Well, why the hell not?
Hm. Been thinking about this sort of thing for a while. People have a tendency to pick things up from one another, obviously, and occasionally from fictional characters. Now, I think that's all well and good. It's part of human development and our unique ability to learn from the mistakes of others vs. requiring personal experience.
The problem arises when people get so caught up in the romance of misfortune. You know what I'm alluding to.
For some reason, everyone has this strange idea that they are in the limelight,and as such, that they must play the role of the tragic hero, jaded cynic, snarky, downtrodden asshole. It is beyond me. I can think of a few personal acquaintances who have turned themselves into absolute scumsucking monsters because "OMG they're the only enlightened ones and everyone is so shallow and caught up in their own world, so I have the right to be nasty to them because they are inferior because they aren't me... *ramble ramble.*" I've broken off friendships over that sort of thing.
Now, what I'm getting at is that people get so caught up in the awful side of things that they are blinded to the humanism of so many of their heros. They do not realize that, sure, XYZ feels resentment toward the teeming masses for their ignorance and general self-absorption, but he also empathizes with them. It is not mindless hate, mindless rage. Ugh. Often times, it is *their* type of irrational, elitist behavior that is being mocked.
This kind of came to me while I was looking for the picture of Spider in the sweater. One of the journals said, 'My worldview of humanity is modeled after Spider Jerusalem's.' I flipped through some entries, and oh guess what? It was all spewing, and not even spewing over things that *matter.*
Sure, Spider is angry and hate filled, but you have to take into account his nature and his past. He wants nothing more than to be back home on the mountain, in his little house. Yet he's forced to The City by necessity- forced to see human nature in all its brutality and splendor. He hates the bourgeois, but he takes compassion on the individual. For example, when he buys back the little girl's doll from the pawn shop, in his interview in Issue 25. He's not a nice guy, but he's not a smug ass by nature. More as a survival mechanism.
Another example in popular culture: the ever-irritating Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. I have met more people who see only the stabby-killy-violent side of him and don't recognize that it's satirical. They don't see the hypocrisy in being nasty to people (e.g. preps/"normal' people) because they're nasty to them. The whole point of the series is that people are cruel. So why on earth would you perpetuate it??
I know from experience, it isn't fun being a jaded, cynical asshole. Because a lot of the time I am one. There you have it.
It isn't fun to want to smack people just for being happy and ignorant. I dislike that impulse more than people would ever believe. The truth is, I'm not a decaying, rotting bitch. Or at least I don't want to be. But I sucked myself into a little cold, inhuman vacuum for so long that it has become part of my nature. I'm not dismissing my behavior or personality- it half drives me up a wall. If it were up to me, I'd be calm and thoughtful and devoted to learning and bettering myself. Honestly.
But I'm determined to never give in and embrace my inner bastard. (tongue in cheek) Life is so short; there is so much to be done. And even the most disgusting, twisted people give evidence of their humanity every once in a while. We all have that *awareness*- Vonnegut called it an unwavering band of light in "Breakfast of Champions"- that sets us apart from animals and machines. Without it, we're on autopilot, acting out evolutionary instinct. This, my friend, is why we have ethics, why social Darwinism is an abomination (and for that to come out of *my* liberal mouth means something.) People all reflect that inner light somehow, even if it's distorted or faint.
The problem arises when people get so caught up in the romance of misfortune. You know what I'm alluding to.
For some reason, everyone has this strange idea that they are in the limelight,and as such, that they must play the role of the tragic hero, jaded cynic, snarky, downtrodden asshole. It is beyond me. I can think of a few personal acquaintances who have turned themselves into absolute scumsucking monsters because "OMG they're the only enlightened ones and everyone is so shallow and caught up in their own world, so I have the right to be nasty to them because they are inferior because they aren't me... *ramble ramble.*" I've broken off friendships over that sort of thing.
Now, what I'm getting at is that people get so caught up in the awful side of things that they are blinded to the humanism of so many of their heros. They do not realize that, sure, XYZ feels resentment toward the teeming masses for their ignorance and general self-absorption, but he also empathizes with them. It is not mindless hate, mindless rage. Ugh. Often times, it is *their* type of irrational, elitist behavior that is being mocked.
This kind of came to me while I was looking for the picture of Spider in the sweater. One of the journals said, 'My worldview of humanity is modeled after Spider Jerusalem's.' I flipped through some entries, and oh guess what? It was all spewing, and not even spewing over things that *matter.*
Sure, Spider is angry and hate filled, but you have to take into account his nature and his past. He wants nothing more than to be back home on the mountain, in his little house. Yet he's forced to The City by necessity- forced to see human nature in all its brutality and splendor. He hates the bourgeois, but he takes compassion on the individual. For example, when he buys back the little girl's doll from the pawn shop, in his interview in Issue 25. He's not a nice guy, but he's not a smug ass by nature. More as a survival mechanism.
Another example in popular culture: the ever-irritating Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. I have met more people who see only the stabby-killy-violent side of him and don't recognize that it's satirical. They don't see the hypocrisy in being nasty to people (e.g. preps/"normal' people) because they're nasty to them. The whole point of the series is that people are cruel. So why on earth would you perpetuate it??
I know from experience, it isn't fun being a jaded, cynical asshole. Because a lot of the time I am one. There you have it.
It isn't fun to want to smack people just for being happy and ignorant. I dislike that impulse more than people would ever believe. The truth is, I'm not a decaying, rotting bitch. Or at least I don't want to be. But I sucked myself into a little cold, inhuman vacuum for so long that it has become part of my nature. I'm not dismissing my behavior or personality- it half drives me up a wall. If it were up to me, I'd be calm and thoughtful and devoted to learning and bettering myself. Honestly.
But I'm determined to never give in and embrace my inner bastard. (tongue in cheek) Life is so short; there is so much to be done. And even the most disgusting, twisted people give evidence of their humanity every once in a while. We all have that *awareness*- Vonnegut called it an unwavering band of light in "Breakfast of Champions"- that sets us apart from animals and machines. Without it, we're on autopilot, acting out evolutionary instinct. This, my friend, is why we have ethics, why social Darwinism is an abomination (and for that to come out of *my* liberal mouth means something.) People all reflect that inner light somehow, even if it's distorted or faint.