A Mis-Addressed Letter to Tom Batiuk

Something interesting happened yesterday; thus, this rare Saturday post. I got an email via my website addressed to Tom Batiuk, creator of the comic strip Funky Winkerbean.  Honestly, I’m not sure how I ended up being confused for Tom Batiuk. I mean if anything I’ve been critical of Mr. Batiuk’s handling of his characters for more than 5 years. But, I have also acknowledged publicly that those characters are his and he is legally entitled to do anything he wants with them despite my encouragement that he be more civil to his creations.

This brings me back to the email I got which is printed below in its entirety (without editing); however, I am withholding the name which is consistent with the privacy policy for my website:

Dear Mr. Batiuk, I am writing in regards of your comic strip Funky asking Cayla to marry him. Are you crazy! I don’t think we should have black and white couples in comic strip. They are people who feel its not right like me. I don’t think you should have paired him with her in the first place. I think you should have found a character that resemble Lisa. Cayla doesn’t resemble Lisa at all.I am disappointed with your comic strip and I refuse to read it. The next time the Plain Dealer ask to vote on the comic strip I will not vote for Funky. I think you need to serious look at the issue here and decide for yourself if this is a good idea. Rather this is real or not I don’t believe there should be a black and white couple. Thank you for your time. //signed // (name withheld)

The author of this email is female. I was tempted to delete this email, but I decided there is a life lesson here. So here is my response:

Dear (Name Withheld),

I must  inform you that I am not Tom Batiuk nor do I have anything to do with the comic strip Funky Winkerbean. Mr. Batiuk maintains a Funky Winkerbean website and you may inform him of your opinion here.

Since you shared your opinion, I’ll share mine. First, so that we’re all on the same sheet, it is Les Moore, not Funky Winkerbean, who asked Cayla Williams to marry him. While we may both object to this marriage, I assure you our reasons are very, very different. You appear to dislike this union based solely on racial grounds and personal intolerance. I dislike the union because both characters are behaving immaturely.

Les Moore, who is Tom Batiuk’s avatar, is self-centered, inconsiderate and has been severely emotionally challenged since the death of his wife more than ten years ago. As recently as this past New Year’s eve, Les was seen dancing with the ghost of his dead wife. In short, Les is still grieving, has not moved on to the acceptance phase of Lisa’s death and is incapable of making anyone happy because he has not found inner happiness for himself yet.

Cayla Williams started out as a self-assured character and within the year has been turned into the most insecure woman in Westview. She has no confidence in her own decisions when it comes to her own personal well-being and seeks out Les for validation.  She has apparently decided that Les is who she wants in her life and over the past year has spent tremendous resources to turn herself into someone she hopes he will find desirable. She has finally succeeded, but in the process has changed into a persona she will not be able to maintain in a successful marriage.

Love is colorblind. I say that again. Love is colorblind! I’ve no doubt that Les & Cayla love each other; but this is a marriage that is doomed to fail, not because of the color of anyone’s skin, but because these participants are not being emotionally honest with each other and with themselves. We do agree that only Tom Batiuk can fix his characters, but he won’t because “endings have to be earned” (his words, not mine).

I strongly suggest you tell Mr. Batiuk how you feel at the address I’ve provided above. However, just so there is no doubt in your mind, I do not share your rationale, your views or your racial intolerance. The opinions you expressed have no value on this site. They and you are not welcomed here.

Bill