I'm enjoying seeing this arc get attention. I like the writing and the interactions and everything, and it's good to see character development on both sides: Dora listening to her friends' counsel and advice, Sven being aware of his mistakes and accepting responsibility for his actions. I'm glad that it's something that's been returned to. BUT...
But, I'm a little bothered by Sven's portrayal as the "villain" here. He admits to be a shitty brother. He's not entirely wrong there. He's not entirely right, either. He's been a bit of a lousy person at times, but a lot of the "shitty brother" stuff really seems like it's more on Dora than Sven. Consider the main points of contention...
1. Dora resents the fact Sven has had it easy
We’ve heard that Sven has had an easier time at school, socially and academically, than did Dora. This seems to have continued into his professional life as well; success seems to have come easy to him. Now, it’s entirely possible Dora is selling Sven short on how hard he’s actually worked to make that all happen, which makes understandable pangs of jealousy more of a case of sour grapes. But let’s say things just have come to him a bit easier…that’s nothing he’s actually done to Dora. That’s him living his life.
2. Dora’s friends in high school
Specifically, the fact they were only hanging out with him to hook up with Sven, and when things ended with him, she lost their friendship. You can definitely sympathise with Dora there, that must’ve felt lousy, and if we’re to assume that Sven wasn’t the most upstanding guy in high school either, he bears some responsibility for relationships ending badly and the friendships souring as a result. All the same…I think the really lousy people in that situation are the girls who faked a friendship with Dora because they fancied Sven, and when the flings ended, dropped all pretence of being friends with Dora. They’re the genuinely shitty ones in that scenario, offering false friendship and withdrawing it once they got what they want (or didn’t get what they want, as the case may be).
3. Sven and Faye Incident #1
The fact that they hooked up in the first place. Dora immediately assumed that it was meant to hurt her, due to her own insecurities…instead of two adults who both had a connection to her happening to hook up because of their own reasons (mostly alcohol, probably). Considering that Sven hadn’t made a move on Faye at the time, and had been respectful of Dora’s wishes that he not date any of her friends or staff (he rebuffed Raven’s advances on several occasions, citing that agreement), it wasn’t a jerk move on his part, or a particularly rational response on her part. It was really more about her own issues than anything he’d done.
4. Sven and Faye Incident #2
This one’s understandable, but I think it’s also more complicated than Dora and the other main characters made it out to be. Sven hurt Faye, and he’s a jerk for that. However, she also made it clear that it wasn’t a relationship, yet still wanted it to have the standards of one (a monogamous relationship, that is). As such, Sven is treated as having cheated on Faye, when they weren’t exclusive or even really dating. It’s implied that Faye possibly wanted more deep down, as did Sven, in which case he should’ve resisted the temptation. It doesn’t mean he wasn’t inconsiderate or a jerk or anything like that, but to some extent, Sven copped flak for something he didn’t really do: cheat on a partner he was exclusive with.
4. Sven and Faye Incident #3
Sven does act like an entitled jerk (going back on previous character development, but nevertheless, it is what it is within the canon), and seems to believe that confessing that he loves Faye will somehow win her over. Again, kind of a weird direction for the character to take given some of the stuff that happened previously, but you can kind of see how we came to that. Sven’s actions are stupid, misguided, and coming at an inopportune time, since Faye’s relationship is about to take a hit it can’t recover from. Sven doesn’t know that, and Faye kind of brought her relationship troubles on herself by not being honest and open with Angus, but it doesn’t change the fact that Sven’s terribly misguided there. Faye is/was Dora’s friend, so she sees it as the last straw…though she does hear about it all second-hand from Cosette.
5. He hasn’t handled relationships well in the past
We’ve had a couple of examples of him being a bit of a lousy boyfriend, gutless in breaking things off, and things like that. It’s behaviour that Sven and indeed anyone deserves to be called out on, and since Dora has had some bad relationships of her own, it’s understandable that it would touch a nerve.
So, here’s the thing: while Sven isn’t blameless, and has done some lousy things, few of them have been to Dora directly…at least, in the time that we’ve known them. There’s obviously been sibling rivalry and arguments growing up, but if we’re going to excuse Claire and Clinton for that stuff, then Sven and Dora should get a pass, too.
Now, that doesn’t mean Dora can’t object to his actions and attitudes, and feel hurt by them, as a sibling, as a woman…hell, as a human being. Sven’s no saint, and he’s given Dora reason to be critical. But a lot of the problems she has with him seem to come from her own insecurities and jealousy, as well as the decisions and actions of third parties (Faye, fake friends in high school, the country music industry), and her inability to control everything. It’s more about her issues than anything he’s done.
Let’s also consider the positive aspects of their relationship:
1. Early on, they’re shown meeting up for dinner, and it’s implied to happen somewhat regularly. If nothing else, they seem to know what’s going on in each other’s lives, and be on friendly terms.
2. As mentioned before, Sven does respect Dora’s insistence that he not date or hook up with any of her friends and/or employees. He does eventually hook up with Faye, but let’s face it, they’re adults, and they didn’t do it to hurt Dora. For the most part, he kept his word on this.
3. The “pretend date” with Hannelore. He kept his word, he was a gentleman, he did something nice. There appeared to be some genuine character development there, we saw a good side of him, and Dora and Faye seemed to appreciate that he did the right thing.
4. While the relationship was ultimately doomed, his advice to Marten after the Underwear Hugging Incident was well-meaning, probably helped in the short term (long term, Dora’s issues torpedoed the relationship), and showed genuine concern for his sister.
5. After the break-up, he gave Dora place to stay, and they seemed to be working out some of their issues, as therapy helped Dora see how she shared responsibility for the rivalry and tension…in one strip, she even apologised to him for it! There were a few strips there that showed despite their differences and issues, they did care for one another, and didn’t have too bad a relationship when it came down to it. I mean, we’ve seen more bickering and annoyance with one another from Claire and Clinton in about 1000 strips compared to the 2500+ strips that both Dora and Sven have been around.
So yeah…I don’t know. I’m not saying that Dora’s completely in the wrong, or that Sven’s actions shouldn’t have any effect on their relationship, but…I don’t think he’s the villain Dora – and the narrative, to some extent – is making him out to be.
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Topic: WCDT Strips 3021 to 3025 (10 to 14 August 2015) (Read 44634 times)