POPPING CHERRIES: STUCK RUBBER BABY
A sober reflection on 50 years of progress for human rights.

Writer and Artist: Howard Cruse
Original graphic novel
Published by Paradox Press 1995
$14.00

Reviewed by Scott J Grunewald

For all the murders we see on TV, all the wars and violence, and intolerance, we still have it pretty good today. However, talk to just about anyone, and they'll tell you why things are horrible and ready to explode. Racial tension, school shootings, AIDS, and the teenage pregnancy rate are all tossed out as examples of the coming doom of humanity.

I'll be watching CNN, and I'll see a prominent black rights leader talking about the African American's status as a second-class citizen and I'll find myself wondering if he knows or remembers how bad it was before now? He would certainly never give any indication of that while being interviewed. Then, it would turn to a topic about gay rights and the status of homosexuals as second-class citizens. And I'd flair up and get angry, because I, as a gay man, am having my damn rights trampled on!

Then my cheeks would blush, and I'd realize that I was doing the same thing that the NAACP guy was doing. I was forgetting that as bad as things seem now, they were a lot worse just 50 years ago. I was too close to the problem and was forgetting to step back and take in all the facts.

"As bad as things seem now, they were a lot worse just 50 years ago"

In the 60's the black community, the gay community and women, of all races, shared the search for equal rights. The parallels between gay men and women and black men and women and the hardships both have endured in this country are startlingly similar. And these similarities are the subject of Howard Cruise's STUCK RUBBER BABY.

Toland Polk is a young closeted gay man in the south during "Kennedy Time"; a time of turbulence, anger and change. The South was desperately trying to keep segregation (the separation of whites and blacks in schools, shopping establishments and restaurants etc.) firmly in place as the status quo.

Toland, while gay, was still white, so he led a rather sheltered life. The only real problem he seemed to have was the untimely death of his parents and his struggle to "turn [himself] around and not be gay". The racial and political struggled were little more than minor annoyances with him. While not racist himself, he wasn't exactly fighting for anything -- until one night, when he meets Ginger Raines and slowly starts to wake up and put his life in perspective. Toland thinks he loves Ginger, you see. He considers her to be his lifeline; his last chance at heterosexuality. His efforts to "straighten out" are as futile as his efforts to not let himself become entangled in the racial upheavals around him.

STUCK RUBBER BABY isn't just a book about a gay man coming out. It's the story of one man realizing that the world is bigger than he is. It's the story of hatred and intolerance, a tale of love and acceptance, and of rebirth, sadness, and death. It's your life, it's my life, and it's the world that we came from.

We're so stuck on our problems of today, we forget that progress has been made. Black men and women may still have to worry about people locking their doors as they walk by and be followed by store security when they shop, but they don't have to use separate bathrooms or ride on the back of the bus. Gay men and women may not be able to get married, or serve in the military, but we can't be arrested for having sex anymore and we're even considered trendy. Our lives aren't perfect, far from it, and perhaps they never will be. But by forgetting that they used to be even less perfect, we're invalidating the blood, death and hatred that the previous generation suffered to get us where we are today.

"By forgetting our lives used to be less perfect we're invalidating the blood, death and hatred the previous generation suffered"

STUCK RUBBER BABY is a way for Cruse to make sure we remember what happened. It's a way for us to look back on society with wiser eyes and take a closer look at who we are and why we're doing what we're doing. It puts our lives in perspective, and for that reason alone, every person should read it.

I'll be honest; this was a very tough book to review. I literally struggled with it for weeks, and stretched my deadline to the limit. It's a daunting task to review a book as powerful and important as this. Yes, the dialogue is wonderful and reads well. Yes, the artwork is fantastic and serves the story wonderfully. Yes, the characters are completely involving. But when it all comes down to it, none of that matters. It's all secondary to the message that the book is trying to put forward. They are all tools put forth to teach us a lesson.

I know what I learned from reading it. Now it's your turn.

Scott J. Grunewald is Editor in Chief of PopImage.

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