Pluggers by Rick McKee for June 18, 2011

I can never stop myself from reading Pluggers, and I’m always annoyed at this comic’s attempts to make ignorance endearing. This particular episode, like many, tries to use ignorance of technology to incite some kind of nostalgic feeling of prestige in those people who take pride in their adherence to the ways of the ‘good old days’. When one reads this comic one is expected think “Ah yes, I remember the days before teleprompters. Mm hm, those were the times. Blah blah media corporations now, blah kids today, etc.” However there is a delicious nugget of irony that Brookins seems to have missed: A person who is so technologically impaired that they can’t even handle a teleprompter is arguing AGAINST CLEAN ENERGY. That is, a person with apparently no credibility on the subject of technology is arguing against clean energy. If this were my first time reading Pluggers I would think Brookins was using this irony deliberately to promote clean energy and brand its adversaries as ‘scientific ignoramuses’. Alas, I’ve read the strip before and I know better. The anti-clean-energy-speaker may even be an attempt at pandering to the probably-conservative Pluggers readership; a cherry on top of their nostalgic feeling of nobility. I don’t hate you Brookins, and I don’t hate you stereotypical-Pluggers-fan: just everything that you strive to glorify.