He was on some broad anti-asian shit at this time in 1940. But he did come around.
Just don't look into what he did to his wife
this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2026
695 points (98.9% liked)
Comic Strips
25362 readers
1998 users here now
Comic Strips is a community for those who love comic stories.
Rules
-
π Be Nice!
- Treat others with respect and dignity. Friendly banter is okay, as long as it is mutual; keyword: friendly.
-
ποΈ Community Standards
- Comics should be a full story, from start to finish, in one post.
- Posts should be safe and enjoyable by the majority of community members, both here on lemmy.world and other instances.
- Any comic that would qualify as raunchy, lewd, or otherwise draw unwanted attention by nosy coworkers, spouses, or family members should be tagged as NSFW.
- Moderators have final say on what and what does not qualify as appropriate. Use common sense, and if need be, err on the side of caution.
-
𧬠Keep it Real
- Comics should be made and posted by real human beans, not by automated means like bots or AI. This is not the community for that sort of thing.
-
π½οΈ Credit Where Credit is Due
- Comics should include the original attribution to the artist(s) involved, and be unmodified. Bonus points if you include a link back to their website. When in doubt, use a reverse image search to try to find the original version. Repeat offenders will have their posts removed, be temporarily banned from posting, or if all else fails, be permanently banned from posting.
- Attributions include, but are not limited to, watermarks, links, or other text or imagery that artists add to their comics to use for identification purposes. If you find a comic without any such markings, it would be a good idea to see if you can find an original version. If one cannot be found, say so and ask the community for help!
-
π Post Formatting
- Post an image, gallery, or link to a specific comic hosted on another site; e.g., the author's website.
- Meta posts about the community should be tagged with [Meta] either at the beginning or the end of the post title.
- When linking to a comic hosted on another site, ensure the link is to the comic itself and not just to the website; e.g.,
β Correct: https://xkcd.com/386/
β Incorrect: https://xkcd.com/
-
π¬ Post Frequency/SPAM
- Each user (regardless of instance) may post up to five (5 π) comics a day. This can be any combination of personal comics you have written yourself, or other author's comics. Any comics exceeding five (5 π) will be removed.
-
π΄ββ οΈ Internationalization (i18n)
- Non-English posts are welcome. Please tag the post title with the original language, and include an English translation in the body of the post; e.g.,
SΓ, por favor [Spanish/EspaΓ±ol]
- Non-English posts are welcome. Please tag the post title with the original language, and include an English translation in the body of the post; e.g.,
-
πΏ Moderation
- We are human, just like most everybody else on Lemmy. If you feel a moderation decision was made in error, you are welcome to reach out to anybody on the moderation team for clarification. Keep in mind that moderation decisions may be final.
- When reporting posts and/or comments, quote which rule is being broken, and why you feel it broke the rules.
Banned Artists
The following artists are banned from the community.
- Jago
- Stonetoss
- GPrime85
It should be noted that when you make reports, it is your responsibility to provide rational reasoning why something should be removed. Saying it simply breaks community rules is not always good enough.
Web Accessibility
Note: This is not a rule, but a helpful suggestion.
When posting images, you should strive to add alt-text for screen readers to use to describe the image you're posting:
Another helpful thing to do is to provide a transcription of the text in your images, as well as brief descriptions of what's going on. (example)
Web of Links
- !linuxmemes@lemmy.world: "I use Arch btw"
- !memes@lemmy.world: memes (you don't say!)
Other Comic Communities of Interest
- !bloomcounty@sopuli.xyz
- !calvinandhobbes@lemmy.world
- !cyanideandhappiness@discuss.online
- !exo@discuss.online
- !foxtrot@slrpnk.net
- !garfield@lemmy.world
- !moomin@sopuli.xyz
- !oglaf@discuss.online (NSFW)
- !outland@slrpnk.net
- !pbf@discuss.online
- !peanuts@discuss.online
- !smbc@discuss.online
- !theboondocks@slrpnk.net
- !thefarside@sh.itjust.works
- !xkcd@lemmy.world
- !NoseEars@lemy.lol
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Yeah. You already knew. I guess it's better to actually post the whole story here.
I think about Helen every so often when the topic comes up. It's sad to think that her talent was wasted on propping up a husband that never loved her the same way she loved him.
It is easy to dislike Ted for this, but I think this sort of thing happens a lot to partners who have sick partners. It is a huge strain on the relationship and the care-taking partner can often feel like a victim. After all, nobody really checks on how the illness affects them and it can feel like they are trapped.
Consider also that it sounds very noble that she sacrificed everything for him, but was that what he wanted? A sacrifice can be selfish if not done with consent of both parties. This was especially hard for women at the time because a divorce didn't just mean the end of a relationship, it also often meant the end of their life (figuratively, but sometimes literally). Patriarchy bound women to men in a way both parties were trapped by.
Monogamy is hard, even without illness. Communication is the thing that keeps relationships going and even today people are bad at it. In the time they were alive, I don't think they even had real models for what good communication should look like. This isn't to say Ted was blameless, but I also won't say that he was a monster for this.
This isn't about monogamy or how her sacrifice was noble because it wasn't. This is about Helen not getting the credit she's due or the encouragement from Ted to pursue her own passions because he clearly benefited from the sacrifice he didn't ask for.
Sure, and I agree with that. None the less, my point is that these things are very easy to see in a black or white lens, but they are usually a lot more complicated. Ted isn't innocent here, but neither is she. They are both victims of the patriarchal society and of each other.
For having an illness?
Surprised to see everyone dog piling on Ted in other comments. Marriages at that time weren't often based on strong footing and we'll never know exactly how they felt when they married or how their feelings changed throughout life.
[Based only off of the summary] It's easy to see Helen as a saint but it could just as easily be an unhealthy codependence. Chronic illness/pain/disability can completely erode a relationship over time. She pours more and more of herself into him without realizing (or denying) that there are aspects of a relationship that she can't give. Doesn't even have to be sexual, could be something as simple as a walk in the park or sharing a favorite meal outside her diet.
She gave up everything for him. Her passions, time, health, and eventually, even her life. Then he moves on immediately as if he were glad that she's finally gone. It's pretty depressing.
The worst part is thinking of how many women did the same thing for their husbands through history. Thereβs even a common saying that is seen as empowering, but I hate it with a passion: βBehind every great man is a great woman.β
[...] behind every great man is a woman dedicated to his greatness whilst behind every great woman is a man dedicated to bringing her down.
Angela Carter
I like the addendum
I hope Dolly's was an exception.
From what I recall, no. I remember seeing something years ago about how some male agent or pr person in her life tried to being her down.
I detect no lies.
Agree this is depressing, but the act of moving on quickly after a s/o dies doesn't always signify a lack of love for that person. It's an old fashioned notion that there's some sort of magic waiting period one must go through before moving on without being seen as callous. Losing someone can leave a really big hole in your life and people can react to this in a lot of different and desperate ways. I wouldn't continue to judge based on some construct of mandatory waiting period.
All that aside it does sound like for other reasons the doctor was pretty slimy which is a pity to hear as I liked his literature.
Are you speaking generally? If so, I agree with you. However, if you read the whole story, it's pretty clear in this instance that he didn't love her by the end.
I had been unaware of that facet of their relationship, I only knew about him cheating on her when she was sick. I should rewrite my post.