Who’s that Girl?
A brief look at the what & why of Penny Dreadful
I joked yesterday in a comment reply that I’d love to see a treatise written on Penny’s personality someday. Yes, I know how ridiculous an idea that is. But that made me think: I know who she is (at least purportedly), but does the strip convey that properly? So, in an open call for comment, here is the low-down on how I arrived at Penny’s character in the years leading up to the strip. I’ll leave it to my readers to judge the strip’s success in conveying it.
- Penny was intended to be disadvantaged in several areas.
- Penny’s a girl.
- In corporate America – well, not just there – women generally are disadvantaged.
- Younger folk are as well. As a teenage girl, Penny starts out on the downside of both.
- Penny’s a nerdy girl.
- Let’s face it – going against stereotypes is a pre-requisite, right?
- I know, there are LOTS of nerdy girls these days. But that doesn’t make it the social norm.
- Penny’s an expatriate.
- Having been an expatriate (in Japan), I’m well acquainted with the obstacles this engenders. Yet, I didn’t want to struggle with foreign-language related difficulties with the character, so Penny has been a Brit for the last several rev’s.
- Further, Penny doesn’t appear to have any familial support framework. We don’t even know if she’s got family. Well, I know, but I’m not saying. 😉
- Penny’s a ginger.
- One negative stereotype I’ve never understood is the British prejudice against red-headedness. But, I’m not above using it.
- Also, gingers are often portrayed as having a fiery temper and a bristly demeanor, which kinda fits Penny, I think.
- Penny’s a Scouser.
- I’ve read a fair bit that suggests the Englishman at large views the Scouse accent as low-brow and undesirable, much like we yanks often generalize the “deep southern” accent in the US. (Personally, I love the sound of the Scouse accent. But then, I’m married to a Southerner…)
- Further, I’ve heard anecdotal evidence that the Liverpool area is economically depressed in comparison to other areas in England.
- Penny’s a girl.
- Despite all this, Penny still comes out on top. That’s the intent, anyway.
- Penny’s not a nice person. In fact, she’s pretty hateful.
- Johnny is the embodiment of all that’s good within Penny. And it ain’t much.
- I suspect that’s why he’s such a lightweight little guy, and also why we can see through him.
- Yet, somehow, we still like her. This is probably largely due to the fact that she gets to act in ways we often wish we could…
- Penny has a soft spot for the disadvantaged.
- I have to say, this one surprised me. That sounds weird, I know. But, I’ve noticed in her treatment of the Bobs that she’s almost never abusive of them as she is many of her other co-workers.
- Maybe it’s because I ended up liking the Bobs and have never treated them in the way the original strip concept planned for me to do. But I think it’s indicative of something in Penny’s true nature.
So, whaddya think – is that Penny? Or has the strip totally misrepresented her?
Ma Vie en Brick
A self-portrait atop my desk
Goofing around a bit while rendering the latest batch of strips… Not to be outdone by my super-ego’s analysis of Penny, my id & ego teamed up on a self-portrait minifig diorama. It’s kinda like all the various aspects of me!
This was a pretty interesting read. I mean, you can probably tell all this from reading all the strips up to this point, but it’s cool to see it all laid out in detail.
I don’t know about that soft spot for the disadvantage. She seems more like she takes advantage of soft spots, back when she had a heated passion for hitting the technologically challenged with a hammer – that is, everyone she works with.
Thanks! I guess the jury will remain out on that soft spot – maybe she’s just fond of the Bobs for whatever reason. Though I’d like to convince myself shr’s got at least one redeeming quality 🙂
I disagree that women are disadvantaged in the workplace. It’s much harder to fire women or charge them with misconduct. It’s also virtually impossible for men to charge women with sexual harassment but it’s very easy for women to charge men with sexual harassment. In fact, I know not of a single case where a man won a sexual harassment suit against a woman.
You make good points, and also make me fear I’ve opened a can of worms! I’ll concede that the gender bias appears less an issue than it was several years ago, but studies still indicate differences persist, particularly in pay scales. I don’t really observe much of that inside Miscrosoft, but other companies I’ve worked at previously have demonstrated the problem. And, by no stretch of the imagination would Know/Idea be a progressive company… 🙂 Now your point about the difficulty firing women for misconduct – how else do think Penny stays employed?