Well, this is my first stab at writing a blog and it's likely to be bit of a rambling mess considering the variety of things on my mind, but bear with me if you've bothered to read this far.
A few days ago I started reading the web comic "Questionable Content", and as stupid as this may sound, it has actually helped cheer me up considerably. This, for me, isn't a particularly uncommon occurance. Little things have a habit of rapidly brightening or darkening my mood, and in the case of things that brighten, I tend to get more than a little obsessed. It was one of the many things I liked about this comic that led me to blog that struck a chord with me.
http://www.deeplyproblematic.com/2010/06/disability-and-comics-how-questionable_08.html
It was the character Hannalore that sparked this little foray. She is the first character in any form of fiction I have seen that has ever portrayed OCD, an illness I suffer rather severly from, in an oddly accurate and funny way. The aforementioned article was ultimately what I began a half hearted search for and found remarkably easily. It would seem I'm hardly the only one this character struck a chord with. Hannalore often shows truly accurate characteristics of OCD, a number of which bear striking similarities to my own behaviour, often in a comedic light. Now, using mental illness for comedy purposes is a potential minefield, but one that I feel the author of QC has trodden particularly well through.
I felt that reading the strip that the author, Jeph Jaques, must either be a sufferer of OCD or be very well aquainted with someone who was a sufferer. The way it is portrayed sometimes seems overblown, but often not far from the way I behave and react at times. This intriuged me and led me to RMJ's blog, of which the few parts I disagreed with were the catalyst for me starting to write the things I want to write. (hopefully there will be future rambles from me.)
It was this sentance, which I nearly replied to as a comment, that got my mind into ranbmle-mode. "This is a little troubling because the idea that women with mental disabilities are not suited to relationships is a common and harmful one."
While I'm too tired right now to actually read the linked article and am ignorant of its contents or what it truly gets at, the sentance alone is something I have mixed feelings about. I am, as I have already said, a sufferer of OCD. Frankly, right now I don't feel that I am suited to a relationship. Its probably a good time to point out that I'm male and that the linked article probably doesn't really pertain to me due to its likely feminist leanings, but to me it's an interesting point. The writer appears to be in a healthy relationship, and good luck to her, but there are plenty of us out there that really are too cracked for other people to be able to deal with in a relationship. Or perhaps even allow others that close.
It just seems to me that so many of the stereotypes and cliches applied to people with mental illnesses and other such issues are very often based in fact, not just ingorance.
Now i'm going to have to bring this to a close, as this has taken far longer than I intended and i gaven't touched on half of the topics I wanted to. Save them for another day i guess. But I did want to finish with a little on my own personal philosophy. It pertains to peoples sensitivity to certain subjects, and to humour around them. Mental illness is one of these subjects. I must admit to having gotten rather angry in the past at OCD jokes, but I feel its something people should be able to joke about. Which brings me to my feelings on humour. To me, I see everything as being funny. Absolutely everything, without exception. The most horrific things that have ever happened to you, me or anyone else, I see that there is humour in. Perhaps you don't see it. Perhaps I don't see it(though I usually do). But someone will. I guess its like my own silver lining of gallows humour. I've often wondered where this came from, as I feel like I've always felt this way. Perhaps its a defense mechanism for me, that I don't let things get me down as much as I could. I've often felt that I might have taken the easy route out years ago if not for this way of thinking. Well, that combined with a liberal application of cowardice and substance abuse.
Well, that about brings to a close my first little whine, ramble and happy dance session. Hopefully it wont be the last. I'd welcome a little intelligent discussion on what I've written and, well, pretty much anything else. Somewhat lacking on that kind of discussion of late.
Anyway, thanks to Jeph Jaques and RMJ, you've both cheered me up a lil.
Mock us all you want, just do it well and I'll laugh along with you.
