Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, August 1922 · page 36 of 67
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #36 — page 36: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece responds to English novelist W.L. George's claim that Americans passively accept censorship. The magazine offers a humorous rebuttal by listing ten stereotypical traits of what George considers the "average American"—a figure depicted as unsophisticated and gullible. The stereotypes include: wearing fraternal lodge pins, casual racism (calling all porters "George"), enjoying lowbrow vaudeville jokes, poor theater etiquette, reading only sports sections, using derogatory terms for wives, falling for scams ("wooden nickels"), and buying dubious mail-order books on installment plans. The satire's punch line: George's "average American" is actually just the average American's idea of a *fool*—someone easily duped. The implication reverses the criticism: it's *this fool* who passively accepts censorship, not the typical American. The piece thus defends ordinary Americans while mocking both George's condescension and the gullible stereotype he describes.
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34 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang "THE average American," says W. L. George, famous English novelist, "is as passive to news and picture censorship as to prohibition." But Mr. George's idea of an "average American" is something like this: 1—A man who wears a dozen or more lodge pins and liberty-bond buttons on his coat. 2—Who calls all Pullman porters "George." 3—Is fond of such vaudeville as "Who-was-that-lady-I-seen-you with? That-wasn't-no-lady-that-was-my-wife." 4—Grabs the end seat at a moving picture the-ater. 5—Buys an afternoon paper just for the base-ball scores. 6—Speaks of his wife as the "wiff," or the "old lady," or "mamma." 7—Tells you not to take any wooden nickels. 8—Buys limp leather editions of the Life of Cromwell, in eleven volumes, a dollar down, a dollar forever. 9—Has the sign "Work like Helen B. Happy" tacked up over his desk. 10—And makes a loud smack when two lovers fall into a prolonged kiss on the screen. Our idea is slightly different, for Mr. George's conception of the "average American" is the "average American's conception of the perfect dub." It is he who is passive to censorship.