Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT Strips 3221 to 3225 (16 - 20 May 2016)
Eastrim:
--- Quote from: mikmaxs on 17 May 2016, 21:27 ---It's not that people can't be jerks, it's that I don't really know of many autistic characters in fiction who *aren't* jerks.
--- End quote ---
Most characters in fiction that observers label as autistic are not so. They merely have an ambiguous disorder that the writers can manipulate at whim for comedy or drama. See: Abed's shifting pop culture fixations and occasional sociopathic disregard for the mental harm he directly states he knows will come from his actions, everything about Sheldon Cooper. There's a reason they're never explicitly called autistic within their shows, though characters may dance around the terminology (there's an ass burgers pun in the Community pilot, but the DnD episode titles his game character Abed the Undiagnosable).
However, they are the closest thing to an autistic person that most people observing media see, which is a shame. There are definitely positive depictions, like Adam (2005ish film), and popular figures, like Temple Grandin, but they're pretty far below the pop culture radar.
Hey, at least it's not all Rainman idiot savant plot devices any more. That's progress.
Final note: I do find it annoying that people are diagnosing her with autism, especially as people start talking with an inherent assumption that she's autistic. Speculation is all well and good, but declarations are extremely premature and unjustified- there is not nearly enough information to go on yet for that.
Mr. Doctor:
The autistic trait does seem to get a bit of ground now. I can't say I know a lot about this stuff but I have an alternative reason. Don't take offense, I'm just shooting out an idea:
She could also be extremely traumatized from a previous event that left her in schock and for lack of better terms, out of emotions left to give... Let's say... War? I recall someone in previous pages suggesting she might not have english as her mother tongue and she does look like she might come from an easter country.
(again, I'm doing a lot of speculation, hope it's ok with ya guys).
Case:
--- Quote from: Perfectly Reasonable on 17 May 2016, 19:30 ---Brün.
Definitely the umlaut, from the way Clinton tries to say it.
--- End quote ---
Errrh, no - it's just that the sound that Inglese make whilst pronouncing the 'double-o' is the closest approximation to the German 'u' they can achieve without risking major injuries of their oral cavity, pharynx and Epiglottis ...
--- Quote from: Near Lurker on 17 May 2016, 21:37 ---
--- Quote from: Perfectly Reasonable on 17 May 2016, 19:30 ---Brün.
Definitely the umlaut, from the way Clinton tries to say it.
--- End quote ---
Wouldn't the umlaut make it more like "Breen"?
--- End quote ---
Well, in the sense that the Antarctic is included in the set of "Places that are not the Arctic" - YesnoUmhOkmaybeabit?.
'ü' is 'right in between' the sounds you make when you pronounce 'oo' and then pronounce 'e' - like, literally: When you go from the one to the other, your mouth makes an 'ü'. Take 'Huey', as in 'Huey Lewis and the News'. Now speak the word repeatedly - HueyHueyHueyHuey ... Good! Focus on the 'ue'! Excellent! FASTER!
HueyHueyHueyHueyHueyHueyHueyHueyHueyHueyHueyHuey ...
Let the two sounds blend into each other - that's right, go on!
ueueueueueueueueueueueueueueueueüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüü ...
Now you just forget about the 'h', avoid choking on your tongue and start thinking about a credible explanation for your roomates/neighbors/flock of children following you through the street about What the Hell it is you are doing ... :-D
Carl-E:
The clock appears to be quite important to her, as well. Perhaps related to a prior trauma, or just a coping "mechanism" (sorry :claireface:).
What happened to the scorch mark from panel 1 and the last comic? I hope it just wiped off.
I'm glad she latched onto Clinton. I've been in positions like this before (not with fire, but other trauma) and it's important to have a steady hand nearby that knows what happened and how to react, even without complete understanding.
BenRG:
Wow. She's got big issues with emotional extremes, it seems. So bad that it screws up her ability to function until she crests tthe hill. I wonder if she'll be able to do anything for a while!
Carl-E is right: That clock is important to her. Maybe watching the hands moving around the dial is calming in some way? If so, it is probably something that is very important to her. The vanishing scotch mark might be a hint in this direction. I can see her lovingly wiping the mark away when Clinton wasn't looking.
Cute touch: As the walls started to crumble, she feels safe enough with Clinton to make physical contact and choose him to help her. It says a lot about Clinton's character that she so quickly has come to trust him, especially given that she clearly has previously had problems with people trying to run her life (trying to assign names is never a good start).
A prediction: Brun is going to be the most challenging regular character to write that Jeph has ever had in the strip.
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