Contributed by Gene O’Kelly
Major shifts have occurred within historiography, post-WWII. There has been a deemphasizing of biographic analysis. The debate goes back in time including ancient authors, like Suetonius and Tacitus. The subsuming of history under sociology has resulted in attention being focused on common citizens, and not perceived movers and shakers as in the past.
Sociological theory has initiated reexamination of past personages. One of those prominent, influential figures is Popeye the Sailor Man, now regarded more for his social work innovations than his sailing of the seven seas. After the close of WWII, Popeye studied social work on the G. I. Bill as a night school endeavor, while shooting his action adventure exploits by day.
Popeye’s civic contributions would be tested, through his efforts at reforming antisocial O’Bluto, without necessarily calling law enforcement. If he could implement social theory in guiding miscreant O’Bluto to become a responsible citizen, then government social welfare endeavors would be confirmed, beyond academic theory. Incidentally, O’Bluto dropped the O prefix in his name in a futile attempt at distancing himself from his rabble-rousing Irish traits, in order to facilitate employment prospects.
But several misunderstandings in analyzing Popeye must be addressed, to add clarity to his biography. Popeye was not a vegan as has been assumed, just because he ate only spinach while on set. Nothing is as it seems in utopian constructs. Just as Mahatma Gandhi was not a pauper mystic guru, but instead a wealthy lawyer, moldy morphed into opportunist politician, so too Popeye was simply trying to be a good role model for Sweet Pea and Saturday morning fans, who were persuaded that girls had cooties.
Popeye’s example of enthusiastic eating of vegetables aided their mothers’ dietary goals. In that respect he was simply boosting his ratings. Trashing O’Bluto was a diversionary, subliminal persuasion tactic, to thwart juvenile cynicism. Popeye’s career preceded estrogen rich tofu popularity.
Since Popeye was not a contemporary of soy boy beta metrosexuals, his alpha assertiveness applied to O’Bluto’s failings, clashes with current social worker procedures. And long before the inception of food stamps in LBJ’s lost War on Poverty, Popeye bought burgers for village idiot Whimpey, affirming the example from Charles Dickens’ venture capitalist Ebenezer Scrooge, as benefactor to Tiny Tim.
Also, there has been an absence of any credible #me too accusations regarding Popeye’s Hollywierd career, in contrast with Harvey Weinstein. Actually, Popeye was ever the gentleman, when Olive Oil went off into tempest in a teapot chastisement, because he modeled himself on Humphrey Bogart film noir chivalry. That was contemporary with Betty Boop, not Betty Freidan’s toxic femininity. Popeye’s muttering when in the company of women and children is further evidence of his internal editing restraint efforts, at being an exemplary citizen.
Other factors in analyzing Popeye the Social Justice Worker or Warrior or whatever, might include his off-screen abilities at striking terror into the psyches of IRS auditors. Further, he had a reputation for bluntness that contradicted common diplomatic skills of his day. Popeye apparently cared little about winning friends and influencing people through charm school suggestions. That is evidenced when he let people sort themselves out in relation to his privileged deplorable, cut to the chase opinions. As a consequence, Popeye never suffered from insomnia. Such personality traits are a hallmark of effective leadership.
Popeye’s capitalist career as a film star predated government financed public television. In that he had commonality with Howdy Doody and Captain Kangaroo. The only government financed star that had any comparability with Popeye was Oscar the Grouch, confined to a trash can, severely limiting action adventure roles that Popeye by contrast excelled in. Also, it should be noted that the lack of profit from trash can government television added to the ocean of red ink, also known as the U.S. Treasury, a failed model contrasting with capitalist Popeye.
One final aspect of analysis concerning Popeye was his take on multicultural considerations. That concern was clearly, graphically displayed in his Ali Baba and His Forty Thieves episode. Popeye displayed remarkable perceptiveness and foresight relating to Arabs bent on pillaging and chaos. He dispelled cultural relativist delusions first, through his study of anthropology. Those delusions ignored medieval, Porky Pig phobic, tribal rivalries focused now in Damascus. And Olive Oil was spared Darth Vader burka attire through his efforts at she liberation. Popeye is a national role model, to be acknowledged for his astute handling of Arab anarchy.
Since Popeye’s retirement, Olive Oil has been busy knitting, writing poetry and baking cookies. Sweet Pea studied STEM, majoring in geology. He became a successful entrepreneur in the fracking business, contributing to sustainable carbon availability for renewable petrochemical diversity.
In conclusion, Popeye the Social Worker, our erstwhile Sailor Man, should be acknowledged for his historic role as an alpha assertive, masculinist, omnivorous, capitalist social reform hero. The conduct of O’Bluto, copied by Antifa resistance punks, needs applications of Popeye’s social reform strategies. Has Popeye examination resulted in ranking him with Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great? If not, why not?
