Beth has become so miserable and tiresome. She used to be one of my favorites but her constant self-pitying is hard to read page after page. And I know a lot of teenagers are like that, but a lot of teenagers are capable of more selflessness and less hostility than she is too. That’s what makes her so well-written because she is exactly the kind of bitter girl I would have avoided in high school. Love when a comic makes unbearable people compelling to follow anyway even when you get as frustrated with them as you would if they were real.
I feel so much for Beth. As a fellow fat girl, we were told we were worthless and unlovable by society, and she was told that even more directly by her mom, and then when she finally meets someone she trusts and feels for, he impulsively sleeps with her before realizing it’s a bad idea. But in her head, she’s not enough, because she can’t be. And then he keeps assuming everything she does is about him anyway, which reinforces that. And being around someone who makes you feel like shit, even when they don’t think that, is not a good idea! Yes right now she’s desperate and needs support but it’s so hard to accept help from someone who makes you feel bad.
As someone who was the same age as these characters at the same time the comic takes place, who also grew up in a hyper-religious household with two parents who abused me in different ways and were constantly on my case about my body, I can tell you that she is just in a lot of pain. I’m now almost 40 and still in therapy for it. She’s in pain, she’s been told she’s disgusting and nobody will want her, she’s not trusted by the adults in her life no matter how hard she tries to do as she’s told, and she’s primed to lash out in self-defense because of how she’s always been treated. Her saying that she’d rather die in a gutter is not hyperbole. You might find her “unbearable,” but I know that she is incredibly realistic because I was just like her. I even had the same name as her before transitioning. I’m watching a blonde, midwestern version of myself play out on my computer screen. And I wish that version of myself had the support I know I needed.
She can be in pain and coming from a toxic household and still be unbearable, mean and unpleasant. Finding her an obnoxious person doesn’t erode my sympathy for her. It’s also important to remember, however, that many kids come from these same households and are not as caustic as Beth is. She has her own innate traits that make her more inclined to snapping at people and being self-pitying, and these natural traits of hers are aggravated by a bad living situation. Shitty people can and often come from shitty environments. I think it’s interesting to see if she continues down a path of being hostile and selfish or if she finds the ability to move past it in light of what she’s gone through, and the quality of writing in the comic makes me excited to see where she goes regardless of the path she takes.
I mean she *just* a few speech bubbles ago told him that it hurts her to be around him and that that’s the one thing in her life she can currently control. He cares and he’s trying, but he’s not really hearing what she’s been saying pretty eloquently and reasonably for half this chapter.
It’s a pretty fresh heartache for her. Not everybody is able to casually be someone who’s just broken their heart. She’s allowed to want some distance.
To me she’s not reading here as unbearable, mean, unpleasant, obnoxious, selfish, or tiresome. Those are some pretty heavy words. She’s a bit caustic, sure, but so are Jeordie and Anna. It’s probably part of why they’re all close. And they’re all self-absorbed, and all immature. They’re kids.
I’ve actually been impressed by how *little* meanness there’s been here. Kids and everyone else can definitely be unbearably unpleasant, but this reads as like a 2 out of 10 on that scale for me.
thank you for the sanity. i think comic readers are so used to handing out heavy words for characters, I’m often left feeling like man have a little empathy for someone going through a shit time.
I can’t believe I never noticed this before, but Jeordie’s big front teeth are very reminiscent of his rabbit self in Cheap Thrills!
Beth has become so miserable and tiresome. She used to be one of my favorites but her constant self-pitying is hard to read page after page. And I know a lot of teenagers are like that, but a lot of teenagers are capable of more selflessness and less hostility than she is too. That’s what makes her so well-written because she is exactly the kind of bitter girl I would have avoided in high school. Love when a comic makes unbearable people compelling to follow anyway even when you get as frustrated with them as you would if they were real.
I feel so much for Beth. As a fellow fat girl, we were told we were worthless and unlovable by society, and she was told that even more directly by her mom, and then when she finally meets someone she trusts and feels for, he impulsively sleeps with her before realizing it’s a bad idea. But in her head, she’s not enough, because she can’t be. And then he keeps assuming everything she does is about him anyway, which reinforces that. And being around someone who makes you feel like shit, even when they don’t think that, is not a good idea! Yes right now she’s desperate and needs support but it’s so hard to accept help from someone who makes you feel bad.
As someone who was the same age as these characters at the same time the comic takes place, who also grew up in a hyper-religious household with two parents who abused me in different ways and were constantly on my case about my body, I can tell you that she is just in a lot of pain. I’m now almost 40 and still in therapy for it. She’s in pain, she’s been told she’s disgusting and nobody will want her, she’s not trusted by the adults in her life no matter how hard she tries to do as she’s told, and she’s primed to lash out in self-defense because of how she’s always been treated. Her saying that she’d rather die in a gutter is not hyperbole. You might find her “unbearable,” but I know that she is incredibly realistic because I was just like her. I even had the same name as her before transitioning. I’m watching a blonde, midwestern version of myself play out on my computer screen. And I wish that version of myself had the support I know I needed.
Beth he’s not trying to fuck you aaaaarrrghhh
She can be in pain and coming from a toxic household and still be unbearable, mean and unpleasant. Finding her an obnoxious person doesn’t erode my sympathy for her. It’s also important to remember, however, that many kids come from these same households and are not as caustic as Beth is. She has her own innate traits that make her more inclined to snapping at people and being self-pitying, and these natural traits of hers are aggravated by a bad living situation. Shitty people can and often come from shitty environments. I think it’s interesting to see if she continues down a path of being hostile and selfish or if she finds the ability to move past it in light of what she’s gone through, and the quality of writing in the comic makes me excited to see where she goes regardless of the path she takes.
I mean she *just* a few speech bubbles ago told him that it hurts her to be around him and that that’s the one thing in her life she can currently control. He cares and he’s trying, but he’s not really hearing what she’s been saying pretty eloquently and reasonably for half this chapter.
It’s a pretty fresh heartache for her. Not everybody is able to casually be someone who’s just broken their heart. She’s allowed to want some distance.
To me she’s not reading here as unbearable, mean, unpleasant, obnoxious, selfish, or tiresome. Those are some pretty heavy words. She’s a bit caustic, sure, but so are Jeordie and Anna. It’s probably part of why they’re all close. And they’re all self-absorbed, and all immature. They’re kids.
I’ve actually been impressed by how *little* meanness there’s been here. Kids and everyone else can definitely be unbearably unpleasant, but this reads as like a 2 out of 10 on that scale for me.
thank you for the sanity. i think comic readers are so used to handing out heavy words for characters, I’m often left feeling like man have a little empathy for someone going through a shit time.