 According to The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art , the most important element of Lichtenstein 's procedure in the early 1960s was " the enlargement and unification of his source material " . Although , according to some sources , the changes made to produce Drowning Girl are not regarded as significant , Lichtenstein made several notable changes from the original source : " In the original illustration , the drowning girl 's boyfriend appears in the background , clinging to a capsized boat . Lichtenstein cropped the image dramatically , showing the girl alone and encircled by a threatening wave . He changed the caption from ' I don 't care if I have a cramp ! ' to ' I don 't care ! ' and the boyfriend 's name from Mal to Brad . " With the former narrative change , Lichtenstein removed evidence that the drowning girl has a cramp in her leg . With the latter narrative change , Lichtenstein attempted to change the perception of the boyfriend . When discussing another work ( I Know ... Brad ) , Lichtenstein stated that the name Brad sounded heroic to him and was used with the aim of clichéd oversimplification . 
