CBLDF Auction with Sim & Gaiman 72
As most regular readers know, I/we are fans of the CBLDF and the EFF (Contribute to both!) The CBLDF is running a charity auction which is collaboration between Dave Sim of Cerebus fame and Neil Gaiman of Sandman amongst others. There's some good background online as well as the auction itself. The money raised will go to fighting censorship in the graphic arts. I'd also heartily recommend reading Neil's blog and taking Dave Sim up on his offer. His collected form letter are funny, thought provoking and great to read. Oh - and happy birthday, Neil.
Comic book Defense Fund? (Score:1)
Re:Comic book Defense Fund? (Score:1)
Re:CBLDF? (Score:1)
Re:CBLDF? (Score:1)
Re:CBLDF? (Score:4, Funny)
Next these "activist lawyers" will want it to be legal to put Saving Private Ryan in the same video store with the Garfield movie.
Re:CBLDF? (Score:4, Informative)
Keep in mind that in the '80s the comic book industry had the most horrible volunteer-cencorship system. Basically, anything other than traditional super-hero comics and childrens comics was banned from stores. While keeping extreme subject matter out of children's reach is a valid concern, what of a graphic and literary art form? And after all - you can buy Playboy at the magazine rack, so why not Heavy Metal?
Re:CBLDF? (Score:2)
There's a whole lot more to comics than just the superhero genre. There's a lot of adult-themed stuff (not neccessarily adult in the sense of porn) that is under attack from ignorant officials who assume that not only are comics only for kids, but that they shouldn't be used to write material adults might want to read. (Even if that material is not put where a kid mig
Re:CBLDF? (Score:5, Informative)
.
There are others, but this really stands out. Comics have been targeted for decades, Google for Frederick Wertham and see what happened to EC Comics in the 50's.
Re:CBLDF? (Score:5, Informative)
It is unfortunate perhaps, that the CBLDF needs to spend too much time defending people that sell or produce pornography. But Freedom of Speech means just that. They have had a case were the artist was forbidden to even draw anything, even for personal use!, and a case where a parody of the Starbucks symbol was attacked by Starbucks.
I believe I have a right to read whatever the heck I want, and that artists and authors have the right to produce whatever the heck they want. That's why I give to the CBLDF every year, and have since they were started.
On a related note, some ABC stations have decided not to air the unedited "Saving Private Ryan", to avoid complaints about obsenity. Even though this has already been on network TV unedited! Just fucking amazing. Damn Janet's boobs, damn them to hell!
Re:CBLDF? (Score:5, Insightful)
On the one hand, I have very little sympathy for those who churn out turgid pulp for the express purpose of ripping off those brainless enough to buy a product on shock value, rather than by whether they actually want the thing. However, I'd argue that most of the problem lies in how stupid consumers are encouraged to be, particularly by the educational system, so fixing the stupidity seems a more worthy aim than fixing the comics.
Take care of the root causes, and the symptoms will take care of themselves.
On the other hand, I do not believe that censorship is a useful mechanism. It engenders a lot of hostility, it creates a social pressure point of non-conformance, and it is generally self-destructive.
Again, though, if you tackled the underlying causes for the stuff you don't like, then those things that have no useful purpose will simply go of their own accord. If you tackle only the issues that are visible, then the underlying issues never get resolved, and the impact will simply mutate.
If you are in a house, and the foundations collapse, re-painting the kitchen isn't going to help. It'll conceal the cracks in the walls, but the house will still fall down.
To me, censorship of the comics is neither a problem nor a solution. Nor are the so-called "adult" comics. Both are simply different parts of society venting in different ways. Blocking one side from venting at all will simply build up pressure, leading to an explosion. Doesn't matter which side you block. If you had to block one side, though, I'd say blocking the censors is likely the better choice.
The best solution of all is to dig deeper and reduce or remove those stresses that create the problems in the first place. You'll never fix them all, but at the moment, nobody is doing much to fix any of them at all.
Re:CBLDF? (Score:2)
EFF (Score:5, Insightful)
Good job guys, we love ya all.
Re:Meeep! Meeep! Bush redirects to Shrub! (Score:2)
Re:EFF (Score:2)
Bush reelection affects CBLDF? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Bush reelection affects CBLDF? (Score:2)
The POTUS can't really veto a voice-voted bill (Score:1)
In general, the Democrats are better buddies with Hollywood than the Republicans are (save Gov. Schwarzenegger of California), but in the face of a bill with heavy bipartisan support in Congress, the veto power of the President of the United States is merely ceremonial. President Clinton couldn't have stopped the DMCA, the Bono Act, or any other bill that passed both houses by voice vote, as it takes 81 percent of each house to pass a bill by voice vote but only 67 percent to override a presidential veto.
Strange bedfellows (Score:3, Interesting)
Note: This isn't off topic, really.
Re:Strange bedfellows (Score:1)
Re:Strange bedfellows (Score:2)
Re:Strange bedfellows (Score:5, Interesting)
It is very, very difficult to read Dave Sim's work once you've read his Tangents essay. I read it a good while ago, and was, well....
It's hard to define the feeling. It wasn't horror that someone thought along these lines; and it wasn't a feeling they shouldn't be said. I think the closest I could relate it to is like finding bugs in your morning cereal. What was previously an enjoyable experience is, for the short (and maybe long) term soured and ruined. Maybe you'll forget and heal, and maybe you just can't.
The most problematic part of Tangents is that it is very in-depth and very long-winded about the thoughts being expressed, which means it specifically appeals to that part of the population who are into reading, which means that these good folks are the ones who will be slapped around for their efforts. I can't imagine anyone reading his Tangents essay and pumping their fist going "Yes! Yes! He finally makes it all clear for me!"
For those whom intense reading of a long essay set is simply not in the forseeable future, here's an (admittedly coarse) summary of the essay [tcj.com].
PRE-TANGENT: My female typesetter quit putting together this essay for my comic book. This is typical of chicks and an example of why feminism is a failure.
TANGENT 1: While researching for my comic book, I interviewed a lot of women. There is no "there" there in them. They are, essentially, sub-human, emotional creatures. They do not think. Any positive qualities they show are what they're parroting from males. There has been a lot of gnashing of teeth by society to ignore this obvious fact, but a fact it is: women are, ultimately, parasites on males.
TANGENT 2: The queers and the feminists are trying to shove acceptability of their false and wrong philosophies down society's throat. They are doing it everywhere, in laws, media, and even in the bible.
TANGENT 3: Because of the false belief that women are human, a lot of very dumb laws are being passed, which treat children like adults and adults like children. This is going to cause a lot of problems for society and possibly ruin it for good. Children should be beaten when they're bad, and alimony comes from the idea that women can't survive on their own. Any variant from these statements are being caused by women imparting their illogical, brainless take on the world on males.
TANGENT 4: Domestic Cats are filthy, horrible animals that should not be in a home. That they are there is because, at some point in history, women brought them into the house. Also, animal rights are stupid.
TANGENT 5: The Civil Rights movement was hijacked by feminists, who then killed Martin Luther King, Jr. And now the feminists define civil rights.
It's perfectly OK to not believe this is what the essay says. Read the original source.
They're bugs in my breakfast. I'm sure I'll be buying his books in the future. Just not the near future.
Re:Strange bedfellows (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Strange bedfellows (Score:2)
But I stopped buying and even *reading* his books after I came across his shrill little misogynistic ravings back in "Reads". I refuse to give any more of my attention to anything produced by Sim's paranoid, emotionally-insecure, sexually-frustrated mind.
But if you absolutely HAVE to read his stuff, do the world a favor and BORROW the books instead of buying them. Money will only encourage him to wri
Re:Strange bedfellows (Score:1)
So? I don't agree with him either (on most of that stuff anyway). But he certainly has the right to say whatever the hell he wants. It's not like the money goes to a secret organization which assasinates, ahem, 'feministist scum'.
I'm currently in college. I read Tangents, and Cerebus up to #150 (end of Melmoth). I'm saving money for the rest. Has it occurred to you that males, up to the end of Church & State, were the greedy, thoughtless, megalomaniacal l
Re:Strange bedfellows (Score:2)
He contradicts a lot of his stuff. Jaka, for example, eventually turns into some mindless parody, completely destroying what she was up through Jaka's Story. I'm not trying to discourage you from reading the rest of the series -- I think it's worth seei
Re:Strange bedfellows (Score:1)
Now if it is indeed crazy and unreadable, that's a perfectly valid reason to stop reading. I'm just gonna go ahead until I can't take it any longer.
Re:Strange bedfellows (Score:2)
Re:Strange bedfellows (Score:1)
I loved Jaka's Story and Melmoth, and thought the whole of Church & State was fantastic. I can't wait to buy 'Flight', issue 150 is such an evil cliffhanger
Re:Strange bedfellows (Score:2)
I certainly agree. That's why I would never support censoring him. I didn't even say that people should avoid his work. Merely that there's a simple, legal way for people to read "Cerebus" without actually giving money to the author of "Tangents".
Re:Strange bedfellows (Score:3, Interesting)
I think it's quite the other way round. Males clearly parasite the female species.
Similar, but different. (Score:1)
--grendel drago
Re:Similar, but different. (Score:2)
Re:Strange bedfellows (Score:1)
Wow. Sims has a really, shall we say, "vivid" world view. (and by "vivid" I mean he's a misogynistic misanthrope of the first order)
Andy Rilstone says... (Score:4, Interesting)
Cerebus the Aardvark: An Obituary [demon.co.uk]
Cerebus the Aardvark: An Obituary (2) [demon.co.uk]
Is Dave Sim Mad? [demon.co.uk]
Is Dave Sim Mad? (Update) [demon.co.uk]
Does Dave Sim Have Occasional Moments of Lucidity? [demon.co.uk]
The first one, I think, says what you mean by bugs in your breakfast: The text piece in Cerebus # 226 made me feel physically unwell; made me feel as if I'd been kicked in the stomach; actually spoiled my whole afternoon. When the drunken John Lennon beat up a waitress, she is reported as having said 'What really hurts is finding out that your idol is a complete asshole.'
I haven't reached the part of the series when Sim goes mad yet. I suppose it'll be... enlightening. (I finished "Jaka's Story" recently, and am scouting for "Melmoth".)
--grendel drago
Re:Strange bedfellows (Score:2)
Well done
Re:Strange bedfellows (Score:2)
I started reading some of his tangent crap. That guy is so far right-wing wacko religious fundamentalist bigoted xenophobic psycho that he went off the right side of the map and through some bizarro mirror universe wormhole and came out in suport of gay marriage.
Not because he supports equal rights for gays, but because he sees the entire concept of marriage itself as some sort of anti-God crap foisted on mankind ("mankind" as opposed to humankind). He sees women as nothing more than his private sper
Re:Strange bedfellows (Score:2)
Sims is a weird one. He demonizes woman as unproductive and emotional, yet Cerebus (especially early on) is filled with powerful and rational women. The Cirinist (matriarchal) nation may be frightening, but it's powerful, growing, and holds a self-consistent (if scary) belief system. His essays in Reads [theabsolute.net] and the later in Tangents [tcj.com] depict someone completely divorced from reality, someone you cannot rationally debate. His letters responding to people asking for free comics he offered [richardmooreart.com] are well writte, witty
Write to Sim (Score:1)
He could be the first person to be physically slashdotted.
Read books! (Score:2)
Gaiman is an amazing author. For those of you who only know him for Sandman, you are missing out. I urge you, nay, command you to read Stardust, Neverwhere, and American Gods. Those books are, flat out, fucking amazing. Go. Now. Read.
That is all.
Re:Read books! (Score:2)
interesting!