Happy Easter Rabbit Day! As I hope the Readership is aware, I have something of a thing for the humble Lagomorpha Lapodirae that I find tricky to either explain or justify. I just like ’em, OK?
As today is the day when the little critters are most in the mimetic spotlight, I thought I’d run down a short list of my personal faves. Please feel free to chip in if you think I’ve missed any.
Frank Kozik’s Labbit
Probably the popcultural icon that got me interested in rabbits in the first place. Created by urban artist Frank Kozik as a sort of blank canvas onto which he could imprint all sorts of playful imagery. The Labbit is mercurial, slippery, a master of disguise. Look, he’s got a tash. Now he’s in camo. He’s everywhere and nowhere, baby.
Roger
As animated by one of the greats, Richard Williams, Roger is a rubbery, manic figure, wildly talented and yet tragically flawed. He can escape from almost any trap – as long as he can make that escape funny. But he’s pure of heart and above all, good with the ladies. If you can make ’em laugh, you’re halfway there.
(The link below is to the whole movie. Don’t say I never do anything for you.)
Br’er
Let’s forget about the Song Of The South. Br’er Rabbit is a common figure in American folklore, and can be tracked back to tales of a trickster common in Western and Central Africa. I’ve read them since I was a kid. Br’er’s stories have a simple, central strength – they’re tales where the weak but brainy protagonist gets the best of a more powerful but significantly more stupid opponent. A geek pride icon.
Frank
The character everyone remembers from Donnie Darko. Frank is a messenger, and in disguise. He’s a disturbing and tragic figure, the trigger and motive force to Richard Kelly’s dark tale of time travel and the power of fate. I sometimes wonder why I’m wearing this silly human suit.
Bugs
All of the above, cranked up to eleven and given a couple of doppio espressos. If we consider the rabbit as metaphor, we think of a trickster, a creature of fluid identity and appearance, who frequently causes trouble for the sheer fun of it. That’s Bugs. He’s also one of modern culture’s most unapologetic and irrepressible cross-dressers, and is involved in one of the more dysfunctional relationships out there. I could go on about this for months, but there’s only one vid I need to post. One Oscar-winning post, I might add.
(embeds are tougher to find than you might think: click on the star-crossed couple to watch the film!)
Happy Rabbit-Egg Day, Readership.
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