Leticia Neria PhD thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText ...

In the same episode in which Borola visits the diputado to ask him for some
money, he tells her that he does not have enough money since his salary is not as big as
she thinks. Borola, in disbelief, replies ‘Ya sé que ustedes [diputados] no viven del triste
sueldo, si no de las sabrosas ganancias que obtienen’. 87 Again, we enjoy the insolence
of Borola, saying what she thinks about the diputados. We would like to say the same,
and we ascribe to ourselves Borola’s comment. We also feel safe since the comic book
is a controlled environment, and even if Borola is punished for her comment, she will
overcome it. Comic characters ‘always rise from the chaos perfectly intact’ 88 as Alenka
Zupancic states. Even if we do not sympathise with Borola, we will enjoy her
misfortune, as Umberto Eco proposes. 89
For this research I make a distinction between corruption, to be discussed later in
this chapter, and dishonesty. The comics paid special attention to corruption, because it
was a serious concern. I understand corruption as requesting and taking bribes (and it
was not simply the authorities who were corrupt). Dishonesty has a broader meaning of
untrustworthiness, such as when police engage in robbery or politicians steal money
from their fellow citizens. So it is not only the diputados who are portrayed as
dishonest. The language of humour helps readers discuss, and criticise, the authorities.
It is a way to signal that we have noticed their faults, and that they should correct them.
Politics in Mexico seems to be a profitable career because of the bribes, corruption, and
dishonesty. But the dishonesty of the politicians also comes from electoral machinations
87 La Familia Burrón, 16914, p. 20.
88 Alenka Zupancic, ‘The “Concrete Universal”, and What Comedy Can Tell Us About It’, in Lacan. The
Silent Partners, ed. by Slavoj Zizek (London, New York: Verso. 2006), p. 181.
89 Eco, ‘Los marcos de…’, p. 10.
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