Is anyone else as sickened by the recent turn of events in "Hi & Lois" that puts cute twins Dot and Ditto into the dating scene?
We've long of this quarreling twosome as the personification of just-happy-to-be-here eight or nine year olds. They didn't always keep up with hot trends. There was little talk of commerce with the opposite sex. They were simply content to play out in the yard, duke it out with each other for their parents' attention, or just hand around to amuse Trixie, the Zen-like baby who is so often the focus of this little comic.
Today, however, is sad. For we find that Dot is getting a little boy-crazy. Dot is at first annoyed that her brother has hurled a football at her head. Upon learning that his pal Charlie is the one who has tossed the pigskin, however, her attitude begins to change. "Oh, well, I guess I should have caught his pass," she remarks, acting like a saucy flirt. We expect this sort of behavior to emerge around 16 or 17, but in the high single digits? Yuk.
Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised. After all, Ditto was the target of an amorous playmate of Dot's just a few strips ago.
Look, we get it. Kids play doctor, have to come to terms with rampaging hormones, etc etc. But we usually expect to see Chip involved in these sorts of scenarios. And while Dot and Ditto may be well into their fifties in real-time, in the comic they're still depicted as young kids and we'd expect to see them going on dates or flirting with others about as much as we'd expect to see it from Nancy and Sluggo or the kids from "One Big Happy."
Yes, you can argue that Sally Brown used to have a thing for Linus in "Peanuts," but we'd counter that Dot and Ditto have never been imagined as ciphers for adults, as the cast of "Peanuts" was. We say let little kids be little kids- sure, youngsters hear about sex earlier than ever, but that doesn't mean the oldsters who read comics want to hear more about it!
To reach the Comics Examiner, email me at bristei@aol.com or follow me on Twitter @bristei
Comments