"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated January 17, 1926:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (NOVEMBER 12, 2021):
I don't care if the city is made of rubber, Flip and Slivvers acted like bullies in this strip and it is not cool. - 1/15
Impie's excitement at seeing and playing around with the rubber city is met with aggression and frustration by the boys (both in panel 2 and 4/5). - 2/15
I know that we should expect that at this point, but come on… Honestly, what does this moment even offer this strip? - 3/15
It isn't as though Impie's rocketing back up to the tower leads to the ending of the strip. He lands on Pill and Figures… so was that cruelty all for that joke? Wasn't worth it. - 4/15
And even if it *did* play a larger role in the narrative of the strip, it would still be uncalled for. - 5/15
It's frustrating that in a medium geared towards young children and young readers, McCay is essentially advocating for bullying practices here in the way they treat Impie… - 6/15
Even worse, it could be read as advocating for racial violence… a horrible reality in Jim Crow Era America… - 7/15
In fact, I think that this is how we *have* to read it when we consider the historical context from which the work comes. - 8/15
You all know that I'm not one to advocate for any one "singular" reading, but I almost feel as though this strip is demanding that of us… - 9/15
Now, I'm not saying that McCay was indoctrinating white children into racial violence, but I do believe that works like these played a role in the "normalization" of those sorts of atrocities. - 10/15
Young white children grow up to white adults and if they consumed these types of violences (even pretend/play violence in a rubber city) as a "normal" part of their media practices it is unsurprising that some might believe that behaviour "normal," too. - 11/15
There are other parts of this strip that I like, but much like yesterday, I can't really focus on them. I'm actually seething with this one. - 12/15
Honestly, I might be even more angry with this strip than yesterdays… at least it wasn't trying to hide it's racism and intolerance… this one buries it under the auspices of "schoolyard bullying" and thereby frames them as "normal." - 13/15
It doesn't matter that he bounces back to safety or that it's repeatedly stated he wont be hurt… this is a dreamscape. Actions very similar to the ones being depicted here were hurting REAL people in Jim Crow America… and, in those cases, no one was bouncing back to safety… - 14/15
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #499. What's yours? - 15/15