Meena from the morgue

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Questionable Content is a cult webcomic that is a cross between Friends and Seinfeld, except for Indie music snobs instead of mainstream audiences. It’s a “slice of life” story about 20-somethings in Northampton, Massachusetts. Recently, author and illustrator Jeph Jacques introduced Meena.

Meena works at the morgue, and flirts by making Ebola jokes. (This is realistic – I do know desi women in real life who flirt by making jokes about horrible diseases). She also has all the normal tribulations of a desi woman:

Yup. It’s slice of life, alright.

61 thoughts on “Meena from the morgue”

  3. Hahaha never thought I’d see QC posted on here. Awesome! And Meena is totally hot! 😀

  4. Ok.. That is the crap that they teach you in elementary school — that it is just skin color and melatonin or whatever.. How about body type, facial features, type of hair, hairiness etc ?

  6. Haha, auntie, I was thinking the same thing.

    Hooray! I love QC and am excited to see it appear on SM… Does that make me an “indie” music snob?

  12. Speaking of cartoon desis…. I’ve heard of bad booze making people go blind… but bad booze ads? (Thanks to Chapati Mystery for the… uhhh… tip.)

  14. I always figured Amir was Arab. All the guys I’ve known named Amir were from the middle east, never met a desi one.

  15. Only desis are dorky enough to make jokes about diseases… This just shows how much the “med school mentality” has creeped into our psyche.

    I don’t think mutton chop guy is supposed to be desi… even if his facial hair is Rajput-inspired…

  16. I always figured Amir was Arab. All the guys I’ve known named Amir were from the middle east, never met a desi one.

    FWIW… I knew a Pakistani(Punjabi) guy named Amir…

  18. Aamir != Amir.

    Y’all are gonna make me email Jeph to ask him, aren’t you.

    Still, I wrote the post carefully. I never said Meena was the first desi character …

  19. Ennis,

    The English boxer, Amir Khan is of Pakistani descent.

    One of the most famous poet of India is Amir Khusro from Mughal period, even though he was Persian origin.

  21. 20

    Not disputing the usage of Amir as an Indian name but Khusro had a turko persian father which invalidates his being presented as the quintessential desi Amir.

    btw, Meena is awesome, very witty and fun!! And she looks cute too. Need to go back to finishing that Animation HumanifierI was working on.

  23. Amir Afridi Amir was kicked in the face by Natasha at a Converge show. They are currently dating and in a band with Marten.

    Sounds like an Arab to me. Afridi?

  25. btw meena also seems to fit one of the stereotypes of ABD girls popular among FOBs – ie always dressed in dark clothes with a vaguley Gothic look. is she always portrayed like this?

  26. A. Jeph Jacques is not a FOB. So the stereotype is irrelevant in this situation. B. I have never ever heard of this stereotype among FOBs. C. Seriously, WTF? Don’t we have more worthwhile things to do with our stereotyping time? Like portraying one group as a bunch of bloodthirsty American haters, or another as cousin-loving commandos. But dark clothes? Vaguely Gothic? Do all of them work in morgues too?

  27. I take it all back about Amir. Branch Dravidian is right – there are many famous Afridis in Pakistan, and they’re Pashtun.

    I guess Amir is probably a desi, and a Pakistani desi no less.

  28. Amir = definitely desi. My bro’s name is Amir!!

    Though I really wouldnt want my bro getting it on with Natasha … hmmm…

  29. Not disputing the usage of Amir as an Indian name but Khusro had a turko persian father which invalidates his being presented as the quintessential desi Amir.

    I am sure this was tongue-in-cheek! else, we are not quintessential American y’all.

  30. How timely, I just explained to an otherwise well meaning 40something white guy at work yesterday that repeatedly calling me exotic was not exactly the best of compliments.

  31. I used to live in Northampton and found people there to be quite a bit more progressive than in most towns and cities since. The conversation with Meena doesn’t ring true for Noho townies but I suppose it is for a larger audience. Like everyone here, I too wonder when a desi character will be interesting for non-melanin, ocean crossing, frilly dancing, sanskrit inspiring, curry cooking, marriage arranging, internet armagedon reasons. Quando… quando…

  32. Having said all that (#32) I must add now that this is an awesome strip. Really making me nostalgic — even the store fronts are authentic. Thanks!

  33. On the exotic note, How’s that european/caucasian literature always refers to ‘locals’ as ‘natives’ and Sarees which should be ‘Indian Formal’ qualify as ‘ethnic’. How come west European garb is standard and everything else ethnic and how come the British are not ‘natives’ of Britain.

  34. Another awesome find by mutineers. Currently reading 148 of 882. Maybe Jacques will figure putting me in his strip for reading all in one go.

  35. Yo ABCDs, most Islamic first names are Arabic or Persian independent of the name bearer’s ethnicity, although some names are common to some groups and regions. The last name in this case is a dead give away, gosh nobody remembers the cricketing legend Shahid Afridi he is the league of Sanath and Gilchrist pseuds!

    Branch is right, he is Pashtun – a sizable minority in Pakistan and present in India. Now, do Afghans qualify as desi? (whether they like it or not)

  36. Haha, I love it, all too true for the New Orleans region. The artist should consider putting the “exotic” panel on a womens’ tshirt. Hot seller guaranteed.

  37. I too wonder when a desi character will be interesting for non-melanin, ocean crossing, frilly dancing, sanskrit inspiring, curry cooking, marriage arranging, internet armagedon reasons. Quando… quando…

    Keep reading. There’s only one panel where she’s venting about how people see her, she’s mainly interesting for other reasons.

  39. Finally, a brown, bespectacled, indie music-loving, sick-humored heroine that shares my name. What more could I ask for?

  40. meena also seems to fit one of the stereotypes of ABD girls popular among FOBs – ie always dressed in dark clothes with a vaguley Gothic look

    Really? I had no idea that was a stereotype.

  41. Finally, a brown, bespectacled, indie music-loving, sick-humored heroine that shares my name.

    There are many of your tribe. In the detritus of generations of Hip-Hop / Bhangra / Bollywood listening mediocrities they dream of love and beauty in the resentments of suburbs, where no emotion is too keenly felt, where Morrisey expresses every emptiness, and where listening to Cornershop for the first time was like enlightenment itself. Your Joan of Arc awaits! I am going to huddle in the corner and visit this band now, who are brown and sensitive like me.

  42. There are many of your tribe. In the detritus of generations of Hip-Hop / Bhangra / Bollywood listening mediocrities they dream of love and beauty in the resentments of suburbs, where no emotion is too keenly felt, where Morrisey expresses every emptiness, and where listening to Cornershop for the first time was like enlightenment itself.

    Whoo. That’s me in a nutshell.

  45. Hey Ennis: I tried QC but didn’t find it funny. Maybe I am a normal 54 year old after all.

  46. Did anyone else notice that the comic that Tamasha had in post #7 that Amir was wearing a Cannibal Corpse shirt. A desi that like death metal is cool with.

    I wish more desi’s in real life were like Meena and Amir.

  48. I teach a class called “Imagining India” at a large, midwestern university, and one of the big, early debates is always around this question of “exotic.”

    The people who use it actually think of themselves as the open-minded ones, as opposed to being racist and saying derogatory things. They’re shocked when they’re told that it’s just the flip side of the negative stereotype.

    But it’s in the larger culture. Just turn on any maintream show or film with India in it and you’ll get that same spin. And then desi restaurant owners and shopkeepers (can’t blame them for it) turn around and sell the exotic back to them. Think of all the stores called Raj this or Taj that, the “temple artifacts,” the miniature paintings on the walls, etc.

  49. Finally, a brown, bespectacled, indie music-loving, sick-humored heroine that shares my name. What more could I ask for? Sweet.

  50. 48 “And then desi restaurant owners and shopkeepers (can’t blame them for it) turn around and sell the exotic back to them.”

    Good point! There are ruts in every human endeavor, which is another way of saying that original thinking is usually in scarce supply and it is easier, not to mention safer, to follow a beaten path. Hence the Indian marketing machine, including the little desi stores and even Govt. of India Tourism, continues to exoticize India and perpetuate the myth. But so does every marketing machine everywhere. Steakhouses are Texas themed, Chinese restaurant names are inspired by the dynasties or other stereotypes of Chinese culture, the Caribbean is sold through its beaches, not the run-down shacks that dot their rural landscape, Italy is warm and hospitable Sicilian villagers straight out of The Godfather.

    There is a theory in marketing, first identified by Al Ries and Jack Trout of “positioning” fame that marketing succeeds by latching on to what consumers already know rather than teaching people something brand new. All new inventions need to be sold within an existing framework of reference – horseless carriage (automobiles), e-“mail,” almost all the GUI icons that mimic the conventional desktop, the “desk” top itself, the Un-“cola” for a then new drink called 7UP, Bush’s last campaign (selling security to a post 9/11 America), and so on.

    As much as I dislike the Incredible India campaign for its visual cliches, I don’t know if I would have done it differently had I been fortunate even to earn the contract to sell India to the West. Why would Americans want to visit an India devoid of the Taj, elephants, gorgeous villagers in colorful saris and all the other exotica? Heck, they might as well vacation in Ohio! (Just a joke. I know Ohio very well and it’s quite nice.) Or why would Americans want to vacation in the real India bursting at its seams with new expressways, high rises and cars? They might as well vacation in NY City. (Just a joke. NY CITY is nice, too.) As a matter of fact, there have been discussions in the Indian marketing circles about the problem with exoticizing India for tourism. It fails to attract the vast middle class market that wants the exotic in very small doses and hotel swimming pools, great restaurants, horseback riding, fishing and hiking in huge doses. And the conclusion is: why would any family travel halfway around the world for THAT! Therefore, India’s tourism has accepted the default position that India is attractive only to the three narrow demographic segments that like exotica – the wealthy that go to remote corners of the world for the unusual, the highly educated and curious that want to dig into foreign cultures, and the young experimenters who want to sample alternate cultures and lifestyles before joining the workforce. This is what I have been told by a family friend who was at the helm of Indian tourism marketing.

    When you teach a course in Imagining India, you certainly have the space and time to expand into the more complex and probably truer India. But the marketers need to: a)find an instant link with what the public expects India to be, and that’s your “exotic” myth; b)differentiate India so that it’s not just another country. That makes your job tough. You have to find reality in a sea of exotica perpetuated by a marketing machine that has more resources than a university.

    Keep up the good work. The greatest value of your course is not that there is nothing exotic about India but that there is nothing essentially strange or different about any group of humans such as desis, whether they are considered exotic or not. If people can believe that about other people, it would be a better world.