In the universe presented in the comic: Sea lions are born sea lions, can’t change that, and are sentient to the point of having the capacity for language.
My point isn’t we should feel bad for cartoon sea lions, it’s that it’s not much of a reach for someone to read this and think they are talking about minorities. “Damn right! I should be able to say I don’t like (race) without being hassled for it!”
If the comic then had an egg asking “why would you say that?” you’d have a point.
The comic has a sea lion fully capable of speech, and a person saying “I do not like this clearly sentient creature, because they bother me when I say I don’t like them as a whole.”
seems an extremely oversensitive and overly literal take to me. it’s just a comedic way to represent a certain type of irritating persona, for the same meaning the character could as well say she dislikes annoying people and be subsequently annoyed by one across the rest of the panels, but that would be less of a comic
My point is you could change “Sea lion” to any minority, change the sea lion itself to that minority, and the comic does not lose all meaning. It can be interpreted as someone saying “I do not like (group)” and then being harassed by a member of that group while they repeatedly say nothing but “go away”. A racist could read this and think “Damn straight, I should be allowed to say I don’t like (race) without being harassed for it!”
OK i think i understand you better, but still it seems a long stretch to me. a racist could read this and etc but so what? if he reads fables and decides that the tortoise represents this minority and the hare is that one his outlandish take does not indicate a problem in the original intention
With “pedophile” or “murderer” the evidence for them having done harm is self evident. In the comic the reasoning for disliking sea lions is not self evident, and the comic could be easily interpreted as “I should be allowed to say I don’t like any group I want and not have to defend myself.”
Just wanna say thanks for holding the torch here. You pretty much echoed any response I would’ve made if I’d had the time, but probably better XD Sorry you got the brunt of the hate.
Racist against whom exactly?
In the comic replace the word “Sea lion” with any minority and the response is fully appropriate (Other than being in their house).
But it’s not about minorities and not about characteristics that people were born with and can’t change (if they wanted to) about themselves.
I mean it could very easily be (another internet favourite term) a dogwhistle. It’s not actually about sea lions…
I don’t think that’s the case here but it’s easy to see their point
In the universe presented in the comic: Sea lions are born sea lions, can’t change that, and are sentient to the point of having the capacity for language.
I get your previous point about the language, but now you’re just actively trying to spin this into something it isn’t.
Like, should we really feel bad for cartoon sealions?
My point isn’t we should feel bad for cartoon sea lions, it’s that it’s not much of a reach for someone to read this and think they are talking about minorities. “Damn right! I should be able to say I don’t like (race) without being hassled for it!”
Why would you do that?
um actually if you replace eggs with minorities you can see how you’re being pretty racist here
If the comic then had an egg asking “why would you say that?” you’d have a point.
The comic has a sea lion fully capable of speech, and a person saying “I do not like this clearly sentient creature, because they bother me when I say I don’t like them as a whole.”
seems an extremely oversensitive and overly literal take to me. it’s just a comedic way to represent a certain type of irritating persona, for the same meaning the character could as well say she dislikes annoying people and be subsequently annoyed by one across the rest of the panels, but that would be less of a comic
My point is you could change “Sea lion” to any minority, change the sea lion itself to that minority, and the comic does not lose all meaning. It can be interpreted as someone saying “I do not like (group)” and then being harassed by a member of that group while they repeatedly say nothing but “go away”. A racist could read this and think “Damn straight, I should be allowed to say I don’t like (race) without being harassed for it!”
OK i think i understand you better, but still it seems a long stretch to me. a racist could read this and etc but so what? if he reads fables and decides that the tortoise represents this minority and the hare is that one his outlandish take does not indicate a problem in the original intention
Now replace “sea lion” with “pedophile” or “murderer” and the comic remains the same still!
With “pedophile” or “murderer” the evidence for them having done harm is self evident. In the comic the reasoning for disliking sea lions is not self evident, and the comic could be easily interpreted as “I should be allowed to say I don’t like any group I want and not have to defend myself.”
Just wanna say thanks for holding the torch here. You pretty much echoed any response I would’ve made if I’d had the time, but probably better XD Sorry you got the brunt of the hate.