Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT Strips 3221 to 3225 (16 - 20 May 2016)
Baphomet:
--- Quote from: MrNumbers on 17 May 2016, 20:35 ---Regarding 'normal' and 'average' I'm actually a big fan of the usage of the words 'neurotypical' and 'neuroatypical'.
It sounds far more factual and far less judgemental than most alternatives.
--- End quote ---
I mean, yeah, I guess it sounds better since it's less common? Just, for the record, neurotypical translates to something like "has a normal brain" while neuroatypical and neurodivergent both translate to something like "doesn't have a normal brain". The dividing line is still being drawn between people who think the way they're "supposed" to and people who don't, instead of groups of people who think in two different but equally valid ways. The fact that it seems less judgmental has less to do with the terms actually being without judgment and more to do with the fact that people don't use the terms often enough for them to develop culturally-saturated connotations. If "neurotypical" replaced "normal" in these sorts of conversations I'm pretty sure it would develop exactly the connotation you're hoping to avoid.
pwhodges:
--- Quote from: Baphomet on 18 May 2016, 01:02 ---If "neurotypical" replaced "normal" in these sorts of conversations I'm pretty sure it would develop exactly the connotation you're hoping to avoid.
--- End quote ---
Maybe; but perhaps each time such a change is made, the degradation might be a little slower to happen, as a few more people get the point. But that won't happen at all unless we try, right?
Case:
--- Quote from: mikmaxs on 17 May 2016, 21:27 ---
--- Quote from: TheEvilDog on 17 May 2016, 19:38 ---
--- Quote from: mikmaxs on 17 May 2016, 08:42 ---I'm all for representation, but I'd rather that representation be with positive characters.
--- End quote ---
Why? Is that really an accurate representation? I think a fairer representation is showing that sometimes there can be negative people. Being different from thes societal norm doesn't preclude that sometimes people can be jerks. Even if they don't set out to be.
If we do see a broad spectrum of people in the QC-verse, than isn't it more realistic and engaging to the reader that they run the gamut of of the emotional and temperamental spectrum as well?
--- End quote ---
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.
...
I'm optimistic about Brun, but the introduction of her character made it clear that she really wasn't a likeable person in the slightest. This might change overtime, Jeph usually takes a few weeks or months of comics to really pin down his characters, and even if the most recent comics her negative traits haven't been around at all (Though this is mostly true because there's not been a chance to showcase them), but if she keeps her personality from her introduction, she's just a repellent person to be around.
--- End quote ---
Ok, I 'get' why Sheldon and the Rainman tick you off, in terms of representation. And that you don't like a particular character - well, contrary to popular opinion (and local custom), there's this proverb that "there's no accounting for taste".
But ... quite a few people (myself included) seem to like Brun - and her 'special' (sorry - sleepdep & 2nd language. Usually, I'd strangle folk for that one, but I can't come up with better right now) isn't played for laughs-and-pointing-fingers (well, not more than any other character in a webcomic), so in terms of "representation to the world at large", she might not be as much of a worry as you seem to believe? (Assuming, of course, she does indeed represent people with ASD)
(And neglecting, of course, the teensyweensy problem of being represented by a character that you personally can't stand :-\)
Undrneath:
--- Quote from: ZoeB on 18 May 2016, 00:41 ---Super luck out that Clinton's there. I expect others to join in as needed. Claire, Marten....
--- End quote ---
If she is in fact on the spectrum introducing new people during a meltdown could be a really bad idea.
blt:
"I know I'm not a murderer"
I dunno Clinton, that sounds exactly like what a murderer would say...
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