I mean, it so transparently tries to justify child molesting as something that the “evil girls” are doing to the “poor teacher” that it straight up references the old man in Lolita, you know, the child molester, as a contemporary hero.
Like… what the ever loving fuck, Sting?
Tomas
He’s also famous for a song about a man in love with a prostitute.
I think what we’re discovering is that if Sting turns out to have a basement full of women he’s kidnapped, we shouldn’t be surprised.
Deanatay
I… know several women who would love to be there…
Briny
Maybe we should call the Pol… n/m.
NickG
To be fair to Sting, which is not a sentence I often use, ‘Every Breath You Take’ was intended to be a creepy stalker song, people took it the wrong way. Same with The Cardigans’ ‘Lovefool’ and Babybird’s ‘You’re Gorgeous’.
‘Don’t Stand..’ is still vile though, and not alone in pop music of the time, look at The Boomtown Rats’ ‘Mary of the 4th Form’ or Wings’ ‘Girls’ School’ (Double A side to ‘Mull of Kintyre’)
Godfather
Eeeegh…..and I like both songs, too. But it’s wrong. Eeeeeeeefh.
LordHaw
I must say, that song wasn’t big on my list of music I gave a shit about back in the day and I can’t say I ever paid attention to the lyrics of that song…seems I should have.
Guyferd
Have you ever actually read the lyrics? There’s nothing there that says the teacher acted on or took advantage of a schoolgirl’s crush. Looks to me (again according to the lyrics) it’s about a teacher about to be falsely accused.
Guyferd
Eeep, I take that back.
Pablo360
That’s the subtitle of my autobiography.
Jhennaside
He used to be a teacher. Said girls had crushes on him. Said the song was about that temptation. He is pretty transparent about it.
butting
He has at least directly said that the verse about the car describes a rape, which to me suggests he understood the ethics and power/consent issues of what he was writing.
The chorus, though, which reduces all that to an issue of association? Smack yourself in the bloody head, 29-year-old Sting, hard. You wanna write about themes like that, don’t bloody trivialise them by making the main focus of the song a shallow shitty pop song about someone being embarrassed to be seen with someone they’re pretending is just a crush. Nabokov got that, and you’re no Nabokov by a LONG shot.
deathjavu
I knew it was about pedophelia but I never got the impression the teacher was anything but a villain.
Sting writes a lot of creepy songs, frankly. “Every step you take I’ll be watching you”? Stalker much?
Time Sage
That one is SUPPOSED to be creepy
Lel
Eh, I didn’t interpret it as glorifying pedophilia. I interpreted that song as getting inside the head of a pedo, sure, but making me feel bad for him didn’t make me think he’d be justified in doing anything, it just made me sad that people are tormented by their own sick mind. Maybe I’m just projecting because I’ve dealt with a lot of mental health issues (depression and anxiety), a lot of (in my case, logically unwarranted but just as emotionally real) issues of guilt/shame over things that I can’t even control… it resonates with me. I understand what it’s like to feel ‘broken’, to try so hard to do the right thing (in my case, blaming myself for my own lack of capability, but in his case desperately trying to talk himself out of acting on his urges) but being unable to change the fact that your brain is undermining you at every turn.
The teacher he’s singing about is *sick*. He has a desire to commit a socially and morally unacceptable act that he’s struggling to suppress throughout the entirety of the song, but he can’t chose not to feel that desire, just to control it. It’s not like the girl knows what’s going on in his head, or is culpable for his actions in any way – his perception of her is increasingly warped, and he’s struggling hard to be a good person despite his feelings.
Sting wrote a lot of songs that put you inside the head of a creepy person. It’s uncomfortable to have to empathize with and understand people who have immoral thoughts and act in immoral ways, but being put in their shoes isn’t the same thing as glorifying or excusing them. They’re creepy not because they’re ‘evil’, they’re creepy because they’re mentally ill. Not the song about the prostitute for all I know, I’ve never listened to it, but for the other ones the narrator is obviously disturbed. I’m deeply uncomfortable with the idea that people can’t be empathized with for things about themselves they can’t change, even if all you can do is pity them while treating them the same.
Hari
Lots of lyrics Sting wrote for the Police are creepy as hell. Give “Every Breath You Take” or “Can’t Stand Losing” a listen. It makes you wonder how creepy he is/was in real life.
Yeah, I mean my dad claims that when he was a starving grad student he lived off of nothing but candy bars for like two weeks. Also pretty sure my brother ate like that on purpose when he first started college.
Heavensrun
Yeah, but the fact that she’s not dead means they’re at least not AS ridiculous as they were in Shortpacked!.
I had this happen to me in real life. My college boyfriend sat behind me in the one class we had together first semester freshman year, and in the third or fourth week of classes I had finally gotten my contacts I had forgotten at home and wore them to class, and he stopped me after class to comment on the fact that I wasn’t wearing my glasses.
It was David Willis. He was taking reference pictures of the bar to use as a background in a future strip, and happened to catch the two of them in one of his shots. It gave him an idea for a storyline and now I’ve gone cross-eyed from too much meta.
I wouldn’t count on any random group of college students including anyone who has an interest in politics. A lot of kids are pretty politically apathetic, as seen by their voting numbers.(Of course there have been efforts to make it harder for young people like university students to vote in some places, further keeping the numbers down.) Even if there were some with a political interest in the bar that night they may not have recognised her unless she’s their Congresswoman.
Yup, that’s the reason voting numbers are down. If you’ve ever voted on a campus, you’ve dealt with the 4 hour line for one half-working machine problem before. And that’s often on purpose as college towns tend to be more liberal-minded.
Beyond that, I can say from my experience mentoring college groups, that college kids are some of the most plugged in politics-minded folks you’ll ever meet.
I think I recall hearing this past election that at least one conservative politician was caught commenting that he either cut down polling places on purpose or didn’t mind them getting cut by a college, because the kids there voted liberal anyway.
foamy
The idea of a voting machine never fails to give me the heebie-jeebies. Hand counted paper ballots remain the best and most efficient way to vote.
is glad to live in a country where voting is a duty rather than a right, meaning that the system is set up to make it as easy as possible for everyone of age to vote. (seeing as how you get fined if you don’t go out and vote)
As such, no politician would get any advantage out of trying to make it harder for people to vote, and people can actually trust voting machines, because we have way too many parties, all of which with a chance to get at least some seats in the government, to try and mess with any of the results.
Belgium. Our every single government is made up out of a coalition of at least two to three parties, if not more. (admittedly, we also once spent a year without a government because they couldn’t manage to build a coalition, but still, it works, somehow.
vlademir1
My personal experience suggests (if only anecdotally) that the college kids are the most prone within their age demographic to be politically interested and/or active. The problem is they often don’t have the working systemic knowledge to know where to register (at home or where they attend school) and and how to utilize absentee programs when needed. Then you add on the fact that most students are only voting once during their undergrad college career, it’s most oft their first time voting and like most people they don’t stop and think about whether their registration is current until a presidential election year (typically in September or October when a student who needs to be registered at home may well be shit out of luck because they need to register in person in most states even if they need not vote in person). Then you add in all the time management issues the youngest end of that range typically have juggling classes, papers and studying, possibly work, extracurriculars and hobbies, etc then add in meeting the deadlines for registration and either absentee voting or else finding the time to get to and know where there polling place is (potentially while not knowing the nearby area off campus all that well yet).
Oh, and for the record the voter turnout rate in the 18 to 29 demographic typically hovers between 40% and 50%, for whatever reason it was lower during the bulk of the ’80s and ’90s, and their voter registration rates hover mainly around the 55% to 60% range.
That aside, the only people in Robin’s district who don’t know her on sight are not watching TV and/or ad supported videos on the internet. Both get flooded with political ads most of which have pictures or video of one or more candidates for the relevant office in them, with the internet ads targeted by region to the IP address of the viewer.
283 thoughts on “Innocent”
Ana Chronistic
“or, like, take out some cabinets idk, do you even NEED a sink when there’s one in the bathroom???”
Ana Chronistic
Young teacher, the subject
Of schoolgirl fantasy
Cholma
Her friends are so jealous
You know how bad girls get
Some times it’s not so easy
To be the teacher’s pet
sylvestrus
Don’t stand so
Don’t stand so
Don’t stand so close to Sting
Cerberus
That song is so unbelievably gross.
I mean, it so transparently tries to justify child molesting as something that the “evil girls” are doing to the “poor teacher” that it straight up references the old man in Lolita, you know, the child molester, as a contemporary hero.
Like… what the ever loving fuck, Sting?
Tomas
He’s also famous for a song about a man in love with a prostitute.
Cerberus
Hey, at least that gross song is only intensely denigrating to sex workers and doesn’t openly romanticize pedophilia.
It’s like, would you like this punch in the jaw or this bottle of poison?
Cholma
He also has a song about stalking that many people think is romantic!
Cerberus
I think what we’re discovering is that if Sting turns out to have a basement full of women he’s kidnapped, we shouldn’t be surprised.
Deanatay
I… know several women who would love to be there…
Briny
Maybe we should call the Pol… n/m.
NickG
To be fair to Sting, which is not a sentence I often use, ‘Every Breath You Take’ was intended to be a creepy stalker song, people took it the wrong way. Same with The Cardigans’ ‘Lovefool’ and Babybird’s ‘You’re Gorgeous’.
‘Don’t Stand..’ is still vile though, and not alone in pop music of the time, look at The Boomtown Rats’ ‘Mary of the 4th Form’ or Wings’ ‘Girls’ School’ (Double A side to ‘Mull of Kintyre’)
Godfather
Eeeegh…..and I like both songs, too. But it’s wrong. Eeeeeeeefh.
LordHaw
I must say, that song wasn’t big on my list of music I gave a shit about back in the day and I can’t say I ever paid attention to the lyrics of that song…seems I should have.
Guyferd
Have you ever actually read the lyrics? There’s nothing there that says the teacher acted on or took advantage of a schoolgirl’s crush. Looks to me (again according to the lyrics) it’s about a teacher about to be falsely accused.
Guyferd
Eeep, I take that back.
Pablo360
That’s the subtitle of my autobiography.
Jhennaside
He used to be a teacher. Said girls had crushes on him. Said the song was about that temptation. He is pretty transparent about it.
butting
He has at least directly said that the verse about the car describes a rape, which to me suggests he understood the ethics and power/consent issues of what he was writing.
The chorus, though, which reduces all that to an issue of association? Smack yourself in the bloody head, 29-year-old Sting, hard. You wanna write about themes like that, don’t bloody trivialise them by making the main focus of the song a shallow shitty pop song about someone being embarrassed to be seen with someone they’re pretending is just a crush. Nabokov got that, and you’re no Nabokov by a LONG shot.
deathjavu
I knew it was about pedophelia but I never got the impression the teacher was anything but a villain.
Sting writes a lot of creepy songs, frankly. “Every step you take I’ll be watching you”? Stalker much?
Time Sage
That one is SUPPOSED to be creepy
Lel
Eh, I didn’t interpret it as glorifying pedophilia. I interpreted that song as getting inside the head of a pedo, sure, but making me feel bad for him didn’t make me think he’d be justified in doing anything, it just made me sad that people are tormented by their own sick mind. Maybe I’m just projecting because I’ve dealt with a lot of mental health issues (depression and anxiety), a lot of (in my case, logically unwarranted but just as emotionally real) issues of guilt/shame over things that I can’t even control… it resonates with me. I understand what it’s like to feel ‘broken’, to try so hard to do the right thing (in my case, blaming myself for my own lack of capability, but in his case desperately trying to talk himself out of acting on his urges) but being unable to change the fact that your brain is undermining you at every turn.
The teacher he’s singing about is *sick*. He has a desire to commit a socially and morally unacceptable act that he’s struggling to suppress throughout the entirety of the song, but he can’t chose not to feel that desire, just to control it. It’s not like the girl knows what’s going on in his head, or is culpable for his actions in any way – his perception of her is increasingly warped, and he’s struggling hard to be a good person despite his feelings.
Sting wrote a lot of songs that put you inside the head of a creepy person. It’s uncomfortable to have to empathize with and understand people who have immoral thoughts and act in immoral ways, but being put in their shoes isn’t the same thing as glorifying or excusing them. They’re creepy not because they’re ‘evil’, they’re creepy because they’re mentally ill. Not the song about the prostitute for all I know, I’ve never listened to it, but for the other ones the narrator is obviously disturbed. I’m deeply uncomfortable with the idea that people can’t be empathized with for things about themselves they can’t change, even if all you can do is pity them while treating them the same.
Hari
Lots of lyrics Sting wrote for the Police are creepy as hell. Give “Every Breath You Take” or “Can’t Stand Losing” a listen. It makes you wonder how creepy he is/was in real life.
Doctor_Who
(Later on)
“That was not meant to be construed as me actually giving you permission!”
AnvilPro
Obviously we know you didn’t do it Leslie, but you’re not making a great case for yourself
Arianod
Neither is Robin.
TheFullcrumb
And now the other shoe drops.
Pablo360
By my count that leaves ar LEAST three shoes still airborne; depending on your perspective.
John
Are you offering to assist with that, Robin?
Woobie
…your breath smells nice.
Doctor_Who
Doubt it. They just got up and are wearing the clothes they slept in, so I doubt anyone has gone through a morning hygiene routine.
Unless Robin borrowed Leslie’s toothbrush without asking, too. Since it’s Robin, we can’t 100% rule that out.
Jackson
Without brushing, Robin’s breath probably smells like Skittles.
Heavensrun
Keep in mind we’re in the more realistic universe where robin does not have superpowers derived from ridiculous eating habits.
Needfuldoer
But everybody likes Skittles…
Shade
That doesn’t mean she eats responsibly.
The Other Mike
Exactly; not having superpowers derived from ridiculous eating habits doesn’t equal not having ridiculous eating habits.
Dragon_Nataku
Yeah, I mean my dad claims that when he was a starving grad student he lived off of nothing but candy bars for like two weeks. Also pretty sure my brother ate like that on purpose when he first started college.
Heavensrun
Yeah, but the fact that she’s not dead means they’re at least not AS ridiculous as they were in Shortpacked!.
TheAnonymousGuy
I’m just impressed that someone noticed the hair style change for once in a love story (one sided as it may be.?????. does that count?)
Killian
I had this happen to me in real life. My college boyfriend sat behind me in the one class we had together first semester freshman year, and in the third or fourth week of classes I had finally gotten my contacts I had forgotten at home and wore them to class, and he stopped me after class to comment on the fact that I wasn’t wearing my glasses.
Stephen Bierce
*looks for some old Seventies comedy records to play on the hacked Muzak *
JustCheetoDust
“…something something mashed potatoes!”
Geneseepaws
One eyed, one horned, flying purple, …
Geneseepaws
Look, if I’m to have an argument with you, I must take up a contrary position.
Yes, but that’s not just saying, “No, it isn’t.”
carl320
Yes it is.
Deanatay
Aw, c’mon, I was just getting into it..
Deanatay
*runs in with a stack of Weird Al Yankovic singles I (wish I) owned*
Geneseepaws
Hava banana, have a whole bunch,
It doesn’t matter what you had for lunch.
Just, …
Woobie
…eat iiiiiiit!
tim gueguen
So, who are the suspects for this crime? Robin’s nameless aide might be one. She treats him like a doormat, so he might want revenge.
Shiro
Anyone who happened to be in the bar at the time and had any vague interest in politics?
Doctor_Who
It was David Willis. He was taking reference pictures of the bar to use as a background in a future strip, and happened to catch the two of them in one of his shots. It gave him an idea for a storyline and now I’ve gone cross-eyed from too much meta.
Shiro
I’m not sure I feel safe sharing a reality with Robin DeSanto…
Drunken Nordmann
Eh, could be worse, considering all the people we already share a reality with…
Shiro
Now I’m stuck playing “would you rather” with myself over which odious real life personality I’d trade for Robin…
tim gueguen
Which, in a college town bar, might not be anyone.
Shiro
…wait, what colleges are you familiar with where no one has the least interest in politics? (Or am I misinterpreting?)
tim gueguen
I wouldn’t count on any random group of college students including anyone who has an interest in politics. A lot of kids are pretty politically apathetic, as seen by their voting numbers.(Of course there have been efforts to make it harder for young people like university students to vote in some places, further keeping the numbers down.) Even if there were some with a political interest in the bar that night they may not have recognised her unless she’s their Congresswoman.
Shiro
We clearly know very, very different groups of college students.
Kamino Neko
Ditto. College students are, like, politics elementals.
Fart Captor
In my experience, you’d have trouble throwing a rock around campus without hitting someone politically active
Cerberus
Yup, that’s the reason voting numbers are down. If you’ve ever voted on a campus, you’ve dealt with the 4 hour line for one half-working machine problem before. And that’s often on purpose as college towns tend to be more liberal-minded.
Beyond that, I can say from my experience mentoring college groups, that college kids are some of the most plugged in politics-minded folks you’ll ever meet.
Shiro
I think I recall hearing this past election that at least one conservative politician was caught commenting that he either cut down polling places on purpose or didn’t mind them getting cut by a college, because the kids there voted liberal anyway.
foamy
The idea of a voting machine never fails to give me the heebie-jeebies. Hand counted paper ballots remain the best and most efficient way to vote.
Heavensrun
(stares at you)
Liliaeth
is glad to live in a country where voting is a duty rather than a right, meaning that the system is set up to make it as easy as possible for everyone of age to vote. (seeing as how you get fined if you don’t go out and vote)
As such, no politician would get any advantage out of trying to make it harder for people to vote, and people can actually trust voting machines, because we have way too many parties, all of which with a chance to get at least some seats in the government, to try and mess with any of the results.
Historyman68
What country?
Liliaeth
Belgium. Our every single government is made up out of a coalition of at least two to three parties, if not more. (admittedly, we also once spent a year without a government because they couldn’t manage to build a coalition, but still, it works, somehow.
vlademir1
My personal experience suggests (if only anecdotally) that the college kids are the most prone within their age demographic to be politically interested and/or active. The problem is they often don’t have the working systemic knowledge to know where to register (at home or where they attend school) and and how to utilize absentee programs when needed. Then you add on the fact that most students are only voting once during their undergrad college career, it’s most oft their first time voting and like most people they don’t stop and think about whether their registration is current until a presidential election year (typically in September or October when a student who needs to be registered at home may well be shit out of luck because they need to register in person in most states even if they need not vote in person). Then you add in all the time management issues the youngest end of that range typically have juggling classes, papers and studying, possibly work, extracurriculars and hobbies, etc then add in meeting the deadlines for registration and either absentee voting or else finding the time to get to and know where there polling place is (potentially while not knowing the nearby area off campus all that well yet).
Oh, and for the record the voter turnout rate in the 18 to 29 demographic typically hovers between 40% and 50%, for whatever reason it was lower during the bulk of the ’80s and ’90s, and their voter registration rates hover mainly around the 55% to 60% range.
That aside, the only people in Robin’s district who don’t know her on sight are not watching TV and/or ad supported videos on the internet. Both get flooded with political ads most of which have pictures or video of one or more candidates for the relevant office in them, with the internet ads targeted by region to the IP address of the viewer.
Michael Steamweed
I wonder how much money Mike got for that photo. :O
butting
It’s part of his scheme to seduce Ethan. Everything else is just a bonus.
Pat
He needs a scheme? I think if that’s his goal he could get it pretty easy.
Shiro