Peer Review

Personally, I love the way in which Melanie Jansen has used her own perspective of being a person who communicates with others as the inspiration for her character. It is easy to tell from her detailed description of the internal struggles many with mental illnesses face that the subject matter of her character design is truly well informed, making it all the more believable and relatable to the topic of personal identity. 

I’m glad to see that Melanie decided to construct an identity that varied from “traditionally attractive” forms by focusing her creativity on an average-looking middle-aged man. Shining the spotlight onto people like this is what I believe is much needed from our media, rather than merely making background characters or personified jokes out of this age range of men that aren’t donning abs or sporting perfect skin. The fragility that exists behind masculinity is a topic that should be much more widespread, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Melanie’s representation of this.