# "Family Circus" diminished my view of humanity today **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 11, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-circus-diminished-my-view-of-humanity-today/671002 "2013-10-11T17:28:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-circus-diminished-my-view-of-humanity-today/671002/41 "2013-10-14T16:40:12Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Well, la-dee-da! The _Breeze_ isn’t published to cater to your personal tastes. Why don’t you contact the syndicates which distribute Drabble and Ziggy and open your garbage mouth to **them?** How is stating my opinion of a strip and the nerd who penned it having a “garbage mouth”? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-circus-diminished-my-view-of-humanity-today/671002/42 "2013-10-14T16:57:33Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Not quite sure what to make of that post. Never read his comic, but I searched and read about Tom Batiuk. That’s all. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-circus-diminished-my-view-of-humanity-today/671002/43 "2013-10-14T17:24:07Z")
> [@Homo\_litoralis](#): > > “Family Circus” diminished my view of humanity today. Really? This is when you decided the linguistic or educational standards ship hit an iceberg? For decades kids with a 3rd grade level of skill have been given a diploma representing 12 years of what can only be described as attendance. Yes it’s sad that a comic strip writer lets a spell checker do the work of an editor but I’m not sure that’s where I want to draw the line of disbelief. Could it be you’re a little bit homophonebic? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-circus-diminished-my-view-of-humanity-today/671002/44 "2013-10-15T14:29:56Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Well, la-dee-da! The _Breeze_ isn’t published to cater to your personal tastes. Why don’t you contact the syndicates which distribute Drabble and Ziggy and open your garbage mouth to **them?** > FYI, I don’t read Drabble. In the dailies I read Luann, Rose Is Rose, Marmaduke, Baldo, Bizarro, Beetle Bailey, etc., and Ziggy. Cool it. **pkbites** is allowed to express his opinion of a comic strip in a thread about comic strips, but you can’t attack other posters on a personal level in this forum. ---
**Author:** ![want2befree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3e96dc/32.png) [@want2befree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2befree)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-circus-diminished-my-view-of-humanity-today/671002/45 "2013-10-15T14:54:31Z")
> [@Aquadementia](#): > > That’s an overreaction to a simple spelling mistake. > You need to get your mind off these trivial matters. > Go outside. > Take a walk. > Enjoy all this wonderful fall foilage. \*foliage 😛 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-circus-diminished-my-view-of-humanity-today/671002/46 "2013-10-15T15:12:02Z")
> [@want2befree](#): > > \*foliage 😛 😛[\*foilage.](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=foilage) ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-circus-diminished-my-view-of-humanity-today/671002/47 "2013-10-15T16:43:17Z")
As usual, the Family Circus has already covered this topic. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-circus-diminished-my-view-of-humanity-today/671002/48 "2013-10-16T07:16:55Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Cool it. **pkbites** is allowed to express his opinion of a comic strip in a thread about comic strips, but you can’t attack other posters on a personal level in this forum. All right…somehow I had expected that an innocuous comic strip whose creator died recently would not be the target of invective as Family Circus has been. My aim was to defend it. If you know a more effective way to make my point without violating the Board’s standards for IMHO, I will be glad to employ it in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-circus-diminished-my-view-of-humanity-today/671002/49 "2013-10-16T11:08:57Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > All right…somehow I had expected that an innocuous comic strip whose creator died recently would not be the target of invective as Family Circus has been. My aim was to defend it. If you know a more effective way to make my point without violating the Board’s standards for IMHO, I will be glad to employ it in the future. People love and hate all kinds of stuff. You’re not allowed to insult them for it, so comments like “garbage mouth” are never appropriate in this forum. That’s not a defense of Keane or the strip, it’s just an attack on another person. You can comment on another person’s statements or attitudes without actually insulting them, and that’s the way to go. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-circus-diminished-my-view-of-humanity-today/671002/50 "2013-10-16T11:17:07Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > People love and hate all kinds of stuff. Not _Cathy_, right? I think that Cathy is universally disliked.:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-circus-diminished-my-view-of-humanity-today/671002/51 "2013-10-16T14:12:52Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > “Ida Know!” 😃 “Nobody did it!” ---
**Author:** ![Monstera\_deliciosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monstera_deliciosa/32/109_2.png) [@Monstera\_deliciosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstera_deliciosa)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-circus-diminished-my-view-of-humanity-today/671002/52 "2013-10-16T16:09:19Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > My view of humanity was diminished beginning when an instructor in medical school regularly used “Family Circus” as a teaching tool. I’ve got to hear more about this. What possible connection could FC have to medical education? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-circus-diminished-my-view-of-humanity-today/671002/53 "2013-10-16T16:27:50Z")
[Are the Red Sox fans of the Family Circus?](http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/10/16/when-your-up-2-1-you-can-dispense-with-grammar-all-youd-like/) ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-circus-diminished-my-view-of-humanity-today/671002/54 "2013-10-16T16:32:37Z")
Wasn’t there a former now-banned Doper with some weird Family Circus obsession, constantly posting links saying “The Family Circus did it first” or something but then would post links to some bizarro fake FC site that it turned out was his own that he’d been spamming for? I can’t remember the name for the life of me. I think he got banned for socking. ETA: Probably what Patty O’ was referencing here: > [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > As usual, the Family Circus has already covered this topic. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-circus-diminished-my-view-of-humanity-today/671002/55 "2013-10-16T17:06:06Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Wasn’t there a former now-banned Doper with some weird Family Circus obsession, constantly posting links saying “The Family Circus did it first” or something but then would post links to some bizarro fake FC site that it turned out was his own that he’d been spamming for? I can’t remember the name for the life of me. I think he got banned for socking. > ETA: > > Probably what Patty O’ was referencing here: Yeah, that was **Markxxx** ’s schtick. [This thread contains one example.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=13720422) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-circus-diminished-my-view-of-humanity-today/671002/56 "2013-10-16T21:45:20Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Not _Cathy_, right? I think that Cathy is universally disliked.:dubious: Er… I sometimes kinda like Cathy. It’ll never be my favorite, but it’s comfortable. Sort of like Fred Basset. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-circus-diminished-my-view-of-humanity-today/671002/57 "2013-10-16T22:06:52Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Yeah, that was **Markxxx** ’s schtick. [This thread contains one example.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=13720422) My comment on almost all Family Circus parodies: [http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/2934/fccomment.jpg](http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/2934/fccomment.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-circus-diminished-my-view-of-humanity-today/671002/58 "2013-10-16T22:16:29Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Obligatory reference to [the one place that can make the Family Circus bearable.](http://dfc.furr.org/) [See also.](http://ochremedia.com/dfc/index.php) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-circus-diminished-my-view-of-humanity-today/671002/59 "2013-10-16T22:18:59Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Er… I sometimes kinda like Cathy. It’ll never be my favorite, but it’s comfortable. Sort of like Fred Basset. Good jokes, crappy artwork. _Cathy,_ mean; not familiar with the other. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-circus-diminished-my-view-of-humanity-today/671002/60 "2013-10-16T22:21:34Z")
I’m in agreement with the OP on this one. The target audience for FC is young children. This is setting a bad example either due to stupidity or laziness. And, even though I use it myself when speaking/writing in the vernacular, the “_ **gonna** _” has no place in a comic aimed at children. All this dumbing down has gotten out of hand. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-circus-diminished-my-view-of-humanity-today/671002.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-circus-diminished-my-view-of-humanity-today/671002.md?page=4)