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October 18, 2012 - So this "ends" the Kristen plot. I generally appreciate a lot of what Star is trying to say with her speech here, but the reality is that Kristen can't simply walk away from the emotional abusive relationship she suffers from her father, not to mention the physically abusive relationship she had with her boyfriend. There's only so much the clinic and other agencies can do. I can suggest contacting http://www.thehotline.org if you or someone you know is facing abuse, but that doesn't stop what's already occurred or do much to change the abusive situations many people already endure. Star is doing all she can really can do, but it's uncertain if that's really enough. And I'm not certain she should be walking home at the end of the day with her head held as high as it seems to be.
But a major thing I try to do with this comic is ask questions about putting yourself in the shoes of someone different than yourself. Is Kristen making a mistake by trying to keep this pregnancy? Probably. There's no way of actually knowing, but she doesn't have a whole lot going for her. Giving birth to a child could make things better, though I don't think it'd be unreasonable to think having a child would make things worse for her. In fact, I do think it's more likely things will be worse for her.
Despite the circumstances of Kristen's situation, I think it's important to portray abortion and child birth as potential choices for a pregnancy. Despite what pro-life activists may say some times abortion may be the right choice, and some times child birth may be the wrong choice. It also works the other way too. And in fact, I don't think labels of "right" or "wrong" are that helpful. They're just words. They don't speak to the real life consequences that potential children or pregnant women face.
Kristen's family and her boyfriend are pretty harmful people, but are they "wrong" suggesting Kristen should get an abortion? Is it a good thing that Kristen found the ability to defy them and continue with her pregnancy? Like many questions the abortion issue poses, there aren't easy answers. And though Star may be overlooking the difficulties Kristen faces in escaping the abusive situations that created her current circumstances, I don't fault Star for trying to take a victory out of respecting Kristen's ability to choose.
Overall, I consider this storyline a mixed bag for me. It was by far the most difficult storyline to work on and also the one I'm most disappointed with. There are a couple major anachronisms, many of which will be addressed with future storylines, and the lack of solutions it provides is extremely depressing. But I learned a lot by doing this storyline, and I can't wait to see how the knowledge I've gained manifests itself in future narratives.
I have one more comic closing out the theme of the clinic supporting others in making decisions about themselves, and then next week I plan to do something extremely different than anything I've yet attempted. Hopefully, I said everything I wanted to in this blog, and didn't piss too many people off with the conclusion of this storyline. It's meant to be pretty ambiguous, because the only person who really understands Kristen's situation is Kristen and we'll always be on the outside looking in at her. Heck, unlike the people she may share similarities to, she's a fictional character, but I don't think that diminishes the reality of abuse that some people face. Hopefully it gets people thinking and motivates people to find solutions to end abusive relationships.
-D
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