Barbie and Ken are splitting- Page 2

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 2/13/04 at 11:14am

all right, i was gonna try to stay quiet on this issue, but i cannot sit idly by while my good friend and colleague of so many years has his name bandied about by people who obviously have no connection and or knowledge of his history.

i know g.i. joe. g.i. joe is a friend of mine.

joe is a hero who suffered a traumatic injury overseas while defending our freedom. removal of his combat fatigue pants will make that apparent to anyone. obviously such an injury had a deep and profound effect on joe.

before the war he was a stud. that joe could have had any woman he chose (and did in fact have many of them, just ask barbie's sister tutti about she and joe's fling before he went overseas in '68. before the fateful accident that changed joe forever.

when he came back, joe was a different action figure. he drank more. receded into himself and became much more of a loner. he stayed in shape and even went back in '71 as things were winding down and people who served with him then on the s.o.g. team said that it almost seemed like he was operating with a death wish. when things wound down there, he hooked up with some cia types and things are a little sketchy, but there are unconfirmed reports of him showing up in algeria, latin america and the middle east over the next decade.

all this time, joe worked in places where no one else would work because he dreaded the idea of a normal life where he'd have to confront his own limitations and face the demon that had haunted him since '68. when the work finally dried up after ollie north's fiasco in the 80's joe found himself a man without a career, reduced to working security for bands.

that's how i met him. it was at a clapton concert in '84. i recognized him immediately, even with the toll the years and the booze had taken on him. he still had that g.i. joe beard and the action grip, even if the beard was grayer now. i even saw him use his karate chop on a stage diver. it was magical.

i found him afterwards and had a chance to speak to him about what had happened to him. it was very similar to other veterans who felt betrayed by their country and their company. joe was particularly bitter about the 80's versions of him that stood only 6" tall. i think he felt it was a cruel joke to play on a man who'd give inches for his country to cut him down like that. he told me of the dark years and how he'd lived in a bottle, but that he'd found his way out through a support group. that's how i discovered a.i.a.f., anatomically incorrect action figures. he said that through group therapy with other folks like him, he'd come to a kind of peace with his situation.

he lauded ken, a founding member who was scarred for life by a drunken drugged out barbie. of course it was hushed up by mattel and ken had paid dearly for his silence both about his sexuality and how he lost things.

there are others, but i'm not at liberty to disclose their names. i was sworn to silence. yes, joe and ken are friends. they share a bond that we probably can never understand. we who are anatomically correct. i only hope that with this break-up that ken will have the strength to go public with all that he has suffered through because of that horrid barbie. but i ask you, leave joe out of this. he's finally got his life together. headlines are not something that he needs or desires. he's content with his service to his country and his sacrifice. let him be, please.

[son_of_a_gunn_25]

Posted: 2/13/04 at 12:39pm

Papa how would you know who was in the anatomically incorrect action figure support group unless you were in it? "that's how i discovered a.i.a.f., anatomically incorrect action figures."
"there are others, but i'm not at liberty to disclose their names. i was sworn to silence." Sounds like something a member would say. Only someone on the inside would know this information. Which action figure are you hiding behind that name? Hmmmm the possibilities!

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 2/13/04 at 12:44pm

i should have expected this kinda reaction. i was honored and privileged to be allowed to meet with them, but not to take part in group. no, i could never live on with the kind of dignity that these brave toys demonstrate on a daily basis.

Updated On: 2/13/04 at 12:44 PM

[MariantheLibrarian]

Posted: 2/13/04 at 12:45pm

LOL This was the main topic at work last night. Ah, sweet boredom.