Feelin’ the Hurt
when i first started my little online endeavor, i got some good advice from several different sources. don’t get political/religious, ie, keep it impersonal. i suppose that’s a little impossible, after all, seeing as how personal art is. and the climate these days has been more and more trying, in that regard. but an artist i really like, anthony jones, reshared something on his facebook page, from a friend of his, who suffered somewhat over some new law. some people were supportive, but what irked me are the people who lost it, cursing at him, telling them that they only come for the art, not his opinion. (i cleaned up the language). but i remain steadfast. no political talk. i respect you guys, and your opinions, and we can all keep them to ourselves, and enjoy my little story.
that being said, i was thinking about a book a lot lately, as it seems more relevant these days, for some reason. and others must agree, because the publisher has ordered a reprinting of this 70 year old book, to meet the demands. it’s…
1984 (1984, actually)
having read the book when i was younger, it inspired me to think of the world a little differently. i came to realize not only that society was a lot more fragile than a young man of my age might have assumed, but that there was also a depth of ‘screwed up’ that people could believably attain and sustain.
and that’s the magic of world building. creating a dystopian hellscape is one thing, but making readers believe it’s a logical result of something else, you start thinking the world you live in isn’t so stable. maybe that was the beginning of my interest in noir. at it’s core, it’s about something that was better, at a time, but rotten now. it’s a great backdrop for real grit.
winston smith is a member of ‘the party’, a highly scrutinized group of individuals responsible for editing information as it is disseminated to the rest of the population. he gets a glimpse of what a regular life might have been before the oppressive government, pictured as a stern omni present face, known as big brother.
john hurt, who plays winston in the movie adaptation died recently too. no spring chicken, hurt’s imdb page is as long as my arm (i have long arms), but what sticks out most in my mind is this movie. i would highly suggest you take it in, or read the book if you never have.
OH! and i’m trying to drive more traffic to my patreon page, which has more and more content. shout out to those who’ve already chipped in. you guys are the shizznit, and also to my instagram. there’s a recent pic of me hard at work, if you want to see the mug who’s been drawing your ‘twice a week distraction’ hit it up here!
Love the use of animated GIFs. That city background recently was spectacular. I thought the additional shades of blue really made things pop.
One of my favourite webcomics, for the art. Story is improving, characters could use some more depth but it’s getting there.
thanks. glad you’re enjoying it!
Oi! The comic is now #98! VOTE VOTE VOTE!
haha, well, it resets every month. so, a good start is nice, but i think people get more bored as the month goes on, and they see their votes won’t matter soon.
it’s not the best system of rating something. i’m not sure of a better one, but, i don’t think it means much. there’s some hidden gems lower in the ranks, and some of the 10 ten stuff looks… well, it’s not my cup of tea.
Dystopia. I remember reading 1984 and watching the movie adaptation. The movie followed the book reasonably well.
But dystopia seems to have an easy “on” switch. I recently quit a company that changed its management structure, and instantly became a hell hole. Alls that’s needed is an asshole, with assholes to join in. Boom, and it all goes down. We have dystopian societies now, and stretching back through history. No shortage of assholes, no shortage of dystopias.
There was a study done in Africa on baboons (RadioLab story). Normally baboons have a psychotically dominant alpha male, and the other males fall in line. In this group, they were eating trash from a restaurant, and the trash had contaminated meat. The alpha male and the other dominant males ate the meat, became diseased, and died. This left the tribe with mostly females, and non-dominant males. The tribe’s culture changed, and essentially became a bunch of loving peaceniks.
A psychologist authored a study about bullies, and wrote a book about it. Then he wrote a sequel, about what to do about the bullies. His recommendation? Kill them. And here’s an inadvertent experiment, with the baboon group.
haha, well, let’s not ‘kill’ anyone. seems like sort of a nuclear option. but yeah, bullies are the worst. i’ve met a few, worked for a few, they make even simple things way worse than they need to be. and you’re right, it’s trickle down. bullies push other people to be like them, or against them. and alot of people just give in. it’s a bad structure. unless you’re the top bully.
AHHHH! You are so cute! How do you art when you can barely see over the desk?!
it’s tricky. sometimes i get a lift, sometimes i just sit on the floor, crying that i can’t get up. it’s a sad state of affairs.
Dude, I checked your Instagram page! You have a hairless cat! I’ll admit, I didn’t think you were the sort of guy to own a naked cat, but then again, you strike me as an unique dude. It’s a compliment. No worries. ;P
um, that’s me, i’m short and bald, and what you’re doing right now, is body shaming me. and it’s not cool. hahah
First you ban us from talking politics, and then you bring up 1984? You just love making things tough for your readers don’t you? :)
I could draw parallels here… but I think I’ll try to keep this friendly.
What I remember from reading the book, never saw the movie, was that it made me pay attention to some of the rights I have come to take for granted, such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press and the freedom of religion. Remember your rights and don’t let anyone take them away from you.
politics? i was just talkin bout a book. i have no idea what you’re on about…..
but you’re right about it opening up how you perceive your rights. it makes it easier to relate to people who might not have it as good as yourself. possibly how life could be a little better where you’re at. or how someone might be able to exist in a bad situation, if the way they think was severely restricted.