The Four Color Media Monitor

In an interview with ICV2 (via Digital Spy), the top two managers of DC, dreadful as they are, have made one satisfying announcement: they haven't canceled Card's Superman short-story:

You announced that Adventures of Superman with an Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston story got pulled back because the artist dropped out. What’s going on with that?
Lee: We’re searching for an artist to work on that story so it’s been tabled until that happens.

Didio: We have a number of projects that started at the same time, so it moved back in the queue and we have other ones that are further along in production that we’re moving with first.

But not cancelled, you’re still going to do it?
Didio: Yes.

This might have something more to do with their hopes that all the controversy over Card by LGBT activists could bring them money, plus whether Ender's Game does well in box office grosses. The LGBT activists should actually be glad if DC goes along with this in spite of their previous gloats. At this point, Card's been turned into a martyr for free speech, and that's something I'd think Card's nemeses would rather not do. If they really have such a problem with Card, they'd best clam up from here onwards.

Just a few days ago, a writer for Policy Mic asked why we'd want to boycott and censor Card yet have no problem giving Roman Polanski an Oscar. And it's a very legitimate question. From what I can tell, some of the very same people calling for a boycott of Card and condemning his viewpoints are the exact same ones who've been willing to let Polanski off the hook with nary a slap on the wrist for committing a physical offense that makes even Card's most questionable arguments look tame and somnambulant by comparison (and if memory serves, Harrison Ford starred in Polanski's 1988 drama called Frantic). That's clear proof their attacks on Card do not stem from altruistic motivation. Polanski also filmed a movie called "The Ghost Writer" a few years ago that had an anti-war slant. Strange that a man who'd survived the Holocaust would take that kind of position, since that's what led to the Nazi conquest of Europe in the first place. And downright galling that Polanski would exploit his victim status as an excuse for committing sex offenses.

So if there's one good thing DC might end up doing, it's respecting the free speech of a conservative writer, in a medium where there's very few of those and far more conservative-leaning artists. If they need an artist, I'm sure William Tucci is one they could turn to.

Labels: dc comics, politics, Superman