Anon, are you familiar with the term ‘sodomy?’
It may explain a bit.
That said, if you consider the way that human beings actually use swear words, they often completely forgo any particular relation to the origin of the word. It’s a means of expressing distaste or insulting someone, yes, but it’s also a means of venting, much as the way someone stubs their toe and says 'ow’. Ow has no intrinsic value or meaning, it is a sound, a sound that your body and brain produces to distract you from the pain; swearing or screaming is a way of getting rid of or numbing yourself to pain, irritation or anger.
In other words, in the unique case of oaths and curses, the importance of knowing the original meaning of the word is lessened, because the function of swearing is not literal communication but emotive communication. One of the most interesting things about swear words (in my opinion) is that they are so versatile that you can not only use them as adjectives, nouns and pronouns, but you can also use them positively or negatively as freely as you wish. The meaning of swear words lies in context and expression. It is the intent of the speaker or writer that defines the word, not the original meaning of the word.
After all, when was the last time that you said 'motherfucker’ and genuinely meant what you said?
Interesting stand point, and not actually one that I agree with. I’ve been writing stories for a while now, in different ways- text, animation, comics- and whilst I wouldn’t profess to being an expert in the field, the thing that I love the most is that you can communicate your ideas to hundreds of people, and yet every single person interprets it in their own unique way.
The best stories don’t rely on one ‘true’ interpretation; they work on different levels. To condemn people for not seeing the bigger picture is a pointless and, frankly, petty exercise. How people see a story depends on their own story, just as how you see the world around you is constantly affected by how you have experienced it up to this point. I don’t want to write stories with a market audience; I want to write stories. Something that can be read by anyone at any point in their lives and still be entertaining and relevant to them.
So, yes, you can take TPoH as an openly metaphorical journey, or as an exploration of the idea of a story itself, but you can also take it at surface level and I won’t think any less of you. In fact, dealing with stories that are constantly trying to belittle the reader by being philosophical and highbrow often make me wonder why the author decided to write a story at all. We are taking the reader on an adventure, not testing them. Why beat people around the head if they’ve never read Plato or Socrates before this? I’m certainly not expecting everyone who reads this comic to know every silent comedy inside out. If they know the material, they will see it and appreciate it, and if they don’t, it should still enrich the story for them without complicating it. Nothing is lost by putting a little extra in, and perhaps one day they will make those connections, and who knows? Maybe it will be this story that helps them to understand the others that it relates to.
It actually interests me to see what people take from what I make. It’s also worth noting that not everyone who reads it will comment on it, and people who comment often do so by agreeing or disagreeing with the preceding comment. Everything is context.
TL:DR
Chill it bro, we all good.
