Remastered Edition Out Now!
PAUL SLADE:
My copy of the remastered Cerebus Volume 1 arrived after I'd already read the earlier episodes of AMOC's "whorephobia" debate between Chester Brown and Dave. Reading the volume in that context made page 408's exchange between Cerebus and Perce (the fortune teller / prostitute) really jump out at me.
At that point in his life, Cerebus's attitude towards any form of lowlife pleasure seemed to be "let me at it", and yet he's very sniffy about Perce’s livelihood. It seems a little out of character for someone so cheerfully amoral in every other aspect of his life.
I don't know to what extent we should read Cerebus' disapproval across into Dave's own views at the time, particularly as it forms the set-up to rather a good joke in the next panel. I thought it was worth drawing attention to, though.
On an even more tangential note, Perce also made me think of an old Rolling Stones song which uses "fortune teller" in the same sense Perce does. It's narrated by one of the female fortune teller's customers, and closes with this verse:
Now I’m a happy fella,‘Cause I’m married to the fortune teller,We’re happy as we can be,Now I get my fortune told for free.
Jagger gives the last line a sort of grinning emphasis which ensures we get the point. Can't get much clearer than that, can you?
Something on your mind?
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4 comments:
Astoria's comment in "Church and State" that Cerebus can't fornicate because he's a good Orthodox Tarimite. Some people (and aardvarks) have a weird morality: it's okay to murder and torture and steal, but fornicating is going too far. Perhaps because it's something they can forego without cost to themselves.
Dave has a strange anti-sex streak that, fortunately for him, coupled well with his gender and religious views ...
-- Damian
Going a bit far with your implication, Damian.
Jeff S.: Sorry, what implication is this? I don't think Dave has ever murdered anyone, if that's what you mean.
-- Damian
There's a track by The Who on their 30 Years of Maximum R&B box set called "Fortune Teller" that was, I believe, a previously unreleased track.
And looking it up, it appears it's the same track that Paul discusses here:
"Fortune Teller" is a song written by Allen Toussaint under the pseudonym Naomi Neville and first recorded by Benny Spellman (per Wikipedia)
If I recall correctly, though, The Who's version drops that last verse, so no wonder I thought it was a different song.
Here's one version of the lyrics:
http://www.1songlyrics.com/h/hollies/fortune-teller.html#.WO3MUk91oeg
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