Skruddgemire wrote:And once again M goes back to heavy handed.
I do not see this going well.
Honestly, there was nothing wrong with her speech. Taking that fearful stare approach however just undid what she just accomplished with Calista seeing her vulnerable while talking to Phix and the apology at the beginning of this strip. You have that moment of "Wow, maybe we're all flawed and it's just a question of dealing with them in a healthy manner" and turned it right back to "Holy @#$%ing asscrackers she's the Jaguar Girl and could @#$%ing end me without blinking."
I see your point... but I think M's approach may actually make good sense in this case.
Look at what Calista just got finished saying. She absolutely feels like s*** about herself and what she did. She seems to fully appreciate the wrongness of her actions... not just because she was facing serious punishment, but because she hurt the people she was angry with (not as badly as she might have done, but badly enough).
Cricket feels that she has irreparably "crossed the line"...
she is evil,
she is beyond help or hope, she doesn't
deserve a second chance. The only even-slightly-good thing Cricket sees about her own actions, is that she had found herself unable to actually compel her victims to harm themselves or each other... she stopped at humiliation.
Now, there are a bunch of things Monica didn't do, in responding to Cricket. Monica didn't minimize. Monica didn't make excuses for what Calista had done. Monica didn't offer Calista any "un-earned" forgiveness.
I see two important reasons Monica didn't take this appoach. (1) Cricket
probably wouldn't have bought it, and (2) if Cricket did buy it, and began to believe that what she did wasn't truly a Bad Thing, she could easily become an even more dangerous monster.
As she's the (likely) future leader of a people who already have an (earned?) reputation for being self-centered, amoral, powerful, and dangerous, it would probably be a
really bad idea for Monica to lead her down a path of "Oh, you poor little dear, you committed virtual rape on a bunch of people who dared to displease you? Pay it no mind, really; we all do that sort of thing from time to time. It doesn't matter. You were pissed off. You're forgiven. Have a cookie."
So, let's look at what Monica actually did... what her real message is.
- She confirmed the wrongness of most of what Calista did. All she really did here, was "mirror back" what Calista had just finished saying. (This "mirroring" is a standard technique for psychotherapists... it's part of "active listening", and shows the other person you understood what they were saying. Monica has been through enough therapy herself to be very familiar with this technique)
- She confirmed the goodness of the one good thing Calista had said about herself... that there was one line Cricket refused to cross. Again, she "mirrored" Calista's own communication, reinforcing it.
- She refutes Cricket's hopelessness... by declaring that Cricket's "one good thing" is precisely the key to Cricket's eventual salvation. Monica gives Calista a reason she can accept, for believing that she's not beyond hope, and deserves to be helped.
- Monica declares that "there is a way back" for Calista, that redemption is possible, but that it must be earned. No freebies.
- Monica declares that if Calista "walks that path" properly, Monica will lead and guide her... and, by implication, will guard and protect her (and Monica just apologized for not having done so, when she should have).
And, if we look at Cricket's reaction... I think she probably bought it. She has accepted Monica's leadership (more than just M's authority and power), and by doing so has accepted the message that she is capable of redemption and worthy (if perhaps just barely) of a chance to earn it. She has her "sense of hope" back.
I'm going to guess that her first labor on that path, will be something on the order of "OK, kid, now un-shrink my dog."
