Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
Marten's fundamental character
Carl-E:
For all the other characters we've been analyzing, no one's breached our skinny near-slacker boy directly.
OK, I really didn't mean for that to sound suggestive, but there you have it.
People have called him a cipher, attacking him as being spineless, unassertive, or worse, just boring. People have supported him showing that he really tried with Dora, as best he know how, given the limited information he had. Some posts have tried delving into his background and personality (OK, I wrote one, in the locked thread), but I think he deserves a bit more. He is, after all, the epicenter of the comic.
And so this thread.
What spawned the idea was Friday's comic. On an umpteenth reading (I get to the forums from the comic page, so I'm always re-reading), I had a good look at him on the phone with his mother. It's very telling...
"No, you don't have to come visit, I'm fine, I've got work, and ..." (translation: I'm an adult, I'm handling it. Thanks for being concerned, I'll be OK)
"What do you MEAN you already bought the tickets?! I don't -" (...think that's a very good idea, apparently. Translation: I have enough to handle already!)
But it's the next panel. Eyes shut, shoulders slumped so far they're practically on his hips. Total resignation. Mother always gets her way.
And I think that's at the heart of the issue. You never get completely out from under the thumb of your parents, psychologically speaking. But Marten's mom is a dominatrix, for chrissake! My mother is a tiny, mild mannered jewish lady who can manipulate her four boys like a chessmaster. I can't imagine what Marten's mom is like when she gets going...
But Marten can. I'm sure, having custody, she dominated his life thoroughly and completely, though probably unintentionallly. The cross country move after college may well have been a break for freedom as much as it was a miguided romantic move. That sigh of his says a lot, if it doesn't say it all. Translation? Here we go again...
And for an added punch, the emotional blackmail of the I-love-you-expecting-a-response that we know is at the other end of the phone, since we hear his "Yeah, love you too mom." Don't get me wrong, he loves his mother - who doesn't, at some level? But it's rarely that simple.
And of course, he's attracted to strong females. Freud may ave been a quack, but there's the germ of truth in a lot of what he spewed - it always comes back to the mother.
So, have at it. We'll see what comes Monday, but until then, it's time to dig into this poor boy's wretched soul and see what's lying beneath his little indy heart!
Note: If you're just gonna tell us who you think he's gonna fuck next, at least support your opinion. Don't be Marigold "because it'd be sexy sex!" Farmer. Or the bearhat guy.
akronnick:
My awesome scenario that I will not state because it is so awesome aligns well with the dominating mother theory.
That's all I will say at this juncture.
Is it cold in here?:
You make a good case!
Marten strikes me as a people pleaser. Maybe he's reacting to the bullying he got in school by assuming that if he's nice enough people won't beat him up. He took physical abuse from Old Faye in stride, as if it were what he was used to.
Getting weirder, we know he's Veronica's only son, but nothing has ever said he's an only child. It's canonically possible, though realistically unlikely, that he has one or more sisters. If so, dollars to doughnuts she/they are older than Marten.
Carl-E:
He does have the more passive attitude of a youngest sibling than the "it's all up to me" attitude of an only child, doesn't he?
iduguphergrave:
If Veronica was a truly dominating mother, there would have been a deep, deep schism cut between them when he moved to Northampton, and Marten probably wouldn't have been looking reasonably pleased to see her when she first arrived to visit. Also, she would have been way more antagonistic towards Faye. Look at their interaction together here. Veronica is relaxed and reasonable. She even says "My son is a grown man and can make his own decisions." Not something a control freak would say. The threat against Faye comes after she speaks as a rational human being; only after that does she let the protective mother take over.
Throughout the visit, Veronica is relaxed and rational. When they have some alone time, Marten seems quite calm and comfortable around her. I don't think Veronica was a domineering mother. Something tells me she reserved her domineering side for her job only.
I'm surprised you didn't say anything about Marten's father, Henry. I think Marten takes after his father a lot more than his mother. Marty's parents got divorced when Henry couldn't hide his sexuality anymore. Though we don't know all the gory details, I think it's reasonable to assume that Henry was hiding from himself his whole life. Assuming he's in his 50's now (which I think is reasonable), he grew up when it still wasn't particularly awesome to be gay. Think about it what Veronica says here. "We both wanted a family" most likely means "I wanted a family, and he wanted to be straight." My point is, Henry went through a lot to try and pacify others rather than think about what he really wanted, and there's a lot of that in Marten. Veronica obviously isn't like that; she couldn't do her job if she was.
--- Quote from: Carl-E on 04 Dec 2010, 14:36 ---He does have the more passive attitude of a youngest sibling than the "it's all up to me" attitude of an only child, doesn't he?
--- End quote ---
Neither of Marten's parents seem like the type to put undue pressure on him, which would eliminating the "up to me" attitude. I'm an only child and thanks to my parent's hilariously low expectations, I don't have that drive. I think the attitude towards life a child has is more up to the way the parents treat the child than in what order they were born or if they're the only one.
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