When it comes to main characters, we sometimes have to grapple with the issue of sympathy. If a character is likeable there's obviously no concern. If the character is flawed, it's often a "harmless" flaw, so we can still easily care about the character. But if the main characters are off-putting or morally repugnant, the writer either balances it out with something to make them sympathetic (Michael O'Sullivan) or simply goes ahead with their disagreeable characters and hopes we find them interesting enough to want to spend time with them (Tony Soprano). In the graphic novel Ghost World, Daniel Clowes goes for the former.
His main characters, Enid and Becky, are cynical and judgmental. They mock the people around them and plan activities that are meant to be enjoyed with ironic detachment. If they could be categorized, it would be as part of the artsy, alternative crowd. But Clowes does provide balance: Enid and Becky are so well-defined, so much like people we know or are, so real, that the issue of whether they're sympathetic or not becomes moot. Clowes also tempers their behavior:
-- The two young women at least keep their snooty remarks between themselves.
-- They sometimes swear at each other, but it's done in that aggressive-yet-offhand way that close friends can get away with.
-- Enid (the more interesting and distinct character — played by Thora Birch in the movie, but reminiscent of a pre-political Janeane Garofalo) does express self-loathing, a trait often assumed to be present in anybody who expends a lot of time and energy on categorizing and denouncing others.
-- When the two women answer a personal ad, arranging a meeting with a man they only wish to observe, they at least realize the cruelty of it and end up regretting their actions (even if it's too late to save the lonely man from a humiliating experience).
Clowes's illustrations are clean and economical. His people move stiffly, and many of the minor characters are slightly grotesque, but these aren't criticisms. It's part of what gives Clowes his distinctive style. With Ghost World, Clowes also uses a simple yet effective technique: it's a black and white comic, with a blue tinge present in many of the panels. It gives the story a melancholy tone, as if it's always dusk or autumn. Most of the story consists of dialogue, and there's a lot of it (thankfully, Clowes generally avoids narration boxes), but once in awhile, Clowes will drop in a silent panel at just the right moment to add poignancy. There's even one panel of Clowes as himself, sitting at a table ready to sign autographs for a non-existent crowd. It's humorously self-deprecating, yet still conveys Clowes's talent for the subtly depressing.
Article comments
1 - Jim Carruthers
I've never read "Ghost World" as a single book, but rather read it in installments over years in "Eightball" which really diminished most of the impact of the story, as if you were overhearing over several years conversations around town.
Are there extra pages, or should I just dig out my copies of "Eightball"?
2 - Eric Berlin
Nice job on this, Paul. It took me a long time figure out that Ghost World is a graphic novel, though!
By the way, I think Tony Soprano (especially in the early seasons) is quite likeable and charming, which makes The Sopranos so subversive: you end up rooting for a viscous criminal and killer.
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3 - Paul De Angelis
JIM - No extras. It's only for people who don't have the monthly issues.
"It took me a long time figure out that Ghost World is a graphic novel..."
ERIC - Thanks for pointing that out. (I fixed it.) You're right about Soprano, though I think David Chase once claimed that starting in the third season, they made a concerted effort to present Tony as less likeable.
4 - Jim Carruthers
In a related note, this week's Onion AVClub has an interview with Los Bros Hernandez about the mamoth release by Fantagraphics about their collected books from more than 20 years of "Love and Rockets". Like "Eightball", each issue of "Love and Rockets" contained several different serials.
5 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
i never read the ghost world comics, in fact i haven't read a whole hella lot of ANY comics (i did have a very serious and expensive addiction to Preacher a couple summers back though. Still my favourite comic / graphic novel series / picture books of all fucking ever) I loved Terry Zwigoff's flick though (it was him, right?) and always meant to keep an eye out for the book. Thank you for reminding me. And great post.
6 - Paul De Angelis
It was Zwigoff.
He and Clowes are finishing up another Eightball adaptation: Art School Confidential.
7 - Jim Carruthers
How are they going to handle the special FX sweat with "Art School Confidential"? Please don't have it in Smell-o-rama.
8 - Bill Sherman
I know it's heresy, but in a lot of ways I prefer the movie version of Ghost World to Clowes' original comic. The comic may be "purer" in its vision of the characters, but the latter is more enjoyable to re-experience. . .
9 - Jim Carruthers
You're not a heretic, Bill, I too, much preferred the movie, mostly since it was a whole work. In "Eightball", it was one of several different stories, which, on their own, didn't amout to much, especially with a year or two between scenes.
Plus, Steve Buscemi as record collector guy, what's not to love? And it would make a good double-bill with "Trees Lounge".
10 - Slightly Irritated
"Enid and Becky are so well-defined, so much like people we know or are, so real, that the issue of whether they're sympathetic or not becomes moot."
Since you claim to realize this, why is the whole point of your review whether or not these people are likeable? Since when is the point of literature, the creation of "sympathetic" characters? Human beings will find anyone they know something about "sympathetic". You should read some of the things people say about "Capturing the Friedmans". The second people know that a child molester is also a human being, they feel sorry for him. That's why most people like themselves. Anyhow, these characters are only unsympathetic to people who hate people who think. Did you notice that they are eighteen year old girls? Do you imagine that they might soon outgrow the tendency to play childish pranks? That they might have actually outgrown that tendency in the story? That this is the whole point? That people who define themselves as outcasts as teenagers need to figure out how they are going to grow up into the world that they can safely despise when they are too young to be a part of it?
11 - James LeGroove
The 'kid' Enid is following at the end is Daniel Clowes himself, painting 'ghost world' everywhere.
I really liked this book, and the ending is like the one from Rox & Rooky.