Review: It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth

It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth by Zoe Thorogood
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

This is the most emo, self-absorbed, pretentious piece of crap I've read in a while.

If you consider yourself a misunderstood emo kid, this will knock your socks off.

If you're looking for logical progression or just any kind of meaningful story in general, this is not for you, my friends.

There is basically no plot - it's just the author drawing random pictures and talking about how art is everything even though her life is a mess and trying to make sense of her misery by inflicting on the page and, as a consequence, the reader.

There's no humility to aid feelings of sympathy; in fact, she comes across as obnoxiously obsessed with her depression and how 'not like other people' she is because of it, which also makes her super relatable. What a conundrum.

I'm not big on self-pity so this really rubbed me the wrong way. I understand how debilitating mental illnesses can be but I think wallowing in it to the extent of inviting others to wallow with you is problematic.

The artwork is a messy jumble of styles; very little colour, and Goodnight Punpun-style simplistic heads on detailed bodies; full page spreads of crap and detailed panels interspersed with narration. There's no consistency to the artwork and while this does a decent job of reflecting the muddled mind, it had a rather nonsensical feel.

So many times I found myself wondering what it was trying to say. It's an unfiltered expression of emotion and while I respect the author's choice to publish it I don't think it's polished enough for general consumption. I felt no empathy reading it - rather, I wanted her to take control those times she realised she was enjoying her misery. Ultimately, it was an incredibly frustrating read.

It's an excellent visual representation of depression and self-pity because there's no logic to it and it's incredibly self-absorbed. She was awful to the people around her and seemed comfortable admitting so with no shame. Honesty is fine but it really didn't work in her favour.

Guh.

Look, I probably sound like an insensitive jerk criticising an autobiographical account of depression. I'm not completely heartless - I do feel for her and I hope she finds a way to her own light. This was distressing to read because she's really embracing her illness instead of seeking help, and that's concerning to me. The people that will really love this comic are the ones that will relate to the messiness of mental illness and this comic does nothing to encourage seeking help - instead it seems to share the message that it's okay to wallow and stay blinded by your own misery. I HATE that.

At the same time, I do believe creative expression is really helpful, so maybe people will read this and channel their own negative emotions into art.

Personally, this didn't work for me at all, but I'm glad the lonely are finding a kindred spirit in its pages.

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