Wow. I never figured Donna for a typical evil, jealous cow. Mona finally has a sweet wonderful guy, and a healthy love interest and Donna is trying to bleeep it up. If Mona had tried to invite herself along on one of Donna’s dates, the top of her head would have come off. And that last panel totally says she knows exactly what she is doing.
Hmmm… Ryan’s face in the first panel doesn’t seem to reflect Mona’s enthusiasm for the tour. Yet, once it appears that Donna’s coming along, he has a big smile (and perhaps a hint of a leer? It’s tough to tell with his eyes).
I agree with fritzoid. I’d love to see Mona happy, but things don’t look too good right now. Given Mona’s basic personality, I’m afraid that a dewy eyed romance just won’t fit with the basic premise of the strip.
One possibility I’ve considered is that Ryan will simply end up being too agreeable for Mona. He likes Los Angeles, he likes Donna, he likes M. Smokey, he might even like Pierre. If he’s nice to Lucas, that has great comic potential, but what if (for example), he’s nice to Tiffany? It’s like Timothy Hutton’s complaint to his therapist in Ordinary People, that his father’s love is valueless because he likes everybody. “Oh, so your father loves you, but he has no taste.”
Sooner or later Mona’s going to blow up over SOMETHING, whether Ryan-related or not, and what if Ryan stays completely sunny? That’ll drive Mona crazy.
I’m actually not hoping Ryan’s going to try something with Donna (and I’d be REALLY disappointed with Donna if she allowed it), because that would fracture the Donna/Mona relationship, which is far more important to the strip. But when this goes badly (and I still expect that it will), I’m hoping Mona ends up simply disgusted rather than broken-hearted. Mona’s strength comes from her cynicism; an insecure or love-sick Mona is a weak Mona.
That’s funny. I always thought Mona’s cynicism was just a cover for trying to shield her insecurities about herself from everybody.
I thought Donna was so boy-crazy and so obsessed with marriage she would do anything to meet those goals with the right cute boy. She still hasn’t got over Chad moving on with his life.
Tiffany was put on a bus when she left Lucas for a rich model and hasn’t been seen since. The chances of her coming back are slim. If it’s just for this story, there is no chance she’s coming back just to show how agreeable Ryan is.
From the looks of things, the consensus wants this relationship to end due to Ryan’s faults. I’m wondering if this would apply to every relationship Mona gets into with a guy.
I’m just going to sit back and see what happens next.
I think one of the differences in the way we see the strip, razorback, is that you see (prefer to see) Mona’s Existentialism as a surface affectation, while I see (prefer to see) it as a sign of her acuity. Yeah, I’d like to see her evolve, but probably not in the direction you do.
It’s not a coincidence that Mona dresses in black, and smokes cigarettes, and is French. It’s not a coincidence that the strip is titled C’est la Vie (and not, perhaps, Joie de Vivre). The strip is informed by Sartre and Camus (and by extension Nietzsche and Kierkegaard). If this were a graphic novel, with a closed end and an arc of character development, I’d prefer to see Mona pass through Existential contempt, angst, and despair (which are the attendant temptations of the callow forms of the philosophy), and come out at the end with a Zarathustran sense of the humor inherent in the absurdity and futility of life, than see her become “happy” in the conventional, sentimental sense (“And she lived happily ever after”). Existentialism is not necessarily nihilism (Sartre himself was adamant about that), and it is possible to see and experience the joys which are yet possible in the Human Condition, even as one passes through the traumas of day-to-day sufferings. (This is where Existentialism, it seems to me, differs in practice from mere Stoicism, which teaches that neither life’s pains nor its pleasures should be given over to).
One of my favorite philosophical parables is the one about the Wild Strawberry. If you’re clutching a vine on a sheer cliff face, and above you is a pack of hungry tigers and below you is a crushing surf, and you notice that beside you a wild strawberry is growing from the rock face, you might as well go ahead and eat the strawberry.
As far as predictions of how Ms. Babcock is going to resolve this particular situation (or any future situation), I’m having fun with speculation, but I admit it’s only speculation. (That bit the other day about Mona being too uptight to share a bed with Ryan took me completely by surprise, yet I was delighted by its unexpected appropriateness.)
skorpia900rr about 14 years ago
Donna - the clueless wonder!
margueritem about 14 years ago
Sigh……
ladywolf17 about 14 years ago
Drats! So much for a romantic time with just the two of them.
Sisyphos about 14 years ago
Well, it was fun while it lasted, I guess. Has Donna “adopted” M. Smokey?
AliKzam about 14 years ago
No, the look on Donna’s face in the last panel says it all: she knows it’s a bad idea, but it’s too late.
RonBerg13 Premium Member about 14 years ago
Yeah, but, whose the third wheel, and who’s the fourth?
The missing M. Smokey about 14 years ago
This could be a Hollywood blockbuster.
Jaymi Cee Premium Member about 14 years ago
Wow. I never figured Donna for a typical evil, jealous cow. Mona finally has a sweet wonderful guy, and a healthy love interest and Donna is trying to bleeep it up. If Mona had tried to invite herself along on one of Donna’s dates, the top of her head would have come off. And that last panel totally says she knows exactly what she is doing.
fritzoid Premium Member about 14 years ago
Hmmm… Ryan’s face in the first panel doesn’t seem to reflect Mona’s enthusiasm for the tour. Yet, once it appears that Donna’s coming along, he has a big smile (and perhaps a hint of a leer? It’s tough to tell with his eyes).
margueritem about 14 years ago
I agree with fritzoid. I’d love to see Mona happy, but things don’t look too good right now. Given Mona’s basic personality, I’m afraid that a dewy eyed romance just won’t fit with the basic premise of the strip.
NoirRaven about 14 years ago
And Ryan’s true colors start to show…
fritzoid Premium Member about 14 years ago
One possibility I’ve considered is that Ryan will simply end up being too agreeable for Mona. He likes Los Angeles, he likes Donna, he likes M. Smokey, he might even like Pierre. If he’s nice to Lucas, that has great comic potential, but what if (for example), he’s nice to Tiffany? It’s like Timothy Hutton’s complaint to his therapist in Ordinary People, that his father’s love is valueless because he likes everybody. “Oh, so your father loves you, but he has no taste.”
Sooner or later Mona’s going to blow up over SOMETHING, whether Ryan-related or not, and what if Ryan stays completely sunny? That’ll drive Mona crazy.
I’m actually not hoping Ryan’s going to try something with Donna (and I’d be REALLY disappointed with Donna if she allowed it), because that would fracture the Donna/Mona relationship, which is far more important to the strip. But when this goes badly (and I still expect that it will), I’m hoping Mona ends up simply disgusted rather than broken-hearted. Mona’s strength comes from her cynicism; an insecure or love-sick Mona is a weak Mona.
razorback2824 about 14 years ago
That’s funny. I always thought Mona’s cynicism was just a cover for trying to shield her insecurities about herself from everybody.
I thought Donna was so boy-crazy and so obsessed with marriage she would do anything to meet those goals with the right cute boy. She still hasn’t got over Chad moving on with his life.
Tiffany was put on a bus when she left Lucas for a rich model and hasn’t been seen since. The chances of her coming back are slim. If it’s just for this story, there is no chance she’s coming back just to show how agreeable Ryan is.
From the looks of things, the consensus wants this relationship to end due to Ryan’s faults. I’m wondering if this would apply to every relationship Mona gets into with a guy.
I’m just going to sit back and see what happens next.
fritzoid Premium Member about 14 years ago
I think one of the differences in the way we see the strip, razorback, is that you see (prefer to see) Mona’s Existentialism as a surface affectation, while I see (prefer to see) it as a sign of her acuity. Yeah, I’d like to see her evolve, but probably not in the direction you do.
It’s not a coincidence that Mona dresses in black, and smokes cigarettes, and is French. It’s not a coincidence that the strip is titled C’est la Vie (and not, perhaps, Joie de Vivre). The strip is informed by Sartre and Camus (and by extension Nietzsche and Kierkegaard). If this were a graphic novel, with a closed end and an arc of character development, I’d prefer to see Mona pass through Existential contempt, angst, and despair (which are the attendant temptations of the callow forms of the philosophy), and come out at the end with a Zarathustran sense of the humor inherent in the absurdity and futility of life, than see her become “happy” in the conventional, sentimental sense (“And she lived happily ever after”). Existentialism is not necessarily nihilism (Sartre himself was adamant about that), and it is possible to see and experience the joys which are yet possible in the Human Condition, even as one passes through the traumas of day-to-day sufferings. (This is where Existentialism, it seems to me, differs in practice from mere Stoicism, which teaches that neither life’s pains nor its pleasures should be given over to).
One of my favorite philosophical parables is the one about the Wild Strawberry. If you’re clutching a vine on a sheer cliff face, and above you is a pack of hungry tigers and below you is a crushing surf, and you notice that beside you a wild strawberry is growing from the rock face, you might as well go ahead and eat the strawberry.
As far as predictions of how Ms. Babcock is going to resolve this particular situation (or any future situation), I’m having fun with speculation, but I admit it’s only speculation. (That bit the other day about Mona being too uptight to share a bed with Ryan took me completely by surprise, yet I was delighted by its unexpected appropriateness.)