Friday, February 25, 2011

Cartoon Tattoos

I am a closet fan of the tattoo.  My general appearance would not likely indicate this.  I don't have any tattoos and, as I'm not getting in younger or getting skin that is adhering any closer to my body, I likely never will.  However, I can really appreciate a good tattoo.  Not like the rose inside a heart kind of tattoo, but like an exquisite sleeve of natural what-nots or the all-out glory of Chris Anderson's neck (please see photo below). 
Having established that, however, I would like to get down to the peeve of it all.  It's not the tattoo; it is a certain type or genre of tattoo...the cartoon tattoo.  To me, if you are going to permanently imprint something on your body, it should be something eternally meaningful to you in a deep "this is as much a part of me as my belly button" type of way.  Or, at the very least, it should be a "look at this magnificent piece of artwork, I deemed it worthy to be on my forearm."  Or, I'll even go for "this is so funny, I just had to do it." 
I just don't see a cartoon character ever living up to any of these requirements. The Tasmanian Devil should really never find himself whirling across your abdomen. (I do get the idea - you're such an awesome, crazy dare devil yourself that you just had to lacquer this tornado of a guy onto your body), but really.  Yosemite Sam?  (Oh, of course, you're a real gun-slinger).  Awesome.  The tramp-stamp Betty Boop tattoo?  This is a real zinger that brings together two of my pet peeves - cartoon tats and trying to be "sexy" in such a frightening way.
I say keep the cartoon characters of off your pecs, lower back, your flexed guns, and anywhere else that you might want to slap one on. 

    

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