Questionable Content XVIII: "That's only sort of good news"

[Yuki Akuma]

I miss Sam's friendship with Momo.

[Windscion]

Heh. Good on Sam here. Faces facts: she don't GAF, move on.
Not to trivialize! That kind of betrayal can be shattering.

[Daywalker1983]

Emmett seems prone to mugging like no other Character. Combined with the related hijinks and the impromptu crying it's like a cartoon Character Was suddenly fused into QC.

[theangelJean]

Emmett seems prone to mugging like no other Character. Combined with the related hijinks and the impromptu crying it's like a cartoon Character Was suddenly fused into QC.

What's "mugging" in this context? I can only think of "mugging for the camera" as in deliberately exaggerated facial expressions, but that has an element of knowingness that Emmett doesn't show.

[Wraith]

Who the hell looks for goatse references with their monitor facing the door, which is wide open, which an incredibly anxious and neurotic teenager who is banned from the internet wandering the house? How could that POSSIBLY go wrong?

Reddit is tearing this strip apart. They hate Emmett's 'baby-talk' accent, that the mom somehow makes a living looking at 15 year old memes... But mostly I think they just hate being called out.
The last few days has made some readers very uncomfortable - they likened Emmett's behaviour to that of a child who has been abused, terrified of putting a single foot wrong and desperately begging for forgiveness at even the vaguest hint of parental disapproval.

Actual wholesome content, where an anxious teenager says thank you because their mom is patient with them and not a dead-beat? Apparently that doesn't compute.

What's "mugging" in this context? I can only think of "mugging for the camera" as in deliberately exaggerated facial expressions, but that has an element of knowingness that Emmett doesn't show.

I've also heard it used to mean any kind of unnecessarily exaggerated display of emotion - Emmett seemingly has absolutely no chill, pink with embarrassment one minute, panicked pleas for forgiveness the next, and now being overwhelmingly saccharine with their mom.

It kind of works, but at the same time; Emmett is a teenager, and a character in QC. Mugging and/or 'no chill' is hardly unusual in either context.

[theangelJean]

Who the hell looks for goatse references with their monitor facing the door, which is wide open, which an incredibly anxious and neurotic teenager who is banned from the internet wandering the house? How could that POSSIBLY go wrong?

I'd forgotten they weren't allowed the internet. I wonder if Jeph did too? Seriously, anything you don't allow your kids, you don't do around them unless they understand the double-standard completely - otherwise they're peering over your shoulder at all opportunities. e.g. I can keep my 8-year-old out of the chocolate because she has an anaphylactic reaction, but anything I install on the tablet or the computer, she wants in. (And I still don't eat chocolate in front of the kid, because it's plain cruel.)

Reddit is tearing this strip apart. They hate Emmett's 'baby-talk' accent, that the mom somehow makes a living looking at 15 year old memes... But mostly I think they just hate being called out.
The last few days has made some readers very uncomfortable - they likened Emmett's behaviour to that of a child who has been abused, terrified of putting a single foot wrong and desperately begging for forgiveness at even the vaguest hint of parental disapproval.

Actual wholesome content, where an anxious teenager says thank you because their mom is patient with them and not a dead-beat? Apparently that doesn't compute.

Hmm. I'm not on Reddit, and Emmett's mum comes across as patient and reasonable. But they might not be completely wrong - we haven't heard much about Emmett's dad yet.

I've also heard it used to mean any kind of unnecessarily exaggerated display of emotion - Emmett seemingly has absolutely no chill, pink with embarrassment one minute, panicked pleas for forgiveness the next, and now being overwhelmingly saccharine with their mom.

It kind of works, but at the same time; Emmett is a teenager, and a character in QC. Mugging and/or 'no chill' is hardly unusual in either context.

Thanks for that, and yeah I agree - "fourteen" explains a whole lot.

[Wraith]

Hmm. I'm not on Reddit, and Emmett's mum comes across as patient and reasonable. But they might not be completely wrong - we haven't heard much about Emmett's dad yet.

The thought sort-of-kind-of crossed my mind, I have to admit. Professor Mom is a helicopter parent, which is an annoyance of sorts, and I can see how her questioning of Sam as to Emmett's whereabouts and activities could possibly be interpreted as 'snooping'. Emmett's reaction of "OH GOD PLEASE DON'T PUNISH ME I'M SORRY!" reading as someone terrified of retaliation is plausible...

...But Occam's Razor says that Emmett has also started fires and almost died in a ditch after tattooing herself. Keeping an eye on her because she's an insane bumbling mess is entirely appropriate behaviour, and I think the reaction speaks more about the redditors than it does the comic. If they can't tell the difference between a concerned mother of an emotionally immature teenager and a narcissistic abuser... That makes me sad rather than angry.

[Keltest]

The thought sort-of-kind-of crossed my mind, I have to admit. Professor Mom is a helicopter parent, which is an annoyance of sorts, and I can see how her questioning of Sam as to Emmett's whereabouts and activities could possibly be interpreted as 'snooping'. Emmett's reaction of "OH GOD PLEASE DON'T PUNISH ME I'M SORRY!" reading as someone terrified of retaliation is plausible...

...But Occam's Razor says that Emmett has also started fires and almost died in a ditch after tattooing herself. Keeping an eye on her because she's an insane bumbling mess is entirely appropriate behaviour, and I think the reaction speaks more about the redditors than it does the comic. If they can't tell the difference between a concerned mother of an emotionally immature teenager and a narcissistic abuser... That makes me sad rather than angry.

I think it really depends on which behavior came first. Is Mom a helicopter parent because Emmett can't be trusted with a butter knife without causing some kind of mayhem, or is Emmett going out of their way to cause problems in an effort to get some space from an overbearing mom who doesnt trust them one iota?

[Rodin]

I think it really depends on which behavior came first. Is Mom a helicopter parent because Emmett can't be trusted with a butter knife without causing some kind of mayhem, or is Emmett going out of their way to cause problems in an effort to get some space from an overbearing mom who doesnt trust them one iota?

With no evidence, I'm going to side with "fourteen in a comic strip one step removed from cartoon antics". Emmett's meant to be wacky, but a more realistic kind of wacky then the likes of Melon or Emily. Emmett's mom is meant to be a bit overprotective, but not without justification and not without the best of intentions. Emmett likes hanging out with Sam because Sam is a shenanigans magnet. Emmett's mom thinks Sam is a good influence for her extremely introverted and socially anxious daughter, but the shenanigans concern her.

All of this may change once we find out more, but at the moment I don't see anything to be concerned about.

[Willie the Duck]

I'd forgotten they weren't allowed the internet. I wonder if Jeph did too? Seriously, anything you don't allow your kids, you don't do around them unless they understand the double-standard completely - otherwise they're peering over your shoulder at all opportunities. e.g. I can keep my 8-year-old out of the chocolate because she has an anaphylactic reaction, but anything I install on the tablet or the computer, she wants in. (And I still don't eat chocolate in front of the kid, because it's plain cruel.)

I suspect the idea is that the mom heard about them seeing the robot butt at the robotics shop, tried to do online research as to whether to freak out about it, and ended up down a weird internet rabbit hole.

[Rakaydos]

I suspect the idea is that the mom heard about them seeing the robot butt at the robotics shop, tried to do online research as to whether to freak out about it, and ended up down a weird internet rabbit hole.

My first thought was that one organization who accidently made their logo into a goatsee reference relatively recently. Not a deliberate NSFW search, but noticing something accidently NSFW about a mundane subject.

[BRC]

Emmet's mom does something unspecified Academically involving The Internet

https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4702

[Wraith]

I suspect the idea is that the mom heard about them seeing the robot butt at the robotics shop, tried to do online research as to whether to freak out about it, and ended up down a weird internet rabbit hole.

When Emmett and Sam first mentioned Professor Mom, they described her job as 'Professor of Internet'. Rather than Computer Sciences, she could just as easily be a professor of Art, History, Art History or even Sociology that just happens to have a specialization in internet culture.

There's a few equivalent real-life positions like that, and in a QC world where computers can make their own memes, it makes as much sense as any other kind, I guess.

[Willie the Duck]

Emmet's mom does something unspecified Academically involving The Internet
https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4702

I remember. I am inferring my guess simply from the this being contemporaneous with finding out about the robot butt. Maybe a stretch. She's just doing her normal job is the other. QC is pretty wacky, but my assumption is that she's not staring at an actual Goatse/Goatse-inspired picture on a computer when her child can walk in.

When Emmett and Sam first mentioned Professor Mom, they described her job as 'Professor of Internet'. Rather than Computer Sciences, she could just as easily be a professor of Art, History, Art History or even Sociology that just happens to have a specialization in internet culture.

There's a few equivalent real-life positions like that, and in a QC world where computers can make their own memes, it makes as much sense as any other kind, I guess.

I would guess probably Sociology or Communications as a field, with 'of the internet' as a focus; but yeah the internet could be its' own PHD track in this world.

[georgie_leech]

The internet could be it's own PHD track in this world, what with it being practically its own weird subculture(s) that rapidly changes constantly which also bleeds over into the non-digital world in weird ways.

[Vinyadan]

Lol, from all info collected, I am now fairly certain that she's actually a content moderator on facebook. Works from home, sees a lot of goatsee, and doesn't want her child to access the lurid gunk she spends her day immersed in.

[Wraith]

...Jesus Christ, she moderates MommyMilkers69420's chat, doesn't she?

[Keltest]

...Jesus Christ, she moderates MommyMilkers69420's chat, doesn't she?

Chat modding can't really be considered a profession by any stretch, even if it is work.

[theangelJean]

Emmet's mom does something unspecified Academically involving The Internet

https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4702

And it seems like the boundary is "not allowed to get a phone with Internet access" rather than "not allowed Internet access". Which would be unusually restrictive for a 14-year-old in 2022 IRL, but then again said 14-year-old already ordered themself a tattoo gun and taught themself how to use it, so *shrug* I don't see most kids their age actually complying with that, but I have an oddly obedient kid who hasn't reached that age yet, so I dunno.

[Vinyadan]

And it seems like the boundary is "not allowed to get a phone with Internet access" rather than "not allowed Internet access". Which would be unusually restrictive for a 14-year-old in 2022 IRL, but then again said 14-year-old already ordered themself a tattoo gun and taught themself how to use it, so *shrug* I don't see most kids their age actually complying with that, but I have an oddly obedient kid who hasn't reached that age yet, so I dunno.

The tattoo gun incident does seem a good reason to take unsupervised internet access away from a kid.

[Traab]

Since she is specifically talking about the goatse hands, I was thinking it was that somewhat more recent tik tok video where someone bends over, acts like they are spreading, then uses a camera trick and hey presto, its the persons face that appears. Stuff along those lines, so its the goatse hands and pose, but no mind scarring horror.

[Keltest]

So real talk though, Mom Popcorn absolutely tastes better, right?

[geoduck]

So real talk though, Mom Popcorn absolutely tastes better, right?

Assuming basic competence in preparation, most things taste better if someone else makes them.

[Windscion]

What geoduck said.

[Delicious Taffy]

Something something kids watching TV

[Wraith]

If I didn't know better, I'd think this feels like a direct (and well deserved) thrust right at the snark community.

"Look at them, sat there making inane complaints over something that they continue to keep viewing - what a pair of ridiculous-sounding children! Their outrage is so silly that its funny!"

And yes; I am aware of the irony that it is I, of all people, pointing this out and laughing with it.

[Willie the Duck]

Certainly doesn't have to be (as in, it works on its' own), but it would work as such a take-that. My only question would be why now? I think one of the two main QC reddits is all-complaint-all-the-time, so if he's paying attention, I would think he'd have done so after raisins or MommyMilkers or Yay too-quickly exposing their secret or the like.

Anyhowsers, jump shift from big weighty 'my mom doesn't care' plot to watching cartoons. Glad kids still watch TV together. Glad we don't have to 'resolve' that issue. Glad we don't have to jump straight into a 'will they or won't they' plot for these two. Kinda want more shown on the Emmett-makes-mistakes/mom-hovers/Emmett-is-terrified-of-getting-in-trouble plot, but that might just be me wanting to skip to the end of the book, so to speak.

[Cikomyr2]

Since Emmet's mom seem to be involved in rather deep meme studies, maybe shes researching the ability of the internet to find sense-overriding datapoint that just short circuit our better judgement and have us accept the narrative/share the meme.

Basically she is a matter expert about the effectiveness of the internet to manipulate you in accepting crazy ****, and doesnt want her daughter subjected to that kind of risk.

Doesnt require some crazy double standard.

[theangelJean]

Since Emmet's mom seem to be involved in rather deep meme studies, maybe shes researching the ability of the internet to find sense-overriding datapoint that just short circuit our better judgement and have us accept the narrative/share the meme.

Basically she is a matter expert about the effectiveness of the internet to manipulate you in accepting crazy ****, and doesnt want her daughter subjected to that kind of risk.

Doesnt require some crazy double standard.

I mean, you could be right, but I never said the double standard was "crazy". There are quite often good reasons, and Emmett's history alone would be a pretty good one. My comment was more along the lines of "good luck getting kids to accept those reasons, especially teenagers" and "don't rub their faces in it". If Emmett isn't actually forbidden to use the internet, just not allowed internet access on her phone, them even that problem disappears.

[Radar]

I mean, you could be right, but I never said the double standard was "crazy". There are quite often good reasons, and Emmett's history alone would be a pretty good one. My comment was more along the lines of "good luck getting kids to accept those reasons, especially teenagers" and "don't rub their faces in it". If Emmett isn't actually forbidden to use the internet, just not allowed internet access on her phone, them even that problem disappears.

One of the key things about having children is that there will be double standards as they pretty much have to. Some of the things are really obvious as not letting small children use any sharp objects or making sure they go to sleep at a reasonable time even if you will stay up late. With time those boundaries are pushed back and it is simply always a question of where they should be at a given time. Second part of it is making sure to explain the need for the difference between what adults and children can do. And more often than not, you have to figure it out as you go.