Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT strips 3841-3845 (1-5 October 2018)
DSL:
What agency does a fictional character have? How would said character have any agency the author/artist/creator does not give that character?
brilligtove:
--- Quote from: St.Clair on 08 Oct 2018, 23:56 ---To try to take all the real-world baggage out of the picture:
To me, it's like Jeph just deciding he's going to start changing characters into spheres. Every few weeks, someone else morphs into a shaded circle. (Nothing else about them changes - their personality, their ability to interact with the world, etc. Just how they're drawn or represented.)
Eventually, the comic is nothing but balls of various sizes and/or colors.
And his response, his reason for reducing/removing diversity in character design, is simply "I like spheres."
(and to those who are saying, "people do this/have a right to do this" etc - these characters don't have agency or free will in this case. This is 100% Jeph's decision, not theirs. They are being changed to please him.)
--- End quote ---
Is this a fair representation of what is happening? Your analogy implies that Jeph is removing everything meaningful about the character's visual representation, and that this change is either wrong or distasteful.
I don't think any analogy is needed to state what's happining. This looks like a simple case of an artist with an artistic vision that they are pursuing. You don't like that vision, or the way it is being pursued, or both. That's perfectly acceptable. No one is obligated to follow an artist in their artistic journey. The artist is not obligated to follow a path that anyone else desires either.
I guess I don't grok the underlying source of your concern? If an artist pursues a vision I don't enjoy, I don't devote attention to that artist anymore, or at least not the work that isn't my thing. I might tell them "your new direction isn't for me" but that is followed with "but thanks for all the art you've created." I don't expect their work to conform to my expectations unless I am commissioning a piece.
pwhodges:
Is QC about hairstyles or mild social drama and commentary?
cybersmurf:
--- Quote from: pwhodges on 10 Oct 2018, 01:32 ---Is QC about hairstyles or mild social drama and commentary?
--- End quote ---
Welcome to the Internet.
Thrudd:
--- Quote from: brilligtove on 10 Oct 2018, 00:17 ---This looks like a simple case of an artist with an artistic vision that they are pursuing.
You don't like that vision, or the way it is being pursued, or both.
That's perfectly acceptable. No one is obligated to follow an artist in their artistic journey.
The artist is not obligated to follow a path that anyone else desires either.
I guess I don't grok the underlying source of your concern? If an artist pursues a vision I don't enjoy, I don't devote attention to that artist anymore, or at least not the work that isn't my thing. I might tell them "your new direction isn't for me" but that is followed with "but thanks for all the art you've created." I don't expect their work to conform to my expectations unless I am commissioning a piece.
--- End quote ---
Now here is the thing about "artists" - you pretty much hit the nail on the head without actually pointing out the issue here yet making it out as a something positive.
The absolute narcissism when an artist says they don't need to conform to others expectations.
Without an audience they are just some schmuck somewhere doing weird stuff on on their own for their own amusement [and not to get arrested if others find out].
An artist by "trade" that does not want to starve has to have an audience. They can still push buttons and be non-conformist but there are limits.
So they have to meet some expectations consistently enough to not lose their audience.
Without an audience they are just another tree in the woods
Lucky for Jeph that he has enough of a following willing to support his version of creativity and the paths he has taken.
I think he takes it as a personal affront when people voice not liking his decisions, which is problematic in its own way, though he seems to be getting better at dealing with it.
Now me - I get irked when he goes all George Lucas on us, falls passionately in love with an idea or character design, runs with it .... right off a cliff or into a wall
(click to show/hide)Yeah, I do equate George Lucas with a certain coyote of high intelligence and very low wisdom when he doesn't have handlers stopping him from making decisions based on scenarios he ran through his head but never past anything approaching an impartial audience
On the long hair subject - yes I like longer hair - I have long hair - I have nothing against people with shaved heads and neither do they :roll:
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