The World That's Coming

I have to admit, Sunshine didn’t really elicit much reaction in me beyond thinking it was pretty. I know, I know; I’m a terrible person.

I’m not sure it’s even the past decade of TV as such; I think it’s something from a wider cultural perspective that stems from populist fear of intellectualism. It’s not just that geniuses are douchebags who get away with it, but that all geniuses are somehow douchebags, as if being smart somehow automatically negates empathy or emotions.

The lack of comeuppance is debatable; you could say that the geniuses being douchebags of recent years led to the destruction of the multiverse in Avengers, after all. But moral comeuppance? Yeah, they tend to avoid that, in part because there’s currency in creating stories where the game is always rigged against “us.”

Either teach the big sites not to be so scared of the big publishers, or somehow start a site that paid writers who were unafraid of being critical without being assholes about it some decent money to actually write critically about the industry, the comic books and the culture surrounding both.

Also, introduce a firewall between personal fanboy feelings and what you write. There are some crazily embarrassing things out there masquerading as “journalism.”

I have to choose?

Currently really enjoying Si Spurrier’s Unusual Concentrations, and before that, the Kindle Single Oral History of Gawker, which started well and then drifted off midway through – I think it needed to be a full-length book, really. My Duane Swierzcynski deep dive was endlessly enjoyable, especially the Charlie Hardie series, and I’ve been getting back into the Dortmunder books again, after somehow drifting away earlier…

If I could kill the tribalism of being A Marvel Fan, A DC Fan, An Image Fan, etc., I’d do that in a fucking heartbeat. Similarly, the idea that you have to like, or know about, something in order to be a true fan. So, I’d want to fix the hivemind mentality, perhaps?

(I’d also want to find a way to open up dialogue about subjects without it quickly devolving into snark – oh, my brave new world, what have I done, etc. – or namecalling and offense-taking, but I suspect that’s connected to the hivemind mentality. Hrm.)

And something I really enjoy is seeing people who have experiences I don’t talk about their points of views and passions in a way that makes me get it, even if I don’t agree. I like to realize how little I understand more and more as I get older, and change my mind. I remember a time when cosplay just seemed silly to me, now I love it because I understand it better. I want more of that.

Is Reddit any more for bigots now than it used to be? Isn’t it just that more people know about the bigots these days?

Giffen did so many swipes, I think someone could argue that he turned it into an artform by itself, to be honest – not that I’m about to argue that myself (For some reason, I always think that Ambush Bug is the swipe-iest thing in his career, although 5YL Legion is one massive format swipe). I’d be interested in seeing a retrospective of Giffen’s career that had a dual focus on Legion and the various Justice League projects, I think.

Because you’re a good, kind person.