Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT Strips 3546 to 3550 (14th to 18th August 2017)
JoeCovenant:
Well...
This is a turn I never expected.
Are we about to get a lecture on Noblesse Oblige?
(Seems I'm having a lot of trouble with "unfair transference of responsibilities" in a lot of my online reading at the moment!)
Cypher:
NOTE: No offence meant to anyone; if I've overlooked a point that might cause offence I apologise in advance; these are just some thoughts I had after reading the thread and this week's comics so far, so take with a pinch of salt please.
To be honest, if Winslow- basically Hannelore's 'pet' for his existence in the comic so far- is somehow obligated to make the world a better place just because of the fairly limited 'privilege' he's had, surely Hannelore, who doesn't really do anything but work through her own neuroses and issues by working at a coffee shop, should be held accountable for her own good fortune to a much greater extent? I mean, she's got access to untold funds, and by all means I understand her personal issues are crippling and unquestionably warrant working on however she needs to do so, but surely ALONGSIDE that she could, I don't know, fund something that benefits something, or someone? AIs? Winslow probably hasn't had anything in the way of material benefit from Hannelore's family wealth since, frankly, as a pseudo-iPod he didn't NEED anything except a charging point (of course, unfettered, guaranteed access to said charging point is something less fortunate AIs couldn't rely upon, but May and Momo both have this).
Really, to me, Winslow never really had that much tangible privilege anyway (in general terms- notwithstanding the parallels people are drawing with, for example, Claire's situation, which I can basically apprehend but cannot presume to comment upon, as it's not something regarding which I'm sufficiently knowledgeable)- being a sounding board for the, suffice it to say, intense Hannelore, even if that was the 'contract' (I think these are the terms people use here for the relationship between human and AI) he accepted, can't have been a walk in the park; I recall at least one occasion on which he was panicked on her behalf. Yes, he has a roof over his head- so does May, so does Momo (see the aforementioned charging point mention above also). He doesn't have to work to live there- but existed (until literally a few strips back) as basically an iPod with no autonomy (at least, little that he could physically exercise) and, frankly, little attention paid to him and certainly bordering on no respect given; at least Momo had the eel thing and electric shock system to engender said respect when overlooked, and May, despite her rickety chassis, has the strong personality needed to carry her through pretty much all difficulties she encounters (although it doesn't always turn out in her favour). I can understand arguments that May's always kind of a jerk, and that she might feel sore about Winslow just waltzing in and saying 'look at me!'; no-one likes so see someone's good fortune thrust under their nose when they themselves are having a hard time, but she could have given him the benefit of the doubt based on what he's usually like (although as someone commented, is there any proof they've even interacted before, aside from the fact that Winslow addresses her familiarly?)- to be honest I'm more surprised by Momo, the one we might have considered a friend to Winslow (granted, the point someone made about her having outgrown him is a very good one; nonetheless she's supposed to be well-socialised and might have made more of an effort, or at least been able to understand his pleasure); given she has a social protocol database, surely she could have thought of something further- even if non-committal- to say to him? 'I'm glad for you; I hope you enjoy getting used to it!' or SOMETHING. It seemed more like she didn't want to bother, so didn't. Even if she said something like 'we can talk about it later/ tomorrow/ whatever' it might have seemed less... cold? Can a robot be cold? Either that or she automatically jumped to 'wow, what a jerk, coming in here and bragging about getting a fancy chassis for free', which... doesn't seem like something that would happen in reality? Surely for one to jump immediately to that kind of consideration evinces a want of good-fellowship, at the very least, and a strong tendency towards being curmudgeonly at worst, neither of which characteristic particularly seems to fit Momo- unless, as someone mentioned, this is all heading towards 'check your privilege' territory, in which case it makes sense. N.B. if it IS heading to 'check your privilege' territory, that's fine, I merely seek to imply that, with that end-goal in mind, certain factors make more sense than they otherwise might.
oddtail:
--- Quote from: Cypher on 16 Aug 2017, 04:18 ---To be honest, if Winslow- basically Hannelore's 'pet' for his existence in the comic so far- is somehow obligated to make the world a better place just because of the fairly limited 'privilege' he's had, surely Hannelore, who doesn't really do anything but work through her own neuroses and issues by working at a coffee shop, should be held accountable for her own good fortune to a much greater extent? I mean, she's got access to untold funds, and by all means I understand her personal issues are crippling and unquestionably warrant working on however she needs to do so, but surely ALONGSIDE that she could, I don't know, fund something that benefits something, or someone? AIs? Winslow probably hasn't had anything in the way of material benefit from Hannelore's family wealth since, frankly, as a pseudo-iPod he didn't NEED anything except a charging point (of course, unfettered, guaranteed access to said charging point is something less fortunate AIs couldn't rely upon, but May and Momo both have this).
--- End quote ---
I'll be honest. I think the comic does not address Hannelore as privileged because she's popular with the readers. Winslow is an easy (from the writing standpoint), non-offensive target for what I feel is a somewhat forced "check your privilege" lesson. It won't ruffle any feathers for the readers who love Hannelore as a character (and thus might react, gasp, in more than one way to HER being painted as privileged by the narrative), the ideological point will be made (if, in my personal opinion, poorly), but that wastes the potential for a deeper storyline or character exploration.
I'll admit, I'm not the fan of the previous few strips. Things that happen are in-character for everyone involved, it's just... very by-the-numbers. Even the fact that Bubbles is the one to say "look, privilege" feels a bit manipulative. She's a reasonable, level-headed person who knows how it is to be in a tough position, but she's also friendly, so she plays the role of the enlighten-er.
Granted, it may be my personal view towards politics and privilege and how it should be handled that colours my view of the comics, so I admit to a personal bias. But the comic never had a problem with Hanners being, in certain ways, EXTREMELY privileged, and now it goes for a character that... really isn't, all that much - just to illustrate a point.
I'm just not a fan of the writing, is all.
SmilingCat:
--- Quote from: Milayna on 15 Aug 2017, 23:53 ---Well, if you had a cane made of worm-eaten, crudely shaped balsawood that kept breaking + severe osteoporosis and leprosy, a job that everybody thinks is for bottomfeeders that barely paid enough for a new cane every few days so you wouldn't fall and shatter into a million pieces, and had to do illegal stuff to pay to get your leper face sewn back on (and would get you tied to a rack, literally, if The Man ever caught you at it), you had to walk past Fantabulous Freddie's Fantasy Bod Mods Emporium (and its customers) every day and the nice kid you've seen a few times decided to come swinging in saying "hey look! I decided to be tall like you and all my friends so Mom bought me GRIFFON LEGS!" I probably wouldn't blame you for being snippish either.
Nor would I blame you for being snippish in your real-life circumstances, if people come complaining directly to you about how sore they are after their marathon or how embarrassing it was to piss themselves when they got shitfaced drunk and forgot to go to the bathroom.
--- End quote ---
It's interesting how you first try to negate my disability and imply that I can't possibly be as bad off as may, then give me permission to be angry about it. That is some grade A "not judging you" judgment. If I could actually function enough to have a job, I'd totally share that with my hypothetical coworkers around the water cooler.
That said, I would see no reason to get pissy with someone just because they told me that they got sore from running a marathon (maybe the guy who pissed themself. Depends. Did they clean it up when they sobered up? Do they smell of piss? Did they piss on anything I own?). And that's for a very simple reason. MY DISABILITY IS NOT THEIR FAULT. The fact that I can't walk a block without risking a blackout doesn't entitle me to be an asshole to anybody who can.
I'm actually much more likely to snap at idiots who think they're being sensitive by moderating their behavior around me. Your casual, kinda condescending acceptance might get you a punch in the nose.
snufflebottoms:
--- Quote ---
@ snufflebottoms: So, Winslow isn't obligated to care about other peoples' feelings, but other people (or is it just May) are obligated to defer his feelings? May's pain doesn't matter when she's the victim of Winslow's insensitivity, but Winslow's pain matters when he's the victim of hers? Nah, gonna reject that. I can tell May doesn't matter to you so arguing as if she does is futile, so I'm just going to say that I reject your philosophy.
--- End quote ---
Oh give me a break. Winslow was immediately apologetic and back-peddling the INSTANT he felt May was hurt. May intended to be hurtful with her outburst.
(IICIH here. I fixed a quote tag.)
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