Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Breaking out of the Panel
Patty Jo and Ginger, like nearly every other comic we have seen in class, plays with the outlines of the panel. In particular, one of the girls' feet is usually drawn below the bottom line of the panel. This separates Ginger from Patty Jo. The purpose of this is to emphasize the distinction in age, demeanor, and attitude. Ginger is noted as being "attractive but silent," the proper M.O. for women at the time. Ginger is fashionable, beautiful, and speaks only in implication. She is in direct contrast to Patty Jo's questions. Patty Jo questions, through her childhood innocence, set conventions in society. She covers the topics of racism, sexism, politics, and more. Ginger is almost always implicated in opposition to this. The fact that one of the character's feet usually extends beyond the bottom panel reinforces this dichotomy.
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I was also very fascinated by Jackie Ormes' use of breaking the panel to reinforce the dichotomy. Ginger stepping outside of the panel also puts the readers in different perspectives, which enable the readers to look at the big picture and to think about what Jackie Ormes' message is in that particular panel. Thus, I think this is a very powerful and creative approach to have the readers engaged in the issue presented in that panel.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the degree of deliberation involved in Ginger's placement. Do you think that Ginger may also be placed outside the panel to represent the audience, and guide the audience's reaction? Ginger is depicted as much more prim and proper than Patty-Jo-more in line with both the expectations of women at the time and what the majority of the audience was probably like. I feel that Ormes may have been using Ginger as a means to bridge the gap between Patty-Jo's revelatory statements and the average readers' reactions.
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