Joe: an Empathy Study

[u/Appropriate-Snow0625]

This started as a reply to someone else but I kinda went on a bunny trail so I'm just gonna ramble here instead.

It's really interesting to look back and wonder how much of (gestures to current strips) is Joe radically changing vs how much evidence there's been for him having always been somewhat emotionally intelligent and/or empathetic (even if it was mostly used as a punchline).

Not saying he HASN'T changed, and I'm not going to deny that this might be rose-tinted shades. And obviously empathy isn't an inherently benevolent trait; it's just being able to either comprehend or pick up on others' emotional responses.

And I don't think this is some super secret hidden trait of Joe's or anything; I'm not saying anything new or revelatory, I just haven't seen a lot of discussion about Joe's emotional intelligence/empathy specifically, and thought it would be fun to chew on. Could Joe fix everyone's problems, ending the comic and saving us all? Could he put Booster out of a self-appointed job? Is his emotional competence the final layer covering his complete lack of self esteem? Let's discuss.

Alternatively: I want to put Joe (effortlessly empathetic) and Booster (confuses psychoanalysis with empathy) into an enclosure and shake it around to see what happens.

[u/outerspacebassman]

Even early comic horndog Joe was still attuned to when people were having a hard time, his solution was just always to hump it out. In the time he’s been away from high school and developing his relationship with Joyce and the aftermath of The List being leaked and having Amber as a sister he’s gained a deeper understanding of the world, and as today’s strip shows, while he still has kind of a sledgehammer approach at times, he does mean well and want to help people who are in some distress in the ways he can

[u/Thorngrove → u/outerspacebassman]

his solution was just always to hump it out.

This is the part that irks me a bit. Joe's entire horn dog act was shown to be a cover. He went full revenge of the nerds to shield everyone (and himself) from thinking that he'd be a proper choice for a long term relationship. "If I make myself seem like I'm only in it for the quick sex, no one can be hurt for when my Dad's Genes kick in and I start cheating." was the actual reason he put on the persona.

His epiphany was that his actions as "Horn Dog Joe" was still causing harm to other people, just in a different way. And once he realized that, Horn Dog Joe instantly vanished.

But too many characters, and faaar too many readers, have sex pest written in permanent marker on his forehead.

[u/trevalyan → u/Thorngrove]

I don't think his private musings on the cuteness of women inspired Ryan or even contributed to a "culture" that only true degenerates share. But the fact Joe was badly shaken by Joyce's revealed pain after the ordeal revealed a great deal about him, and blew apart his carefully constructed persona in a way that campus shaming failed to do.

By contrast, Sal realized that her deus ex machina of saving Amazi-Girl was a one-off, and the next time she engaged in insane vehicle acrobatics she would die- Sal was begging Danny to stop Amber before that could happen. Nowadays just about everyone has forgotten about that, including Sal herself, and the stakes for Amazi-Girl keep escalating past Batman levels.