Q: "Are any of your characters based on me?"
A: No, no, and for the last time, no. The only reason why you think that the characters are based on you is because they accurately encompass high school, and because you're self-centered and self-conscious. The characters, contrary to your assumptions, are based on my general impressions of high school cliques. Q: "Why aren't any of your characters African-American/Latin-American/Asian/handicapped/transgender/Indian/Native-American?" A: 1) PCHS, despite its claim for respecting diversity, is a very homogenous school. Therefore, there are few Native-Americans/Latinos/(insert human difference here) 2) many of the character traits of students/faculty at PCHS are negative so be happy they're not associated with any "diversities" and, most importantly, 3) other races are difficult to draw in black and white. Q: "What is the purpose of your comic?" A: Making fun of high school relives some of its stresses. I want to share this humor with others, so they will be relieved as well. Additionally, making this cartoon is just plain fun. For me, it's better than going to AIDS Orphan Action Committee to feign interest in helping people. Q: "No, you just want to insult people to feel better about yourself, right?" A: If that were true, I would make the references much more specific to individuals at the school, and I would not write about the school itself, the faculty (most of whom I think are excellent), the parents or the classes. If that doesn't convince you, think about it this way: Do the Simpsons writers make stereotypical characters such as Apu and The Scientist to feel better about themselves? No, they make those characters because they are funny. These characters are, once again, TO BE TAKEN LIGHTLY. Q: "Can I place a link to your web site on my livejounral/website/wall/place of worship?" A: Of course. Any publicity is good. Q: "Are you going to update your page?" A: Yes, and frequently. Q: "Where did you get the ideas for your cartoon?" A: I know what you're thinking, and it's true. Many of the jokes, such as "Main Stream" and the color-coded corridors, are drawn upon my particular high school. Other jokes are derived from my everyday interactions and experiences in suburbia, or in Boston, or anywhere. I find humor in TV, magazines, newspapers, movies, music, books, current events, colleges, high school kids from other towns, adults, sex and my imagination. Q: "Why don't you write comics for your school newspaper?" A: My humor is too "offensive." The, let's just call it, Newtonite, greatly fears civil suits. Q: "Why don't you delete the sexual jokes, terrorist jokes, and any other jokes that may be considered offensive? Your site could still be funny." A: Without the offensive jokes, my humor would be half as good. I want people to make light of and open up to subjects that they may otherwise find taboo. I feel much more comfortable minimally censoring my work than deleting anything anyone might possibly find offensive. Q: "Can you explain to me what is happening with your publication?" A: The answer to that question can be found from a link at the bottom of this page (The TAB article about my cartoon). Q: Can I see what the cartoon you passed out at school looks like? There is a link to that cartoon at the bottom of this page. Q: "You're full of crap...seriously, that stick figure with the two dots is based on me, and Marcus, come on..." A: No, once again my characters draw upon a general idea. When creating the characters, I may have subconsciously imagined specific people, but if you see a connection between one of my characters and a person at school it is by no means intentional. There are so many people that fit the personality of each character that you can't match him to one and only one specific person. Q: "Are you the most screwed up, depressed, crazy person to ever walk this earth?" A: While some of the content on my site portrays high school and the world in a negative light, it does not reflect who I am as a person. Like every teenager, I have my ups and downs. I use this site to exhibit my cartoons, but also as a positive way to vent my emotions when I am frustrated. Q: "Why are you so cynical? The world is a wonderful place." A: True, but once again, do not take the content of this site too seriously. Most of the time, I am calm and sane, and I trust the intentions of others. The times that I work on my PCHS site are the few occassions when I feel otherwise. Q: "Which PCHS character do you identify with the most?" A: Even though most of the characters in PCHS have negative traits, I am by no means better than these characters or the groups of people they represent. I share undesirable traits with almost all of the characters. However, the character I identify with the most, despite his age, is Mr. Chruzlovsky. We are both crazy and analytical of society. Q: "Why are the graphics on your site so shitty?" I don't want to waste time with aesthetics when I can get the point out with shitty graphics. Yeah, people would like the site better and think it was more professional if the graphics were good, but those reasons aren't enough to get me to labor over minute details and codes of html. Q: "You self-centered bitch! Do YOU even think about other people?" I am sincerely grateful for all the PCHS readers. I love it when people come up to me and say: "I have agreed with you for so long but I just never had the guts to say any of the things you did." It gives us a common connection. I also like to watch people laugh when they read my cartoons. Not only does the laughter indicate that I have a good sense of humor, but I sincerely enjoy seeing other people smiling. Q: "What about the people who write hate mail to you? Are you grateful for them?" Yes, ironically, I love getting hate mail. It means that my cartoons are interesting and provocative. Q: "You seem to have a bias against gays/Jews/blacks/latinos/(insert minority group). Is that true?" No. Regarding Jews, I am Jewish so I have the right to make fun of them. Regarding gays, I am gay-ish (bisexual, at the moment), so I have the right to make fun of them. I can't find many jokes on this site that mock blacks or latinos. Even if I could find jokes against a certain race/ethnicity/creed/yaddayadda, the whole point of this cartoon is that our society is too politically correct. Therefore, it would make sense that my cartoon itself is politically incorrect.
How could this piss off administrators?
Tom Mountain's Column about PCHS
TAB Article About My Cartoon
Back to PCHS for another day