After nine years working in his 'dream job' as an adult bookshop attendant, Brian decides to kick his pornography habit. The impetus for this decision is an encounter with Nancy, a waitress who serves him lunch every day, and whom he has a crush on. Too shy to formally ask Nancy out, Brian follows her home after she has an argument with her boyfriend to see if she's okay. His encounter with Nancy outside of the café setting shatters Brian's perception of her and pushes him to question how he sees women and to make drastic changes in his life.
While Mutard professes that the story is about pornography and its effects, we're not particularly privy to Brian's addiction - we come in on the end of it. Nor is there much to suggest that this addiction is destroying his life. Has he pursued pornography to the detriment of other aspects of his life? It hasn't messed up any relationships because he's never had any and he's maintained a job and apartment, for nine years. He mentions he's spent over $2000 on porn. Over nine years that amounts to under five dollars per week. That sounds more like an interest or a hobby than an addiction. I suppose it doesn't matter whether it actually constitutes an addiction, but rather that Brian sees it as one and decides to do something about it.
For an excellent movie about addiction, Permanent Midnight (1998) (based on actual events and starring Ben Stiller in a rare dramatic role) portrays television screenwriter Jerry Stahl's almost life destroying drug addiction. For an even more harrowing look at addiction, try Requiem for a Dream based on Hubert Selby Jnr's book of the same name.
While A Mind of Love doesn't delve deeply into social and personal affectation of pornography it does at least raises questions for discussion. For Brian his pornography addiction has 'taught' him to see women purely as sex objects. Yet there are many forms of media which teach us how to look at women - cartoons, movies, music videos, even magazines for women. Simply, before Brian had seen any pornography he would have already been 'taught' to see women as objects. Pornography, it can be argued, is merely an extreme reflection of the social construction of women in a patriarchal society. So when Brian calls ogling women, 'instinct' and excuses it with 'Ah well... I'm still a bloke', he fails to see that he's embedded in a wider set of constructed social norms and practices regarding women which over time have come to be interpreted as 'natural'. Thus it can't be argued with because 'that's just the way it's always been'.
Brian's consumption of pornography creates a distance between him and women, effectively leaving him disconnected from the possibility of a real relationship. Also, pornographic images, easily accessible and always ready on demand, substitute for real women, so Brian effectively doesn't need a 'real' woman, or a relationship with one, when he has pornography.
For me, the heart of A Mind of Love lies in the simple a story of a boy becoming a man. Much of Brian's inner dialogue, I would argue, is reflective of many young men who are shy, and nervous, and without a natural rapport with women. Brian is less a misfit, and more a confused and unsure young man lacking in self-confidence. Brian's development into adulthood is retarded, culminating in his twenties, but this isn't unusual considering that the cult of kidult-hood which permeates society. Adult pursuits such as having children and marriage are now postponed, happening later than in earlier generations. Many adults now still live with their parents well into their twenties, with their parents still paying for them. Childhood pursuits, or those that were considered childish such as reading comics and playing video games, are now firmly ensconced as a part of adult culture. Yet it is not the pursuits themselves that are juvenile, but the adults that act in a juvenile manner refusing to accept responsibility for their own actions. While they may look like adults they still 'play' like children. More and more the idea of making adult choices and taking responsibility is becoming anathema to a society of juveniles that expects things to be presented to them rather than being earned.
Brian is rejecting this ethos when he makes a decision to become an adult. Essentially he is emerging from a fantasy. The 'dream' of working in an adult book shop where you can look at naked women all day is a male teenager's fantasy. When Brian makes an adult decision, deciding to take responsibility for his actions, he's able to leave his fantasy world of porn and enter the diverse 'Big Ass Bookstore' of adulthood where he's able to converse with women without seeing them purely as sex objects, and have a relationship which ultimately results in marriage and impending parenthood.
The theme of fantasy and daydreaming is strong in A Mind of Love. In a simple, yet clever technique, the hard panel borders are removed when Brian is fantasising/daydreaming. The temptation to return to his earlier 'fantasy' life is strong. When he visits the cafe and adult book shop he starts fantasising again but with adult vigour rejects any nostalgia for 'the good ol' days'.
In between finishing A Mind of Love Mutard has had published a number of other works - The Bunker (2003), The Sacrifice (2008), and The Silence (2009) and it's not hard to see why. Mutard's artwork and storytelling is very impressive. The more recently produced artwork of in A Mind of Love's later chapters is a standout. The line work is acutely detailed and in the sequence of Nancy's representation as stripper, the drawing is flawless. The book's shading is excellent with impressive slabs of glossy black backgrounds.
In his introduction Jason Franks comments how Mutard doesn't shy away from drawing a crowd scene and indeed, these scenes packed full of bodies are some of the best in the book. The faces, hairstyles, clothes and expressions of individuals are all unique. Lovingly crafted and wonderfully executed, A Mind of Love is a testament to Mutard's copious talents and while his work is already bordering on masterful, I feel there is still better yet to come.
In his introduction Jason Franks comments how Mutard doesn't shy away from drawing a crowd scene and indeed, these scenes packed full of bodies are some of the best in the book. The faces, hairstyles, clothes and expressions of individuals are all unique. Lovingly crafted and wonderfully executed, A Mind of Love is a testament to Mutard's copious talents and while his work is already bordering on masterful, I feel there is still better yet to come.
For further information on Bruce Mutard and his work go to his Allen and Unwin author page.
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