Postmodern Mumbling

When Mike Judge was on Fresh Air in August, Terry Gross asked him how he came up with voices for King of the Hill characters. She called Boomhauer’s stream-of-consciousness blurts “A postmodern mumble.” I laughed at the description, but when I watched a rerun of King of the Hill later, I almost saw where Gross was coming from.

King of the Hill might be a postmodern cartoon. It’s humor usually comes from depicting mundane situations with such accuracy that they seem ridiculous. It’s almost like the writers spend half of every episode denying they’re making a cartoon. Some scenes play so straight they’re almost documentary. Boomhauer’s voice is one of the silliest on the show, but it’s not the funniest to me. Characters on the show that talk like normal people, with normal names like Jimmy Whichard who say normal things are funny because they’re characters on the show. And the show is a cartoon.

But King of the Hill might not be postmodern. Saying it is would over-philosophize the show and–in many ways–undermine the writers’ comedic chops. They’re being funny, and if the pursuit of humor leads to a show that can be philosophical, I’d give more credit to the writers for achieving their goal of comedy than for being (possibly) inadvertently po-mo.

The aggressive dryness turns some people off from King of the Hill. I have friends who say it’s too close to home and others who say it’s just not funny enough for them to watch. I can understand what they mean, and I can’t fault them for not liking the show’s style. The only criticism that really bothers me comes from those who say King of the Hill pushes right-wing ideas.

I’m not generally interested in knowing if people are liberals or conservatives, but the political approach to King of the Hill irks me because I just don’t think the show is politically conservative. People who think otherwise generally point out that Hank is the show’s protagonist, and he’s a conservative. Having a Reaganite come out on top in every episode might seem like a way to champion conservatism, but it’s not too often that Hank ‘wins’ at the end of the episode. The story arc usually leads Hank to a conflict with someone socially or politically opposed to him–government workers, psychologists, environmentalists–and ends with a resolution that does little to change the show’s canon. Hank at the end of the episode seems just like Hank at the beginning of the episode. He doesn’t die and he doesn’t dramatically change his life. Even if Hank reaches a happy resolution at the end of the show, it’s rarely because he defeats the antagonists. There’s always a compromise on Hank’s part.

For example, in one episode, Peggy and Hank fight over her role in the family. Frustrated with Hank’s apparent rebuke of her freedom, Peggy starts hanging around with feminist folk singers. She learns to play guitar and writes a song about a female turtle who is stuck in her shell. It’s an obvious metaphor for the Hills’ domestic life, and Peggy’s new friends love it. When Peggy performs the song at a guitar student showcase, she sees Hank in the back of the crowd, having come to terms with Peggy’s independence. She changes the song’s lyrics mid-performance, and ends up being ostracized by her new friends for singing about loving her husband. It might seem like Hank’s lifestyle won the day in this episode, but without his ability to compromise, the conflict wouldn’t have been resolved. The episode doesn’t undermine Peggy’s point of view, it shows the necessity of open-mindedness. Hank was stubborn and Peggy’s logic and passion made him change. Similarly, Peggy retreated from her position, and the episode showed the benefits of finding a medium between two comfort zones. If King of the Hill is pushing ideas, it’s pushing centrism here.

In another episode, Peggy is assigned to substitute teach a sex-ed class. At first, Hank refuses to accept that his son Bobby is going to learn reproductive health in school, let alone from Peggy. Hank can’t draw himself to discuss sex with his son, and he tells his wife she is forbidden from teaching the class. Peggy persists and Hank refuses to sign Bobby’s permission slip for the class. When the sex-ed day comes, Bobby goes with Hank to work. In Hank’s office, Bobby repeats a few of his dad’s arguments, and Hank realizes the necessity for sex-ed and appreciates Peggy’s bravery for teaching the class. He takes Bobby to school, where Bobby is the only student with permission to take the class. At that point, the Hills seem like the most logical family in Arlen, even though they’re raging liberals, comparatively.

The last, and possibly best, example comes from guest-star Chris Rock. In an early episode, Rock plays a comedian named Booda Sack who teaches Hank’s traffic school course. Hank doesn’t like Booda Sack’s abrasive or racially-charged jokes and ends up getting Booda Sack fired. Meanwhile, Bobby idolizes the comic and takes his own turn at abrasive and racially-charged humor. Booda Sack lets Bobby try out the act at the comedy club. When Hank finds out, he rushes to the club and stops Bobby in the middle of an unintentionally offensive stand-up set. When the crowd turns on them both, Booda Sack comes to the duo’s defense, and gives the audience a lecture about freedom of speech. The episode ends with Hank getting Booda Sack a job at Strickland Propane, where they trade “Your mama” jokes.

This episode highlights two of the ways Hank compromises in the show. First, he accepts that people like what Booda Sack does, so his own opposition to it doesn’t matter. He even lightens up enough to give it a try, taking a huge step out of his comfort zone. Second, Hank realizes that he can’t raise Bobby the way he wants to, and copes with it. He wants the best for Bobby, and accepts that he doesn’t know what that is. He knows that Bobby won’t be like him, and he gradually becomes okay with that. He changes his values to make peace with himself and the world around him. He isn’t trying to change the world, but just go along with it. That’s not political.

With almost every conflict in King of the Hill, the only resolution is rational compromise. The show doesn’t advocate one point of view–it champions the ability to change. No one in the show ever gets what they want, and they always end up happy. King of the Hill isn’t liberal or conservative…it’s moderate, and apolitically so. It doesn’t want to tell you what to think, it wants you to stop thinking you’re right.

It might seem like nonpartisan centrism is a boring thing to promote in a cartoon, but King of the Hill is boring. It’s boring on purpose, and that’s what makes it funny. So if the writers decide to extoll a political principle, it seems obvious that they would push for the belief that would be funniest in context. For a prime-time Fox cartoon sitcom that followed The Simpsons–and later preceded Family Guy–to champion social compromise is hilarious. It’s so funny that it seems possible the writers don’t want to espouse any philosophy, but are just going for laughs in the most unsuspected way. After all, they’re making a cartoon, and if that’s a postmodern way to make a cartoon, so be it, it’s also a funny way to make a cartoon.

In 2000, Hank went to a political rally and was so let down by George W. Bush’s clammy handshake that he considered not voting at all in the election. He eventually cast a ballot, but did’t say who he’d voted for. Whether he gave up his belief in the Republican Party and voted for Gore or whether he abandoned his image of presidents as tough, hard-gripped leaders and voted for Bush doesn’t matter. It made for a funny 22 minutes.