Manhog: The Cosmic Archetype
Who is a Manhog? What is a Manhog? Perhaps Manhog is nothing more than an innocent cartoon character. However, as far-fetched as this may sound, I truly believe that Manhog is an ever-reincarnating archetype. Everyone has encountered a Manhog. There are multitudes of them. Especially in the suburbs of Florida. Perhaps there is even a Manhog in the Whitehouse?
In the picture above, Donald Trump is depicted as a Manhog. The fat around his neck is real, but the pig-nose is fake. It was superimposed onto this already pig-like face by a graphic designer. Why is this pig-like depiction of Donald Trump so significant? It’s because it reveals who Donald Trump really is. He is Manhog from the Frank comic by Jim Woodring. Jim Woodring created the character, Manhog, years before Trump received widespread media attention. Nonetheless, intentionally or unintentionally; Jim Woodring predicted the behavior of our current President. Occasionally, I’ll see Donald Trump on TV and immediately my mind will jump to a Frank panel. Here are a few ways that Jim Woodring’s Manhog is similar to Donald Trump:
1. They look alike.
Without diving deep into their psyches, we already see a physical resemblance. We see a similar facial structure and we even see similar facial expressions. I can create a whole blog post matching facial expressions between the two hog-men, but I think my point has been made and it’s not really too important of a point to even be made. The similarities in physical appearance do very little to support my argument that Manhog is a perpetually reincarnating archetype and that Donald Trump is an overt host to this archetype. The following examples highlight behavioral similarities between my two subjects.
2. They are both spiritually devoid.
In this panel, Whim, a devil-like character who constantly tortures Manhog, analyzes the contents of Manhog’s soul. After thorough examination, he decides that Manhog’s soul is not much of a soul at all, so he destroys it. Using one of his strange Goldberg-esque contraptions, he vaporizes Manhog’s worthless soul. Afterwards, Manhog is less man and more hog. A hog has no spiritual needs. A hog only wants more material things. No one falls in love with the Manhog. The Manhog must buy his wife from a Russian escort service. The hog half of Manhog represents greed, glutony, materialism, every-non-spiritual-thing you can imagine. Whim, the devil-like character in this comic, sets traps throughout the land. Frank, the nemesis of Manhog, is rarely caught. Frank, although not spiritually-perfect by any means, has enough spiritual understanding to keep him safe (most of the time) from Whim’s traps.
3. They both live in perpetual fear of the unknown.
I don’t have to elaborate much on this point, because Donald Trump’s entire campaign was built on fear. He’s an expert sales person and he’s selling fear. Currently, he is focusing on selling a very specific type of fear. He is selling metropolitan fear to the people of the suburbs. Most of his costumers are fellow Manhogs. You will rarely see a Manhog in big cities. Manhogs have never lived in big cities nor do they spend much time there for entertainment purposes. The Manhog does not require any of the ammenities of the big city. Everything the Manhog needs can be found in the suburbs of Rancho Cucamonga. Therefore, Manhogs only experience big cities through the lens of Fox News. This lens has convinced them that big cities are nothing more than perpetual riots. This lens has also convinced them that all people of color are irrationally violent. The Manhog’s fear is often so bad, that they often create conspiracies in order to validate the state of fear they perpetually live in.
4. They both want to kill journalists.
Ok. So this one might be a bit of a reach… In this panel, Manhog is pointing a gun at Frank for what appears to be no reason. In the comics, Frank is never depicted as typical journalist. He’s never depicted as reporter-like. We never see him writing or recording his ideas vocally using a field recorder. Nonetheless, we see him constantly exploring and trying to learn. In this sense, he’s the closest thing to a journalist we have in the comic. Here is my interpretation of this panel: Manhog is pointing a gun at Frank, because he believes that Frank ratted him out to Whim. Whim is often depicted as mischievous and sinister, but he is also the enforcer of justice. Manhog never takes responsibly for his actions. He is pointing a gun at Frank, because he blames Frank for his recent encounter with Whim (Whim tortured him). Like Manhog, Donald Trump also felt tortured-not so much by a cosmic entity- but rather by journalists. He’s been very vocal about his hatred towards them. This is why he refused to investigate the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
I can continue listing examples of similarities between my two subjects forever, but I will stop now so I can move on to writing about other things. Please share this post if you think it’s brilliant. Other people may also think it’s brilliant. Please share even if you think this post is not brilliant at all. This post is not for everyone, but I appreciate your help getting it into the right hands (the hands of smart people).
