Kolya on 12/7/2010 at 13:07
Quote Posted by Chade
I read my previous post again, and I just can't figure out how you interpreted it as a call for realism.
I really don't want to get into a fight over that horrible comic. I was just pointing at the fact that if it had shown Clarissa as the innocent abused girl, playing "special cuddles" with her classmates because she doesn't know better, it would be a more realistic take but it would still be a quite unbearable comic. Probably even more so.
Making Clarissa smart may have been meant by Youngbluth as a means of empowering the victim. But all he lets her use that smartness for is to act like a cartoon, a mistreated toy with a constant gloomy look and some cynical remarks.
He makes us share the view of the attacker. Nothing a sensible audience will appreciate.
Sulphur on 12/7/2010 at 15:07
Quote Posted by Pardoner
Have you stopped beating your wife?
a) Yes, but this is highly dependent on whether you intend to start coming back home to yours at night.
b) Is yours still making that french toast while you're slipping out every morning?
c) Comedic miseryguts webcomic option.
Koki on 12/7/2010 at 17:53
Quote Posted by Kolya
Making Clarissa smart may have been meant by Youngbluth as a means of empowering the victim. But all he lets her use that smartness for is to act like a cartoon, a mistreated toy with a constant gloomy look and some cynical remarks.
Yes, because if the comic was just one rape scene after another it wouldn't be humorous.
The humor is partially achieved by making Clarissa "smart".
Kolya on 12/7/2010 at 20:32
It seems to be humorous at first, but the readers are intentionally misguided by Youngbluth, only to slap the fact into their faces that the real reason for Clarissa's gloominess was being raped by her own father all along.
So what? Am I supposed to expect that? In a comic??
Is he trying to make me feel guilty? For what?
He's the one who made a comic of a rape victim, not me. He drew her from the attacker's point of view, by making this child act way more mature than she really is, by exaggerating her character and making her problems the subject of laughter.
I don't find this funny nor am I feeling guilty for smirking at Clarissa earlier. I didn't know better. But Youngbluth did, he planned this. And that just makes me think that he must be kinda sick.
Sulphur on 12/7/2010 at 20:55
To be fair, the final panel was telegraphed on the very first page of the comic. And just about everything is exaggerated in the comic to give more weight to the supposed emotional sucker punch at the end.
Aside from that, comics exploring dark material in tasteless fashion isn't entirely new or unexpected, tbh. You could tell this comic was going in a markedly different route from that first page.
rachel on 12/7/2010 at 21:48
Quote Posted by Koki
The humor is partially achieved by making Clarissa "smart".
Excuse me did you say humor?
That thing's atrocious as a comic, and if I want social issues I can always go watch a documentary about child rape. I read it and all I could read between the lines was the author gloating about how smart and edgy he is.
Bottom line, for all I care, it's a piece of shit.
No offense Starr.
Briareos H on 12/7/2010 at 21:57
Weird. If I didn't know about this thread I wouldn't trust that comic to be able to polarise people so much. It's just a webcomic trying to be a bit more clever than most, and succeeding if you ask me. Why some of you are trying so hard to see a moral of the story, a social commentary or a heavy author intent in it is beyond me. The punchline is predictable and not very subtle but the character of Clarissa is probably closer to reality than many here think.
Chade on 12/7/2010 at 22:43
Quote Posted by Kolya
It seems to be humorous at first, but the readers are intentionally misguided by Youngbluth, only to slap the fact into their faces that the real reason for Clarissa's gloominess was being raped by her own father all along.
Ok, fair enough. I had strong suspicions for most of the comic, so I didn't interpret it that way. I just wanted to get past the jokes and find out what exactly was going on.
Starrfall on 13/7/2010 at 02:17
What is perhaps more interesting than Clarissa is the fact that it has generated more conversation in this thread than any of the happier comics posted. MUCH TO MY CHAGRIN Maybe Youngbluth's on to something after all!
(
http://www.cowandboy.com/) Cow & Boy is my current favorite Calvin and Hobbes derivative, although I don't actually read it that often
edit: comics and wookiepedia (and tv tropes, and other forms of wiki) are all I read these days because I'm usually too mentally wiped after work to commit to anything harder. Eff (
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/calawquery?codesection=pcc&codebody=&hits=20) this thing, btw
driver on 13/7/2010 at 04:03
I suppose the people objecting to the humour* of the Clarissa comic have never told/laughed at a 9/11 joke (or somesuch).
A lot of you here are probably best off not watching (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqqy1owxe00) this
*For lack of a better word. It's set up like a joke, but the punchline, like 9/11 jokes, has a different intention to you standard Knock Knock and the like.
