As the main character Penny and her grandma mentioned many times in this emblematic comic strip, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” (179). While her powerful quote applies to things such as oneself, it certainly doesn’t apply to today’s society; in fact, it brings to light that the American society is broken and does need a lot of fixing. The nation is composed of many different issues, yet the comic Bitch Planet focuses only on two: discrimination and technology. The two are reoccurring within the story to correlate with societies over-usage of them. By doing so, the message that is revealed is that society should not continue their over-usage, but rather should instead stop them. The colors and images in Bitch Planet help convey the message that discrimination and technology are antagonists to society by illustrating that too much of something can be a bad thing. 

Discrimination. A defect in society that is brought forward in this comic is the unfair treatment of people. The protagonist, Penny, is a black, plump female; all three physical aspects have been considered to be in the minority pool and have been looked down upon/discriminated against. Penny is seen being bullied on numerous occasions. First, by men at an apparent prison, next, by people at school, and lastly, by people at her work. Her constant harassment represents the prejudice acts carried out in society. Also illustrated in the comic, the leaders on the screen are predominately white and are ordering around a person who is black. Again, this is a tendency in today’s society where blacks are usually found to be discriminated against by whites. The use of colors in the comic feeds into this fracas between the two races. In the first couple of pages, Penny is seen wearing orange clothing and her commanding guards are seen wearing blue. The two colors are complimentary colors, meaning they’re opposites on the color wheel. This link illustrates the relationship between whites and blacks impeccably: the two are polar opposites and have yet to build a bridge to close their gap. Another color comparison exemplified is the use of darker colors when Penny is experiencing bad things and lighter colors when the white leaders are speaking. This again highlights the superiority of whites by subconsciously implementing the idea through colors. The scenes of Penny being bullied and the colors used to show racial inequality are abundant. The author does this to show that likewise in a society, discrimination is omnipresent; however, that doesn’t make it right. At the end of the comic Penny is seen standing up for herself in front of the white men. This image is there to show that while acts of discrimination can occur, they are meaningless and hold no value so long as you believe in yourself. Although discrimination is powerful and evil, it can be overcome. 

Technology. Everyone is familiar with the buzzing of a ringtone or the sound of keyboard clicks. Our society relies heavily on the use of technology, so much that the very science itself has begun to consume our reality. In the futuristic setting seen in Bitch Planet, one is first exposed to the excessive technology used in the prison when people are seen communicating through numerous television screens. After that first scene, technology is seen in every one thereafter: the cars and guns occupied by the guards, the mysterious object that makes the sound “zpt” held by the principal, and the news television in the bakery. At the end of the story, the guards use a device which will project Penny’s desired image of herself onto a screen; the image ends up being Penny as she is now. Not only does this evidence tie into the earlier message of overcoming discrimination, but it also highlights the fact that society does not need technology as much as it thinks it does. Penny knew who she wanted to be without the help of the giant contraption. While the world may feel as though it needs technology in its life, it doesn’t in the amount that it consumes. The human race is more than capable of functioning with less technology than it does. Too much technology is not a good thing. Take the Pixar movie Wall-E for example. The human race is forced to take refuge in space after too much consumption has left the planet in ruins. Society, now living completely off technology and using robots and machines to help them, has become filled with overweight humans whom cannot function on their own. This movie serves the same purpose as Bitch Planet: it’s sending a message that humans are capable of functioning without using the amount of technology that they do. The men occupying the television screens are drawn with bland and emotionless faces. The use of this symbolizes that their overuse of technology has caused them to actually be unhappy, thus sending the message that more technology doesn’t make people better off. 

Discrimination and technology: two things which are slowly causing the demise of society. “Bitch Plant” uses symbolism, colors, and multiple scenes to exemplify these issues in an attempt to open one’s eyes to the changes that need to happen. The continuation of the two matters only hurt society. They are to be cut back in order for the society to prosper and save itself.
