A conversation between two strangers will usually begin with an attempt to establish a general understanding between the two of them. This usually begins with a broad topic, which is why such a common initial subject is the weather:
“Nice day out isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it’s gorgeous out.”
While the subject of the conversation is concerned with the weather, what the two of them are actually doing is establishing is a common ground; a shared experience. The importance of the establishment of a shared experience can not be underestimated (no matter how broad or superficial the actual conversation), because it is the first step toward empathy. While it is not necessarily a reflection of deeply felt emotions, it is a way of saying “you are not alone in your feelings, I feel the same way you do.”
These shared experiences aren’t even always vocalized, a smile or a wink or a wave, any sort of reciprocated action is an acknowledgement of some shared experience; even if only that moment.
When was the last time you were walking across campus and you weren’t sure how to interact with a former acquaintance? Chances are you’ve thought: “should I stop and talk to them, should I just smile, should I acknowledge them at all, should I just ignore them—I don’t want it to be awkward?” The reason that there is such an apprehension in these situations is a sort of fear of rejection; a fear that the action will not be reciprocated and you find out that the other person doesn’t feel the same way about you (the snub).
Have you ever had an experience that you particularly found hilarious, but when you describe it to others their reaction is much less than what you expected? You generally will resort to qualifying the story by saying something like “You had to be there.” Why? –And why are standup comedians funnier in person? Why do we go Why do TV shows have laugh tracks—do you not know what’s supposed to be funny?
Where am I going with this? Well…
I think that this human need for empathy is the basis for all literature (as well as many other endeavors). “We Feel Fine” takes a much more direct approach, linking people on the internet through emotions, which essentially makes it an “Empathy-Networking Site.” The reason that we are interested in reading about how other people feel is because we’ve all felt that way at one time or another.
This has a lot to do with our ability to see ourselves in electrical sockets and two dots above a line (as McCloud depicts in Understanding Comics). With the more avant-garde pieces we’ve looked at throughout this course, I think it’s been a lot more difficult to find the human emotional connection. While I can appreciate the artistic elements of the different pieces, I think it really comes down to the fact that the less I see of my (human) self in a piece, the less emotional connection I will feel towards it and the more apprehension I will feel towards approaching it.
