I never took philosophy like Karen Moy or Harlan Jones, but as a layman let me see if I can understand how Nietzsche's comment is relevant here. Clearly, this statement feels cynical. Fear is not a positive emotion, therefore, morality in this sense is the negative result of this negative emotion. When is morality negative? The word 'morality' is only negative when it is merely the appearance of goodness, rather than coming from a sense of love and duty for the welfare of our fellow beings. Can someone be truly moral when they are simply trying to appear as such for the approval of others? So in this context, the quote chosen is in reference to Tommy's desire to appear moral while he is actually keeping secrets about his past from Brandy, which is not moral or ethical.
Now that I have thought about it, I have to give Karen Moy chops for this quote... which is really disappointing because I wanted to make fun of her for it. Because there is simply nothing else in today's entire strip to make fun of!!!
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"Mary Worth is the mother of tedium."
-- Scottie McW.
I care so little about the Tommy/Brandy situation that a quote from Nietzche is not going to cheer me up. Oh, wait, has a quote from Nietzche ever cheered anybody up?
Wanders, thanks for pondering today’s quotation and why KM may have chosen it. This might give her more credit than she deserves - I figure that she merely reaches into her Bug Bag O’ Random Quotations for Sunday strips. Personally, I like “necessity is the mother of invention.” That makes sense.
Brandy is the best thing that’s happened to Tommy in a long time because she hasn’t shown him the door. She’s gotten free rides home, a turkey club sandwich, a suspicious fizzy pink beverage, and someone to listen to her tearful rant. Ain’t Worthiverse Romance grand? I wish the Mother Ship would beam these two up and transport them to the planet Zagon.
Well gee, make that Big, not Bug. However, KM’s Big Bag may be moth eaten....
Isn’t it time for a pool party at Charterstone? Nietzche, Tommy and Brandy are boring. Wilbur in his speedo and salmon squares? Now we’re talking!
Brandy's looking middle aged.
Tim, Brandy left out that when her mother named her, the single by Looking Glass was still on the charts... in 1972. Tommy wants a girl just like Mom... a cougar.
Fun fact: Brandy spent only one week at #1 and at least five weeks at #2 behind Alone Again Naturally. Is Moy signalling that mutual pity will be followed by 5 times as much self-pity? I can hardly wait.
Well, Nietzsche also said, "What do you regard as most humane? To spare someone shame."
To be humane to Brandy, Tommy needs to let her go, in order to spare her the shame and humiliation of being seen with him.
mr_darcy, great observations! I would add that Looking Glass’ 1973 follow-on, “Jimmy Loves Mary Anne” was the better tune and the lyrics would have made a much more interesting and edgier MW plot line. As it is, we only have to look a couple more notches down the top hits list of ‘72 to see the song that says it all when it comes to Tommy...Chuck Berry’s “My Ding-A-Ling”!
I always read, rarely if ever have responded, but I’ve got to today! Wanders, you do an admirable job trying to suss out what Moy might have been thinking when she plucked this quote out of Bartlett’s! What Nietzsche actually means in this passage from “Beyond Good Evil” is that morality comes from a kind of herd mentality; a community decides that certain actions are immoral because it fears that they are dangerous to the community - or more pejoratively, because groupthink takes over and people fear anything that is outside the norm. So if Moy is a true Nietzsche scholar, I think she’s saying that if Tommy wants to become a true übermensch, he should forget about Brandy’s trauma and society’s rules, and get back to building his very own meth lab.
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