Depression, this is a real topic, a topic that isn’t talked about enough, a topic that
certain people might be ashamed to share their experience with, a topic that affects the world’s
population, an illness that discriminates no-one, but yet it is so lightly taken. Depression is a
real issue, a mental health disorder distinguished by the lack of interest in daily activities, the
constant depressed mood, even if it doesn’t seem as much this can cause severe damage to a
person, not only mentally but physically. Imagine feeling as if nobody cares about you, how
that does make you feel? sad, depressed, unmotivated. Now imagine that you are the one that
feels as if nothing is important enough, as if daily live isn’t worth living, as if there is nothing to
look forward to. Everyone goes through their ups and downs but all situations are different,
your low might be someone else’s high, that is a statement that goes a long way. Imagine hoe
messed up someone else’s life has to be so that when you feel at your lowest, their equivalent
is thriving, they are enjoying and taking in every little moment cause they don’t want it to end.
This piece is called “Come Out and Say It”, it was published in 2013 by Clay Jonathan and it
shows a girl who is walking around with a fake smile until her mom points it out and tells her to
speak out, say what’s bothering her. When she starts to open up, she gets interrupted not
being able to finish the sentence. The mom complains, what could she be upset about, she
has no responsibilities, she has a full life ahead of her what could she be so stressed about,
how could she be complaining if there are people who face far greater issue in their life, that
she should be grateful for what she has, she calls her selfish and spoilt. The girl proceeds to
put back her fake smile, saying “I made a mistake”. I believe what this comic is trying to
portray is a very powerful message that doesn’t get said enough. We (as in the younger
generations) are human too, we deal with problems as well and face challenges that the older
generations can’t relate.
The effects that diminishing a person has on them is something extraordinaire, they end
up feeling as nothing and feeling as nothing, isn’t worth living for. Older generations believe
that since we grew up with an “easy” life, we have technology whereas they didn’t, we didn’t
have to face the complications they had to when growing up, and that is simply too much for
many of them, the fact that we didn’t have the issues that they had doesn’t mean we don’t
have issues of our own. As stated before depression isn’t an issue to be taken lightly but with
all the problems the world is facing teenagers have gotten lost in the way, parents don’t seem
to understand the issues we are facing and hence they avoid it, when we do speak up it is
mostly seen as confrontation, and we get yelled at for it but if we don’t say anything we get
yelled at for being moody, and staying in our rooms all day. Jonathan Clay, the artist for this
piece is an advocate for depression, a disorder which he himself has stated to have, he has
over 300 comics in his series called “depression”, he hopes to create relevant, relatable
content that will allow to teenagers to have the courage to speak up or at least the feeling of
being understood. To know that you are not going through it alone can make a difference, Clay
uses multiple stylists features to create a mood, he uses allegories, an emotive language,
catharsis and because of the style, a comic, it is laconic.
The author’s purpose is to spread awareness, and help the people stuck in that same
situation. Through the comic there are several signs that prove the purpose, the whole comic is
an allegory to someone’s everyday life, the way the girl is walking in probably back from school
with a fake smile shows that she isn’t alright and every teenager has gone through that. It
makes it relatable for everyone seeing the comic which is why if it would’ve been set up
differently the effect it has on the reader wouldn’t be the same, the mood it portrays allows the
reader to feel connected and sympathize with the character. It lets you know that you are not
alone. The conversation the girl has with her mom at the end is the most relatable seen to the
whole comic, We’ve all had that same conversation with our parents, this shows how relatable
the topic is, it creates an emphasis in the similarities that people can have; no matter their
differences, race, social class, cultures, the conversation will most likely be part of your life at
some point.
The use of an emotive language is crucial to fulfill the purpose of the piece, even though
there isn’t many words body language is still very present and it creates the atmosphere in
which the scene is happening. The girl slouching, the grin on her face, the desperation that can
be seen running through her eyes are all important for the message. The slouch shows the lack
of confident, it allows the reader to interpret the character as someone who doesn’t talk very
much, who goes everyday hoping to be invisible, the concern the mom has in the first shot
gave her the confidence to speak up, the girl has her pleading look as if saying finally. Teenager
these days are used to keeping their emotions inside until they explode or someone notices,
and when they do it isn’t because you told them, its because they can see it in themselves as
well and are able to recognize it. Therefore when a teenager needs help they’ll look for you and
stare at you pleadingly as if using telepathy and hope you’ll notice, if you do they
accomplished their mission if not you lost your shot. When the girl finally tries speaking up all
the confidence in her shatters, she gets interrupted and instead of getting an understanding
parent who will listen to her which is most of the time all we need she gets yelled at, and she
decides that the argument isn’t worth the trouble, “I made a mistake.”, this is something every
teenager has said in their lives, sometimes we open up and we don’t get the response we
hoped for, we realize it was a mistake to say what we are feeling, after a parent shuts down
their kid he or she won’t be the same; slowly but surely you’ll start hearing less and less from
them. When you realize it, it’ll probably be too late, the girl on the comic just based on the
body language in the last scene seems as if she has had that argument in the past. The way
her mom revolts and starts giving a whole speech shows that it isn’t the first time she’s had to
say it. Making relatable content is all an artist looks for, if you are able to help one person you’ll
feel accomplished.
Catharsis; catharsis is the portraying of an emotional discharge, wether it’s the
liberation of anxiety or depression, or just portraying the issue as a whole. The artist’s
involvement in mental health disorders show that he has probably been through it, the
character in the comic is revealing her emotions, she is trying to let go, to feel liberated and
even if at the end she couldn’t since she got interrupted it feels as if the intention was there.
Sometimes teenagers don’t need advise to help with whatever they are going through, they just
want to be heard, they want to let it out, which is why I believe catharsis is part of the comic,
maybe it wasn’t purposefully there but it adds emotion and allows sympathy.
The main purpose of the text was as said before to create awareness but primarily to
allow those who are in the main character’s situation to feel as of they are not alone, to help
them cope with whatever their issues are. The stylistic features chosen in this work allow the
reader to sympathize with the character, feel her grieve, without catharsis there would be a lack
of emotion, without body language there would be nothing to sympathize with since there are
very few written words, if this comic wouldn’t have been an allegory it wouldn’t have been as
relatable. Depression is a severe disorder that should be taken seriously, the spread of
awareness is critical in this time, not only because of the pandemic but it is time for a change,
depression shouldn’t b something talked about behind curtains, certain people still consider it
taboo. It is a normal thing to deal with and people shouldn’t have to be ashamed of it.