#look at the third image he's pouting in the bottom panel like a kicked puppy i'm kicking him
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I think one of my favorite things established about Johnny as a character is that he just impulsively resorts to violence in any remotely awkward situation. It's not just, like, an ideological crutch where he'll kill someone mildly annoying as a catharsis for his anger and then act like it's something better, it's just his go-to shortcut for the uncomfortable nuances of all social interaction.
When he's not screaming about artificially flavored frozen beverages, or decapitating party clowns, he's just this nervous, insecure, little wet napkin: a fairly reserved guy. Yeah, he's had friends, but from what we're told and shown of his life, I think his interactions with others have generally consisted of ridicule and strife. He's probably very socially underdeveloped, and I'd like to think he plays up his "insane maniac" schtick, and falls back on it time after time because making others uncomfortable, or pushing them away, is a lot easier than having to feel embarassed in their presence because he's a social alien unable to cope with Situations[TM].
That's obviously part of why he tried to kill Devi, apart from wanting to "preserve the moment", and prevent her from ever leaving, or losing her present fondness for him, when he found himself unable to live up to her high opinions. However, this is something I see in Johnny's relationship with Squee as well, which I could probably dedicate an entire post to in itself. There's no way that Johnny isn't picking up that this kid is terrified, he's not that dense, and it's the basis of his very nickname. So, why continue to scare the daylights out of him? It's not out of any malice, and I'm inclined to believe that Johnny genuinely likes Squee. Still, I think that's a fact that can co-exist with the reality that Johnny has learned to thrive off the discomfort, scorn, or fear of others. He's seemingly unable to have mundane interactions without incorporating a level of violence into it, either as a communicative tool [like in Issue #3 at the mall] or a way of releasing tension or escaping some immediate enviormental discomfort [like in Issue #2 with Devi]...
For as much as Johnny genuinely hates the people we've seen comment on his appearence, act obnoxious, or generally slight him in some other way, he psychologically needs them. Without them, he has nothing to base his identity around. There'd be no justification for the violence he'd be enacting anyways, and he'd have to confront how empty he truly is as an individual.
This is probably one of my favorite passages in the entiriety of JTHM, though it never gets talked about because we only get a handful of excerpts from Johnny's die-ary. They give a very unique insight into what goes on in his head, because unlike a lot of the preformative monologuing we watch him fall into, this is for his eyes only. There's no incentive for him to mask certain aspects of himself, or pretend to be or think something that doesn't allign with his reality. He loves the mistreatment of others just as much as he hates it, it's an avenue for his catharsis just as much as it is why he needs that catharsis in the first place. The opposite of love isn't hatred, they're just two sides of the same coin, it's indifference.
#jthm#analysis hell#look at the third image he's pouting in the bottom panel like a kicked puppy i'm kicking him#he loves that filthy mental seed
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