Anti-Gay Writer To Pen Superman

[Little_Tengu]

I know that this might be considering something akin to "flame baiting" material, but I still feel that it warrants a post
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/entertainment/dc-comics-hires-anti-gay-writer-orson-scott-card-write-superman-comic#
An openly homophobic man by the name of Orson Scott Card recently got hired by DC to pen the Man Of Steel and it's sending quite a shockwave through the gay community. One of the reasons for this might be that DC has turned several of it's own characters homosexual including the original Green Lantern Alan Scott and Batwoman Kate Kane. Possibly leading to their sexuality getting changed

[von Boom]

In all honesty I don't really care what coloured drawings shag when I'm not reading them.

[Little_Tengu]

In all honesty I don't really care what coloured drawings shag when I'm not reading them.

It's a bit ridiculous to me to. For instance, I love Doug TenNapel's work even though he's homophobic. I try to appreciate the work itself and not the man

I'm happy that the gay community is making strides for acceptance, but they really need to learn to pick and choose their battles more carefully

[Colin YNWA]

The issue really arises from the fact he is not simply openly homophobic, but proactively so. He's written for Marvel before and his best selling novel is being made into a big budget film. Possibly the anger here stems from the fact that he's writing an icon who represents the best in man and truth justice and all that. A character that surely would not abide this type of small minded bigotry.

I'm really torn. Following the work of Dave Sim has taught me the importance of separating the man from the art (though I've still to get around to Fables having said that). At the same time when people say if he was openly and proactively racist there'd be little doubt he'd be shunned and boycotted, so why is his homophobia and the vile things he says about people who happen to have a different sexuality to him, any different to that?

Luckily I wasn't going to read the book anyway, but it has raised some questions that I need to really think about... and I hope don't end up with me feeling I have to part with my Cerebus books!

[TordelBack]

I'm happy that the gay community is making strides for acceptance, but they really need to learn to pick and choose their battles more carefully

I've enjoyed a lot of Card's fiction, his two volume short-story collection Maps in a Mirror is one of my all-time favourite anthologies, and I greatly enjoyed his Alvin Maker alternate America series (although I never warmed to Ender beyond the original brilliant short).  I was always a little leary of his religious beliefs and his Mormon missionary work, but I'm leary of almost everyone's religious beliefs, so that wasn't a problem for me.

However, some of the stuff he's said about gays, and gay marriage, is hate speech pure-and-simple.  If people want to play the man not the ball and lobby against his writing Supes, and interfere with his life because of his views on sexuality, I say that's absolutely fair turnabout: this is a good battle for anti-discrimination activists to pick, IMHO, because it's very public and has all the usual 'think of the children' dimensions that comics and Supes in particular always attract.

I'll stop short of jumping on the bandwagon myself because I generally don't believe in using der Sternhammer Silencer except where it directly prevents incitement to violence and hatred, which it is very unlikely his comics work will.  But if people want to get their licks in when it's possible to do so, let 'em.

[Little_Tengu]

However, some of the stuff he's said about gays, and gay marriage, is hate speech pure-and-simple.  If people want to play the man not the ball and lobby against his writing Supes, and interfere with his life because of his views on sexuality, I say that's absolutely fair turnabout: this is a good battle for anti-discrimination activists to pick, IMHO, because it's very public and has all the usual 'think of the children' dimensions that comics and Supes in particular always attract.

I'll stop short of jumping on the bandwagon myself because I generally don't believe in using der Sternhammer Silencer except where it directly prevents incitement to violence and hatred, which it is very unlikely his comics work will.  But if people want to get their licks in when it's possible to do so, let 'em.

Well there are just some people out there that feed off hate and anguish. Depending on how far the Gay community takes their protests it could make them look bad

[The Adventurer]

It's a bit ridiculous to me to. For instance, I love Doug TenNapel's work even though he's homophobic. I try to appreciate the work itself and not the man

I've been trying to keep TenNapel's hard right/libertarian world view compartmentalized away from his work. But he makes it so hard because he's gotten into the really REALLY bad habit of editorializing his world views in his comics.

Earthboy Jacobus was one of my favorite graphic novels ever, until I really started rereread it a few times and its message of family starts to fall away into a pit of snobbish Christian values and American jingoism. But it still manages to rise above it most of the time.

It got REALLY bad in Ratfist. And the opening scenes of Cardboard have basically made it impossible for me to continue (the guy can't take a personal loan from a friend, but he'll take an extreme discount from a stranger? Libertarian hypocritical BULLSHIT)

Orson Scott Card has a similar problem. Actually its the exact same problem. A while back I took a stab at reading Ender's Shadow, because as a teen I liked Ender's Game a lot. Heck, I liked Speaker for the Dead too.  Ender's Shadow wasn't bad, mostly because it was a side story to the original. But when I moved on to the next Shadow book, Shadow of the Hegemon, something started to change. It started get more and more preachy. Bean and Petra basically become mouth pieces for Card's warped world views. And its that point the entire series went sour for me.

Its fine to try and separate creator's views and their work. When their views and their works are separate. But Card and his work is not separate, TenNapel and his work are not separate. And that's the problem.

[Hawkmumbler]

Seperating the art from the artist. If the chap can make good comics without shoe horning in his own belief's (no matter how much I may disagree with Mr.Cards ethos) then let the guy run. If he goess all preachy and proactive on us, turning Sup's into a vehical for him to churn out his bigoted ideals, then let the freaker be subject to a good kick in the ribs.

[vzzbux]

Seperating the art from the artist. If the chap can make good comics without shoe horning in his own belief's (no matter how much I may disagree with Mr.Cards ethos) then let the guy run. If he goess all preachy and proactive on us, turning Sup's into a vehical for him to churn out his bigoted ideals, then let the freaker be subject to a good kick in the ribs.

This.




V

[Professor Bear]

Card is a homophobic hatemongering cock and deserves the ire he has worked hard to attract - people didn't just decide one day to peg him as a cock so I say let the fucker enjoy the fruits of his labors.

[Richmond Clements]

Card is a homophobic hatemongering cock and deserves the ire he has worked hard to attract - people didn't just decide one day to peg him as a cock so I say let the fucker enjoy the fruits of his labors.

This.

At the risk of having a Godwin moment, separating any artist from their personality is to me like saying Hitler liked dogs.
I don't care if Card can write - he's a homophobic arse. I don't care if Chris Brown can sing - he hits women.

[TordelBack]

Well there are just some people out there that feed off hate and anguish. Depending on how far the Gay community takes their protests it could make them look bad

But the issue isn't about 'the Gay community*', is it?  It's about discrimination and fairness - doesn't matter whose particular lifestyle is being explicitly associated with the moral collapse of society and the rise of evil, it's the fact that someone's is (and someone's always is, from Cathars to Taigs to Blacks to Uppity Women to Gays et-bloody-cetera).  That the baton in this case seems to rest with people who are politically active on behalf of homosexual equality is a matter of pragmatic fact, and it's neither here nor there - there is no 'them' here.  Giving vocal public bigots and their enablers a good old kicking in the reputation and bank blalance simply because they are f***ing bigots is never a bad thing. 

I would like to think that I would never go so far as to advocate censorship of Card, especially when this particular writing is unlikely to touch on the issues at hand, but making one's feelings on the man's outspoken and (let's face it) wrong beliefs known loudly is entirely appropriate. He's a bright guy, the Angel Moroni aside, maybe he'll come round to what passes for civilised thought in the early 21st.  Stranger things.

If I may be drunk and childish for a minute**, Superman wouldn't want this guy writing Superman.  Why should anyone else?




*Last I looked my own community had plenty of gay folk and plenty of straight folk.
** Most of my life, as it happens.

[JayzusB.Christ]

I've never heard of the chap.  He can write Superman all he likes (I very rarely read it anyway) but when a hate-monger enters the limelight for any reason I will be more than happy to see his bigoted views criticised and indeed ridiculed by the larger groups of people that are exposed to him.  That doesn't mean people can't read and enjoy his comics though.
Frank Miller spouts a lot of narrow-minded shite these days, but makes the debate easier by writing equally ridiculous comics.

[rogue69]

If you want to let DC comics know your discust on putting this right wing bigot on one of thier flagship comics please sign this petition & maybe add your support to some of their other campaigns

thanks

www.allout.org

[sheldipez]

It's true that warped people can create beautiful art but it's much easier to seperate the man from the work itself when you don't know the history before hand (e.g. I have no interest in watching anything by Roman Polanski) so I can understand the uproar about this, especially considering all the good that DC did with Batwoman.