#031 Torture
- Thread starter The Wooster
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Man I heard so much of that. Reminds me of Titan A.E.
I dislike Creed as much as the next guy, but especially coming on the heels of "webcomic artist says soldier is the opposite of hero", the broad-brush, low-hanging fruit Christian jokes kind of come across like this:
I didn't get that impression with the previous comic, considering that it was already explicitly made clear that Gunny's concept of what it means to be "a soldier" is pretty far removed from reality (see Comic #14, where the wording of his speech not-so-subtly hints that that he sees sending his men on suicide attacks as an entirely reasonable tactic - not as a matter of "if", but rather "when"). Which is entirely understandable, considering that he is a self-described "genetically engineered cyborg killing machine" (see Comic #17).Michael Dunkerton said:
Furthermore, I felt that the comments thread for the previous comic pretty much deconstructed the very idea of applying the label of "hero" to those who serve in the services.
Rad's dialogue and the theme of this part of the comic seems to indicate that the writers of this comic think sending people on suicide attacks is what soldiers do. It's an odd connection, given that the character being satirized, Master Chief, is not a soldier in any way. I'm getting a pretty strong soapbox vibe from the whole arc.LenticularHomicide said:
The character in military-style power armor, who serves in the military wing of an organization named the "United Nations Space Command", who is almost only ever referenced by his military rank (Master Chief Petty Officer), and was indeed specially trained and engineered for this role as part of a project named after a race of legendarily fierce fighters (the Spartans), "is not a soldier in any way"? That's an honest question; I haven't played any of the Halo series, having never owned an Xbox.Michael Dunkerton said:
And more to the point, it's clear that, just as Rad Panda is not a carbon copy of Sonic the Hedgehog, that Gunnery Sergeant is not an exact copy of Master Chief. They are amalgamations of various characters, with certain traits played up for dramatic effect. Gunny's hard-headed devotion to his mission serves as an effective foil to Rad's concern for others, and serves to encapsulate the attitudes of the different eras of videogames that they come from, Rad representing the 90s' faux-edgy but generally earnest idealism, and Gunny the grim-and-gritty realism of shooters from the 2000s onwards (though Generic White Dude #647 would have served as a better model for the Battlecall: Field of Honor games, he just doesn't have enough brand recognition as a character, which was pointed out in Comic #8, where Rad mistakes all of the protagonists of those games as the same person).
In my reading of it, the entire arc is not so much a soapbox as it is an exploration of how Erin's fractured psyche relates to people (or imaginary characters) around her, and the fact that it takes place in a science-fiction quasi-military shooter, with sharply-drawn characters representing radically different mindsets, doesn't have to mean that it's trying to make any greater point about geopolitics or the like.
Master Chief essentially functions like Tarquin-era Vader--a specialist and attack dog with no real command or authority, but also acting independently instead of under a military commander. Unlike how people like to picture them, soldiers are not mindless minions who have a sole focus on the mission at the cost of morality--in fact most protocol for soldiers sacrifices efficiency for the sake of protecting civilians and preserving the lives of soldiers. The thing is, Rad didn't say, "I'm not a soldier, but I am a hero." He said, "I'm not a soldier, I'm a hero." The very clear statement is that the two are mutually exclusive. The point of this comic may not be political satire and mean-spirited jokes about video games, but that's certainly what many panels have consisted of.
Please note: If you don't quote me, I don't get notified if you post a reply.
Again, if you haven't yet, go read the comments thread for Comic #30; it features some very well-written discussion of the role of soldiers.
And the context is important: he's just been given what amounts to an ultimatum by Gunny:
A) Be "a soldier" (which, remember, by Gunny's borderline-sociopathic definition, means focusing on the mission to the exclusion of common decency), or
B) Be "a letdown" (see Comic #29, where Gunny equates anything less than unswerving dedication to his cause as "let[ting] me down")
Up until this point, remember, the sole arbiter of who is and isn't "a soldier" is Gunny himself; he was the one making all those speeches at the beginning. We see by his actions that his conception of the term is far different from what anyone, even the 'expendable' men under his command (poor Alex Pendable), seem to embody. The air quotes around "soldier" aren't there, but do we honestly need them by this point?
And Rad, whom we saw so starry-eyed and caught up in playing the game so far that he didn't pause to consider the implications of literally following Gunny along, has made his mind up; he explicitly rejects Gunny's (and - I cannot stress this enough - obviously misanthropic and wrong) mindset to chart his own path. He reclaims his own ability to decide for himself, and this is symbolized by the fact that he discards his helmet and dons his cap again.
Fair enough.Michael Dunkerton said:
Exactly! We're in complete agreement here; but Gunny obviously has different ideas about what "a soldier" is. That his viewpoint is so obviously and immediately wrong pretty much discounts the fact that the authors themselves subscribe to such a mentality.
Again, if you haven't yet, go read the comments thread for Comic #30; it features some very well-written discussion of the role of soldiers.
Actually, the exact words Rad said were, "I don't want to be a soldier... I want to be a hero".
And the context is important: he's just been given what amounts to an ultimatum by Gunny:
A) Be "a soldier" (which, remember, by Gunny's borderline-sociopathic definition, means focusing on the mission to the exclusion of common decency), or
B) Be "a letdown" (see Comic #29, where Gunny equates anything less than unswerving dedication to his cause as "let[ting] me down")
Up until this point, remember, the sole arbiter of who is and isn't "a soldier" is Gunny himself; he was the one making all those speeches at the beginning. We see by his actions that his conception of the term is far different from what anyone, even the 'expendable' men under his command (poor Alex Pendable), seem to embody. The air quotes around "soldier" aren't there, but do we honestly need them by this point?
And Rad, whom we saw so starry-eyed and caught up in playing the game so far that he didn't pause to consider the implications of literally following Gunny along, has made his mind up; he explicitly rejects Gunny's (and - I cannot stress this enough - obviously misanthropic and wrong) mindset to chart his own path. He reclaims his own ability to decide for himself, and this is symbolized by the fact that he discards his helmet and dons his cap again.
Ahaha. With all this talk of 'creed' I'm glad there was someone else that had this thought...Vendor-Lazarus said:
What's creed again? >_<
That was the first thing that popped into my head..CrystalShadow said:
I was a bit surprised to see that no one else had mentioned it, and became quite confused when post after post mentioned creed.
I just took it as a misunderstanding on my part and speculated that "creed" must be some form of american religion thing.
I know what the word means but not how it related to singing campfire songs?
I might have read something about christian camps though..
This rather puts me in mind of The Addams Family Values where Wednesday and Pugsley get sent to summer camp.
And I guess Grey and Corey are taking the Pirates Code approach to release schedules these days huh? "More guidelines than actual rules"
And I guess Grey and Corey are taking the Pirates Code approach to release schedules these days huh? "More guidelines than actual rules"
You know, Creed could have been good, if Scott Staph had let the rest of the band to their thing... In fact, they did get good, when they kicked him out and hired Myles Kennedy. See: Alter Bridge.