After telling Molly to perform the CPR, Jo tries to act it out with April. Jo is obviously a transgender female. She seems to be foreshadowing possible feelings for April as she is acting out the way that Molly should grab Mal by the face and says, "You have to smooch her and blow into her lungs."
When Molly's attempt at CPR does not work on Mal, Ripley comes to the rescue by jumping on Mal's stomach and forcing her to spit the water out. When Mal is conscious again, she asks Molly if she is the one who saved her and Molly, knowing that it was not her, says yes; and the two smile at each other lovingly and continue to embrace. If this is not enough to make obvious the fact that the two girls both share romantic feelings for one another, the writers seem to strategically place Molly and Mal in the same storyboards multiple times throughout the comic, but more noticeably throughout these two pages mentioned above.
However, I do question what the purpose of the other two girls in the group mentioning that Molly must "smooch" Mal in order to correctly perform her CPR. At first, I thought that maybe that was a way for them to set up a kiss for the two girls who have crushes on each other, but I am sure there would be a better time to do that than when one of them requires CPR to sustain life. This may also have been an innocent moment where the girls just did not know what CPR was that was intended for laughter. I would really like some clarification on that.
I agree, the idea of sexuality is evident in Lumberjanes. I thought the CPR scene was very evident of this as well.
ReplyDeleteGreat job on this analysis! The CPR scene was something I overlooked, so thank you for delving into this.
ReplyDeleteHi Melissa,
ReplyDeleteYes, you are right that Lumberjanes subtly sets up romantic tension between Mal and Molly by small acts like placing them in the same frame in the story boards and their body language. I do not think that at this time Jo and April have developed into anything romantic, though they are closer and often described as "best friends." However, with Mal and Molly we get clear romantic suggestions throughout the arc and particularly with the CPR scene. I agree with you that it doesn't necessarily make sense that these Lumberjanes, wilderness scouts, do not know what CPR actually entails. It seems like that should be a trait they learn early in their training. And you are right that Ripley is the one that actually saves her by expelling the water from her stomach. My guess is that we are supposed to read this scene as being indicative of their ignorance of CPR, though we as readers have the right to be skeptical about that.