Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT - 6-10 September 2010 (1746-1750)
Heranje:
--- Quote from: akronnick on 07 Sep 2010, 03:20 ---
--- Quote from: Graphite on 07 Sep 2010, 03:10 ---But that's essentially what a guy who presents a 'douchebag' front to you when trying to pick you up would like you to do; he's chosen that front to present because he believes it will be attractive to either you specifically or women in general. If you presume that it does represent the real him, and he really is a douche, then judging him on that seems entirely fair, because even if that's only one facet of him, you'd probably rather date someone who isn't even a little douchey. If it's an act designed to impress you, and he's not 14, he may be acting based on faulty information about how 'girls like this', but in that case, it seems fair to judge him based on the fact that he has incredibly poor judgment and could genuinely bring himself to believe that girls would enjoy hanging out with arseholes.
--- End quote ---
If it walks like a douche...
--- End quote ---
Also, if one's reaction when they meet someone who appears to be a two-dimensional douche is to think "this might actually be a very complex and interesting person" and attempt to dig for that complex person, they're going to spend a lot of time talking to two-dimensional douches for every genuinely interesting person they meet.
someone1074:
--- Quote from: Tergon on 07 Sep 2010, 03:21 ---I'd just like to point out that anyone who thinks that acting like a douchebag will get you girls is saying that this man is correct.
His name is Mystery. He believes that he can attract ladies by acting like a peacock. He does not believe that "negative attention" is a thing which is real. And anyone who supports acting like a douchebag is saying, in direct terms, that they feel this man is intelligent and his advice is worth taking.
Yeah.
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...but it does work, he is intelligent, and if that's what you want to do, his advice is probably worth taking.
I mean I'd never use it (partially out of a lack of the self-confidence necessary to put on the front, but more out of respect for any woman I'd have to use it on), but it's difficult to critique its effectiveness when it's a pretty proven system. I mean the most generally romantically successful men and women utilize those techniques on their own during social outings. He may be an asshole, but it's hard to argue with the reality of it all. Men and women both tend to appreciate assertive, confident and entertaining qualities in their partners. Pick-up artists just attempt to exhibit all of these attractive qualities to an extreme.
Of course no one needs to use the system to find romance and there are plenty of outliers (men and women who exhibit none of these characteristics but for whatever reason have no trouble finding partners), but they are far from the norm.
Carl-E:
--- Quote from: Switchblade on 07 Sep 2010, 03:30 ---He is, however, completely wrong about there being no such thing as negative attention.
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He's also very wrong about that hat.
OK, I'm assuming it's a hat.
OK, I'm really hoping it's a hat, and not his hair.
Some people, usually at an immature stage of adult development, will adopt a "persona", one they believe will be attractive. They may have hit on this persona themselves, but usually they observe it from others. That persona soon begins to color their personality; wear the mask for long, and you fill out the mask... this leads to that lament of "I don't know where X begins and Y leaves off". The lines can get blurred, but it's a choice to continue. The persona can be dumped (and usually is, if it doesn't work), or the person may outgrow it.
Then again, they may never outgrow it. Especially if it works the way they hope!
So in a lot of respects, douchey is as douchey does. If there's anything else under there, it's being hidden by choice!
Akima:
--- Quote from: J on 07 Sep 2010, 01:58 ---true, but what i was trying to point out there is that you appear to be holding your own speculation (based off of very little information) against them. this seems unfair to me.
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I don't think it is unfair to judge people by their actions, or to make deductions about their likely motives based on their actions. Indeed, rather than unfair, I would call it unavoidable. Life is live drama, with no retakes for flubbed lines.
--- Quote ---if you find his approach repellent, then it was not appropriate or effective, nor does it demonstrate an ability to communicate. therefor, he has failed in his objective because he miscalculated his strategy. essentially, he made a mistake, this does not make him a bad person.
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I don't believe it is possible to separate the action from the actor. A person who behaves in an unpleasant manner is unpleasant. Calling an action a "mistake" does not change it, or mitigate its consequences one iota. We are what we do.*
*Interestingly Sven might be coming to this very conclusion, judging from todays strip. Unless it's the Law Of Conservation Of Angst. Faye transferred her angst to Dora; now Marten has transferred his angst to Sven. Angst Solstice is an anagram of "lactose stings"; a coded reference to Angus?
Tergon:
Yes that is all well and good but you are not getting it.
This man. The man in that picture, the man we are talking about.
One day he woke up, and thought, "I want everyone to start calling me 'Mystery'. That sounds cool!"
And then he told everyone to call him that.
He actually makes his friends call him Mystery.
There is nothing he can say, in any context, that makes up for that.
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