GFT Retrospective #42: The Scorpion and the Frog

Article by Sean Wilkinson,
a.k.a. The Frog/Scorpion Hybrid

Greetings, Ticketholders!

I'm an animal hybrid metaphor! Yay?

I changed focus to my last class this week because the paper for my Values-Based Leadership course was getting too introspective and making me feel inadequate, even though (or because?) it required me to pretend to be someone with all of my strengths and weaknesses who got a promotion that I would, in reality, probably never get, for a fake company!

So, yeah; I have a history of trying to help myself across a metaphorical pond, but along the way, I get caught up in that one logic puzzle with the wolf, the sheep, and the hay, and everyone gets eaten, I end up stinging myself, and I drown in whatever circumstance this will inevitably turn into a mixed metaphor for.

What's red and green and hurts my brain?

A frog-scorpion metaphor in a blender!

But good news: I managed to crank out that other class's assignment in a day and get it submitted, so I'm just putting in my daily effort on that VBL course now and waiting to learn that I passed Consumer Behavior. Also, today's issue up for Retrospective review is a bit simple in its messaging, but strong with its Grimm Fairy Tales lore.

GFT #39: The Scorpion And the Frog

You probably know this one. The scorpion asks the frog for a ride across a pond or stream and, despite being wary of the scorpion’s nature, the frog believes its promise to not sting it, lest they both drown, and gives the scorpion a ride. Of course, the scorpion stings the frog, and as they both drown, the frog asks why, with the scorpion replying, “it’s my nature.”

Another animal tale like The Lion and the Mouse, this one is more recent (1954) and, though it shares common themes with far older tales from a variety of regions and cultures, its true origin is hard to pin down. Thus, it is yet another entry in the series that does not originate from the Grimm Brothers’ collection. The framing device centers on Diana and Janine, two women who were once friends until Janine broke Diana’s trust one time too many. Janine attempts to reconnect with her ex-BFF one day, having dumped her junkie boyfriend, Eric (the name of at least two other boyfriends of dubious character in previous issues. Unoriginal naming again, or could all of these Erics actually be the same person? Dark Horde conspiracy, anyone?) and started up a sitting business—both the baby- and house- varieties. An extra level is added to the narrative this time as Sela, fresh off her magical journey through This Is Your Life! in issue 37, is pondering her own frog/scorpion relationship with Belinda. We’ve seen Sela mourn her charges after the fact many times already, but thanks to Belinda mind-wiping her, she always comes into the next issue fresh-minded and usually unbiased—besides what basic morality dictates, that is. This is the first time we’ve seen Sela answer her calling with baggage, and it makes the usual GFT by-the-numbers plotting that follows much more interesting. I enjoyed the simple presentation of the tale, which allowed more pagetime for Sela’s character development in flashback (one which features an enchanted Death’s head Timepiece that Belinda supposedly used to erase Sela’s memories several times). I don’t think the tale itself holds up in today’s ever-changing world, what with the nurture-void moral that animal nature rules and ruins all. Then again, we did have a knee-jerk-prone…jerk of a man in the White House a few years back, so who am I to say that this scorpion/frog business is a load of crap? Whatever your opinion may be on the matter, this is one of the best constructed GFT issues in recent memory.

That's not a mind-wipe pun because I ran out of puns last time. Nor is it a metaphor. And no, that blender joke doesn't count. I'm too tired to come up with any more metaphors, and I have to work in five minutes at the time of writing, so just remember to like, comment, subscribe, and follow me on Tumblr, Reddit, and Facebook for the latest news and updates on my content.

Next week, the animal theme continues, but with more human characters, greed, nicknames, and...an SNK reference?

Plus a TBT 2023 push of an Oscar contender about a boy and his robot, but also old Hollywood filmmaking, because Hollywood loves Hollywood.

Metaphor,

Self-destructive Arachnophibian Chimera,

Out.