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1990 commencement speech by Bill Watterson

Watterson

As a follow-up to Watterson’s Kenyon comics posted earlier this week (here and elsewhere), here’s the text of a speech he gave to the graduating class of his alma mater in 1990. My favorite part:

Selling out is usually more a matter of buying in. Sell out, and you’re really buying into someone else’s system of values, rules and rewards.
The so-called “opportunity” I faced would have meant giving up my individual voice for that of a money-grubbing corporation. It would have meant my purpose in writing was to sell things, not say things. My pride in craft would be sacrificed to the efficiency of mass production and the work of assistants. Authorship would become committee decision. Creativity would become work for pay. Art would turn into commerce. In short, money was supposed to supply all the meaning I’d need.

(Found via Fark)

  • http://www.planetsaturday.com/ Monongahela Monster

    I hope he got a standing ovation. I feel like giving him one now, but I’m sitting here by myself, so it wouldn’t be very impressive.

    Guys like Bill Watterson make you think human beings might not have been such a bad idea after all.

  • http://www.planetsaturday.com/ Monongahela Monster

    I hope he got a standing ovation. I feel like giving him one now, but I’m sitting here by myself, so it wouldn’t be very impressive.

    Guys like Bill Watterson make you think human beings might not have been such a bad idea after all.

  • http://www.planetsaturday.com Monongahela Monster

    I hope he got a standing ovation. I feel like giving him one now, but I’m sitting here by myself, so it wouldn’t be very impressive.

    Guys like Bill Watterson make you think human beings might not have been such a bad idea after all.

  • quimericas

    I agree. Bill Watterson is Great !!!
    ( Congratulations for your blog) from Salt, Catalunya,ESPAÑA
    :-)

  • quimericas

    I agree. Bill Watterson is Great !!!
    ( Congratulations for your blog) from Salt, Catalunya,ESPAÑA
    :-)

  • quimericas

    I agree. Bill Watterson is Great !!!
    ( Congratulations for your blog) from Salt, Catalunya,ESPAÑA
    :-)

  • http://stormsillustration.com/ Patricia

    I remember that speech. I was really inspired when I first read it, too. I’m still inspired. But I’m older. And I have a mortgage, and I’m a freelance illustrator. I see things a bit differently now. I take Watterson’s stance with a grain of salt. If that’s the choice he wants to make, good for him. But had I been in his place…I would have probably ‘sold out’. Does that make me less of an artist? I don’t think so. I’ve always been curious how he could admire the work of Charles Schulz so much, and yet, if ever there was a ‘sell out’ it was ol’ Sparky. Peanuts merchandise was (and still is) ubiquitous. Did that affect the quality of the strip? I don’t think so. Cartoonists in the end, are working in a commercial medium. We are selling a product. I think it is entirely possible to create a commercial product that sells extremely well, and yet still communicates a worthwhile message. Watterson knew what he was getting into when he signed that contract with Universal. I dunno, what I used to think of as an idealistic stance from an ethical cartoonist looks more and more to me these days as the ramblings of a bit of an ol’ crank. But maybe that’s because I’m a bit of an ol’ crank these days, too…

  • http://stormsillustration.com/ Patricia

    I remember that speech. I was really inspired when I first read it, too. I’m still inspired. But I’m older. And I have a mortgage, and I’m a freelance illustrator. I see things a bit differently now. I take Watterson’s stance with a grain of salt. If that’s the choice he wants to make, good for him. But had I been in his place…I would have probably ‘sold out’. Does that make me less of an artist? I don’t think so. I’ve always been curious how he could admire the work of Charles Schulz so much, and yet, if ever there was a ‘sell out’ it was ol’ Sparky. Peanuts merchandise was (and still is) ubiquitous. Did that affect the quality of the strip? I don’t think so. Cartoonists in the end, are working in a commercial medium. We are selling a product. I think it is entirely possible to create a commercial product that sells extremely well, and yet still communicates a worthwhile message. Watterson knew what he was getting into when he signed that contract with Universal. I dunno, what I used to think of as an idealistic stance from an ethical cartoonist looks more and more to me these days as the ramblings of a bit of an ol’ crank. But maybe that’s because I’m a bit of an ol’ crank these days, too…

  • http://stormsillustration.com Patricia

    I remember that speech. I was really inspired when I first read it, too. I’m still inspired. But I’m older. And I have a mortgage, and I’m a freelance illustrator. I see things a bit differently now. I take Watterson’s stance with a grain of salt. If that’s the choice he wants to make, good for him. But had I been in his place…I would have probably ‘sold out’. Does that make me less of an artist? I don’t think so. I’ve always been curious how he could admire the work of Charles Schulz so much, and yet, if ever there was a ‘sell out’ it was ol’ Sparky. Peanuts merchandise was (and still is) ubiquitous. Did that affect the quality of the strip? I don’t think so. Cartoonists in the end, are working in a commercial medium. We are selling a product. I think it is entirely possible to create a commercial product that sells extremely well, and yet still communicates a worthwhile message. Watterson knew what he was getting into when he signed that contract with Universal. I dunno, what I used to think of as an idealistic stance from an ethical cartoonist looks more and more to me these days as the ramblings of a bit of an ol’ crank. But maybe that’s because I’m a bit of an ol’ crank these days, too…

  • west

    Patricia, I think the point of Watterson’s speech is this: “Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement “… [because] “you’ll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing, and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you’re doing. ”
    If you have been able to create the life he advocates by freelancing, I’d suggest that you and Watterson are not at odds.

  • west

    Patricia, I think the point of Watterson’s speech is this: “Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement “… [because] “you’ll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing, and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you’re doing. ”
    If you have been able to create the life he advocates by freelancing, I’d suggest that you and Watterson are not at odds.

  • west

    Patricia, I think the point of Watterson’s speech is this: “Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement “… [because] “you’ll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing, and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you’re doing. ”
    If you have been able to create the life he advocates by freelancing, I’d suggest that you and Watterson are not at odds.