2018-07-17 Happy about my posing nakies

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Gotoh
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Re: 2018-07-17 Happy about my posing nakies

Post by Gotoh »

dmra wrote:
Thu Aug 02, 2018 5:20 pm
there's limited scope for making professional advice on how to walk on a catwalk or pose for a camera funny so the comic quite wisely didn't really try to do much about the basics of what models do.
But that, again, depends on the skill of the writer.

People often think common sense can't coexist with comedy, yet the funny man/straight man dynamic proves otherwise. 'Get Smart!' did it with Maxwell Smart's character and Da Chief. Da Chief always gave Max proper instruction about each mission, who his contacts were, and how he was supposed to proceed and he was one of the funniest characters on the show, because he constantly had to deal with Max's bumbling and sarcasm.
drma wrote:
Thu Aug 02, 2018 5:20 pm
As an example of Zoe being professional we never saw her telling Marie to graduate before getting into modelling but they clearly had that conversation off screen - which is where I think most of the serious modelling as a business talk has taken place while the wacky hi-jinks have been shown on the page.
Perhaps, but it'd still be nice if we at least saw some aspect of professional behavior from her instead of having to assume she must be.

dmra
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Re: 2018-07-17 Happy about my posing nakies

Post by dmra »

Oh I'm not disagreeing that a comedy could be made about a wannabe model, one which focused more on the mechanics of modelling and life as a model but it's clear that the creators wanted to go down a more fantastical and wacky route with this one.

From Sandra taking up with Senna, to being discovered by Domenico and her big break being a completely unprofessional freak out at a games launch it's been clear that this comic isn't concerned with realism. And part of that unreality is that we don't see much background activity. We're told Domenico is a famous photgrapher but we've barely seen him in action and I can't remember ever being shown a single image that he's taken. And we've seen almost as much of Tatiana the dominatrix obsessed with her boss as we have Tatiana the efficient office manager. Add in jewel thieves and not one but two revenge plots and it's pretty clear that SoTR makes little or no claim to be a documentary.

So in that context it's not really surprising that we see more of Zoe the awesome, angry Amazon than we do Zoe the professional talent manager and guide.

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Error of Logic
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Re: 2018-07-17 Happy about my posing nakies

Post by Error of Logic »

Amazing… Domenico does have a functional survival instinct! :D

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brasca
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Re: 2018-07-17 Happy about my posing nakies

Post by brasca »

Spidrift wrote:
Thu Aug 02, 2018 5:33 pm
Odd thought; Eloise is a horrible person with no detectable morals. But she seems genuinely to admire Zoé, and she’ll put herself through a lot to get on in the modelling business. (You know, lots of walking funny.) She really does seem like a better candidate for Sandra’s position than Sandra does...
Except she never did her homework on Carmen Chameleon before losing it to Sandra and finances her career by sleeping with the right people. I’d say she’s about even compared to Sandra.

Gotoh
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Re: 2018-07-17 Happy about my posing nakies

Post by Gotoh »

Here's a thought: Sandra and Lavali have both agreed that Cammi has a body to die for and she clearly has no issues with modesty. So why doesn't Domenico just use her as his model? I doubt it'd take much to convince her to do it.

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Error of Logic
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Re: 2018-07-17 Happy about my posing nakies

Post by Error of Logic »

But she refuses to show her eyes.

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rogermart
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Re: 2018-07-17 Happy about my posing nakies

Post by rogermart »

At least she would be killer for modeling sunglasses and fitness products.
That's what i do... i drink and i know things...

KittyHat
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Re: 2018-07-17 Happy about my posing nakies

Post by KittyHat »

dmra wrote:
Thu Aug 02, 2018 8:20 pm
From Sandra taking up with Senna, to being discovered by Domenico and her big break being a completely unprofessional freak out at a games launch it's been clear that this comic isn't concerned with realism. And part of that unreality is that we don't see much background activity. We're told Domenico is a famous photgrapher but we've barely seen him in action and I can't remember ever being shown a single image that he's taken. And we've seen almost as much of Tatiana the dominatrix obsessed with her boss as we have Tatiana the efficient office manager. Add in jewel thieves and not one but two revenge plots and it's pretty clear that SoTR makes little or no claim to be a documentary.
Yes, but let's review that again. Okay, perhaps we haven't (I can't recall now and don't feel like going back to see whether the comic ever let us look at any of his photo efforts) seen Domenico's images ourselves, but we have seen Domenico attempting to do photography, an effort that was really only hindered by a difficult model. Perhaps we see Tatiana the Dominatrix as much as we see Tatiana the Office Manager, but we at least have seen signs that Tatiana apparently does that latter job. Perhaps the jewel thief subplot was wacky, but the comic didn't have to tell us that Aina was a skilled jewel thief while simultaneously showing us that she's anything but. Instead, we saw Aina's skills firsthand.

With Zoé, not only don't we see evidence that she's a competent manager, but we actually see evidence to the exact contrary. Doing nothing but blowing your top and raging at people all of the time is the opposite of being a competent leader. So the comic wants us to believe that she knows what she's doing, but then it actively shows us that she does not.

To be clear: the comic has never shown us that Domenico sucks at photography, that Tatiana has no idea how to manage an office, or that Aina is a clumsy, incapable thief. Zoé stands alone as the one character shown to be actively terrible at her job. Hell, even Sandra can function well as a model as long as she's kept away from booze, and she's an irresponsible child in a woman's body.

dmra
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Re: 2018-07-17 Happy about my posing nakies

Post by dmra »

As I said elsewhere there is evidence that Zoe is competent but it hasn't always been made obvious. We saw her working with Sandra in the early days of the strip and, more recently, there was the thing about her agreeing with Marie that she should graduate before trying a career in modelling. Then there's the fact that Eva is clearly professionally jealous of Zoe which suggests that Zoe has at least some talent or reputation in the industry.

So while you're right that we haven't seen a lot of Zoe being good at her job it's not entirely unreasonable to think she may be.

But competence doesn't usually make for good comedy which is why there aren't many characters we have seen being competent. We didn't see the robbery Aina did but we did see her giving the necklace she'd stolen to Sandra purely because she's smitten with her. Drunk Sandra is a nightmare but even sober Sandra has been sufficiently unprofessional that she had to be escorted from a failed audition by security for example http://www.sandraontherocks.com/strips- ... ic-quality and so on and so on.

And then factor in whose Zoe's around and is it any wonder that she sometimes gets angry? Marie broke her word about not modelling; there's Cammi who never obeys orders and has slept with Domenico; there's Tatiana whose desire to sleep with Domenico is completely obviously obsessive; Domenico who is a complete flake and Sandra who. let's me honest , would often try the patience of a saint.

To be honest I like Zoe the character but not Zoe the person. In real life she'd be horrible to be around. Awesome but terrible. She's punched a man in a nightclub, she assaulted Lavali and stole her clothes, she's thrown two people into pools and so on. She almost makes Naomi Campbell at her worst look like a model citizen. But her function in the comic isn't to be a reasonable career guide to up and coming models. She's there to be "awesome" and Amazonian and funny. And in that she - in my opinion anyway - succeeds.


Gotoh
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Re: 2018-07-17 Happy about my posing nakies

Post by Gotoh »

@rogermart: Just saw your post and I riscind my previous remarks about Zoé. Those links clearly show her providing Sandra with proper instruction. It's been awhile scince I've read that far back in the comic.

Now if only we could see more of that Zoé, instead of the angry one.
dmra wrote:
Fri Aug 03, 2018 5:43 pm
competence doesn't usually make for good comedy which is why there aren't many characters we have seen being competent.
It's possible to have clumsy, or careless competency. It's not ideal, but it allows for comedy while also allowing the writer to establish the character's ability. The Ghostbusters and Maxwell Smart are two of my favorite examples.


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Spidrift
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Re: 2018-07-17 Happy about my posing nakies

Post by Spidrift »

I suspect it was simply “Fine, we’ve established that Zoé is a smart (if hot-blooded) and competent model supervisor. Now we can get on with having the title character do her thing, which is being such a deranged piss-head that she can make even a proven smart and competent supervisor lose her shit on a regular basis”.

Hmm. Eva has expressed the desire to get control of Sandra and mould her in her evil image, bwah-hah-hah. But how would Eva handle Sandra’s booze-fuelled hopelessness?
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Error of Logic
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Re: 2018-07-17 Happy about my posing nakies

Post by Error of Logic »

I suspect not at all. She'd actively ruin her out of spite and as vengeance for a drunken boob-grab, then cast her aside.

Gotoh
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Re: 2018-07-17 Happy about my posing nakies

Post by Gotoh »

Spidrift wrote:
Sat Aug 04, 2018 8:41 am
Eva has expressed the desire to get control of Sandra and mould her in her evil image, bwah-hah-hah. But how would Eva handle Sandra’s booze-fuelled hopelessness?
Give Sandra an unlimited supply of booze, then watch as Zoé blows her stack 'til her blood pressure shoots through the roof?

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