Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
Should Dora go out with Jim?
Is it cold in here?:
Marten's been good for the Pugnacious Peach.
JordanDH:
--- Quote from: Tiogyr on 14 Jun 2011, 12:23 ---
--- Quote from: pwhodges on 14 Jun 2011, 09:50 ---Just saying "the first 500 strips" and "every time he opens his mouth" is not useful. An example of what you deem to be specifically expressive of low self-esteem would be more interesting. I pressed Random a few times to see; these are the first four which had Marten in: 278 476, 646, not much low self-esteem there, I'd say; 1100, OK he's a bit down there, but I'd hardly say it was pathological given the context.
--- End quote ---
Yeah, I hit random four times and come up with 11, 37, 520 and 105 (all but the last one being relevant to what I was saying, with the last one pointing to some pretty big red flags as to where Dora's issues may be coming from). The point is that anyone that has actually been reading the comic is aware that Marten has pitiful self-esteem/image and would be a terrible friend "in the real world" (but everyone knows someone like him and they always feel sorry for the poor bastard because his life genuinely sucks).
--- End quote ---
Do you think it's possible that you're not the only one that's been "actually reading the comic", and that you just have a different interpretation? I don't think anyone's saying he loves himself, but the crippling self-doubt seems a bit of a stretch. A lot's changed since those first comics, Marten's actually got a lot of friends. The first two are more about dissatisfaction with his life than dissatisfaction with himself, the third seems to be said with a least partial tongue in cheek.
DSL:
Is it so much self-esteem as a lifetime of conditioning to lay low, stay off the radar, be nice, don't assert? He grew up among strong, domiant people, sought them out later in life ... One gets used to one's role fairly quickly until one realizes one hasn't gotten very far among the societally accepted road of advancement.
Blackjoker:
--- Quote from: DSL on 14 Jun 2011, 19:37 ---Is it so much self-esteem as a lifetime of conditioning to lay low, stay off the radar, be nice, don't assert? He grew up among strong, domiant people, sought them out later in life ... One gets used to one's role fairly quickly until one realizes one hasn't gotten very far among the societally accepted road of advancement.
--- End quote ---
Agreed, looking at how his mother behaved during her visit it seems more that Marten isn't unassertive so much as his mother surgically removed his spine around the time he was 4.
tomart:
--- Quote from: Blackjoker on 14 Jun 2011, 22:06 ---Agreed, looking at how his mother behaved during her visit it seems more that Marten isn't unassertive so much as his mother surgically removed his spine around the time he was 4.
--- End quote ---
THIS.
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