Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT Strips 2996-3000 (6th to 10th July 2015)
Neko_Ali:
--- Quote from: CM_albion on 09 Jul 2015, 06:10 ---I'm....conflicted about this.
while part of me gets behind Emily for her stance, i find that her logic is also the logic used by total assholes to justifying being said assholes.
i know the whole thing about being yourself is important, but sometimes you have to give a little for the sake of those around you. of course it is a bit different in Emily's case since her behaviour doesn't HURT people, so its better there but..
--- End quote ---
As you said though, it really isn't the same thing though. Emily being weird doesn't hurt anybody around her. And if it does and they point it out, she apologizes. An asshole does what they do because they want to hurt people. Intent really does matter. People don't get angry at assholes because they are different. They get angry because assholes set out to cause harm to others, or at least think it's funny when they unintentionally do so and refuse to apologies or change their behavior. It's the classic difference between being what you are and doing what you do. They are not analogous things.
Omega Entity:
--- Quote from: CM_albion on 09 Jul 2015, 06:10 ---I'm....conflicted about this.
while part of me gets behind Emily for her stance, i find that her logic is also the logic used by total assholes to justifying being said assholes.
i know the whole thing about being yourself is important, but sometimes you have to give a little for the sake of those around you. of course it is a bit different in Emily's case since her behaviour doesn't HURT people, so its better there but..
gah.
i can't find the words for this.
i mean, its good and i approve for the sentiment but... something feels off to me, you know?
--- End quote ---
I totally get you on this. She accuses people of being lazy for not trying to see past the weird, and yet she's unwilling to put forth the effort to give any indication that there is anything beyond the weird, or, like she's doing here, explaining how she is.
People are often averse to people they don't understand, or people who aren't like them. You can't expect people to make an effort to understand you, if you aren't willing to -help- them understand you. And if that's the case, most people don't have the time or inclination to decrypt someone who doesn't give the appearance of wanting to be decrypted. Am I making any sense here?
Neko_Ali:
That isn't what she is saying at all though. She's not saying people are lazy for looking past the weird. She admits there IS nothing past the weird. That it's not an act, she doesn't have hidden depths. She is what she is, and she shows it. She says people are lazy because they see the weird and instead of trying to accept that's the way she is, they just write her off. Kind of like people on the forums do. "Oh, she's just a one note wacky character". And then dismiss her. She just wants to be accepted for her weird, wacky self.
CaptainFish:
I think the assertion that's she's always just been weird is false though. There were a lot of more 'normal' moments, the character has just jettisoned a lot of that aspect as the strip focuses on the other stuff going on and only goes to her for comic relief. I find this strip offputting, because it's clearly directed at the audience to stop interpreting Emily in a specific way, but that interpretation is based wholly on what moments are depicted. I would never reduce a real person by calling them random, but I might reduce a character that is a construction in that way. I feel like a good example is how the Emily kiss was dealt with. Even Marten, who took it seriously, still had a moment where he's imagining Emily bringing him a basket of mice because she's so unfathomable as person who might like someone else. In the end they never followed up with her, so I was left feeling like Emily was used as a device to inspire a bunch of "real talk" without ever having to deal with her motivations because it's acceptable to just treat her as "a weird person who does weird things."
I'm glad it resonated with people, and I like Emily fine, but I can't really do anything with this strip mentally without seeing what it will mean in the future.
Aside: my favourite Emily moments are her discussions with Momo about AI emulating human interaction, pretty much all her interactions with Claire (including the "giving peas a chance" strip) and the aforementioned nature walk with Marten and Sam.
pwhodges:
She's saying it's other people's problem, not hers, if they misunderstand her (I feel the same, BTW); but then she's showing every sign of being annoyed about it, which is somewhat at variance with that. I find what she's saying a bit confusing.
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