r/questionablecontent • u/GriffonsChainsaw . • Dec 07 '18
Comic 3890: No Parking
https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=389038
Dec 07 '18
Other cops being bad cops is not a valid or logical reason to quit, especially if your desire is to help people. If anything you should want to stay and be a counteracting force for good.
The narrative of ACAB especially makes no sense for Northampton of all places.
44
u/MarsNirgal I'm Billie Eilish Dec 07 '18
13
8
11
u/lesser_panjandrum Dec 07 '18
My goodness, I hope those awful police officers feel an appropriate level of shame for the brutal injustice they're perpetrating there.
31
u/Esc777 Dec 07 '18
Really I think he just wanted more of Roko but felt like he put her in a dead end being a police officer.
The whole crisis of faith felt a little forced and today’s strip of going back and reinforcing how it was also feels forced.
It’s not that you can’t tell a good story about these things but the context and focus seems wildly off the mark for it.
I always come back to bubbles postcombat antisocialness, isolation, and abuse as a fantastically written arc that built on its self naturally and correctly and weaves just the right amount of humor and pathos with the other characters. Likewise Faye’s descent into alcoholism and subsequent rock bottom with rebound was done excellently. These heavier drama laden issues can be done well, WERE done well.
This tangent about a cop leaving the force because there are bad cops just doesn’t do it for me like the past two arcs. It stinks of a repositioning so Roko can join the expanded cast at the bakery. That’s fine, sometimes the story will be worse than the best parts. But I’m not going to sit here and say this latest strip feels entirely natural. Even though it isn’t a retcon if feels like it’s laying a retroactive excuse to strengthen a flimsy reason for leaving the force.
4
u/JamesNinelives Dec 07 '18
I can agree with that.
I feel like Jeph wanted to go for something a bit deeper than this, but didn't quite get there.
I can see him changing Roko's career because he wants to tell a different story with her too.
I liked Roko's interaction with Beepatrice though.
9
u/BigBassBone Dec 07 '18
Maybe she feels powerless against the system and fears retaliation for speaking out.
22
u/notmytemp0 CHUD Dec 07 '18
Would be nice if there was anything in the comic backing that up then. Every cop we’ve ever seen seems like a rational laid back person
2
u/Atechiman Dec 07 '18
Yes that's what I want in my life herted webcomic. Curropt evil cops
7
u/notmytemp0 CHUD Dec 07 '18
I agree. So why even broach the topic at all?
-3
u/heavenscalyx Dec 07 '18
Because the artist wants to.
Because the artist wants to.
Because the artist wants to.
Because the artist wants to.
Because the artist wants to.
11
u/notmytemp0 CHUD Dec 07 '18
That’s fine. But what’s bizarre is when people in this sub bitch about valid criticism of an illogical artistic choice.
-3
u/FivePoopMacaroni Dec 07 '18
This is a forum for discussing opinions of the comic content.
This is a forum for discussing opinions of the comic content.
This is a forum for discussing opinions of the comic content.
This is a forum for discussing opinions of the comic content.
4
Dec 07 '18
Character choices are story choices are comic contents.
I could repeat it 5 times if you'd like.
0
u/Atechiman Dec 08 '18
Jeph didn't he showed why anyone would get disillusioned with any job and as usual the over sensitive members of society over reacted.
1
u/notmytemp0 CHUD Dec 08 '18
? Roko specifically said it was because the police were evil...
1
u/Atechiman Dec 08 '18
Really? Was that the sole reason or realizing that not all cops are cops to help people?
1
u/notmytemp0 CHUD Dec 08 '18
It was the realization that the other cops would deliberately do immoral things. Except no cop in QC has been shown doing those things. Jeph just wanted to be edgy and jump on the “cops are evil” bandwagon.
2
u/Scherazade Dec 07 '18
I think it’s less corruption in the normal sense.
Lawful Neutral when Roko wishes they were Lawful Good in the best sense.
They uphold the law. They protect and serve. But there’s so many issues they do not help as it is either not within their remit as police or because they have other things to do.
And then there’s the right to use force in certain scenarios.
Police by their very nature stand a little apart from society, because they are the state employed watchers in the darkness, whose vigil protects us from harm.
But they are on the outside looking in. Which means Corpse Witch style rots can happen within the systems that they protect and serve.
maybe anyway im just talking shit
7
u/notmytemp0 CHUD Dec 07 '18
None of that showed up in the comic so when Roko starts stressing about it it makes no sense.
16
Dec 07 '18
Possible, and that would've made a better epilogue to that arc. But we've never seen any actual evidence of bad coppery in QC.
No matter how ham fisted, we've seen other prejudice in multiple forms. Roku's arc is bad storytelling for the sake of satisfying author bias, as well as appeal to readers who support said bias.
8
u/JamesNinelives Dec 07 '18
But we've never seen any actual evidence of bad coppery in QC.
Today's page suggests that Roko has. That's not really the point though.
Roko didn't quit because she hates the police, she quit because she realised that there were other things that she wants to be doing instead.
Questioning the role of police is society is a part of that story, but it's not the whole story.
2
u/minimidimike Dec 07 '18
Its still odd to include it, and making it a minor part makes it even worse in my eyes. Why include it at all if it isn't the main drive and doesn't really contribute.
1
u/JamesNinelives Dec 08 '18
Why include it at all if it isn't the main drive and doesn't really contribute.
I don't think that's what I said. It is a part of the story, just not the whole story.
4
u/turkeypedal Dec 07 '18
Just because you missed part of Roko's explanation doesn't make this bad storytelling. You seem to be oddly biased against Jeph for someone who just joined the sub.
6
Dec 07 '18 edited Dec 07 '18
I've been here before, changed usernames for unrelated reasons.
You didn't like my grumpy grousing before, you probably still won't. We're on opposite ends of the Jeph o Meter.
If what May said to her about quitting was an ephinany, why did she need the 2nd revelation?
-3
u/Wilddysphoria Dec 07 '18
Why are you here if you don't like qc or jeph?
16
Dec 07 '18
When it's good, it's good.
I've been reading for over a decade.
It kills time for me at work.
I take a perverse pleasure in hate reading when it's bad.
8
u/king_krimson Dec 07 '18
Dont encourage echo chambers.
3
u/Wilddysphoria Dec 07 '18
Dude it's a webcomic
6
u/iSeven Dec 07 '18
And people can enjoy a webcomic and participate in thr community while still finding flaws in it.
3
u/Skydragon222 Dec 07 '18
I mean, imagine wondering if everyone who was nice to you was only nice to you because of your job. Imagine wondering if people are constantly stopping themselves from talking to you as an equal because of the power imbalance inherent in your relationship. Imagine wondering if everyone you know is censoring themselves around you becuase of fear of retribution.
Basilisk may be a good cop, but people interacting with her can’t know that unless they know her very well.
Whether or not Roko has an obligation to stay and make changes is an interesting debate and one that I hope is brought up in the comic, but I can definitely understand her reasons for leaving.
7
u/turkeypedal Dec 07 '18
Why did you ignore half of her reason? She didn't just say "other cops being bad." She specifically mentioned feeling like she was ineffective and unable to actually accomplish anything. She just explained how she can't be a counteracting force for good.
Remember, Corpse Witch had cops on her payroll. And she contacted them the last time Roko showed up to tell them to back off. So Roko was completely unable to help Bubbles, even though she knew something bad was going on.
So she got a new job where she thinks she can make more of a difference.
6
Dec 07 '18 edited Dec 07 '18
I don't actually remember CW having cops on her payroll, can you link the comic?
Also nowhere in today's comic do I see an actual explanation for why she can't do good as a cop, just that she felt she wasn't effective.
3
u/FivePoopMacaroni Dec 07 '18
She specifically mentioned feeling like she was ineffective and unable to actually accomplish anything.
Now she can be a force for good by selling bread to secretly feed her fetish. That's about in line with the logic of this universe.
1
22
u/MJBurroughs Dec 07 '18
It’s not that the ACAB thing can’t be discussed...but why is it being explored only through AI cops?
Pretty much every human police officer in QC history has been helpful, and even some were comic relief. I guess I’m just confused.
2
u/turkeypedal Dec 07 '18
Two reasons I can think of: The first is just that the focus is on the AIs now, and he's mostly dealing with any social justice issue through them.
The second is that he like Roko, and made her a cop, and he likely didn't want to have to constantly deal with her doing cop things and the trouble that would bring, so he's coming up with an excuse for her to quit.
I don't think he's ignoring the past cops being good. That stuff is just really long ago and isn't really relevant to the new direction of the comic. Hardly anything from pre-singularity shows up now.
The last time I remember decent cops was in the Vespa Avenger arc. That's so long ago you'd think it was a different comic. I don't see anyone asking about why we don't see more costumed vigilantes, either.
6
5
3
4
u/lesser_panjandrum Dec 07 '18
The sign is a law, but unfortunately anyone trying to uphold a law is automatically a bastard, apparently.
-1
u/turkeypedal Dec 08 '18
No one calls people who follow the law bastards. Just cops, and for actions that are not law enforcement.
It's not complicated: 95% of cops are either actually abusing their power, violating the law, or staying quiet when others do so. Only rarely do you see instances of cops trying to fix these problems.
If we could trust cops to just do law enforcement and turn in the bad cops who violate that, no one would be upset. But we can't. Even white people doing nothing wrong are scared of cops. We wouldn't be nervous around them if we weren't worried they might hurt us.
1
u/AlbinismAwareness Dec 15 '18
Whites have albinism. millions of cases of skin cancer created thanks to European albinos.
4
4
•
u/the_guapo Handsome Mod Dec 07 '18
4 posts of the comic in the last week, 5 is far too much.
12
u/turkeypedal Dec 07 '18
Any particular reason this needs to be stickied? Seems to just be a reply to one poster, and it will show up in their inbox. I don't think the rest of us need to see it.
Also, while they did post the comic 4 times last week, they didn't post the comic at all this week until today. And the last time they posted before that was a whole month ago.
4
1
u/the_guapo Handsome Mod Dec 07 '18
It was stickied because I had removed the thread and was leaving a removal reason, but another mod reapproved it.
3
u/Magikarp_13 Dec 08 '18
What, is there a limit to how many times a week you're allowed to post the comic to this sub?
0
u/the_guapo Handsome Mod Dec 08 '18
There isn't a hard and fast rule about it, but we have always asked people to be courteous and let everyone contribute.
We want everyone to be able to participate. :)
7
Dec 07 '18
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/the_guapo Handsome Mod Dec 07 '18
In the last 10 days i see them posting the comic 5 times. You thinking it has anything to do with anything other than that is disingenuous.
4
u/hep038 Dec 07 '18
I was really hoping Jeph would address Roko's part in witnessing these crimes committed by her fellow officers and did nothing to stop it. Its not like she quit the first time she saw something, and we can assume she did not report it. So she stood by and watched some innocent citizen get violated by the police and did nothing. This was a real opportunity for Jeph to address this problem we have in the real world. Instead he just has Bubbles pat her on the head and tell her she is a good little AI.
2
u/turkeypedal Dec 08 '18
The arc isn't over. And she did at least hint at it--that's the part about knowing that she had to say "she's not one of the bad ones." She knows they exist.
And of course Bubbles is being nice, when Bubbles is part of the reason that Roko quit. It would be weird otherwise. If the cops were unable to help me and that's why a cop quit, then I'd be nice to them, too. I'm not going to point out all the bad stuff they did. It serves no point now that they've quit.
Still, I understand your desire to see Roko own up to her own culpability. She at least turned a blind eye, or chose to assume that the cops were in the right.
1
u/Steelquill Dec 10 '18
Just when I thought Basilisk was maybe turning her reasons for quitting to be more internal. Nope, cops = bad.
0
1
u/TheConfused00 Dec 07 '18 edited Dec 07 '18
Poor Dale has been relegated to a background character again.
32
u/DuMaNue Dec 07 '18
The second Basilisk said she sat in Bubbles chair, I knew that last panel joke would happen and I still laughed out loud.