Cross Cultural Exchange Cross Cultural Exchange by MR Author's Website: Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be, but they have a lot more fun when they play at my house. Author's Notes: Story Notes: This was born of a discussion on the Serge list as to possible names Fraser and RayK might call each other in private. Think Dudley Do-Right and Steve McQueen. Cross Cultural Exchange By MR "Ray, it's a cartoon." "No Fraser, it was 'not' just a cartoon, okay? It was a commentary on the United States in the 60s, the cold war, the trends in society, everything. But when you were a kid you didn' get that. You just watched it cause it was silly. Then when you got older, you figured the other stuff out. Like the word-play." "Word-play?" "Yeah. Fer instance, they had one episode where Rocky an Bullwinkle are tryin' to find this boat that belongs to this guy from the Middle East. Made outta jewels. Called it the ruby yacht of Omar Kayam." "The ruby yacht of.... ahh, I see, a jest on the famous Persian poem "The Rubiyat of Omar Kayam." "Right. An they did things like that all the time. It was like, you an your parents could watch it, an you'd all be laughin', but at different things, ya know?" "I think I'm beginning to understand somewhat. But, what about the Mountie?" "Dudley Do-Right. See, the show wasn't just Rocky and Bullwinkle, it had other things in it, like the Fractured Fairy Tales, and one was sort've a take-off on the RCMP. The Mounties name was Dudley Do-Right; he was every clich you've ever heard about the Mounties; brave, loyal, handsome, but he was dumb as a stick." "I don't think I like where this is going, Ray." "Just hang on, okay? It was a joke. See, he was in love with Inspector Fenwick's daughter, Nell, but Nell loved his horse more than she did him..." "In a children's show?" "Not like 'that', ya Freak! And the villain was this guy named Snidely Whiplash; like the villains in the old silent movies, twirlin' his moustache, the whole nine yards. He was always tying Nell to the tracks, or kidnapping her, to get at Dudley." "And this was humorous?" "Were you born in a barn? Wait, don' answer that. No, what made it funny was that Dudley always caught him and saved Nell, but only by accident. He never would've saved her if he hadn't been so clueless. So in the end, he always got his man, but only cause he didn' know what he was doin'." "And this reminds you of me?" "A bit. See, when I was a kid, I never thought Dudley was as dumb as he acted. I figured he knew the score; the pretending to be stupid was just an act to make Whiplash think he was puttin' one over on him. An that's the part that reminds me of you." "So you think I act stupid?" "Jeez-a-mo, Frase...look. You 'do' act stupid, but that's just so people don' get too close to you. Like when Frannie corners ya, you do the whole blushing and stuttering thing, which she thinks is cute, but it keeps her from takin' you seriously, okay?" "Ah, I see. You don't believe I'm as nave as I seem." "Fraser, 'nobody' could be as nave as you seem, even if they were born in a barn. I know that, you know that. You're a lot quicker on the uptake than people think, but you keep it hidden. An that's good, cause then they say an do stupid things and we catch'em." "Does this have anything to do with the blow-job I gave you earlier?" "Kinda, yeah. Oh, okay, it's rewound. You are gonna love this, Frase. I can't believe you didn't have cartoons in Canada." "No, no, Ray, I never said we didn't have cartoons in Canada...simply that I was well into my 20s before I ever saw a TV set. I'm sure the Canadian Broadcasting Network aired cartoons on a regular basis..." "Shut up an watch the show, Dudley." "Make me, Steve." FIN End