Here’s a Great Romantic Tip From Jughead From All Over the Place
In the recent release of the Archie Jughead spin- off, the comic’s protagonist looks like a girl. Jughead is canonically identified as asexual , so he is shocked and confused. He doesn’t know what this girl looks like; he only saw her dressed as a giant cheeseburger. Therefore, his girlfriend Betty convinces him to take a step, but is polite and respectful. And for a young woman at the wrong end of a ginger love triangle, Betty has some great advice:
This may sound like conflicting advice from Lumiere and Mrs. Potts to the Beast about courting Belle. But, as Betty says, it’s only because romance is hard.
But one of Betty’s lines is so helpful that writer Ryan North, who enjoys commenting on his comics, repeats it at the bottom of the page: “Compliment people for what they want to do, not what they turned out to be.”
This is industrial-grade romantic advice, North says. This is not the only criterion for a good compliment. But it’s a great start, especially with people you don’t know well. When you compliment another person, you show that you are paying attention to them. The recipient is more likely to get an interesting answer, and more likely to be willing to share what you raised.
If you just compliment someone on a body, voice, or role that they clearly haven’t chosen for themselves, you will look lazy and inattentive and may stumble upon something that that person really hates about themselves. And now is not the time to change your mind about your height, weight, or fancy nose. Save these compliments for later when the person already knows you like their choice.
Betty isn’t saying you can’t tell your boyfriend that he has a great ass. She’s just saying that when you pretend to be with some dude at the bar, you don’t start with Good Feet because he probably already heard it five times in a night.
JK, women bear the brunt of these objectifying compliments because men are lazy and entitled, and for most of history we’ve let them just be garbage bags. Stop being garbage bags, men! Be more like Jughead Jones!