Really, I don't want to get too philosophical about Popeye....although, I must admit, he possessed a unique character well worth the time and effort of concerted philosophical exploration.

Anyhow...

I first met Popeye via black-and-white TV when I was a young [and possibly impressionable] child. From the get-go, Popeye annoyed me. It seemed to me he wasn't very bright. He tolerated all that Brutus-abuse for no good reason at all. While he was a man of questionable vigor and fighting ability he knew he had a secret weapon...that can of yucky cooked spinach...that yucky spinach that made him invincible. He had the tool right there with him. Yet, episode after episode Popeye refused to eat his spinach until the very last minute...placing me in a situation where I was perilously close to failing to make it back to school before the bell.

So, I grew up perceiving Popeye as:

• A rather weak-minded fellow...yet, his "I am what I am" confirms he had a level of self-knowledge and a grounding for an at-least-somewhat pleasing personality.
• An obstinate character, the kind of person who ignores that excellent Mary Poppins' spoonful-of-sugar-helps-the-medicine-go-down advice [in Popeye's case...helps the spinach go down]...yet, at the end of the day, a guy who does his best and gets the job done
• A loveable guy who was doomed to struggle through each and every battle.