Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
"All Zen-Contented": Who is Marten Reed?
happyninja42:
--- Quote from: AprilArcus on 19 Feb 2015, 16:53 ---
Before he meets her, he's already a good ally — he loves and accepts his dad and supports Pintsize through a sexuality crisis. But he's also defensive about his heterosexuality, has a somewhat faulty narrative about his dad's orientation, an unexamined gender-essentialist outlook on his mom's social circle, and a slightly prudish attitude toward his own sex life.
On two occasions, Dora tries to rile him with a trans joke. The first time (before he meets Tai), he takes the bait:
--- Quote ---Dora: So I guess this would be a bad time to tell you I used to be a man.
Marten: No, see, the way my life works is you'd wait until after we had sex to tell me that. You know, let me get the full afterglow going before you shatter my mind.
--- End quote ---
The second time (after having worked with Tai for most of a year), he is utterly unflappable:
--- Quote ---Dora: Maybe you realized you didn't love me. Or you wanted a girl with a penis.
Marten: Is that seriously something you worry about?
--- End quote ---
So I'm totally comfortable with the notion that it was through Tai's influence that Marten became the kind of person who would be able to listen to Claire's story without prying, process a drunken cuddle without outing her, and ultimately be the kind of person who could start a relationship with her and not even bring up the gender stuff until she did first. And it's also plausible that it was through exposure to Tai's own casually polyamorous fuck-knot that the idea of his close friend dating his ex came to feel normal to him — enough for him to feel real compersion.
So while I'm comfortable asserting that Marten learned his cultural queerness from Tai
--- End quote ---
I dunno, I would say he was already pretty comfortable with it, having been around them all his life. His mother establishes in a strip that a lot of the "aunts" he had growing up were actually drag queens, so I don't think it took Tai to make him be comfortable with Clarie's story of her trans,nature. He's never shown any problem with people's sexuality in general, but when the conversations about his own sexuality have come up, yes he's more private than the other characters, except Faye. That's not a sign of being uncomfortable about the subject, so much as feeling that he should be allowed to have his private life if he wishes, which is why he was so pissed at Dora for casually invading his privacy when he specifically asked her not to. If a person wants to share their personal nature with me, about their gender identity, or sexual orientation, I don't have a problem with it personally, and in fact have reacted pretty much as casually as Marten did with Claire when I've had similar situations in real life. But discussing my own sex life is another matter, just because someone else shared their story with me, doesn't mean I have to share with them. I also don't think it would require being around a person like Tai to make Marten be the kind of person who wouldn't "out" somebody for a drunken cuddle or other type situations. That just seems like a jerk move by itself, and Marten isn't the kind of guy to go around being a jerk to people, even if he has a legit reason to do so. He just doesn't judge people based on who they are.
As to his Zen-ness, I'd say it's just a part of who he is. Where it comes from? Who knows, maybe from his dad some, as the times we've seen him, he's seemed to be a pretty laid back kind of guy. But I would warrant that it's just the core nature of Marten. He's not phased by much in the long term. Sure things might sneak up and shock him in the immediate, but for the most part, he's cool with whoever doing whatever, and doesn't really worry about it. I think it's because he knows who he is. He might not know what he wants, but as far as who he is, he's got that sorted out already, and so things don't flap him very much.
Jab:
About the "dudes looking at other dudes while they pee" strip, Jeph states in the info-box at the bottom that he ALSO hates that, so that's more just his own foibles coming into play. And I don't think it's really being "defensive about heterosexuality" to get weirded out by someone staring at you while you pee. His remark about Dora's "revelation" of being a man shattering his mind is more of a gag than something transphobic, too. I mean, no matter HOW open you were to people on that particular spectrum, that would pretty much be a mind-blowing revelation. And yeah, "no poo poo on the pee pee" isn't really being prudish- he just says he doesn't like anal sex.
I agree that Marten's always seemed pretty open about stuff like that- he's largely unflappable right from the beginning of Tai describing her Poly lifestyle to him if I recall correctly.
AprilArcus:
--- Quote from: happyninja42 on 31 Mar 2015, 17:26 ---His mother establishes in a strip that a lot of the "aunts" he had growing up were actually drag queens, so I don't think it took Tai to make him be comfortable with Clarie's story of her trans,nature.
--- End quote ---
In context, it seems clear to me that some of Veronica's cabaret friends were drag queens, and some of them were trans women, and that neither Veronica nor Marten really understood the difference. "Actually dudes" is not a kind thing to say about either a trans woman or a drag queen, and Marten has an undisguised disgust reaction when the topic comes up. If that were how he currently related to Claire's gender, she wouldn't be dating him, and that's why I cited strip 457 as an example of the growing up that Marten did between spring '04 and summer '05.
valkygrrl:
--- Quote from: AprilArcus on 05 Apr 2015, 12:32 --- and some of them were trans women, and that neither Veronica nor Marten really understood the difference.
--- End quote ---
Or knows the difference all to well. One makes a statement declaring themselves a transwoman and the other does not. Considering any other factor is verbotten and do keep in mind all would be preforming in a drag show, thus if none made the statement to Veronica she'd have no reason to make the distinction. You're not suggesting she call someone a transwoman who hasn't first, to her knowledge, self-applied that label?
happyninja42:
--- Quote from: AprilArcus on 05 Apr 2015, 12:32 ---
--- Quote from: happyninja42 on 31 Mar 2015, 17:26 ---His mother establishes in a strip that a lot of the "aunts" he had growing up were actually drag queens, so I don't think it took Tai to make him be comfortable with Clarie's story of her trans,nature.
--- End quote ---
In context, it seems clear to me that some of Veronica's cabaret friends were drag queens, and some of them were trans women, and that neither Veronica nor Marten really understood the difference. "Actually dudes" is not a kind thing to say about either a trans woman or a drag queen, and Marten has an undisguised disgust reaction when the topic comes up. If that were how he currently related to Claire's gender, she wouldn't be dating him, and that's why I cited strip 457 as an example of the growing up that Marten did between spring '04 and summer '05.
--- End quote ---
Oh I agree that he's grown up, I don't agree with your statement that the only reason he didn't out Claire, or basically act like a jerk when she revealed her secret to him was because he hung out with Tai. Marten has been the "shoulder to cry on" and counselor for a lot of people. He's the relaxed guy who doesn't judge people because of who they are. That's why Faye was able to tell her story about her father to him. He didn't out Faye's story to other people, not because of any personal interaction with someone similar, but because he's just a decent guy. Same thing applies for Claire.
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