Thank God This Shit's Over, It Was Just Getting Tedious And Not Even Entertainingly Stupid
Bit by bit, Christian Weston Chandler is returning to the internet. He'd kept himself in exile for the past two months, going back to being a pathetic, isolated shut-in instead of a pathetic, publicized internet-famous shut-in. But LittleBigPlanet2 has debuted, and with it, another excuse for Chandler to spend taxpayer money on spamming user-generation games with his wretched creations. I'd been derelict in my responsibilities, but now I realize that I have to get through this series. Because even if Chandler actually succeeds in forgetting the Internet, the Internet must never forget Chandler.
Anyway, this Sub-Episode is the final Sub-Episode, because Chandler's mother insisted that he stop doing them. This was a move that was a good call in the short term, but completely useless in the bigger picture. Barbara Chandler, after all, has enabled Chris to become what he is, treating him like he's special (albeit in that patronizing way too often used on the developmentally disabled), not encouraging him to do something with his life, and bailing him out when he acts inappropriately. Even if she was worried that doing comics about his frustrations against real people would get back to him, it wouldn't ruin his life any worse than Barbara's already done.
Especially because Barbara herself appears in this comic-- albeit symbolically. Crystal Weston Chandler, the magical twin sister of Chris-Chan, serves as Barbara's surrogate. She is a familial figure to Chris-Chan, a woman he cannot fuck, but who insists that he is indeed attractive and is only single because others are conspiring against him. She helps him defeat his enemies, and even tells them why Chris' Love Quest is a noble pursuit (even his Attraction Sign methodology). Furthermore, she assures Chris that he is an attractive man, because she is related to him, and is presented attractively*.
Chandler probably didn't intend for his sister-character to resemble his mother-character, but then, he probably didn't intend for the fact that his 'children' Sonichu and Rosechu would be seen as having an incestuous relationship. But Chris had his entire childhood and adolescence to be shielded from consequences by his parents, and sadly, it's unlikely that he's ever going to admit he's done anything wrong now. And that goes for Chandler as an artist as well as Chandler as a human being.
Oh, and Spoiler Alert; Chandler may have stopped the sub-episodes, but he made the core Sonichu comic more about his personal problems than ever.
* Something that cannot be said for real-life Barbara, who is often compared to the Pokemon Snorlax.
It's been suggested many times, often with credible sourcing, that Chris-chan's parents have actively encouraged him to avoid getting a job for financial reasons related to state welfare payments.
ReplyDeleteWhile Chris-chan is certainly old enough to be responsible for his own willfully misinformed attitudes and inexcusable behavior, do you feel it's also arguable that he's being exploited -- again, quite willingly in a way -- by his father and stepmother? It seems to me that there's more going on here than simple enabling.
It's not one-way, of course. I think one could easily argue that the reverse is also true, that Chris-chan also knows that the financial benefit he provides to his family allows him to behave as he does, and give shim another excuse to avoid self-reflection, self-improvement, and functional adulthood.
Omar,
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree. I think that both Bob and Barbara are horrible people for the way they encourage exploit their son's leeching off of the state. It's also a rather poor plan, at least until they figure out a way to stop Chris from spending so much of that money and more on the PSN.
What's especially galling for a political junkie like me, over and above everything else Chris has pulled, is his abuse of the social safety net. It's meant to provide support to people who are having trouble making ends meet, not allow lazy parasites like Chris to sponge off the hard work of others.
ReplyDeleteIt's crap like this that gives ammunition to those who want to see such programs abolished, and it drives me nuts.
It's times like this I wish Chris really had gotten to the chance to market Sonichu and then gotten sued by Sega and GameFreak for ripping off their intellectual property. I can just see Chris going on a rant justifying his actions that's just like the speeches he gives to the Jerkops when he justifies his Love Quest and why he doesn't have to obey their rules.
Either everyone else in the court would burst out laughing, or the judge would cite him with contempt of court and the bailiffs would have to haul his fat behind off to jail.
I'd pay to see that.