b is for … bugs bunny

Day 16:365 Gratitude Challenge and April 2nd A to Z Challenge

Today I am grateful to have had such a fine role model in my life as Bugs Bunny. Say whaaaaaat, Head Cabbage? Don’t you know that he is a cartoon character? Why, yes, I do; thank you very much for asking. For me, Bugs Bunny was and is da bomb, the king, a hero, a smart aleck carrot chewer, a legend, a role model. My role model. And he may just be yours after you finish reading this. Just remember that I called him first. Okay?

Bugs Bunny first appeared in 1940 and has been entertaining and influencing audiences ever since. My parents watched him, I watched him, my sons watched him and, if the great big Bugs Bunny guy in the sky has anything to do with it, my future grandchildren will watch him too. This is what makes Bug Bunny timeless and legendary; he reaches across generations and holds us all together in his Bugs Bunny ways. In Bugs Bunny’s 76 years, he has changed in physical appearance only and has remained true to himself, his values, and his character. How many of us can say that?

Even though he is a cartoon character, I have always admired Bugs Bunny as if he were a person. I remember as a child thinking that if only I could stand up to the bullies (assholes) in my life the way Bugs Bunny stood up to his, things would be so much better for me. Bugs never took any shit from anyone. Gun totin’ Yosemite Sam, ‘kill the wabbit’ Elmer Fudd, Tasmanian Devil, Marvin the Martian, Foghorn Leghorn, Wile W. Coyote, Daffy Duck, Rocky and Mugsy and a whole bunch of other assholes, never stood a chance against the sly, charasmatic and smart rabbit. When dealing with the many assholes in his life, Bugs always tried to placate them first in an attempt to avoid any conflict. If that did not work and when he was pushed too far, Bugs Bunny always used brains, not brawn, to deal with and outsmart the asshole tormenting him. He would even turn to his audience beforehand and say, “Of course you know, this means war!”. Oh, how I loved when he said that for I knew that his deviousness was about to be unleashed on the asshole. Asshole be gone!

Another reason why I looked up to Bugs Bunny was because of his many admirable traits. He was confident, intelligent, smart alecky, quick-witted, funny, cool as a cucumber, and he was the type of bunny who everybody rooted for even though you know that he was always going to win anyway. That he was going to win regardless did not matter to me, it was how he was going to achieve his victory that did. Imagine, if you will, how a child who was expected to be seen and not heard, was painfully shy, who lived in a home consumed with dysfunction and anger and who felt powerless about her situation, took sanctuary in a cartoon character and who dreamed about an always victorious rabbit cleverly stealing her away from her surroundings, at least for an hour every Saturday anyway.

When I think back to that period in my life, though uncertain and dysfunctional as it was, I cannot help but smile when I think about how I always looked forward to Saturday morning cartoons and Bugs Bunny. Not only did he have the voice that I secretly wished I had, he could also transform himself into anything he wanted to be in order to outsmart an asshole. Bugs was a master of disguise. One minute he was a barber preparing to shave Elmer Fudd and the next he was a prisoner 3 1/2 splitting rocks in the prison yard. Another time he was a cowboy saddled up by the bar and the next he was a conductor conducting an opera singer at a major opera house. But my favourite of all his disguises was when he was dressed up as a girl. No one did and does drag better than Bugs Bunny. Oh how Bugs could bat those long eyelashes at any asshole he needed to distract especially poor Elmer Fudd.

All Bugs Bunny ever really wanted was to be left alone and tend his garden of carrots. He did not want to be drawn into any arguments or into any drama whatsoever. He was proficient at minding his own business and never harmed anyone directly or intentionally. While sometimes his mouth did get him into trouble, he was always able to worm his way out of it by using clever words, intelligent actions, a tube of red lipstick and a wiggle to die for. He even had his very own catchphrase, “Eh, what’s up doc?” while chomping on a perfectly formed carrot.

So, you see, I am not so crazy after all for wanting to emulate a cartoon character who looks better in a dress than I could ever hope to. He is da bomb, the king, a hero, a smart aleck carrot chewer, a legend, a role model both then an now. Why? Because Bugs Bunny is timeless. What worked for him then still works for him now. Imagine how much better the world would be if more people were like Bugs Bunny minding their own business and being content tending their own gardens in whatever form that garden took? What if we all avoided conflict until the last possible moment and then, instead of using brawn, we used our brains instead? What would that world be like?

I am going to go out on a limb and say that that world would be a much better place if we all behaved like Bugs Bunny. It’s a strange way of looking at things, I know, but step back and consider how a cross dressing resourceful and clever rabbit provided an escape every Saturday to a little girl who quite often felt alone, afraid and powerless. That little girl turned out rather well all things considered AND she went on to handle all the assholes in her life just as Bugs Bunny did. And most of the time, they never knew what hit them.

Cross dressing rabbit: 1

Assholes: 0