Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT

WCDT 03-07 May 2021 (4516-4520)

<< < (26/26)

Wingy:
My wife and I got ours by getting into a lucrative field early, playing the wage slave game well, and saving like crazy at the expense of a "rich" lifestyle.  We take our pleasure in simpler things that didn't cost much money (just time and effort).  And because we prefer our time and effort hobbies, we usually associate with many who are neither rich nor privileged, which keeps us thoroughly grounded about the value of money and completely unwilling to "act rich".

In other words, we're part of the system, and by deliberate intent we've used the system to our best advantage.  There will soon come a day when we aren't in the wage slave game any more and then we can work on the system if we want.  But we won't do it from a position of "rich".  I should also note that our privilege has allowed us to make some unconventional employment choices and allow others around us to advance when we could have instead, so I don't feel one whit bad for playing the corporate game.  We've also had to watch as others around us make poor choices and totally F. themselves over which is much harder than it sounds when they are good, if misdirected, people.

Is it cold in here?:
There's a privilege thread over in RELATE.

We know Hannelore's opinion. She has called herself privileged and is looking for ways to use it for the common good.

Oenone:
Please don’t take my discussion of Hanners personally; I just find her a lil bit boring as a character, and tbh find the handwaviness of her flexible budget a really stupid plot device. I feel like focusing on Hanners’ money distracts from Hanners’ character growth, and that whenever there’s a moment for her to really demonstrate how she navigates growing up in one world but coming into herself as another there’s a whacky “crazy space gal” joke,and we actually avoid going deeper with her character.

Scarlet Manuka:
On Hannelore's wealth: I trawled through every comic from her introduction to today. It took a while...

In 665, which I know is basically pre-history at this point:
Faye: "So you're not only crazy as hell and richer than the average Saudi prince, you're from friggin' space?"
Hannelore: "Yep! I'd say 'explains a lot, doesn't it' only it doesn't really explain very much."

She bought a drum kit more or less on a whim in 865.

There's not much more that reflects on her wealth until she buys Winslow a new body in 3542 with the comment "It's a gift, Winslow. I can afford it and you deserve it." May describes her a few strips later in 3549 as "a billionaire space heiress" but -- being May -- there's not much reason to take that literally at all, let alone as specifying money that she has access to right now.

She does have incidents like "borrowing an invisible plane to go to an acquaintance's house for the weekend", but as previously noted that is an expression of privilege rather than wealth per se.

So the main highlights are buying Winslow a body and being able to take off on her trip of self-discovery. She is never presented in a situation where money is more than an afterthought, however, so for me the general impression is that she is indeed quite wealthy. But there's not a lot of hard evidence for it.

A tidbit I'd forgotten in #977 (though it is noted on her wiki page) on partly why she switched jobs: she used to enjoy the counting work, but "ever since I took up the drums work feels like... well, WORK".

jesslc:

--- Quote from: Tova on 13 May 2021, 02:46 ---She's estranged from her mother, she's got a father who basically ignores her when she doesn't take active steps to get in contact, she's struggled with a lifetime of mental illness that she has worked very hard to overcome, and for some reason all people can talk about is how privileged she is. Have we all just decided we hate everyone in the original cast now?

--- End quote ---
I don’t hate Hannelore at all. I actually really like her (and the majority of the original cast). I just disagree with people who think Hanners doesn't have a lot of money because in my opinion that isn't supported by the comic. Hanners even self describes herself as rich in the comic linked by JimC.

For what it's worth, I also read all the jobs she did while away as volunteer type work, not paid work. It wasn't actually specified so it could be either, but the way it was written and Hanners' own words about how she decided she would make herself useful everywhere makes me think that it wasn't a case of her working for money but for personal reasons as Penguin47 described.

Also for what it's worth, I don't think being rich invalidates Hannelore's awful family situation or mental health issues in any way. She's had a really tough life in multiple ways. Never having to worry about money (which is how I read the comic with regards to her) doesn't make those things go away.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page