That’s some catch, that Catch-22

Woman’s Last Stand: Dodge Charger Commercial Spoof (via mackenziefegan, which I learned of via ScareHouseScott)

The sad thing is that the more we keep talking about the original ad, the more effective it will have been. But not talking about how unoriginal and hackneyed its theme is comes across as accepting it as correct.

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. ‘Orr’ was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn’t want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.

“That’s some catch, that Catch-22,” Yossarian observed.

“It’s the best there is,” Doc Daneeka agreed.

2 replies on “That’s some catch, that Catch-22”

  1. I love how the “75-cents for every dollar you make” has become “feminist fact.” The real story is that they did not do the wage study scientifically, so they were comparing wages where the man had been employed with the company for 20 years, and the woman with the company for only 5, and expecting them to make the same wage. He had 15 extra years’ worth of raises and performance reviews, of course he makes more. The article I read said that there IS a wage disparity of something like 7 or 8 %, but how much of that is due to the unwillingness of women to ASK for raises, or due to the time they take off work to raise children (putting their career on hold, well, children are a joint decision, don’t blame the children solely on the man). Both commercials are tripe, and by amplifying gender stereotypes do nothing but pull idiots into a manufactured controversy where they have nothing constructive to contribute.

    Controversy, and lies, sell. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have stars, athletes, or ANY politicians.

  2. I found this because I was searching for the original NY Times ad that introduced the book Catch-22. Ah, the internet. I have just read the book and though stylistically it is an interesting book and holds together (boringly, I might add), I found the absense of any female character who was portrayed with any worth extremely repelling. Author Heller may make the “Henry Higgins” reply that none of the characters are anything but repelling, but, that would be a straw man argument, indeed. Bringing the subject back to your Catch, I think that our society loves to trivialize marriage and healthy relationships. Working relationships are based on mutual respect and are havens to which, even when the working world or the class society treats you with disrespect because of gender, race, degree, etc., you can return for and to give love and encouragement. Maybe that doesn’t sell Dodge Chargers.

Comments are closed.