Sexual harrassment in the real life industry
2 Comments Published by Avi Green on Sunday, January 29, 2006 at 2:52 AM.
I wish I could've tried to give this some focus earlier, but being the busy man I am, it is so hard to think of what to do. But now, here's something to say about real life cases of sexual harrassment in the comics industry itself, as was reported for starters on Buzzscope, in these two editorials here.
First, of course these angering problems were likely to exist. But what's sad is if the MSM doesn't see it as being as important a subject as when something of this sort happens in the film and TV industry. And they should. It occurred to me that if a horrid newspaper like the New York Times doesn't care to report on something like this, in contrast to if they did regarding a harrassment suit that took place in Hollywood, it's because they think that the comics industry is less imporant, no matter how much the same it can be behind the scenes like in Tinseltown.
(That said, it's a shame that truly, just how concerned about sexual harrassment and rape is the MSM, be it the NYT or other such papers? There are a lot of violent crimes of this sort taking place in Europe and Australia, that aren't being covered by the MSM, and if they don't report on those, then it's possible that there's even some crimes of this sort occurring in the US that aren't being reported either by the mainstream press. Which is why it's quite fortunate indeed that we've got the internet.)
At the same time, I do find it very odd to a certain extent that, those who draw the line at sexual harrassment among the real life people in the industry may take an entirely different stance when it comes to such things within the fictional world of comic books. Johanna at Comics Worth Reading said it well on her thread:
Which was precisely what a moonbat journalist who wrote columns about comics did when he argued about how cheap storytelling gimmicks like Kyle Rayner's girlfriend are what drive women from comics, yet went along and praised Identity Crisis anyway (he wasn't even trying to make a convincing argument either; just published a face-value "opinion" and that was it). A reporter whose works I once read, but no longer.
I can't recall which blog I read this on, but someone argued that he/she couldn't think of any good, tasteful presentations of cases involving rape. Well, the following quote here is from something that was vaguely similar, involving mind control, but I think it does serve as a good example of when something even similar to rape, was presented in tasteful, respectable terms, with a female perspective to strengthen it:
I certainly hope that the jerks who pulled those dumb harrassment stunts get the punishment they deserve. But if this kind of crap is to be curbed even in the comics industry, that's why writers, editors and publishers are going to have to cut out this incredible misuse of serious subjects for sensationalism. Period.
First, of course these angering problems were likely to exist. But what's sad is if the MSM doesn't see it as being as important a subject as when something of this sort happens in the film and TV industry. And they should. It occurred to me that if a horrid newspaper like the New York Times doesn't care to report on something like this, in contrast to if they did regarding a harrassment suit that took place in Hollywood, it's because they think that the comics industry is less imporant, no matter how much the same it can be behind the scenes like in Tinseltown.
(That said, it's a shame that truly, just how concerned about sexual harrassment and rape is the MSM, be it the NYT or other such papers? There are a lot of violent crimes of this sort taking place in Europe and Australia, that aren't being covered by the MSM, and if they don't report on those, then it's possible that there's even some crimes of this sort occurring in the US that aren't being reported either by the mainstream press. Which is why it's quite fortunate indeed that we've got the internet.)
At the same time, I do find it very odd to a certain extent that, those who draw the line at sexual harrassment among the real life people in the industry may take an entirely different stance when it comes to such things within the fictional world of comic books. Johanna at Comics Worth Reading said it well on her thread:
I would have thought that running their biggest event of the year around a rape would have caused more of an outcry, especially in the larger public, but (shrug).True, it's ludicrous that it didn't. Because if you're going to argue against it in real life yet legitimize it in fiction, then that's simply talking out of both sides of your mouth.
Which was precisely what a moonbat journalist who wrote columns about comics did when he argued about how cheap storytelling gimmicks like Kyle Rayner's girlfriend are what drive women from comics, yet went along and praised Identity Crisis anyway (he wasn't even trying to make a convincing argument either; just published a face-value "opinion" and that was it). A reporter whose works I once read, but no longer.
I can't recall which blog I read this on, but someone argued that he/she couldn't think of any good, tasteful presentations of cases involving rape. Well, the following quote here is from something that was vaguely similar, involving mind control, but I think it does serve as a good example of when something even similar to rape, was presented in tasteful, respectable terms, with a female perspective to strengthen it:
"There I was, pregnant by an unknown source, running through a nine-month term literlly overnight -- confused, terrified, shaken to the core of my being as a hero, a person, a woman.And people say that Chris Claremont doesn't have anything good to show for himself?
I turned you for help, and I got jokes. The Wasp thought it was great, and the Beast offered to play teddy bear. Your concerns were for the baby, not for how it came to be, nor of the cost to me of that conception. You took everything Marcus said at face value. You didn't question, you didn't doubt. You simply let me go with a smile and a wave and a bouncy bon voyage. That was you mistake, for which I paid the price.
My mistake was in trusting you." -- Carol Susan Jane Danvers, alias Ms. Marvel 1/Binary/Warbird, to a whole bunch of other members of the Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Avengers Annual #10, 1981.
I certainly hope that the jerks who pulled those dumb harrassment stunts get the punishment they deserve. But if this kind of crap is to be curbed even in the comics industry, that's why writers, editors and publishers are going to have to cut out this incredible misuse of serious subjects for sensationalism. Period.
Labels: misogyny and racism
Wow - a Claremont quote from an excellent comic. Very cool.
I didn't like Identity Crisis, and I didn't like Spider-Man/Black Cat, for the same reasons. I ripped the Black Cat book last week, because you're exactly right - it's sickening that people don't make much about this in fiction, especially when it's done very poorly. Rape can be addressed in fiction, but it has to be done well, and too often it's done simplistically, like in Spider-Man/Black Cat, or even salaciously, which is even worse.
Thanks. I learned about the "revelation" Kevin Smith wrote in Spider-Man/Black Cat a couple of days ago, and it was really sad to see that he took a predictable path yet again, coming up with something that's by now become a cliche. Hopefully, the miniseries, which had its second half delayed for at least two years, won't even be considered part of continuity by now.
As someone who would like to see Felicia Hardy get a minieries worth reading, I sure hope that someday, someone with more dedication to the characters in Spidey's world, like Peter David and Roger Stern, will be permitted to write an entirely different miniseries with a better story premise instead of what Kevin Smith put out.