Sometimes I think Im in love with Enid from Ghost World. I have a lot of different theories as to why I think that. Part of it is she hates people like I do, for being recognizably phony. Its always annoying when you can tell someone is faking it.
Other times I think she just reminds me of myself. Which makes me wonder if Im really just a total fag. I dont have the obsession with camp that she does. But I change my appearance a lot and I also thrive on ruthlessly cutting people down. Enid knows that everybody is full of shit. Its just obnoxious when they cant even do a convincing job of pretending otherwise.
Ive also had a bunch of friends like Becky. Weird mutual obsessions and shit. I have a friendship like that right now. Like her I also fantasize about disappearing from my friends lives. I think the bus at the end of Ghost World might be a symbol for death. An old man is waiting for it and then finally takes it, Enid takes it when she gets shut out of college and Becky leaves her for Josh.
At one point Enid describes her ideal guy, rugged, chain-smoking, intellectual, adventurer guy whos really serious but also really funny and mean Im pretty damn close to that, minus the whole rugged thing, although I do tend to neglect showers or shaving. My ex girlfriend also reminds me of her, but shes not as cool.
If I ever Imagine myself with her though its never good. She, like myself, seems way to evil and difficult to love sustainably.
Other times I think she just reminds me of myself. Which makes me wonder if Im really just a total fag. I dont have the obsession with camp that she does. But I change my appearance a lot and I also thrive on ruthlessly cutting people down. Enid knows that everybody is full of shit. Its just obnoxious when they cant even do a convincing job of pretending otherwise.
Ive also had a bunch of friends like Becky. Weird mutual obsessions and shit. I have a friendship like that right now. Like her I also fantasize about disappearing from my friends lives. I think the bus at the end of Ghost World might be a symbol for death. An old man is waiting for it and then finally takes it, Enid takes it when she gets shut out of college and Becky leaves her for Josh.
At one point Enid describes her ideal guy, rugged, chain-smoking, intellectual, adventurer guy whos really serious but also really funny and mean Im pretty damn close to that, minus the whole rugged thing, although I do tend to neglect showers or shaving. My ex girlfriend also reminds me of her, but shes not as cool.
If I ever Imagine myself with her though its never good. She, like myself, seems way to evil and difficult to love sustainably.
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You're right, if autonomy is the highest moral value (I don't think that it is, incidentally, it just seemed to be the one most germane to your situation), then there is an air of paradox about trying to *tell* someone to be moral.
The best I can do is say, yeah, there are times when the moral thing to do is going to have to be to refuse to give advice and let someone figure things out on their own. But not all forms of persuasion are autonomy-destroying, I don't think. The question, I'd say, in terms of moral advice is similar to the crux of the opinion I had on your situation - you need to carefully assess the situation and see if the person you'd be influencing is coming from a strong enough point in terms of her own rational capacities and self-possession that there isn't a coercive element to your attempt at persuasion. But this is, unfortunately, an ineliminably 'fuzzy' decision, a judgment call.
Does that make any sense?
(Oh, and BTW - I didn't mean to sound preachy in my answer - you'd asked for input, and I just tried to give it my most considered shot).