My Funny Valentine

Love is a peculiar thing. It usually hits you when you’re least expecting it. That’s what happened to me. I was just going about my day to day life when Cupid’s arrow hit me. The person I love can make me laugh when I’m feeling down, and he has given me some of my most cherished memories. If I could spend the rest of my life with this person, I am convinced I would have no more worries or regrets and would eventually die the happiest man in the world. The only problem is that the person I’m talking about isn’t quite a person at all. This special individual is actually an animal and an animated animal at that. And this love of mine is a male, too. He is a male, animal cartoon character. Any guesses? That’s right, my would-be lover and hopeful Valentine this year is none other than Mr. Bugs Bunny.

In most magazine dating guides, humor is always listed as one of the most important qualities in a partner. If your significant other can make you laugh at the end of a terrible day, then you know you can count on them to make you smile on the good days, too. Bugs Bunny does that for me. His cartoons may not be especially varied, but they can always turn my frown upside down. Whether he is running away from nemeses like Elmer Fudd or Yosemite Sam, or if he is arguing about the hunting season with Daffy Duck, his shenanigans never fail to make my day brighter. Humor can sometimes be a complicated thing, but Bugs deals with it in the simplest way possible. He mixes one part sarcasm with one part pop-culture with two parts slapstick and serves up a delicious glass of comedy.

Comedy isn’t the only thing you need in a partner, though. As fun as laughing can be, your partner needs to have a sense of maturity and the ability to grow. Bugs Bunny, while enjoying his standard pranks, still grew into a more profound character. In one cartoon, Bugs Bunny shattered the fourth wall between he (or rather Daffy Duck) and the viewer. This formalist take on a regular Looney Tune cartoon produced something that genuinely stood out. He took a typical, slapstick animated short and transformed it into something more literary; more artistic. In another cartoon, Bugs parodies a classic science fiction story but includes some animation jokes, too. It’s brilliant, and, well, really weird. However, Bugs Bunny’s coup de grace is his short “What's Opera Doc?” This picture combines the humor of Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd with the epic music of Wagner. To mix something so juvenile with something so refined yields a unique and spectacular synthesis. This cartoon manages to be funny, strange and poignant all at once. His showing in these episodes is a sign of emotional and intellectual depth that many people in the real world don’t reach.

But as important as intellectual depth is, you have to like who your partner is as a person. I like Bugs Bunny so much that as I’ve grown up I have been discovering how Bugs Bunny has affected who I am as a human being. Certain people have upbringings that make them hesitant to things outside of their social or cultural norm. Because of the limits they have put upon them, these people become hateful or fearful of deviant actions. Bugs Bunny, on the other hand, embraced the different and the risqué. Bugs Bunny never hesitated to dress up as a woman whether its purpose was to sneak by an enemy, to trick a dupe or just for the fun of it. He wasn’t afraid to be who he was. And besides the fearless aspect of his personality, I also respect him for his nonchalant personality. He understands that sometimes his predicaments are beyond him and just tries to survive to the best of his abilities. He hardly gets worked up even in the most tumultuous situations. Bugs just goes with the flow. Does he panic and break down if a giant, red monster is chasing him? No. He gets interesting.

So, clearly, Bugs Bunny must be my Valentine this year. I simply love him too much. He picks me up when I’m down through his gift of comedy. He’s intelligent and bold with his willingness to try new and daring ideas. And he is simultaneously courageous and relaxed in his day-to-day life and other, more precarious situations. He has the world figured out, and with him as my Valentine this year, maybe I’ll figure out the world, too.