The comics are about people that heavily abuse drugs because they can't cope otherwise. It's destructive in just about every way, and the more they do them the deeper they go.
Even the funnier situations are sad in some way or come immediately before after a sad situation. Megg has to sit with a bunch of guys and try to have fun right after leaving an awkward semi-sexual encounter with another guy. They mess up their apartment "cooking". Megg's Mom is really quirky but also seriously messed up in several ways.
She picks a coloring book to read instead of Hunger Games (which could mean... lots of things).
One of the comics is literally hashtagged with the word "depression" at the bottom. I don't see how someone could find this dull unless they lived a similar life themselves. Which brings up the This-Happens-In-Real-Life aspect which makes it even sadder.
I suppose I just didn't really see the mental illness / depression within the stories :/
I mean, awkward sexual encounter cut short, has to return to social situation... That's not really depressing. Just one of those funny things that happens sometimes.
Picking a colouring book to read instead of Hunger Games... I'd probably do the same. Not sure what that says about me.
The drug use in the story also doesn't seem depressing. If anything, they make it look fun and relatively harmless in the comic.
Maybe I haven't read enough - just for whatever reason I never got that sense of an underlying mood of melancholy. I got... neutrality, I suppose.
I found them dull because they're vignettes, brief 'sketches' from the character's life, but not a lot of interest really happens. I don't feel anything for the characters or their situation. Just seems like a bunch of young adults, bored and getting high.
I find it interesting that you and OP both have a totally different emotional response to it compared to me, though.
What part of the drug use in any of the comics looked fun and harmless? Seriously, I want to know.
To find the comics at all sad you have to care at least a little bit about the characters, which I do by default. Nothing super amazing or drastic happens because, outside of the characters' physical forms, the comic mostly takes a realistic approach. "Slice of life" as they call it. What has to happen to the characters for you to feel anything for them?
What I don't understand is what everyone else is seeing when they read these. Are you guys just skimming?
I guess if sadness or depression isn't made the center-focus from the get-go, people ignore it. Either that or the contrived nature of the characters just turns brains off. Would it be different if the characters were all human and the art was better?
They get high, stop caring so much about cleaning up and go space out at the car wash. Sounds fun to me!
"To find the comics at all sad you have to care at least a little bit about the characters, which I do by default."
You care about every character by default? How strange. For me, whether it be a comic, novel, TV series or movie, I have to get a feel for the character first before I empathise with them, before I'm emotionally invested. After reading the strips OP linked to, I can genuinely say I'm given no real reason to care about this girl.
BUT I can also say - if I did care about the girl - I still wouldn't find it sad, because based on the strips I read, nothing particularly sad happens.
"What has to happen to the characters for you to feel anything for them?" Enough for me to get to know, and like the characters.
"Would it be different if the characters were all human and the art was better?"
Not at all.
Do you think maybe you're projecting on to the story, though? Maybe you're looking at these comic strips through a skewed lens and seeing something which isn't actually readily conveyed within the comic?
"Do you think maybe you're projecting on to the story, though?"
Well, let's see.
First link:
Awkward encounter, girl has no privacy, boyfriend (cat) knows he's been lied to and suspects cheating.
Second link:
House messed up, picture of the girl "lying in bed" gets liked/reblogged a lot, owl decides to do drugs instead of take action and forgets anything happened, owl cries because he's finding "actual" happiness driving through a carwash.
Third link:
Mostly shenanigans, but to put it in layman's terms there's a lot of frowny faces and subtext. I can't explain it without either launching into an essay and/or someone saying I'm projecting.
Fourth link:
Mysterious blood-soaked pants on the lawn, elderly mother worked at McDonald's last year, is also on methadone (pain medication), girl's childhood acquaintance is homeless, elderly mother has sores that hurt in the sun and hasn't gone to a doctor in years, murders in the park, broken panties on the ground, subtext in the last 4 panels.
Sure, I'm imagining subtexts of depression where it doesn't exist. In the first link, it was just a funny misunderstanding. Second link, they took some good drugs and had a fun romp at the car wash. Third link, just some rims and coloring books. Fourth link, girl went to the park with her mother, who cares.
Meaningless drivel, as another comment stated. Nothing happened.
The writer's description on the third comic:"The rimming strip is purely political. Weakness. Negotiation. Self-sacrifice. Shame. An absence of romance."
Which seems about right to me.
Actually, he interviews well:
http://www.tcj.com/disgusting-creatures-the-simon-hanselmann-interview/
Sorry, I still don't find it depressing - just seems like people acting silly. Even following your interpretation, they're just adolescent problems. I don't feel it the way you feel it.
It reminds me of a lot of these American web comics popular on Tumblr that are focused on self-pity and wallowing.
Is it normal to find this comic strip really sad?
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Why do you find it sad?
I'm really trying to understand what OP and you see that I'm unable to see.
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Anonnet
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The comics are about people that heavily abuse drugs because they can't cope otherwise. It's destructive in just about every way, and the more they do them the deeper they go.
Even the funnier situations are sad in some way or come immediately before after a sad situation. Megg has to sit with a bunch of guys and try to have fun right after leaving an awkward semi-sexual encounter with another guy. They mess up their apartment "cooking". Megg's Mom is really quirky but also seriously messed up in several ways.
She picks a coloring book to read instead of Hunger Games (which could mean... lots of things).
One of the comics is literally hashtagged with the word "depression" at the bottom. I don't see how someone could find this dull unless they lived a similar life themselves. Which brings up the This-Happens-In-Real-Life aspect which makes it even sadder.
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disthing
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I suppose I just didn't really see the mental illness / depression within the stories :/
I mean, awkward sexual encounter cut short, has to return to social situation... That's not really depressing. Just one of those funny things that happens sometimes.
Picking a colouring book to read instead of Hunger Games... I'd probably do the same. Not sure what that says about me.
The drug use in the story also doesn't seem depressing. If anything, they make it look fun and relatively harmless in the comic.
Maybe I haven't read enough - just for whatever reason I never got that sense of an underlying mood of melancholy. I got... neutrality, I suppose.
I found them dull because they're vignettes, brief 'sketches' from the character's life, but not a lot of interest really happens. I don't feel anything for the characters or their situation. Just seems like a bunch of young adults, bored and getting high.
I find it interesting that you and OP both have a totally different emotional response to it compared to me, though.
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Anonnet
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What part of the drug use in any of the comics looked fun and harmless? Seriously, I want to know.
To find the comics at all sad you have to care at least a little bit about the characters, which I do by default. Nothing super amazing or drastic happens because, outside of the characters' physical forms, the comic mostly takes a realistic approach. "Slice of life" as they call it. What has to happen to the characters for you to feel anything for them?
What I don't understand is what everyone else is seeing when they read these. Are you guys just skimming?
I guess if sadness or depression isn't made the center-focus from the get-go, people ignore it. Either that or the contrived nature of the characters just turns brains off. Would it be different if the characters were all human and the art was better?
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disthing
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"What part of the drug use in any of the comics looked fun and harmless?"
<a href="http://girlmountain.tumblr.com/post/24970408857/megg-mogg-owl-hair-dye-2012" rel="nofollow">http://girlmountain.tumblr.com/post/24970408857...</a>
They get high, stop caring so much about cleaning up and go space out at the car wash. Sounds fun to me!
"To find the comics at all sad you have to care at least a little bit about the characters, which I do by default."
You care about every character by default? How strange. For me, whether it be a comic, novel, TV series or movie, I have to get a feel for the character first before I empathise with them, before I'm emotionally invested. After reading the strips OP linked to, I can genuinely say I'm given no real reason to care about this girl.
BUT I can also say - if I did care about the girl - I still wouldn't find it sad, because based on the strips I read, nothing particularly sad happens.
"What has to happen to the characters for you to feel anything for them?" Enough for me to get to know, and like the characters.
"Would it be different if the characters were all human and the art was better?"
Not at all.
Do you think maybe you're projecting on to the story, though? Maybe you're looking at these comic strips through a skewed lens and seeing something which isn't actually readily conveyed within the comic?
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Anonnet
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"Do you think maybe you're projecting on to the story, though?"
Well, let's see.
First link:
Awkward encounter, girl has no privacy, boyfriend (cat) knows he's been lied to and suspects cheating.
Second link:
House messed up, picture of the girl "lying in bed" gets liked/reblogged a lot, owl decides to do drugs instead of take action and forgets anything happened, owl cries because he's finding "actual" happiness driving through a carwash.
Third link:
Mostly shenanigans, but to put it in layman's terms there's a lot of frowny faces and subtext. I can't explain it without either launching into an essay and/or someone saying I'm projecting.
Fourth link:
Mysterious blood-soaked pants on the lawn, elderly mother worked at McDonald's last year, is also on methadone (pain medication), girl's childhood acquaintance is homeless, elderly mother has sores that hurt in the sun and hasn't gone to a doctor in years, murders in the park, broken panties on the ground, subtext in the last 4 panels.
Sure, I'm imagining subtexts of depression where it doesn't exist. In the first link, it was just a funny misunderstanding. Second link, they took some good drugs and had a fun romp at the car wash. Third link, just some rims and coloring books. Fourth link, girl went to the park with her mother, who cares.
Meaningless drivel, as another comment stated. Nothing happened.
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associate
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disthing
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The writer's description on the third comic:"The rimming strip is purely political. Weakness. Negotiation. Self-sacrifice. Shame. An absence of romance."
Which seems about right to me.
Actually, he interviews well:
http://www.tcj.com/disgusting-creatures-the-simon-hanselmann-interview/
Sorry, I still don't find it depressing - just seems like people acting silly. Even following your interpretation, they're just adolescent problems. I don't feel it the way you feel it.
It reminds me of a lot of these American web comics popular on Tumblr that are focused on self-pity and wallowing.
Appreciate the effort though.