Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT 2887-2891 (2-6 February 2015)
eschaton:
--- Quote from: lightsabermario on 06 Feb 2015, 07:45 ---Honestly, considering everything, particularly given what he's just gone through, in my mind Marten is starting to change from Good Guy Marten to Unrealistically Good Guy Marten. He's not all the way to Marty Stu or Sainthood-level Marten, but he is definitely starting to bridge the gap of believably. I mean when is the last time he's done anything selfish or or wrong or non-heroic in any way?
--- End quote ---
Padma.
Marty has historically had flaws. The thing is, the flaws really didn't do anything except hurt him. He was a "nice guy" in the way that a lot of "nice guys" conceive of themselves, but aren't actually. Now he's just a "good guy."
lepetitfromage:
I think the fact that he maintained eye contact is appropriate given the medium- in a comic, you get a few snapshots of time and the in-between moments are suggested. Had there been a panel of Marten with his eyes cast downward, it would have given that moment more weight (making it feel like a longer moment in time) and I don't think it was necessary. She's disrobed and that is enough for the way that Jeph tells his stories (which is brilliantly, I might add).
I was firmly planted in the "not too early, but I doubt they are going to" camp and now I find that my previous stance is irrelevant. We don't know for sure what is coming next, but we're in a good place right now.
Re: Marten and Claire's relationship-
I think an important distinction to make is that while Claire tends to be very assertive about certain things and Marten could be a bit of a pushover, they reverse these roles in regards to physical and emotional relationships. If memory serves me correctly, most of his partners have been more experienced or had roughly the same amount of experience he has. Claire has never had a relationship and is a virgin. In this sense, Marten is taking on the role of teacher and helping Claire discover what it is like to embark on this emotional journey. Throughout their interactions, Marten has proved to her that he is trustworthy and that has given her more confidence in the relationship area to open herself up further. These steps are showing Marten that he is dealing with tender subjects in an acceptable way and gives him the confidence that he needs to know that this relationship is going in the right direction- additionally, it is proving to him that he CAN make good decisions. They are setting up a mutual respect and learning from one another. The foundation of any successful relationship. I am excited and ready for wherever Jeph takes us on this journey. Buckle up, folks!
--- Quote from: lightsabermario on 06 Feb 2015, 07:45 ---All of our other QC characters have character flaws, but I have yet to see Marten demonstrate any. In fact, the very reason he and Dora broke up was because he "had to be on his best behavior at all times" and he wasn't getting the same respect.
--- End quote ---
Marten's main character flaw is that he is directionless and not assertive in any way. I think this arc is allowing him to take the lead on guiding Claire through something that he is fairly knowledgeable about- being in relationships. I think this could be mutually beneficial.
Technetium:
I kind of have an issue with how the whole story with Claire has gone. What makes the Martin-Claire relationship edgy/gutsy/controversial/interesting/etc is that trans people face a lot of problems that they shouldn't have to. At least in real life they do. I guess what bothers me is that Claire's existence in this comic, so far, is like a fairy-tale reality for trans people. Everything seems to be going the way that most trans people would want but few actually see (everyone she wants to be friends with accepts her, her family accepts her, the guy she pursues accepts her). Is this fair to the trans community? I am not trans or any other part of the LGBTQ spectrum, so I'm approaching this completely from the outside, but if I were to instead consider a different group that I belong to that is discriminated against (although I won't pretend it's anywhere near to the degree what trans people face), I would have a problem with a story about another character identified as being in that group and where the story basically wiped away all the struggles that members of that group face. By creating a story (again, I'd refer to it as almost being a fairy-tale) where a trans character never is shown having to actually deal with the kinds of injustices that real trans characters face, doesn't that cheapen those struggles?
I guess in the bigger picture of the comic, it seems like Jeph mainly creates characters that he likes and would want to be friends with. Homophobia, transphobia, racism... these things are essentially absent from the world of QC simply by the fact that they don't appear in any of the comic strips. Has there ever even been a single background character that didn't appear to be accepting of other ethnic groups or gender types? I can understand why he would want to create characters that he himself genuinely likes, but it kind of detracts from the whole idea that Claire or this relationship is particularly special, and makes her brother's reaction about her telling Martin about her gender type kind of silly. Why would her brother explode with that kind of over-protection if the characters live in a world where everyone is accepting?
That said, I like this comic and a happy ending like this can be nice in a kind of sugary way, I just wish sometimes the comic would approach these issues in a more challenging way.
BenRG:
--- Quote from: Technetium on 06 Feb 2015, 08:08 ---Has there ever even been a single background character that didn't appear to be accepting of other ethnic groups or gender types?
--- End quote ---
* The clothing store manager who refused to even interview May on the ground that she was an AI and he doesn't give jobs to robots;
* The preacher who upset Momo by loudly declaring that AIs are not people because they have no 'souls'.Oddly enough, when Jeph wants to have discrimination in his comic, he usually parodies it by directing it at AIs (a fictional group that generally will get the reader's sympathy). By doing this, his objective seems to be to pose the question: "If you oppose discrimination against AIs, why do you accept or even support discrimination against [group] in real life?"
I would add that Clinton's protective behaviour implies that, even though it has happened off-panel, transgender people still face some discrimination, violence and exploitation and he is hyper-aware of how vulnerable Claire is to this.
bhtooefr:
There's also Peter Bianchi, and his dismissal of Dora's bisexuality as a phase... not actually gender type discrimination, but...
And, Meena had some off-screen discrimination as well, for racial discrimination.
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