De-constructing Chipman or How to pontificate about comics without even reading them..

 let's solve the world's problems via bloviating tweet threads and making hashtags while doing nothing..

                                   

Bob Chipman, or Movie Bob as he calls himself, is an interesting tale of a man who actually started off with some interesting thought processes, back in the day. Unfortunately he completely lost the plot once he began to confuse his obsessive compulsive disorder for something resembling a career, but I digress.

Above: His life's work 

                             

 Last Week, Movie Bob went on a tweet tirade about Marvel comics and it's predilection for social justice recently. Let's take a look, shall we?

So let's actually go point-by-point on this, because seriously, there is quite a bit to unpack, here. 

“The most curious criticism I see of so-called “SJW” characters is that they don't have apparent flaws and are always being affirmed” 

No kidding?

On first glance, it's pretty clear that you're only looking at the criticism and can't be bothered, for the life of you, to actually say go into a comic book shop, or sit down and watch comic reviews and see if this is the case. I find this odd, considering the growing number of those types of characters being showcased in Marvel Comics to the irritation of both fans and retailers. We'll cover that in a bit.

Above: Marvel's new moblile game - Kamala Kahn GO-To-The-Polls

It's not like the claim is outlandish, either. Over time we've seen characters that have been established for decades be slowly weeded out in lieu of what the company would presume is their ideological betters, only for the original characters to be either killed off, faded out, or made into parodies of themselves for the sake of passing the torch to the so-called “new breed”. The problem with this is of course. What's replacing cultural icons such as Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers ect. Are hollow shells of fleshed out three dimensional characters hastily filled with the ideology de jour. These characters just get by doing the bare minimum while coasting off of the legacies of their predecessors, and yes some of those characters actually do find themselves being complimented and reaffirmed for the mere sake of just breathing air.

The fact of the matter is - any character who is basically just told they are awesome repeatedly, while doing nothing to earn the respect they are given are bland, tasteless pieces of fiction, and logically should be comically looked at as using the worst tropes in writing, solely to be avoided. It could also be said that the writers of those tropes could be looked at as self inserts or “Mary Sues/Marty Stu”s who are making an already established world their own power fantasy. In current year, that power fantasy consists of also converting comics from a means of entertainment to personal soapbox and pulpit as well, but of course you wouldn't know that unless you picked up a book.

“Setting aside the obvious what-abouts (because really. “kids today” DON'T Know who Doc Savage is.)

What exactly was the argument you were planning on making about Doc Savage, Bob? The fact that he occasionally spent time in the dreaded dark continent, and had run ins with those poor noble savage natives? Even then, What does that actually say about characters such as Alan Quartermain and Indiana Jones, who also have frequented primitive societies and plundered their artifacts for..... as short round would say “fortune and glory”

Much like the aforementioned duo, Savage also faced adversity and worked (whether it be alone or with the fabulous five) for all of his victories, because in stories we read as kids, the best tales always had heroes overcoming insurmountable odds in order to accomplish their goals and save the day.

Fun Fact: Doc Savage gained popularity during the Great Depression as a 10 cent pulp series, and adverts in those pulps, would request kids to join the Doc Savage club which, if wikipedia were to be believed, is a club that would push kids to develop their physical and mental strengths to be more like their hero. Let that sink in for a second.  A comic book and novel series encouraging actual oppressed and impoverished children into furthering their physical and mental faculties in order to improve themselves and possibly help them to strive for a better life.

….Interesting.

“ It only makes sense from a place of false neutrality. Characters like Peter Parker (White kid. Lower-middle-class) REQUIRE obvious flaws and a “world beating me down” angle because they're presumed to “deserve” the opposite (of oppression) just by existing* and they need serious flaws because what else is someone going to “overcome” outside of (in this specific case) gym class? “

No, Peter Parker had obvious flaws, and dealt with the “world beating him down”, because when he actually succeeded in super heroics and in life in general, the victory was that much more sweeter. Adversity maketh man, and this is why Peter Parker was one of Marvel's most popular characters; His circumstances make him quite easy for anyone to relate to.

Peter Parker in the earlier comics, had to struggle to get through college, Working a dead end job. Trying to take care of his elderly guardian, keeping secrets from his friends and often ditching them to do the right thing instead of having a social life. Being ostracized by bullies, and eventually everyone in his community due to slander or whatever reason, Maintaining a relationship while trying to balance every other aspect of his life, which sometimes worked, but most of the time ended in disaster. Ultimately, he keeps going with his uncle's Great Power / Great responsibility mantra echoing through his head, and the realization that “hey, things happen that are out of your control, and the best you can do is keep trying to do the right thing and one day, it'll all fall into place”. 

Which makes it all the more frustrating to see him turn into a human doormat, in recent comics

Any one of us can relate to at least one or more of the things I just stated, and in reading the comics and seeing him go through those things most of us can easily sympathize with Peter, which strengthens the bond we have with that character, and makes us invested in seeing how he solves his problem as well as taking some of that perseverance into our own lives.

But that's the thing – Character traits and flaws aren't racially specific. The late Dwayne McDuffie, creator of Static Shock , utilized the same template when creating the back-story of the titular character's alter ego, Virgil Hawkins. In this story Virgil, a young black teenager in Dakota city, gets caught in a gang war that ends in a violent chemical explosion which turns him and other kids into super powered meta-humans called “Bang babies”. Due to his strong sense of duty, Virgil decides to use his power responsibly and becomes a super hero, despite this causing him problems in school, maintaining a social life and stable employment. This is very much the same formula used on a white person, and yet Static Shock still remained just as successful in the time it was released, even to the point of Static getting his own animated series, and having numerous appearances in the DCU shows like Justice League, and Young Justice. In the comics,Virgil was even a member of the Teen Titans!

He finally made it to the big time!

However, in your Mario 3 addled haze, you intend to tell me that giving Peter Parker a bit of adversity is only a means of “de-powering” his white privilege?

Statements such as this only prove that you are clearly out of your depth, here. 

“The presumed starting point for someone like, say Ms. Marvel (current model) is different – Being affirmed is the fantasy there*, because in this culture? Not so much. “

You know, Bob, it only takes three seconds to Google Ms. Marvel to figure out her name. That's a common courtesy that can easily be afforded to one so intellectually lazy. Kamala Kahn being affirmed isn't helping her become a better superhero, and if you've actually read or watched any of the reviews of Champions, you'd really see that she's a bland character making a lazy go at being pragmatic. Of course, despite this, the people around her continue to go on about how good she is at it.

No bout of mediocrity goes unrewarded 

Don't even get me started on how black characters like Blade and Luke Cage, despite being mythically known for their strength and street smarts, being reduced to mundane support characters in their own books, while characters like Black Panther and Ororo Munroe, are being uncharacteristically turned into segregationist black pseudo revolutionaries. None of which seem that easy to relate to. Riri Williams, for all her vocal accolades, resembles more of a super villain in the actions of forcefully taking a foreign nation while disregarding S.H.I.E.L.D. And U.N. protocol. And yet she's merely scolded and then complimented in nearly the same breath. Meanwhile, Victor Von Doom, who now sports an Iron Man themed armor of his own, seems more introspective and self aware in his crusade to do good, despite his past transgressions and historic level of hubris. That's a large part of the problem, here.

Anything you can do, I can do better....

                           
To return to your above statement. If we are to believe that minorities need constant praise and affirmation because of their status as minorities, Then the implication would be that you're clearly setting the bar low for them due to some sense of assumed inferiority, which not only comes off as pathetically condescending, but also kind of prejudiced.

Lukewarm Cage, Ladies and Gentelmen

                               
And no, don't expect me to throw out accusations of racism, because that would be me contributing to a thought terminating cliché. On the contrary, Prejudice is making assumptions about a particular person or group based on your own personal biases, and world view. Everyone can be prejudiced to a fault, due to human nature and life experiences. It's something we all should work on to better improve our outlook while still exercising a healthy dose of common sense and caution.

Case in point: I don't think all Black people steal, but due to past experiences and a cautious nature I inherited from my father, I also don't put myself into positions of vulnerability to test that fact! 

Seriously! In three issues he's either been getting his ass kicked or on the sidelines

I'm sure you think your tweet tirade is basically a means of making yourself seem quite progressive, but the result is far from it. SJW Marvel characters are the result of bad writing, presumption, arrogance masquerading as charity and a limited world view. The result of that is fans of the original characters looking through those books and seeing these walking soapbox sermons, and wanting the original characters back instead of the “Might be the next best thing but not quite” version that replaced them. It's not just the lapsed fan, either. Parents who have watched the films with their kids, often wander into comic stores for more stories, only to see that none of the characters featured in the films are even there. Even retailers are having gripes about this.   

Above: I don't even know what the hell is going on, here. 

                               

The solution definitely isn't to double down on putting out the same thing. That's about as bizarre as forgoing the notion of patching up the hole in a sinking boat and instead using buckets to bring in more water. Perhaps instead of berating retailers and fans, it's time to stop throwing stones from glass houses and actually make an attempt at addressing criticisms properly while pushing for improving the flaws that are plaguing the company?

On second thought, I forgot who I was talking to.


- I'll See you next bossfight!

(*Emphasis is courtesy of the author. )