What did he say?

It’s true, today, Wednesday, January 17, 2024, is National Popeye the Sailorman Day. Seriously, it’s a fact. Here’s the proof!

Now, given this unexpected day, we have some choices to make. We can all light a candle in a can of spinach. We could go to a dock and sing the “Popeye the Sailorman theme song.” Or, we can spend money and time to get an anchor tattoo on our overly defined forearms. Let’s – for argument’s sake – consider that none of those will take place. Okay, maybe the song is not such a hard thing to do, in honor of the 95th birthday of that pop culture cartoon icon.

What stands to note is the tagline that has brought Popeye into the limelight, “I am what I am.” So, here’s the twist. There’s a bible quote that relates to this pop culture signifying vernacular. Here’s the quote in full from the NKJ version,

I Corinthians 15:10 NKJV

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

So, on this unexpected day with a faith-based twist, let’s deconstruct this reference along the lines of an apologetic punk deconstruction vernacular. Oh, what fun!

Is it a word? Is it a phrase? Is it even necessary?

If Popeye continued to repeat the phrase that became his moniker, “I Am What I Am,” then he draws upon a self-determined position of identity. Popeye falls back upon one of the core values of Punk ideology, Do It Yourself (DIY). Since the birth of the punk genre c. 1970s in Britain, the DIY status has remained central to those who are not even versed in punk philosophy. However, I read DIY a bit differently.

DIY, as an apologetic deconstructionist, is not localized on doing things by yourself. That attitude is the road toward selfishness and contributes to the ego and pride. The pop culture signifier that DIY is a magnum opus of how one can state their singular representation, identity, and value – for me – misses the mark, entirely.

DIY is about doing “things” by yourself. However, it’s the “things” that are important. In working through one’s days (read: D – doing), you set yourself in an active context. The matter at hand (read: I – it) is what occupies your state for that particular moment. Trying to handle these matters on your own (read: Y – yourself) neglects the importance of seeking assistance, guidance, input, and support from a community – even a single individual. My point is that doing what is necessary is not the question. The issue of attempting to wrestle through a matter or forcing your desired outcome upon an interaction is where the lack of faith/belief becomes central.

Taking matters into your own hands and avoiding any opportunity to gain insight, assistance, and clarity from your faith/belief system narrates the “Y” as being ego-driven. I argue that the “Y” is important to retain, but is not to be assimilated or essentialized in a dead zone of pride. Rather, the “Y” – yourself – I argue, should be inverted to see how you can be assisted through faith/belief and in cooperation with others to better enhance what has drawn your attention. Do-It-Yourself (in faith and with belief) is how I read the DIY philosophy.

Apologetic Deconstructive Lingusitc Gymnastics

Getting back to Popeye’s use of “I Am What I Am.” This sociolinguist phrase is perfectly used by Popeye. He uses this repeated phrase in self-reference to how he, and he alone, can resolve complications. This answers why the Popeye character was so popular with youth in the West (read: America). Popeye phrased that being individually focused, ego-driven, and prideful is the American way (read: the only way) to resolve a disturbance. Popeye’s phrase disturbed generations into believing that there was no need, value, or necessity to acquire help at troubled times. This thought process leads to a self-centered belief structure and a disregard for faith. Though the Popeye character may appear to be an innocent character sharing the importance of being self-reliant. In truth, Popeye was fortifying an ideology of domination and machismo that strayed away -far, far away – from a central faith/belief system.

Troubling as it may seem, this ideology has become institutionalized in the 20th/21st American/Western socio-political agenda. This magnifies the reductive attention on faith/belief systems. “I Am What I Am”; a subtextual standard for Western cultures. The more that the centrist “I” is active, the farther away faith/belief comes to assist the “You” in the self.

An apologetic viewpoint would read that the “You” can be understood as the corpus of the community; a collected identity of faith. The Self is the community’s viewpoint in reflection upon its own identity. The support of the community is the larger Self, poised with faith/belief. To redirect Popeye’s phrase – “I Am What I Am” – the “I” is reframed within a larger faith/belief community. It is within this locus that the “I” becomes valuable to the corpus “You.” The logical conclusion, then, is that there becomes an active faith/belief system of “We.”

What does he still have to say?

In the encounter at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14) Moses asks what he is to say to the Israelites when they ask what God (‘Elohiym) has sent him. God (YHWH) replies, “I Am who I Am”, adding, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I Am [He who] has sent me to you.'”

After all of this, A Tribe Called Quest reminds us that it’s important to check the rhyme of how we talk. It’s not just the singular words that are important. It’s the connection, the directive, the sociolinguistic economy of the words that generate their power. In faith, with belief, it’s important to know the history of the words being used and shared.

Words come and words go, or so we would like to believe. Words have power. Faith/belief is fundamental to our lives. If we allow our words to script our interactions and responses to complications, we neglect to check the rhyme on how our actions-meaning-content/context is or is not aligned with our core faith/belief system. Popeye should have listened to more Hip Hop, in particular A Tribe Called Quest. Had he done so (if that were even existentially possible!) he may have learned to check the rhymeof his catchphrase. If that were the case, Popeye may have resolved to say, “I Am What We Say I Am” in faith and belief.