, here is one that should illustrate my point:
It is quite easy to make food taste good if you add a lot of butter and other fatty things to the mix. So on one hand, your brownie fudge creation and dining hall waffles with chocolate chips and whipped cream - yes, they taste like heaven. Certainly, we realize these things are bad for us, but when something tastes so good, we tend to justify and rationalize our desire for them. ("I just had a really tough week; I deserve that brownie.")
On the other hand, it takes so much skill and talent to prepare a dish using vegetables, fruit and all those things that we normally find to be boring and make it more delicious even than those fatty deserts. Not only that, but we find that our knowledge of all its health benefits makes the meal that much more appetizing; we desire to eat it again and soon.
Kaleidoscope McDaniels tends to be a fatty, puffed-up pastry with nothing to offer except a few thousand calories and a sore tummy. Much of the time, I find that this pastry isn't even that good. CroissantWorld, on its good days, can be a quite satisfying meal and, indeed, I look forward to seeing it again.
Let us not be fooled with amateurish cookery; let us enjoy our comedy.
Dan Amiri
sophomore
Alumni Hall
April 13
