Yet I found this idea about wanting to be like Torchy an extremely important one, especially for the landscape of American culture at the time. Throughout the Heartbeats comics, Torchy is an identifiable, yet desirable character for the reader. I would imagine that young girls would read the strip and think about how cool Torchy was and that they would want to be as fashionable as her. By adding the "try-on" outfits for Torchy at the end of the strip, in a sense, they could be. This would help create a connection between young readers and Torchy while keeping the color of her skin irrelevant, something that I believe is a deliberate intent of Ormes. While they may just seem like a toy for young girls, these outfits serve as a way to perpetuate equality among the young readers of the comic.
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Torchy's Outifts
I was a little confused as to what purpose those pages with all of Torchy's outfits serve. Obviously they are meant for kids to cut out the dresses and try them on Torchy, which seems like a fun idea, but why are they a part of the comic? At first glance, I thought they sort of seemed like advertisements, with the pictures serving to interest the reader in being like Torchy. However, the irony in this is that the vast majority of people reading these strips probably wouldn't have been able to afford such extravagant clothes.
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I think your early point about Torchy's outfits as advertisements isn't mutually exclusive with your later point concerning the encouraged imitation of Torchy.
ReplyDeleteAuthors need to eat too. As detailed in the articles we read, Jackie Ormes made sure to sell her dolls through their inclusion in her comics. I think forgetting that the dual purpose of writing in general leads to oversimplification.
Jackie Ormes becomes a more impressive figure when you account for the fact that she challenged standards while also making them palatable enough to make money.
I actually think it makes a lot of sense to include these cut outs in the comic. It also humanizes Torchy more, making her exist outside of the standard comic frame. That is, in each of Ormes’ comics, Torchy exists solely in the context of what is happening on the page, either exhibited through the illustration or the text. By creating this cut out, the reader is able to use their imagination and bring Torchy into whatever situation they desire. It creates a deeper connection between the subject and the audience, as well as provides the audience with some extra fun at the end of the comic. Moving forward, the reader may better empathize with Torchy. Thus, I find these cut outs to be similar to the ads we have seen at the end of Superman comics. They don’t necessarily fit into the circumstance of the comic, but interestingly, they provide context in creative ways.
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