"Ring Twice..."

[Olivier (M&D)]

Gary:

>>> It's fine that you didn't like the story - by the sound of you pretty much
>>> loathed it - but am I to understand that you've never read other stories
>>> where Daisy has bullied Donald and beaten him silly over some real
>>> or imagined slight? 

Daisy can certainly be tempermental; what I find objectionable in this particular story is the fact that to exorcize Daisy at the end, Donald beats her very violently-- we clearly see him punch her twice in the face, then take her by the feet to smash her (head) repeatedly on the ground.

That is what shocked me-- and, as I said, I'm not prudish either; I love horror comics (E.C., Eerie, ...) and have no problem with the violence in a animated features.
The problem here is the character being beaten is Daisy (albeit possessed)-- a female character.
Seeing Donald chase the nephews with a stick to punish them (rightfully so or not) is not exactly a pleasant idea either, but it's rarely actually shown, and usually the punchline of a story (with sometimes even Donald being pursued at the same time, as is the case at the end of  a drama club story by Barks-- the one with Sir Potkettle if  I remember correctly).

Here, we see Donald beat Daisy to what would be pulp normally.
And it's not funny.
In spite of  the dialogue, there's no tragic sense of  "sorry, but there's no other solution" (unlike The Evil Dead, where you can feel for Ash, who must fight, maim and destroy his friends and his girlfriend).

Dr Wertham would have found his job already done for him with this story; he might even have said that the ending shows beating Daisy was not enough; even her true self  is violent at the end, rather than thankful. He would have concluded she (and women, through her) was depicted as evil, and/or that Donald had not beaten her enough (a woman needs a good beating).

This is certainly not what I think the authors meant, mind you.
My problem is with Donald beating her up so.
I'm sorry if  my criticism sounded harsh (towards the authors and Gemstone). If  it were not for this climactic beating, the story would be okay; but I can't find any justification for one character so graphically beating up a female character (or children if  that had been the case) in a Disney comic.



Olivier
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