The Four Color Media Monitor

The leftist backlash against Frank Miller for slamming the Occupy movement's offensive actions, completely oblivious to how there's evidence to support his misgivings, wasn't too surprising. In the industry itself, people like Erik Larsen, Gail Simone, Joe Hill, Cully Hamner, to name but some, went out of their way to make negative statements against him, and CBR's Robot 6 blog subtly called it a screed.

Yet of all the leftists who could say something vicious or dismissive in their efforts to whitewash the Occupy movement, Mark Millar, of all people, was willing to take a different, more respectable approach by defending his free speech rights:

Politically, I disagree with his analysis, but that’s besides the point. I wasn’t shocked by his comments because they’re no different from a lot of commentators I’ve seen discussing the subject. What shocked me was the vitriol against him, the big bucket of s*** poured over the head by even fellow comic-book creators for saying what was on his mind.

Obviously, it's within their rights to exercise the First Amendment as much as it was within Frank's to make the original point. But there's something so distasteful about that cyber-mob mentality that revolts me. It's not just that I like the guy, that his body of work is among the best the industry has ever seen. It's the GLEE I'm seeing from some people and, worse, the calls I've seen to boycott his work because his perspective on a point differs from yours and mine. [...]

Liberalism doesn't mean throwing guys in jail who DISAGREE with your liberalism. It means accepting that society is richer when everybody has a voice. Starting economic sanctions against a writer until they shut up and agree with you is horrific.

Too bad Millar's not willing to admit that a lot of the crimes Miller alludes to have actually taken place, any more than some of the other nasty nuts in the industry. That includes even economic damage done to businesses adjacent to Zucotti Park (and what if there were a comics store in the area that also suffered losses? What if, say, Jim Hanley's Universe took a financial blow from their reprehensible acts? Would Millar approve of that?) But at least he's willing to recognize that politeness pays off a lot better than the kind of vitriol he speaks of. But will any of his fellow comics contributors listen? Don't count on it.

That told, the leftist backlash against Miller is coming a bit late now that Oakland, Portland and New York City's municipalities are finally clearing away all those crummy tents and other litter the Occupy nuts sullied the park landscapes with, and public support for OWS is very low. By wintertime, it's possible that much of that mess will be gone altogether since few want to camp out in the freezing weather with tons of snow gathering. And we can only hope that the industry "pros" will come to terms with what a time-wasting "event" it was to begin with.

Update: here's a more positive item about Miller's critique on Big Hollywood.

Labels: politics