Sagepaper

I just got volumes 1, 2, and 3 of the Speed Racer cartoons on DVD. I didn't know that Speed Racer had a cult following. I thought everybody loved Speed Racer. What's not to love?

My parents were worried about me when I started watching Speed Racer as a kid. We didn't know I had Tourette's. I couldn't stop talking out of the side of my mouth like Japanimation characters do. They kept trying to get me to quit. Mom was afraid I would be speech impaired for life. Upon being questioned, I told Dad I was just talking like Speed Racer. Dad then explained that real people don't talk like that, it was a cartoon. I wasn't convinced, though, because I talked like that -- wasn't I real?

Years passed, and Speed Racer became a fond memory. It was one of many TV shows I missed. But eventually I grew to the point that I got a car for my sixteenth birthday. I received a pair of brown ladies' driving gloves to keep a firm grip on my Toyota Corolla SR5 Sport Coupe. It was then, when nothing could have been farther from my mind than cartoons, that my parents should have worried about my watching Speed Racer. Unbeknownst to any of us, he was a role model. I didn't recognize that until many years after the demise of that first beloved car.

If you have to have a cartoon role model, though, you could certainly do worse than Speed Racer. I had another odd role model, but remained aware of it. I always wanted to grow up to be like Ernie on Sesame Street. I didn't plan on marrying Bert, though. Actually, my husband is like Bert with attitude, or perhaps a cross between Oscar the Grouch and Bert. See, this is what he gets for not reading my Blog, anymore.