Should Samantha cut Foster some slack?

[Chef Troy]

I'm interested in your opinions, folks. As it stands, Samantha is too mad at Foster to consider going out with him any more. I have plans for this story arc in the future, but I'm still interested in hearing what you think. So tell me! Is she being too hard on him? Is she being too SOFT on him?

Post and tell me what you think she should do, and why.

[Nadriel]

I personally think she should cut him some slack, but then I have a tendency to want things to work out for the characters in strips I read, which doesn't always actually make for a good strip.

But reasoning...well, as she said, she made the same mistake- plus, it's not long since his encounter with the Lamia, who didn't help his world view on vampires that much...hopefully, Samantha will realise this before long.

Anyway, you asked, I replied...

[MichelleDG]

First time post here, but you asked for opinions so here's mine. Everyone comes across misconceptions. I imagine, in that kinda surreal story arc, Samantha has come across this one quite a bit. You're writing her as a modern day vampire. In this day and age, we've seen everything from Count Dracula to the Vampire Lestat and other than a thirst for blood, they seem to have pretty much nothing in common. Heck, the ones in Blade can walk around in daylight if they put enough sunscreen on (don't get me started on that btw). Nobody knows what to expect. Realistically, if she likes Foster, she should have no problem at all with having to explain the facts about herself to him. Of course he doesn't know what to expect; when the hell has he ever met a vampire? And she admitted that she had the same false ideas when she started.

It would be like telling my dates I'm a satanist and then getting irritated if they think that means I worship Satan (I'm told satanists don't necessarily worship him, but it's not like that's something everyone knows). If she's going to have that attitude, she'd better stick to vampires only for her dates.

kemidra

Oh btw... since I've got you and you're reading... Great comic. Thank you for creating it.

[Eleika]

As a writer, my take on the scene was that Foster was trying to say "I don't know what to say, I'm sorry I misjudged you" and the like, but she didn't give him a chance.

Yeah, I definitely want things to work out between those two. I like her more than Ito, for some reason (maybe because she didn't pretend they were engaged). I think she'll need the obligatory time to sit in her room and pout ("Hmph!") and I see Max talking her into giving Foster a chance.

But at the same time, at the moment I percieve that Foster is probably torn between two thoughts: One, profound guilt and angst because now he understands her and is more willing to give her a chance, and is slightly crushed when she pulls that, and Two, relief.

Of course, you could always have Foster try to get Grigori to come visit ...

[Bassbone]

I think perhaps she is being a little hard on him, but then again he is reacting to a stereotype. I would wonder how a person of African-American descent would feel if someone had a similiar reaction to common stereotypes about blacks. Personally I think he's better off not having to kill 13 people to learn the lesson. She has to live with that guilt her whole life.

[Chef Troy]

Good points, all - but before we all decide that Samantha is being too brittle about this, let me just point some things out.

• It's true that Foster based his impression of vampires on his first field assignment, plus popular culture. But you have to remember that the lamia was, first of all, not really a vampire at all, and not even a typical lamia at that.
• Second, while Sam also based her approach to vampirism on what "everybody knows about vampires," what everybody knew in 1897 and what everybody knows in 2003 aren't the same. Nowadays, thanks to Anne Rice, Buffy the Vampire Slayer et al, there are plenty of vampires in popular culture who aren't just evil, blood-soaked killers with no redeeming virtues. They can even be heroes. It stands to reason that Sam would have sampled the whole spectrum of what society thinks of vampires - surely she could be forgiven for reacting impatiently to someone who believed all the negative stuff and none of the rest.
• Moreover, lest we forget, Foster isn't just some ordinary shmoe. He works for Millard Detweiler. He's supposed to be a cut above the general run of humanity when it comes to understanding the supernatural. I know he's new at the Comet, but meeting Phil the sasquatch should have clued him in to the fact that he has misconceptions about some things and should keep an open mind.

Of course, the real reason Samantha is reacting the way she is to Foster's ignorance is because that's the way the real person she's based on said she would react. Don't worry, though, folks - I suspect that in the end she'll relent when she thinks he's suffered enough, although I don't know for sure...

[Eleika]

I see where you're headed with this. Yes, from Samantha's perspective, Foster should have had a more rounded exposure to the concept of a vampire, and his previous experience with people such as the sasquatch should have prepared him for that.

But from Foster's perspective, he's still pretty new at the job. Mickey Finn aside, he's met a sasquatch, some vampires, and a Lamia (that we know of). The Lamia tried to kill him and the Boston vampires weren't the nicest. Sam he may have agreed to date, but only due to the circumstances. While he *should* be more open-minded, he isn't, quite yet.

Another thing I'd like to point out ... I've never read Anne Rice or any other vampire fiction for that matter, though I have seen Interview With The Vampire. The vampires portrayed in that movie are close enough to the stereotype for me that I just see their stereotypes, with the exception of the main character, of course. Elsewhere in society, not counting Piotr from Callahan's, I've only seen the stereotype. Granted, this is just me, but what I'm trying to say is, even though it's out there, not everyone has been exposed to the full spectrum of what vampires are.

So essentially, it's two people (Foster and Sam) coming from two greatly different experiences, and perhaps having expectations about the other. Sam may expect Foster to be more open-minded, because of her experiences and what she's seen in society. Analogy: Just because a lot more people are open-minded about homosexuals doesn't mean everyone is. Sure, it's Foster's bad luck that he made those assumptions, but it's Sam's fault for assuming he would automatically know better.

Aside: I wonder if their troubles will affect their professional relationship? Not to endanger Foster's job or anything ...

[Lynn Bodoni]

I think that if Sam cools off for a while, she might give him another chance. Right now, though, I think she did the right thing, tell him about herself and a little about how various vampires go about their lives, and then leave to give him time to think things through. If she'd gone out with him right after the Big Backstory, she'd still be pissed throughout the date and he'd be confused. He needs time to absorb what she's told him, and she needs time to cool down. She's supposed to be an "Irish chick", so I guess ehe has an Irish temper?

Lynn Bodoni (and why don't I see you at the SDMB any more?)

[MichelleDG]

Yeah, I have to agree. "after he's suffered enough." That would be grounds for a big middle finger with love from me to her. If she were to come back and tell him that she's changed her mind and will allow him the priviledge of dating her, even though he was such a horrible person as to NOT KNOW much about vampires, I'd have lost interest by then. Ignorance is not a crime. I actually haven't seen a lot in that girl that I really like anyway. I prefer Ito.

kemidra

[Eleika]

That makes the answer: 'Forget' Her.

Have to agree with Brad. It's not that she's making him deliberately suffer, it's that she's upset. She seems like a decent being. I think she'll relent only once she realizes how *much* she's made him suffer.

[MNsane]

she should give him another chance, after she's had time to cool off

[Chef Troy]

A one hundred year old vampire and a thirty year old mortal can never have a relationship much more meaningful than that of owner and pet; they are entirely too unequal in experience and power to amount to anything else.

That's a valid point, but I think it might be fun to let these two flawed characters come to that conclusion on their own, while all you voyeurs watch. *grin*

[SamanthaHooper]

I appreciate all of your commentary - especially that fellow making a point that he wouldn't be ogling my backside as I left - such a gentleman! You and Foster have much in common.

A few points I haven't yet seen considered:

1. While I am a blood-sucking vampiress, I can take a joke. Even when the prank is accomplished by means of a hard liquor I particularly detest.

2. I arranged for Foster's rescue, knowing he would not heed my quite pointed (get it, pointed?) warning. I actually pulled the lamia off him, at no small risk to myself (treading the fine edge of betraying the agreement, which could have landed me in very hot daylight, I'll have you know). And where, praytell, do you suppose his friend got that knife? It isn't something one would normally carry on an airplane, after all. Fortunately, most of vampire kind is not as adaptable to modern technology as I am. The Internet is a wonderful thing, isn't it?

3. I asked for the date while I was quite tipsy. Otherwise I wouldn't have hit on such a judgemental, prejudiced jerk. I usually have much better taste.

4. As for my being too hard on Foster, what would you have me do? Make him fulfill the date when he clearly thinks I'm a monster, despite my saving him from himself? I may be a vampiress, but that doesn't mean I'm not a lady - or that I shouldn't be treated with at least a bare minimum of civility.

5. I am of Irish descent, but I am an American. A woman of the 80's, even if it is the wrong century. Face it, I actually let Foster off very lightly. If he'd been as insulting to Ito about her physical traits or personality, I very much doubt that she would have taken it in any better part than I did.

[Curmudgn]

A one hundred year old vampire and a thirty year old mortal can never have a relationship much more meaningful than that of owner and pet; they are entirely too unequal in experience and power to amount to anything else.

That's a valid point, but I think it might be fun to let these two flawed characters come to that conclusion on their own, while all you voyeurs watch. *grin*

. . . mmmmmmmmmmaaaaaybe. I ain't convinced that a vamp and a human can't have a relationship more meaningful than owner and pet, although that's certainly one of the possibilities. Go read Charlaine Harris's vamp series (three books right now, with a fourth scheduled for late-spring 2004 publication) and then tell me again.

[Mistress_K]

I think Samantha was a tad too harsh, but I understand her initial anger. A drudge through a bad memory can do that to anyone. I just hope it doesn't effect a potentialy good friendship in the strip. She can't hold him accountable for holding assumptions on something he didn't even know existed. She had the same assumptions after all.

[Norda]

Say I walk into a bar, sit beside a young man, pull out an oddly shaped change purse and say "I made this by slicing off my last boyfriend's (you can guess which body part for yourself), tanned the leather, and made it into a change purse. So.... can I have your phone number?" And then I pitch a hissy fit when the guy looks at me weird and won't date me.

Now, different first meeting thing, Sam says "Hey guys" from off screen, strolls up in a pair of jeans and a jean jacket over a t-shirt, explains she's here to help them, and acts like anybody else except for the fangs. Had Foster still freaked out as badly as he did, she had every right to get offended.

Instead she's been playing with him, does everything she can to convince him she is a steryotypical vampire, and then punishes him for believing it. Then she spills her emotional life story to him, and tells him he's a jerk for being mean to her in the past, and leaves before he can do anything. That's not working towards solving a problem, that's punishing him.

In short, everything she did may have been done with total innocence, but she was still being a jerk. She needs a swift kick in the rear and to do some serious thinking before she tries to date anyone else.

Duae

Some very, very good points.

I still have to say, however, that I felt very bad for Foster in Monday the 19th's strip. Reminded me of once too often when I've said the wrong thing and watched someone walk away.