The really obvious question...
I think this is trivial. This is a comic composed of several small storylines, It's not supposed to be completely realistic, because that would ruin the entire concept. Just like several other people said, look at all the other comics and TV shows where the characters stay the same age... If you age them, the mood of the comic is going to change constantly, and ruin what most people like to get out of it. Again, it's made to be amusing or thought provoking, not uber real.
Of course, the classic rebuttal to this question is pointing out that the characters are talking animals that walk and act like humans. Which I think requires a much larger suspending of disbelief.
If a comic artist has chosen to follow the tradition of non-aging it's because he/she has found a niche of time from where he/she can draw the most comic potential. The non-advencement of years is a foundation for almost every aspect of the comic because age determines a lot about how the characters will react to situations, and thus their personalities.I don't think that just because other comics choose not to age their characters that it is a good and alright thing to do, especially if the characters happen to be children. One of the key characteristics about children is the fact that they don't tend to stay one way for too long.
I don't think you've quite grasped how comic strips work. All these "self-contradictions" are quite common practices. Humour comics will use anything the author deems appropiate for their material.In the case at hand, the strangeness is further emphasised because the characters do keep making references to their supposed age, to the supposedly forseen future when they might not be that age... and to the passage of time. The whole thing ends up being very self-contradictory...
In all fairness, its not as if a few more years would stop them being children.
I suppose I ought at least to calculate how old they would be if the first mention of their age in-strip was taken as a reference... and counting at the very least by the christmasses... They might end up being a bit older than what could be considered "children" that way.[/quote]
1) dude, your thinking WAY too much into this
2) 1998, they started at 8 years old. they'd be 17 now.
3) You've obviously missed Calvin and Hobbes, Peanuts, Garfield, etc. etc. etc.
I suppose I ought at least to calculate how old they would be if the first mention of their age in-strip was taken as a reference... and counting at the very least by the christmasses... They might end up being a bit older than what could be considered "children" that way.[/quote]
1) dude, your thinking WAY too much into this
2) 1998, they started at 8 years old. they'd be 17 now.
3) You've obviously missed Calvin and Hobbes, Peanuts, Garfield, etc. etc. etc.
If you've done things right, people won't be sure if you've done anything at all.
- Ozymandias
- Posts:1901
- Joined:Sun Jun 20, 2004 3:21 pm
There's no need to age them unless they have explored every aspect of their purpose; that is, we have seen them be the kind of kids that they are in all the possible situations before it gets repetitive or boring. And since people love seasonality, yes, there will be many christmasses. But also bear in mind that when the characters are aged, entire years are skipped. To me, you give and you take from them, and it all nearly balances out on aggregate. Meh. Take it as it comes -- it doesn't interfere with my enjoyment of O&M.
The end is nigh!
- The Donmeister
- Posts:614
- Joined:Sun Nov 19, 2006 10:19 am
Its a cartooning thing. Charlie Brown and company didn't ever really grow up either with some notable exceptions, such as when Sally was aged from a babby to school age so she could interact with the other characters.
It always bugged me that Linus was younger then Charlie Brown but then they ended up in the same grade.
- Tom Flapwell
- Posts:5465
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- Location:DC
- Contact:
Excuse my thread-Necromancy here.
In some circles I'm well-known as a Lich of immense arcane power over the realm of the dead.
In other cicles I'm seen as an annoying, weird, obsessive-compulsive guy...
I'm not denying either.
Then again it isn't like the time I made a thread about necromancy on another forum and then revived it a year and a day after I'd last posted in it... ^_^
So... where was I?
Ah yes... the many comments regarding it being typical comic practice to refrain from aging the characters.
I believe we refer to that as an argumentum ad antiquitatem... or to put it in English... an Appeal to Tradition: that because it has long been done that way, that it is correct or justifiable to do so.
Just so we're clear here... what I had problems with in the first place was the potential invocation of paradox. It isn't that time moves more slowly for them, nor even that it moves at a variable rate (I know of some webcomics in which about a fortnight has passed in the space of 5 real-world years). It is rather that there are conflicting indications that years have passed and yet they haven't...
The only way we could resolve this situation sans Paradox would be to assume somehow that in the world of the comic, months and seasons (not to mention holidays) do not correlate the same way to years and / or numerical age the same way they do in ours. In other words... the only way I can think of to justify the situation without invoking paradox is to assume that there are an indeterminate (greater than 1) number of winters / christmasses / etc in a single year of "age".
Of course... many of you may think I'm silly for "overthinking" this... but as an Aspergian perfectionist, with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder thrown in for good measure... I'd feel pretty silly if I just let this matter go without thinking about it. =P
In some circles I'm well-known as a Lich of immense arcane power over the realm of the dead.
In other cicles I'm seen as an annoying, weird, obsessive-compulsive guy...
I'm not denying either.
Then again it isn't like the time I made a thread about necromancy on another forum and then revived it a year and a day after I'd last posted in it... ^_^
So... where was I?
Ah yes... the many comments regarding it being typical comic practice to refrain from aging the characters.
I believe we refer to that as an argumentum ad antiquitatem... or to put it in English... an Appeal to Tradition: that because it has long been done that way, that it is correct or justifiable to do so.
Just so we're clear here... what I had problems with in the first place was the potential invocation of paradox. It isn't that time moves more slowly for them, nor even that it moves at a variable rate (I know of some webcomics in which about a fortnight has passed in the space of 5 real-world years). It is rather that there are conflicting indications that years have passed and yet they haven't...
The only way we could resolve this situation sans Paradox would be to assume somehow that in the world of the comic, months and seasons (not to mention holidays) do not correlate the same way to years and / or numerical age the same way they do in ours. In other words... the only way I can think of to justify the situation without invoking paradox is to assume that there are an indeterminate (greater than 1) number of winters / christmasses / etc in a single year of "age".
Of course... many of you may think I'm silly for "overthinking" this... but as an Aspergian perfectionist, with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder thrown in for good measure... I'd feel pretty silly if I just let this matter go without thinking about it. =P
If you are under the age of 18, you are advised not to interact with me.
- Hanging Tree
- Posts:317
- Joined:Mon Oct 22, 2007 10:35 pm
Are you one of those people with Asperger and OCD because a doctor diagnosed you with them, or are you one of the people who decided that you had them to explain why you spend 12 hours a day updating Wikipedia?
Also if Peanuts can screw with the ages as much as it did (Not aging some kids, aging others) then I think Ozy and Millie is fine with having multiple holidays.
Also if Peanuts can screw with the ages as much as it did (Not aging some kids, aging others) then I think Ozy and Millie is fine with having multiple holidays.
I'm one of those people with Aspergers who might well have known he had it beforehand, but specifically went to a national qualified specialist of the "condition" in order to get a formal diagnosis... got said diagnosis, complete with paperwork and whatnot... and have since been acknowledged by the National Autistic Society.Are you one of those people with Asperger and OCD because a doctor diagnosed you with them, or are you one of the people who decided that you had them to explain why you spend 12 hours a day updating Wikipedia?
If mr Peanuts guy was still alive... I'd be having strong words with him, rest assured.Also if Peanuts can screw with the ages as much as it did (Not aging some kids, aging others) then I think Ozy and Millie is fine with having multiple holidays.
I'm sure better excuses can be brought up than that anyway. Afterall, just because Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the houses of parliment many years ago doesn't make it justified for every would-be-rebel to have a go at it.
If you are under the age of 18, you are advised not to interact with me.
- Hanging Tree
- Posts:317
- Joined:Mon Oct 22, 2007 10:35 pm
Ok... wrong choice of words perhaps.I don't know, have you seen what the clods in parliment have been up to lately?
Just because Guy Fawkes actually tried it doesn't make it LEGAL for anyone... irrespective of the fact that we all wish he'd succeeded...
That film V for Vendetta, as such, makes me glee a little inside... Rather makes me wish I'd read the graphic novel...
If you are under the age of 18, you are advised not to interact with me.
I caught that reference to Alien Dice in there... It does move slowly, but it does move.
The simple answer: "Don't think."
Perhaps it's a Zen koan in disguise, meant to confuse the intellect into seeing the futility of concrete ideas, or however it was phrased.
FYI: I've also been diagnosed with Asperger's.
Perhaps if this wears thin, Simpson will begin to age the kids. Currently, I'm satisfied with them not aging, though something in me desires some romance between Ozy and Millie.
Also, you liked poking anthills with a stick and picking at scabs when you were a kid, didn't you? (Link comes courtesy of Catena)
When I see these posts picking at what I see as trivial details, I think of this.
(Go ahead... Click the links... You know you want to...)
The simple answer: "Don't think."
Perhaps it's a Zen koan in disguise, meant to confuse the intellect into seeing the futility of concrete ideas, or however it was phrased.
FYI: I've also been diagnosed with Asperger's.
Perhaps if this wears thin, Simpson will begin to age the kids. Currently, I'm satisfied with them not aging, though something in me desires some romance between Ozy and Millie.
Also, you liked poking anthills with a stick and picking at scabs when you were a kid, didn't you? (Link comes courtesy of Catena)
When I see these posts picking at what I see as trivial details, I think of this.
(Go ahead... Click the links... You know you want to...)
Quoth the spotted fox: <b>*yerf*</b>
You usually
have to take what people say
with a grain of salt.
(or in cases like
mine, a shaker or two may
yield the best result.)
むらがあるフォックス
If you miss my old sigs...
You usually
have to take what people say
with a grain of salt.
(or in cases like
mine, a shaker or two may
yield the best result.)
むらがあるフォックス
If you miss my old sigs...
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