Gunnerkrigg Court

I see people make those kinds of jokes all the time.

"The marvel is not that the Bear posts well, but that the Bear posts at all."

That's probably just my personal bias, then. I wouldn't be comfortable with it. But it's also the kind of joke a guy-who's-gotten-away-with-it might make, if he's overconfident and genuinely proud of being a dog and filled with sexist crap. What the little missus doesn't know won't hurt her, right?

It's the culture of the time.

edited 8th Oct '12 3:23:53 PM by Maridee

ophelia, you're breaking my heart

You need to larn some familial Mickey-taking to diffuse the sad, then.

I saw all types at boarding school. The ones you had to watch were the clingy, lovey-dovey parents that heaped the going-away prezzies on their kids. Putting on that kind of show when parting usually meant a little monster abused at home who'd take it out on everybody in the same room as them once no adult was watching. Trust me on this... lived it enough.

-snort- Let me tell you about the time my grandpa hid my Raggedy Ann doll on top of a door.

Do tell. The closest I've gotten to a boarding school situation is going to college. -chinhands-

ophelia, you're breaking my heart

Seriously: told you the main danger-signs. The family that puts on the "we love you sweetie, look how normal we are, here's the money... goodbye..." etc. act in front of the school gates is the one to watch the kids of. Particularly when there are no tears to be seen on either side and you get those horrible little cues that this is over-rehearsed and, ultimately, cold. <shudders>

The one that has the tears, the argument, "look, shut up: if you didn't pack it, it's too late... we'll post it to you if you really miss it, but I doubt you'll remember in a week,", etc., etc., but still has the hugs and the "enough, get off me, Mum!"? That family is usually the safe one with the kids that won't try to water bomb you in the middle of the night or steal your things.

edited 8th Oct '12 3:48:00 PM by Euodiachloris

I really doubt we're expected to read too much into the endnotes. Even if they are canon, there are plenty of husbands who make that kind of joke out of a guilty conscience, and plenty who make that kind of joke because they think it's funny, especially in those days. And I'd certainly say the "tears in their eyes" aren't because of the joke.

My posts make considerably more sense read in the voice of John Ratzenberger.

Nah, it says "her". Although I'm inclined to agree.

Again, TV Tropes. Reading too much into things is pretty much all we do. That and provide links to obscure anime, to quote Andrew Hussie.

Likes many underrated webcomics

I'm sorry, what?

Fight. Struggle. Endure. Suffer. LIVE.

He was contradicting my statement that pretty much everyone found Jones' interest in Eglamore creepy by linking to your post. I didn't reply because the conversation had moved on (and also because he was right).

Likes many underrated webcomics

Oh okay. Personally I don't think Jones IS interested in Eglamore. I think she's just returning his interest. Like how she accepted Randy's gifts and went out with him, and then used his gifts to sow better relations between her students. It seems like she's focused on manipulating others for the sake of creating greater harmony all around her, with little regard for her own satisfaction.

Fight. Struggle. Endure. Suffer. LIVE.

Next we're going to go back a decade and see that Jones was the nurse working at James' birth. Then we're going to go back nine months to Jones watching through the window at James' creation.

Never trust anyone who uses "degenerate" as an insult.

awfuiefsk

.

Okay that aside, I have to admit I overread the "playfully" part of the notes.

Although, is it also normal for a kid to be picked up by staff rather than dropped off at the facility by their parents?

Happens sometimes: some overseas students have to be picked up at the airport of station if they've been unaccompanied minors and the school is liable for duty of care the moment they hit the town/ city the school is in. <shrugs>

That, or they don't trust the taxi rank.

You know, this reading between the lines of that note strikes me like that case when child welfare services tore a child from its family because it "looked sad". In other words, ridiculous.

"Atheism is the religion whose followers are easiest to troll"

Well, just because there's problems doesn't mean the kid's being abused. And, besides, this isn't real life; this is a piece of art. Varying interpretations, criticisms, and what-ifs can only enhance the material, not detract from it - as long as you can hold up your claim.

In that sense, any piece of art is like this optical illusion◊. What you get from it is what you put in, and says just as much about you as the piece itself. But seeing a young woman where someone else sees an old woman doesn't mean that either isn't there. In fact, someone else's point of view can help you see the young woman as well as the old woman, and completes the symmetry. And then there's that special snowflake who sees the moon, but I digress.

What I mean to say is that I reserve the right to read into things as much as I want to. It's the tumblr way. -steals your Horatio Caine sunglasses-

edited 9th Oct '12 6:38:53 PM by Maridee

ophelia, you're breaking my heart

The tumblr way? Jeeze. I thought it was TVT that was supposed to read too much into everything. And tumblr was known for being a big circlejerk hugbox where you have to check your privilege at the door.

And while I pretty much agree that art should be interpreted however, years in the public school system have taught me that that they can say "there's no wrong way to interpret poetry or art" as much as they want but that's patently untrue. You're expected to give certain answers when asked how you interpret things. In fact, writing essays about how YOU interpret a piece of literature or art is generally always a surefire way to do mediocre as opposed to writing about how others have interpreted the piece since it was made and pretending that that's how you interpret it. But I digress.

edited 9th Oct '12 6:47:19 PM by PulpFreeBookworm

The baby bat/ Screamed out in fright,/ 'Turn on the dark,/ I'm afraid of the light.'

Well, they do do that. They also sprout huge swathes of headcanon based on a GIF. so, yes, the tumblr way.

Which is why I said "as long as you support your claim". You have to have arguments, facts, theories. You can't just say "Romeo and Juliet are two stupid kids" and leave it at that.

...Although what you suggest sounds a little bit like plagiarism...

ophelia, you're breaking my heart

The thing is, though, claiming that Eglamore has a broken family life just because his dad made a playful comment about Jones being attractive is stretching it.

It's like claiming, say, "Boo Radley was a sex offender."*

Yeah, I can provide evidence for the claim, but it's still a gigantic leap in logic. Especially when I have no reason to believe that the more obvious answer is wrong.

"It's so hard to be humble, knowing how great I am."

...That's not self-evident in the text? D= That's pretty much what I got out of that play. Othello and Hamlet are much more interesting.

And I didn't mean like, literally plagiarize someone else, but parroting popular interpretations (with support from the text you're interpreting).

edited 9th Oct '12 7:37:41 PM by PulpFreeBookworm

The baby bat/ Screamed out in fright,/ 'Turn on the dark,/ I'm afraid of the light.'

I'm pretty sure things in the rant are just jokes, otherwise Eglamore would not be Eglamore.

wait a minute...................

"Never let the truth get in the way of a good story." Twitter

Why are we arguing about something that isn't even part of the story?

That's not what I said, tho. I said it's probable that the Eglamores have marital issues. And since this is the pillbox era, divorce wasn't all that common. Not impossible, but there'd be a lot of social stigma attached to it.

Mr. Eglamore's comment wasn't playful. Mrs. Eglamore's slap was playful. Let me repost the quote, so we're not just running off the dregs of short-term memory.

From what we have here, we don't know much about Mr. Eglamore's mood other than his appreciation of Jones' form. Mrs. Eglamore, on the other hand, has two contrasting actions - the playful slap, and the tears in her eyes. So let's close-read.

Mr. Eglamore does not appear to be particularly concerned about his child going off to boarding school. Perhaps it's not a first-time experience? Is Jimmy too young to have gone to boarding school before, or does he have siblings? Is Mr. Eglamore an unattached parent? The gender dichotomy of the day demanded the man stay at work all day while the woman stayed home. He may not have a strong attachment to James; however, since James is a boy (possible heir?), he might be more invested in making sure the boy grows up strong and manly.

Perhaps this is a joke intended to hide his stronger emotions? If so, it's an odd joke, 1) because it does nothing to comfort his wife about the loss of their son, and 2) because Jones has one of the least sexy personalities on the webcomic (see how everyone was surprised by evidence of Jones' personal life). Given that second fact, Mr. Eglamore's appreciation of Jones' female form is just that - an appreciation, unbased in connection. He's a man accustomed to eying up women's attractiveness. And while people do that and still see women as people, he's doing this without taking into account her demeanor, which (if the same as displayed in previous comics) invites nothing in. He's objectifying her.

Mrs. Eglamore's response is immediate: a playful slap. It's an oddly physical response, if this is a joke she finds funny. It's not a full-on slap, as demonstrated by the playful; so it's a light slap, a gentle slap. It's cojoined with tears in her eyes. Is she just more attached to James? Will she miss James more? Or is she just succumbing to gender norms: that the woman be more emotional, and demand more emotion? Was she crying already, or did Mr. Eglamore's comment drive the tears out of her? How stoic are these people?

I think it could go either way. It's the ambiguity of it that's so gorgeously subtle. If she suspects Mr. Eglamore is cheating on her but is keeping a stiff upper lip, a comment like that at a very emotional moment could bring her to tears where she hadn't before, especially if she's going to be left alone, now. James may be an only child. If the comment isn't a joke, that could hurt. If the comment is just a joke, then I don't understand why Tom needed to tell us she had tears in her eyes.

No duh. But I have a friend who insists that Romeo and Juliet is Shakespeare's hack play. Can't stand it.

...hm-mm. Kinda straddling the line there.

lulz. but this was a pretty clear add-on, I think. Sometimes yes, sometimes no?

Because it's fun. It sounds better if you call it debating. And the sidenotes are an uniquely quintessential part of the webcomic medium. Where else could you have the author commenting on his own work?

...Shut up, Terry Pratchett footnotes.

ophelia, you're breaking my heart

I'm sorry, but I couldn't read past the first couple of paragraphs. You are looking way too deeply into two lines of text.

"It's so hard to be humble, knowing how great I am."

This is the point where you started to lose me. Frankly, in terms of her physical appearance, her personality and demeanor don't matter. He simply commented that she was beautiful.

Frankly, the whole thing just seemed like a joke between the pair. Until Eglamore's family becomes important I'm not going to care. Because frankly this string of flashbacks probably isn't even about him.