December 9, 2021: Release 4

[grabachair]

I think we're tying our selves in knots over the last few comics, when Occam's Razor probably applies:

The comic looks anti-covid-vax becuase Tat is anti-covid-vax, or at least vaccine hesitant and untrusting of government mandates.

[Z6IIAB]

I think we're tying our selves in knots over the last few comics, when Occam's Razor probably applies:

The comic looks anti-covid-vax becuase Tat is anti-covid-vax, or at least vaccine hesitant and untrusting of government mandates.

we? Im pretty sure he is defeding the antivax stance. what we were discussing is how and why lol.

[LinguisticTacoXX]

I think we're tying our selves in knots over the last few comics, when Occam's Razor probably applies:

The comic looks anti-covid-vax becuase Tat is anti-covid-vax, or at least vaccine hesitant and untrusting of government mandates.

we? Im pretty sure he is defeding the antivax stance. what we were discussing is how and why lol.

Honestly, the more obvious element is that he's anti-vax, but nobody seems to address the bigger topic. He's seemingly against Western medicine in all of its forms. My understanding of his viewpoint is that he believes all western medicine is used to cure a large overarching cultural trauma. And I think he misunderstands that different people have different brains. Functioning in society and sometimes even just as a human being in relationships can sometimes require the use of psychotropic medicine.

One of the things I hope is not true is that, in his mind, this also applies to physically necessary things like kidney dialysis. Li'l Sam is hooked up to a very clear IV drip called "eternal youth" when he's in the house. My hope is that this is simply an issue with Tatsuya's anxiety around aging and disdain for a profoundly ageist youth culture. At the youngest, he's in his late 40s to early 50s, so this would make sense.

[Z6IIAB]

nah, taco, I think that's stretching it. so far, he's criticizing only vaccines and hormones like oestrogen and testostenore being used for "gender transition". which i put in quotes bc they dont really change your sex, they just fuck up your body lol. what makes you think tat is criticizing ALL western medicine? he does use hospitalization to make methaphors, but that's no critic on the western medical treatment style. it's just,a medium for the metaphor. when he criticizes the covid vaccination or the gender pharma complex, he is pretty explicit.

[LinguisticTacoXX]

nah, taco, I think that's stretching it. so far, he's criticizing only vaccines and hormones like oestrogen and testostenore being used for "gender transition". which i put in quotes bc they dont really change your sex, they just fuck up your body lol. what makes you think tat is criticizing ALL western medicine? he does use hospitalization to make methaphors, but that's no critic on the western medical treatment style. it's just,a medium for the metaphor. when he criticizes the covid vaccination or the gender pharma complex, he is pretty explicit.

The entire 2020 arc had a huge overarching theme of psychotropic medicine masking her overall cultural trauma, which I think is the case for some people, but then there's the fact that he uses the terms "harmacy". I think a lot of people zero in on the gender meds, and that is a significant part of his message. I'm not sure where he is on physical medicine (his views could still run the gamut), but a lot of the symbolism for psychotropics is pills with smiley faces, i.e. "happy pills". And they're never really painted as good.

The "forgotten trauma" part I mentioned is a reference to medical use of "Lethe" in Sinfestverse, which is the mythological river people drink from to forget. I have never seen someone in Sinfest who actually benefits from psychotropic medicine, just people who use it to get high and/or overdose. I think there is, at the very least, a significant distrust of psychotropics in particular.

And I mean, that is a completely fair skepticism. Many types of medicine want to capitalize on mental health, and some of the more addictive ones, like benzodiazapenes, can be easily abused and make someone's life much worse than if they hadn't been prescribed it. But there are a lot of psychotropic medications that are necessary for mental health and well-being. Not everyone's brains are wired the same.

The thing with symbolism is that it's hard to write nuance into it. So we don't know how nuanced he is in his views of medicine or even his complete stance on things, just where he kinda sorta leans. I wouldn't think of my speculations as complete assertions, just sort of me trying to make sense of every little thing I see in comic. I do the same with everything I see or read, which makes me piss off a lot of people

[Z6IIAB]

nah, taco, I think that's stretching it. so far, he's criticizing only vaccines and hormones like oestrogen and testostenore being used for "gender transition". which i put in quotes bc they dont really change your sex, they just fuck up your body lol. what makes you think tat is criticizing ALL western medicine? he does use hospitalization to make methaphors, but that's no critic on the western medical treatment style. it's just,a medium for the metaphor. when he criticizes the covid vaccination or the gender pharma complex, he is pretty explicit.

The entire 2020 arc had a huge overarching theme of psychotropic medicine masking her overall cultural trauma, which I think is the case for some people, but then there's the fact that he uses the terms "harmacy". I think a lot of people zero in on the gender meds, and that is a significant part of his message. I'm not sure where he is on physical medicine (his views could still run the gamut), but a lot of the symbolism for psychotropics is pills with smiley faces, i.e. "happy pills". And they're never really painted as good.

The "forgotten trauma" part I mentioned is a reference to medical use of "Lethe" in Sinfestverse, which is the mythological river people drink from to forget. I have never seen someone in Sinfest who actually benefits from psychotropic medicine, just people who use it to get high and/or overdose. I think there is, at the very least, a significant distrust of psychotropics in particular.

And I mean, that is a completely fair skepticism. Many types of medicine want to capitalize on mental health, and some of the more addictive ones, like benzodiazapenes, can be easily abused and make someone's life much worse than if they hadn't been prescribed it. But there are a lot of psychotropic medications that are necessary for mental health and well-being. Not everyone's brains are wired the same.

The thing with symbolism is that it's hard to write nuance into it. So we don't know how nuanced he is in his views of medicine or even his complete stance on things, just where he kinda sorta leans. I wouldn't think of my speculations as complete assertions, just sort of me trying to make sense of every little thing I see in comic. I do the same with everything I see or read, which makes me piss off a lot of people

Interesting interpretation. Well, like I said, *I* still think it's reaching, bc Tat seems to be very explicit on his points but... then again.. it is art, hence subjective. So yeah, I guess that's as valid as any other interpretation. Who are you pissing off, lol? I mean, idk your other takes in other places, but this here is pretty mild, I don't think people are mad about it haha

[grabachair]

I think you make a valid point about Lethe being a proxy for medication, but I don't think it's all Western Medicine - I think it is the use of medication to mask real trauma. Much of Western culture has embraced the idea that suffering is always an evil, but I think Tat is showing that sometimes suffering is a necessary part of real growth. How many of his characters do we celebrate, not in spite of their suffering, but because they built meaning out of suffering?

Now let me say something inconvenient: I think a lot of people who are on hormone therapy / gender drugs are experiencing real suffering, but we give them no way to turn that into something meaningful and good, so instead it's down the pharmacological rabbit hole they go.

If you haven't read it, check out Abigail Shrier's book Irreversible Damage for more insight.

[LinguisticTacoXX]

nah, taco, I think that's stretching it. so far, he's criticizing only vaccines and hormones like oestrogen and testostenore being used for "gender transition". which i put in quotes bc they dont really change your sex, they just fuck up your body lol. what makes you think tat is criticizing ALL western medicine? he does use hospitalization to make methaphors, but that's no critic on the western medical treatment style. it's just,a medium for the metaphor. when he criticizes the covid vaccination or the gender pharma complex, he is pretty explicit.

The entire 2020 arc had a huge overarching theme of psychotropic medicine masking her overall cultural trauma, which I think is the case for some people, but then there's the fact that he uses the terms "harmacy". I think a lot of people zero in on the gender meds, and that is a significant part of his message. I'm not sure where he is on physical medicine (his views could still run the gamut), but a lot of the symbolism for psychotropics is pills with smiley faces, i.e. "happy pills". And they're never really painted as good.

The "forgotten trauma" part I mentioned is a reference to medical use of "Lethe" in Sinfestverse, which is the mythological river people drink from to forget. I have never seen someone in Sinfest who actually benefits from psychotropic medicine, just people who use it to get high and/or overdose. I think there is, at the very least, a significant distrust of psychotropics in particular.

And I mean, that is a completely fair skepticism. Many types of medicine want to capitalize on mental health, and some of the more addictive ones, like benzodiazapenes, can be easily abused and make someone's life much worse than if they hadn't been prescribed it. But there are a lot of psychotropic medications that are necessary for mental health and well-being. Not everyone's brains are wired the same.

The thing with symbolism is that it's hard to write nuance into it. So we don't know how nuanced he is in his views of medicine or even his complete stance on things, just where he kinda sorta leans. I wouldn't think of my speculations as complete assertions, just sort of me trying to make sense of every little thing I see in comic. I do the same with everything I see or read, which makes me piss off a lot of people

Interesting interpretation. Well, like I said, *I* still think it's reaching, bc Tat seems to be very explicit on his points but... then again.. it is art, hence subjective. So yeah, I guess that's as valid as any other interpretation. Who are you pissing off, lol? I mean, idk your other takes in other places, but this here is pretty mild, I don't think people are mad about it haha

I'm a needler, so I'll poke and prod until people reveal the "why" of their opinion. I think the people I tend to piss off are the ones who hold views they don't want to reveal in some manner, mainly because it's not something they want others to see or they want to admit about themselves.

[Gandalf]

Or maybe because they don't want to be put to the trouble of thinking things through properly? Much easier just to hold onto your instinctive opinions and not analyse them too deeply. Sometimes people don't get as far as even having a "why", which might be why they get annoyed when asked about it!