I didn’t realize until now that it might not be entirely clear, this is all taking place on the same day as the previous chapter. Rain is still off at her appointment, and everyone else is going about their day. So Rudy is in Brother Arthur’s office due to what he’d said (or yelled, really) to Drew in the last chapter.
http://rain.thecomicseries.com/comics/438/
Originally, these were going to be two separate pages, but I think there’s a better flow in keeping them together. So I did. And no one complained, I’m sure.
Thoughts? Is Rudy correct here, or is he being foolish? And what of Brother Arthur’s cut off warning about Rudy’s dad? What do we think Mr. Strongwell is really capable of?
Brother Arthur has good intentions here, I think. It's similar to how Maria doesn't want Chanel to come out as gay: in this environment, it causes more harm than good.
As for Mr. Strongwell, I don't think we actually know that much about Rudy's parents other than that they're homophobic. But right now I have one possibility coming to mind: Rudy's dad might be planning to totally disown him.
This situation kinda strikes home for me. When I was outed two years ago I was still at college, and my parents not only refused to pay my tuition for another year, but they pursued legal action against the school for "medical mistreatment" since the Health Center there connected me to resources to start therapy and HRT. My parents argued that since I had Asperger's Syndrome, I was incapable of giving consent for my own treatment. Obviously that was bollocks, so their attempts to go after me and the school didn't lead to anything. They still blame the school, and possibly my partner, for what happened. I haven't seen any of my family since.
Given that, I think I have an idea of what Rudy's parents are capable of doing... Doesn't make for good times :(
Brother Arthur should have been firmer with Rudy - for his own sake. I hope what he meant say before Rudy cut him half sentence wasn't "... wants to kick you out." or "... sent you to re-education camp".
I hope some kind person will teach Rudy important life lesson of not antagonizing crazy violent hateful intolerant people just because they're wrong. I you met such evil insane person, just smile and nod "you are absolutely right sir", and then walk away without making eye contact.
I'm really glad Rain is more upbeat than Khaos Komix otherwise I'd be really, really frightened by this.
It's pretty obvious Rudy's parents are entirely divorced from reality and that their homophobia is reaching a dangerous level if they are seriously contemplating suing a school because their children are gay. The next horrific step would be something like conversion therapy. ='(
I agree with what I think is the general consensus here; Rudy is being dumb. He's letting his emotions get in the way of protecting himself. And while I realize that this is what people do a lot of the time, especially when they're already on edge, it's not helping him in the long run. He should have at least listened to Brother Arthur's warning before leaving.
In all honesty, this is why brother Arthur is my favorite, while he rarely appears(I HOPE CHAPTER 32 HAS HIM APPEAR) he always is calm and tries to do what is best for the students. Especially the LGBT students that cropped up as of late, he knows this is not the place for them to be the way they are but always tries to help them because he wants to make sure they stay fine. Although its technically the school rules(I believe according to word of Jocelyn he is atheist) and could get them expelled or him fired.
I'm not agreeing with the general consensus here.. To me, Rudy is in the right.
Educational institutions and parents ought to butt the f out of kids and teenagers' identity and self-definitions if they're told they're not welcome.
This being a catholic school, they may have another opinion about that, but this is not actually Brother Arthur's stance.
It seems he has good intentions, but he is doing one thing very wrong: He is appealing to Rudy's understanding.
Rudy is the injured party here, according to the perception of both Brother Arthur and Rudy himself. Rudy should not be the one to 'graciously yield', he doesn't have the emotional capacity for it in this situation. It's not a warrented demand.
Brother Arthur actually does have a lot of options, some of them more drastic than others, including reconsidering how important his own position at the school really is to him. Which is a hard thing to consider, but then again he is putting himself in the role of the adult mentor figure here. He should have this thing owned.
One of the easier options is -not- appealing to Rudy's understanding of the overall context but rather agreeing with him, stuff sucks and the world is unfair. This causes no conflicts, which then allows Brother Arthur to inform Rudy about any potential risks and consequences due to other parties such as parents and the catholic school institution.
It's true that Rudy could also handle things a bit better on his side, be a bit more patient, strategic. But well, he's emotional due to stuff happening in his life and now there's this curveball and he is tired. And I think he is also actually prepared to leave the school over this. We'll see.
But really. In any student/teacher dynamic, the balance of 'being the bigger person' or 'being understanding', 'considering the bigger picture' should -not- be on the shoulders of the student. That's unrealistic expectations.
As for Mr. Strongwell, I don't think we actually know that much about Rudy's parents other than that they're homophobic. But right now I have one possibility coming to mind: Rudy's dad might be planning to totally disown him.
Given that, I think I have an idea of what Rudy's parents are capable of doing... Doesn't make for good times :(
I hope some kind person will teach Rudy important life lesson of not antagonizing crazy violent hateful intolerant people just because they're wrong. I you met such evil insane person, just smile and nod "you are absolutely right sir", and then walk away without making eye contact.
It's pretty obvious Rudy's parents are entirely divorced from reality and that their homophobia is reaching a dangerous level if they are seriously contemplating suing a school because their children are gay. The next horrific step would be something like conversion therapy. ='(
Rudy is in no bullshit mode.
Brother Arthur: "Your father is Darth Vader"
Educational institutions and parents ought to butt the f out of kids and teenagers' identity and self-definitions if they're told they're not welcome.
This being a catholic school, they may have another opinion about that, but this is not actually Brother Arthur's stance.
It seems he has good intentions, but he is doing one thing very wrong: He is appealing to Rudy's understanding.
Rudy is the injured party here, according to the perception of both Brother Arthur and Rudy himself. Rudy should not be the one to 'graciously yield', he doesn't have the emotional capacity for it in this situation. It's not a warrented demand.
Brother Arthur actually does have a lot of options, some of them more drastic than others, including reconsidering how important his own position at the school really is to him. Which is a hard thing to consider, but then again he is putting himself in the role of the adult mentor figure here. He should have this thing owned.
One of the easier options is -not- appealing to Rudy's understanding of the overall context but rather agreeing with him, stuff sucks and the world is unfair. This causes no conflicts, which then allows Brother Arthur to inform Rudy about any potential risks and consequences due to other parties such as parents and the catholic school institution.
It's true that Rudy could also handle things a bit better on his side, be a bit more patient, strategic. But well, he's emotional due to stuff happening in his life and now there's this curveball and he is tired. And I think he is also actually prepared to leave the school over this. We'll see.
But really. In any student/teacher dynamic, the balance of 'being the bigger person' or 'being understanding', 'considering the bigger picture' should -not- be on the shoulders of the student. That's unrealistic expectations.