Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT: 1-5 November 2010 (1786-1790)
MarkCorrigan:
I'm reacting negatively because this is the latest in a long string of controlling and potentially manipulative things Dora has done to her less socially aware "friends". She tries to take over their lives, directing them in certain ways instead of letting them make up their own minds or without alerting them to potential problems just because she thinks the situation is cute.
Remember how ballistic she went at Sven because Hanners asked him out on a pretend date? Remember how she acted when Hanners, the person who is least likely to go for Sven with the possible exception of Tai, came home? She demanded to know if she had fallen for him. She wanted to steer her in the direction Dora wanted her to go. That to me is not a healthy person to have as a friend.
ecstaticjoy:
I loved today's specials: NOTHING TODAY, JERKS!
Vander:
Point taken but I think Dora would have been more of a bitch to actually say something along the lines of a warning at that point: "oh hey Marigold, yeah just be careful with Tai... etc etc". That is not the best way to encourage a potential close friendship which is what I see this as becoming.
I will point out the Sven thing is mostly because she has huge issues with her brother mostly dealing with her own insecurities and feelings of self-worth which I think is a separate issue to the one we are currently seeing.
I'm not sure what you mean by Dora being so manipulative though (it's been a while since I last did a archive crawl). Most of the manipulation I have seen from her has been in a positive form, encouraging others to overcome their own issues rather than for her own amusement (that's more of Faye's schtick).
The problem with Dora at the moment is that Jeph is exploring her insecurities with relationships and her brother which has naturally led to a large number of comics portraying her in a negative light recently, but I don't think this is a true reflection of Dora's personality. Instead a number of issues that she has suppressed for a large number of years are finally coming into the light because of the positive developments in her life (Relationship with Marten, her brother finally maturing a little) which due to the various disappointments she has suffered she is having difficulties (understatement) accepting.
DudeBroGuy:
Oh god Dora's face
Coco:
I share neither the Dora nor the Tai hate that is prevalent on this board, so I may be biased, but I agree with Vander, I'm not quite sure what Dora was supposed to do in this situation. Tai and Mari met, hit it off because they have things in common and left to get to know one another better. Was Dora supposed to jump in and yell "Wait Mari, Tai is TERRIBLE!" Something tells me that wouldn't have gone over very well. And we would probably all hate her for patronizing Mari if she had done something, after all, Mari is an adult. I think Dora's face in the last panel was simply reflecting my thoughts, that this pairing will result in some hilarious awkwardness and possibly a new friendship. After all, Mari and Tai share interests unique to them among the core cast. Finally, it's not like this is exactly dangerous. Tai isn't a date rapist, she just teases too hard sometimes. Jeez. Also, when she gets rebuffed (like when Marten told her to lay off Hanners) she responded well and without defensiveness, meaning she can be taught and take criticism. She's still learning where the line is, but she is a good person, and IF she makes a pass I think she will be rebuffed with ease. Mari is a big girl who really can take care of herself. She has already grown a lot and I feel that she does better in one on one situations than groups anyway. I'm looking forward to it.
Also, what is manipulative about standing back and doing nothing? Again, it would be more manipulative to try and control the progression of the friendship or stop it entirely by interjecting character judgments.
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