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Jokes are often based on broad stereotypes and generalizations (whether they are based in truth or not). Dumb blonde, nerdy engineer, and guilt-ridden Catholic

Jokes are often based on broad stereotypes and generalizations (whether they are based in truth or not). Dumb blonde, nerdy engineer, and guilt-ridden Catholic jokes use the same mechanism as this panel. Are nerdy engineer jokes grossly misleading and do they perpetuate stigmas we could be rid of? Or are they just jokes? That said, it's interesting that you make the assumption that Calvin had ADHD. The strip works because Calvin doesn't have ADHD, and medicating someone who doesn't have ADHD is a tragedy.

eavc 16y ago
Those stereotypes are mostly benign ideas such that intelligent people recognize them as exaggerations or fictions. That is clearly not the case with this comic. It is attempting to make an argument, not an absurd joke. I didn't see a single comment about this comic about how funny it was. And "A Tragedy in Four Panels" would be an awful set-up for a joke. Whether or not Calvin actually has ADHD is impossible to discern in this comic. I don't see a psychiatrist in one panel saying, "No, I think he's just really creative and playful," and then the parents get a second and third opinion until they get the pills. Instead, the author is implying that the medication's benefits are immaterial, the details of the diagnosis and other treatment are immaterial, that pills naturally squelch creativity and playfulness, that they suck the color out of the world figuratively, and that all of this is an end state. This comic could be twice as long with some more gray, a concerned parent, another trip to the doctor, and then a final frame of Hobbes and Calvin working at the desk together. Or it could refrain from turning Hobbes into merely a doll and instead have him just hang out, ready for Calvin whenever he's done with his work. Or it could show Hobbes become a mere doll for a few days, his parents come in to ask why he's not playing anymore, then deciding to not give him meds on weekends and vacation days. Or it could show that the medicine wears off near the end of the school day and that his evenings remain playful. But none of these are as sensational and none of them give voice to the widespread belief that ADHD is a fiction and its medication a societal blight. I'm sorry to seem so hard on the posting of this comic--I'm not. On the contrary, I think it provides a nice platform for analyzing what's wrong with it and how that reflects common beliefs. The first time I saw this comic, I liked it. That was before I was diagnosed as ADHD and began doing my research about it. For me it'd be like a comic from the 50s where the protagonist says, "My grandfather smoked 2 packs a day and died in his sleep at 100!" while towering over a bunch of simpering nerds clutching the surgeon general's warning. There's just a lot of popular resistance to the reality of ADHD because it is a relatively subtle condition and also a complex one. The valid criticisms to be made and questions to be raised are valuable, but it's a shame for them to be lost amidst sweeping and largely misinformed generalizations. Again, no hard feelings or anything. This is a subject about which I care deeply, and thanks again for posting this comic.

eavc 16y ago

Those stereotypes are mostly benign ideas such that intelligent people recognize them as exaggerations or fictions. That is clearly not the case with this comic. It is attempting to make an argument, not an absurd joke. I didn't see a single comment about this comic about how funny it was. And "A Tragedy in Four Panels" would be an awful set-up for a joke. Whether or not Calvin actually has ADHD is impossible to discern in this comic. I don't see a psychiatrist in one panel saying, "No, I think he's just really creative and playful," and then the parents get a second and third opinion until they get the pills. Instead, the author is implying that the medication's benefits are immaterial, the details of the diagnosis and other treatment are immaterial, that pills naturally squelch creativity and playfulness, that they suck the color out of the world figuratively, and that all of this is an end state. This comic could be twice as long with some more gray, a concerned parent, another trip to the doctor, and then a final frame of Hobbes and Calvin working at the desk together. Or it could refrain from turning Hobbes into merely a doll and instead have him just hang out, ready for Calvin whenever he's done with his work. Or it could show Hobbes become a mere doll for a few days, his parents come in to ask why he's not playing anymore, then deciding to not give him meds on weekends and vacation days. Or it could show that the medicine wears off near the end of the school day and that his evenings remain playful. But none of these are as sensational and none of them give voice to the widespread belief that ADHD is a fiction and its medication a societal blight. I'm sorry to seem so hard on the posting of this comic--I'm not. On the contrary, I think it provides a nice platform for analyzing what's wrong with it and how that reflects common beliefs. The first time I saw this comic, I liked it. That was before I was diagnosed as ADHD and began doing my research about it. For me it'd be like a comic from the 50s where the protagonist says, "My grandfather smoked 2 packs a day and died in his sleep at 100!" while towering over a bunch of simpering nerds clutching the surgeon general's warning. There's just a lot of popular resistance to the reality of ADHD because it is a relatively subtle condition and also a complex one. The valid criticisms to be made and questions to be raised are valuable, but it's a shame for them to be lost amidst sweeping and largely misinformed generalizations. Again, no hard feelings or anything. This is a subject about which I care deeply, and thanks again for posting this comic.