18-03-13 On friendly terms

[Spidrift]

Amber has been slightly more than a fan service character; there's the whole "ex-porn star trying to change her life" story, and the deft way she scammed Nathan, and the way that her initial cheerfully exploitative attitude to Gary switched to something more like a (warped) moral position. I certainly can't see how you can call her more stupid than most of the rest of the cast!

In this comic, she's got the weird, spiky relationship with Ruby, which at least promises a few strips' worth of back story. For that matter, some of us are going to be a bit curious about Ruby herself. Dillon, on the other hand, is showing the same tiresome screaming campness here that he displayed in Ma3, complete with suave and sophisticated gestures like pulling faces at a romantic rival. Like the very first strip said, this isn't about Dillon ever changing.

But like I said, this comic isn't really meant for me, and I'll just repeat myself if I let myself talk about a character who I just don't find interesting. So I'll say now that I won't comment at all about any strip focussing on Dillon or Jerzy after this one, and anyone else is welcome to remind me with prejudice if I forget that.

[Katai]

I think the big thing is that we know very little about Amber, and we know quite a bit of Dillon.

All we know about Amber is that she's an actress, ex-porn start, and unconvicted sex-offender. Her personality is kind of bubbly, but she really hasn't had a huge amount of screen time for her to really flesh out. With Ruby in the picture, we're starting to see how she behaves with someone who is constantly judging her. Up to this point, she's been pretty carefree about her lifestyle. I'm interested to see where this goes.

Dillon, however, is kind of a brat. I mean, I'm not sure what Jerzy really sees in this guy. Jealous, confrontational, possessive, self-conscious. Not to mention he's basically becoming a caricature of himself in an infinite feedback loop that'll destroy the universe if left unchecked. I'm just waiting for the eventual breakup, which would be devastating and interfere with the comic's look and feel. Except, any character development for Dillon would just feel out-of-character because he's been established as "that guy" for so long...

[TheDude]

All we know about Amber is that she's an actress, ex-porn start, and unconvicted sex-offender.

You have to be kidding. If not, are you sure, that this is the right kind of comic for you to enjoy?

[Nev]

I'm the only one who likes Dillon? I just think Jerzy's a bit dull for him so far.

[Spidrift]

I guess that the best I can say for Dillon is that he's a one-joke character, really. If you happen to find that joke funny enough, I guess you'll be happy with him as the star of this comic. If you don't, you're going to wish he'd stayed down in the supporting cast.

[Don Alexander]

You're still commenting!

Anyway, nice detail: angel's bass in the last frame is really missing a string.

[Artemisia]

and anyone else is welcome to remind me with prejudice if I forget that.

We shall endeavour to inhume you with extreme prejudice under a pile of silliness should you forget this. Would you prefer Monty Python, Are You Being Served or something more vulgar like Family Guy?



For those who have never run across the term inhume means to bury like exhume means to dig up ;) The stuff I've learned from reading Pratchett.

[Stonefoot]

...under a pile of silliness should you forget this...

I promise to help, if needed.

[Spidrift]

You're still commenting!

Read what I actually promised. This is the last Dillon/Jerzy strip on which I'll comment.

[Nev]

What is it that makes Dillon more of a one-joke character than anyone else in the cast?

[Spidrift]

Everything about him comes through the "screaming camp gay man" stereotype. We first saw him draping himself over his boyfriend and talking theatrically about their relationship. His feelings for Gary is a camp gay man's longing for a straight guy. His reaction to Jerzy was camp squee-ing. His reaction to Angel was camp outrage at a rival. His job is, literally, theatrical. He walks around in this bubble of shocking pink hamminess. It's all played on a single note with slight modulations. I guess that some readers (and the writer) can find this cute or amusing, but if one doesn't, there's nothing else there.

Heaven knows, the rest of the Ma3/SDB cast aren't terribly subtle or deep characters, but they usually have a couple of aspects to them. Amber enjoys sex a little more than's good for her, but she's now trying to reverse out of the world in which that landed her - and she has a peculiar, frequently submerged, but genuine moral sense, and now a complicated family relationship on display. Zii was mostly written as an irresponsible hedonist, but there were flashes of insecurity from the start with her, and now she's struggling with the idea of a stable relationship. Matt may be a sleazy bisexual seducer, but he also has an interesting talent for reading people. DiDi is simultaneously lousy at relating to other people and dedicated to being nice to them. Kiley is book-smart, neurotic, and almost manic-depressive. Sonya is dumb as a rock but has a peculiar ability to be quite good at things when she really tries, and she's still getting the hang of what this means for her (and also of her bisexuality). Even Gary, who's a bit of a one-note character these days, has his geeky attention to detail and moments of ingenuity.

The only character I can think of who militantly refuses to show any personality when given the chance, leaving him less interesting than Dillon, is Erik - and even he has those hints of rich-kid uncertainty. Dillon, though, is just this walking cliché.

[Artemisia]

Hey...no discriminating against walking cliches...we had one run for city council not long ago!

For that matter...it seems like I was accused of being a walking cliche not long ago.

[Nev]

So he's a flamboyant gay dude. You act like that makes him less of a valid character, and I don't quite understand that part of your reasoning. His actions and reactions are going to be typical of his character, this goes for anyone in the cast. Whether you like him or not, he has undergone his own character arcs and he has developed since the start of Ma3. You say everything is played on a single note with him, he's a camp gay dude with even a career in theatrics you say, but at the same time we have Gary the comic book geek, aspiring manga artist. we have Zii the rocker chick, starting her own band. We've seen Dillon go to certain lengths for a career that matters to him. So he's theatrical and he likes theater, so what? There's plenty of gay men who do. He represents an existing type of person. It's not unrealistic. It's just not what the mainstream would typically use as a leading man.

What you dismiss as as a gay stereotype, I consider genuine aspects of his character. His crush on Gary is not 'a camp gay man's longing for a straight guy'. It's still a crush, no matter how flamboyant he is, it's still something relevant to him as something he desired and couldn't obtain. His jealous reaction to Angel ties right into his insecurity over what happened with Matt, he genuinely thought there was something going on between them, and he was genuinely insecure about losing this guy to a rival. He's not exactly used to his partner sticking by him. Yes, it's all portrayed as flamboyantly and theatrically as his personality calls for, but that invalidates nothing. He's not exactly a Dostoevsky creation, but he has no less depth than the other cast members. Certainly more than you accredit him. I think you're simply not on point in claiming the only reason anyone could like him is because they're sufficiently amused by a camp gay stereotype. I don't make presumptions on why you like certain characters, because I'm not in a position to. And neither are you.

[Spidrift]

I don't see him as having had as much character development as some of the cast, but whatever. To me, he just feels like a character in a musical who can't make an entrance without half the string section going berserk with the help of the harpist, but who only sings one song. And, well, if he's a camp gay stereotype, and some people find him amusing, then those people find a camp gay stereotype amusing. That's a syllogism, not a judgement on their taste.

But anyway, the point here is that most of this comic is for those people, and not for me. After this strip, I'll leave him to them.

[Artemisia]

Spidrift...you just described a friend of mine. Nice guy too, but sometimes I swear he lives in a musical.