Grouchy about Marx

This is from my Tumblr thingy:

You know what’s great about this? Groucho Marx is remembered as one of the greatest comedians of all time. It’s close to a century since he made any films, yet the films he made STILL echo and reverberate in comedy that’s being written and performed today.

He is a legend, and someone whose legacy massively outshines millions of people who lived at the same time as he did.

And Mrs. Kenneth Van Etten of Corona, California, didn’t think he was funny (though he seemed to think he is). She thought he was so unfunny, she wrote a letter to the editor, put it in an envelope, paid for a stamp, and walked it straight into the post office to make sure it found its recipient. And the editor printed her letter, so her fellow Mrs. Kenneth Van Ettens would know that they were not alone in their disdain for the comic sensibilities of Mr. Marx.

So take heart, all of my wonderful babies in the world who are working so hard to make things that matter to you, and to share them with our fellow humans! You can be one of the most influential artists in your generation, and there’s gonna be someone out there who just doesn’t get you. There’s nothing you can do about it. Don’t waste your time trying to win over the Mrs. Kenneth Van Ettens of the world.

Just do the thing. Make the thing. And keep making good art.

48 thoughts on “Grouchy about Marx”

  2. Thank you Wil. Grateful for this reminder and for your example. I’ve been rereading “Just a Geek” and your writing is inspiring.

    1. Fun fact: when I was a little kid, probably about 9 or 10, I did a commercial for Vlasic pickles, and I was the kid who did the Groucho impression.

      1. That is pretty dang wild. So maybe just seeing posts by you make me hungry for pickles. (Sorry about any double post, WP is a PITA with my work proxy). And I probably watched you in those commercials being in the LA TV broadcast area.

        1. …was the ad “Animated” or “Live-Action”? YouTube has a “1983 Vlasic Pickles commercial” that appears to fit the “bill”.

          1. OMG! I love and remember that pickle commercial! I had no idea that was you Wil! I was crazy about pickles I would go to my Gamma’s House and always eat an entire jar of pickles including drinking the pickle juice! That is so cool I loved your work even before I saw Stand By Me! That is so cool! After realizing I am currently being falsely charged about $7000 due to identity theft which really sucks because it is preventing from obtaining a Grad Plus Loan for Grad School which really is stressing me out! Here I come to find you were in my favorite pickle commercial as a kid really helped cheer me up tonight! Thanks! 😍

  5. Actually, if you’ve ever watched his appearances on What’s My Line? you might have some sympathy for her point of view. While he might have done well as a performer, he came across as rather boorish in those appearances, and did not last long as a panelist as a result. I haven’t looked up his appearances on the Jack Parr show, or I’ve Got A Secret, but it might be a similar issue. Personally, I’ve never found the Three Stooges or Lil Rascals to be very funny, either. Much of SNL falls flat for me. So, yeah, your point kind of stands, but sometimes there’s more behind a person’s dislike of a performer than just not getting their performance.

  6. Loved this post Wil. I also love and adore Groucho!!! His humor was a bit different and some were not fans. He was very clever and a master at wordplay! You are absolutely correct in that you need to “do the thing. make the thing”. Thank you Wil. Happy Thursday!

  7. That lady’s letter is so unintentionally funny! Granted the Marx Brothers were not everyone’s cup of tea, but what they got away with is still funny today. And Groucho’s appearances on Dick Cavett are legendary. Thanks for the smile!

    1. I think, actually, that her letter illustrates a different Wil Wheaton saying – “Don’t Be A DIck”. Someone can create great art, and still be a dick. Don’t be one of those.

  12. I remember watching You Bet Your Life with my parents once we got a TV. We all thought it was funny and I was only 9 years old when it went off the air. They were in their mid-thirties.

  13. I am also a fan of Groucho Marx. I sing Lydia the Tattooed Lady by Groucho Marx and Bing Crosby, every morning before I leave for school (college). Liking Groucho Marx has everything to do with a person’s personality. People with a certain type of personality (or lack thereof), might not find the Vaudeville actors as funny. I am also a fan of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. When I watch their films, I see a large piece of myself in them.

    On another note, I won 1st place at my college’s Student Art Show for my video of Pour-Over Coffee. I have never won a thing in my life, so I am ecstatic at the moment. I am currently studying film, photography, and ceramics. Someday, I hope to make something of myself in the art world. Winning and my instructor telling me, that I should shoot for the stars… makes my heart soar.

  14. “Je suis Marxiste, tendance Groucho.”

    ― Jean Luc Godard

    I understand it means: “I am a Marxist, of the Groucho variety.”

    Thank you for this wonderful post, Wil. “Just do the thing. Make the thing. And keep making good art.”

    Amen.

  17. You and Neil Gaiman share the same creative mindset. Just make good art. Make it for you.

  18. Man, some things never change. We live in a world now where it’s so easy to dash off a comment and post it on someone’s content, whether it’s a blog, video, photo, essay, article, whatever. And I’ve always marveled at the people who take the time to actually write something negative about someone else’s creation. What good does it do them? Don’t even get me started on the people who will make hour-long YouTube videos literally titled, “Why [Popular Movie] is Terrible and Why You Should Hate It”. Why on earth would I want to watch that? Where do people get the energy for that much negativity? And yet I guess those videos and that kind of non-constructive critique must have an audience, or people would stop making them.

    And then there’s Mrs. Kenneth Van Etten, who, as you describe, actually got a stamp and an envelope and sent her thoughts to her local newspaper. That’s next level effort, and without the feedback endorphins we get now. It’s not like she would be instantly notified with a ping on her phone when people “liked” her “post”.

    All it really needs is someone else’s letter to the editor right under it saying, “Ma’am, this is a Wendy’s.”

  19. I have won awards for my pieces and have many repeat customers, yet I still have people come up to my table at shows (I make fine crochet and beaded lace accessories for Victorian/Steampunk/Goth costuming) and stand right in front of me and tell me they could make this easily, or they don’t like it, etc. I just have to smile and hope they walk away!

  20. There’s an extended Dick Cavett show with Groucho performing Lydia available on YouTube. I definitely recommend it. I stumbled upon it while surfing some Smothers Brothers clips.

    1. Well said Carey. Also, Groucho would be proud of the mini amount of snark you provided. “When her muscles start relaxin’, up the hill comes Andrew Jackson….”

  21. I don’t like Groucho Marx either, nor the Marx Brothers for that matter. I’m also sure that there are comedians that I find funny that others don’t. And that’s ok. After all, if we all liked the same thing and did the same thing, we’d be pretty boring! Thank goodness for the Vulcan philosophy of IDIC: Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. And to all the comedians out there, thank you for making us laugh!

  24. I feel the same way about Wil Ferrel as she felt about Groucho Marx, but I certainly wouldn’t tell the man if I met him, nor would I want him to stop making movies that bring joy to other people. I’ve never understood that sentiment that you have to like everything, or that something you dislike is without value.

    1. Indeed. I think her comments are less about his performances, as his personal habits and personality when not performing. His art may be of fairly high quality – but it’s quite likely that you wouldn’t want your sister to marry him.

      And that is the thing that I see being missed over and over in these comments. The artist is not the art – but that also means that the art is not the artist.

  26. Wil,
    You should post that complaint on twitter to show people good grammar and how to properly critique others without being rude and crude. Maybe if more people wrote like this woman the world would know how to disagree agreeably and be a better place. Thanks for sharing that.

  27. Wil, I just want you to know: I’m hurting, but ok? Hungry, even though there is food downstairs. I actively save lives at my job, yet things outside are “weird”. At the end of it, I find comfort in this website. Thank you for being you😁

  28. Sometimes life takes on a windy curvy bumpy, thinking were going to drown road before we figure out where we make our difference completly by accidental coincidences. I stumbled into my passion by accident, a part time college job I was actually good at, got bought out by another company and kept me on. My skills in other areas were recognized and now I help support an blind agency that does services and employment. 3rd largest in the country, and locations in multiple states. A lot of people dont get that the pay isnt great but the rewards of the work are. Giving people accessible tools to do jobs as or more efficiently than sighted peers is amazing, showing people they can do anything with a little work.

  30. Great post. Gives heart. I am not an actor but helps with photography. If I like my photos then that is what matters first and most. Thanks for sharing this!

  31. You could be the juiciest, sweetest, most perfect pear in the world, and there’d still be people who don’t like pears.

  33. Speaking of making things and the Marx Brothers, folks in these parts might be interested to know that Salvador Dalí wrote a (never-filmed) screenplay for the boys (surely he and Harpo were separated at birth), and now it’s been turned into a graphic novel: Giraffes on Horseback Salad.

    https://www.horsebacksaladbook.com

    1. I had no idea this existed but it turns out my library has a copy so thank you for commenting about this!

      1. You bet! It was released pretty recently (NPR had a story about it just this past weekend), so word is still getting out.

  34. OMG that letter is spontaneous art. That is awesome. I honestly think, and I don’t know why, that it’s as funny as Groucho Marx actually. “Although he seems to think he is.” I think Mrs. Kenneth Van Etten must have been a frustrated stand-up comic herself and spent most of her time tossing out fairly decent one-liners of her own at the TV while watching Marx.

    I am also amused by the Mrs. Kenneth business. I remember when I was little and in elementary school, and we had to have our homework signed by our parents for some stupid reason. My mom used to sign Mrs. Her-First-Name Married-Last-Name. And I saw one kid’s homework that has been signed something like Mrs. Frank Johnson, and I distinctly remember thinking to myself, “Why is her mother’s first name Frank?” I was a budding radical feminist ball-breaker while still in first grade … I was never going to do that Offred garbage.

    Any how, I think that Mrs. Kenneth probably should have run out on Kenneth and headed for Reno to hone her own stand-up act in seedy dive bars along whatever passed for the Interstate back then.

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