*Sigh* As if forcibly turning the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott, into a homosexual wasn't enough, now DC has apparently killed off Hal Jordan and Sinestro in order to pave the way for a new hero, an Arab-American Muslim, that will take Jordan's place on the Justice League from what I've heard. Of course there have been plenty of people outraged by this, since there are plenty of comics bloggers, including myself, who can recognize a politically-correct publicity stunt where they see it, and I expect the usual "Just Stories" idiots (who I described in that previous post of mine) to call people"racist" (never mind that there's a distinction between someone's religion and their race) for objecting to such a stunt.
If DC really wanted to be unique, they'd make an Arab-American character who was a Coptic Christian and dispel the stereotype that all Arabs are Muslims. That would be interesting since to my knowledge there's never been such a superhero at all.
Personally, I don't care that the Green Lantern is a Muslim. I don't care what religion/race/sexual orientation characters are as long as they're interesting. Just like I don't care what a writer's politics are if the story in question is a good read. What I don't like is politically correctness shoved down my throat by today's comics writers. Plus, isn't it more than a little stereotypical to have an Arab character being portrayed as a thief, or as a criminal in general? I don't think anyone, other than this site, has brought that particular aspect up. You'd think the PC left would be on Johns in a minute, since they had no problem going after him when he had Aquaman and Mera go after Somali pirates in Brightest Day or accusing him of "racism" by having the Silver Age characters come back. I mean, to me it does sound a little stereotypical; for someone who wishes to excise stereotypes, Johns is making himself look like a hypocrite for tying the character's past in with 9-11 and having him be a thief/involved in a terror plot.
That's all.
UPDATE: Four Color Media Monitor has more on this story, and how it may feature allusions to 9-11 Trutherism, which of course has been thoroughly debunked. It's not surprising that Johns would sink that low, considering he also wrote the "Red Zone' storyline in Avengers about 10 years ago featuring Red Skull disguising himself as the U.S. Secretary of Defense, "Dell Rusk," which was an obvious potshot at then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfield.
UPDATE 2: Here is Hube's take on the subject. He also notes how even though Johns claims he wants to excise Muslims stereotypes, he gives this one a criminal background (which some would argue is pretty stereotypical, including this site) even though Green Lanterns regardless of what race/religion/gender are supposed to be pure of heart; like Hube, I don't care who wields the ring because of that reason. Hube also notes that these ultra-PC writers like Johns love to "lecture" us against stereotyping, but they do they exact same thing when it comes to conservatives, Mitt Romney, the Tea Party, Sarah Palin and others. They're only "tolerant...." until you disagree with them.
UPDATE 3: Here is Douglas Ernst's take on the subject.
So, he "turns to a life of crime" yet the GL Corps chooses him to be a galactic protector? Riiiiight. Makes sense.
ReplyDeleteAnd oh, gee -- Arab Americans came under "intense scrutiny" after 9/11? No shit! Are we supposed to believe that was somehow wrong? The FACT is that there was virtually NO reported acts of violence against Arab-Americans after 9/11. Americans were quite restrained in their reaction to the tragedy. And the religion that STILL faces the majority of hate crimes in this country is Judaism, not Islam, FWIW.
Yeah, I know, hate crimes against Jews have gone up since 9-11. It just shows you how clueless Johns and other modern, ultra-leftist comics writers are about basically reality and politics. I bet he wouldn't miss a chance at take a shot at George W. Bush, the GOP, Mitt Romney and the Tea Party if TPTB told him to.
ReplyDeleteAnd I remember how after the 9-11 attacks my middle school principal (I was in sixth grade when it happened) and several of my teachers would go on and on about how it was "wrong" to put Arab-American children under scrutiny and "discriminate" against them... even though, of course, there wasn't a single Arab-American at my middle school.
I wanted to write on this story, but I haven't had a chance to get to the comic shop in a few weeks... Sigh.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was at work I turned to my co-worked and said, "Ummm, he looks like a criminal with that mask on. Not helping..." and now you've shed some light on that aspect of the character. Hilarious!
I wonder if they'll touch on Sharia Law or honor killings. What are the chances?
It's just another attempt by DC to be politically correct and "relevant." They're making him out to be a "victim" and alludes to a scenario that never happened: intense anti-Arab sentiment in the U.S. following 9-11. Of course, the government (aka Amanda Waller of "Suicide Squad" fame) also "set him up" to be sent to Gitmo to be waterboarded. Yeesh.
ReplyDeleteAs an aside, Johns used to do some work for Marvel and he may have alluded to his political leanings in a story called "Avengers: Red Zone" where Red Skull disguised himself as the Defense Secretary, Dell Rusk. The story was written in 2002 or 2003 when Donald Rumsfield held that position and i hardly think it was a coincidence that Dell Rusk, which is also an anagram for Red Skull, had the exact same initials.
Hey buddy,
ReplyDeleteI posted a review on Reddit and it's getting down voted like crazy. It's hilarious. I love how Reddit is filled with a bunch of liberal college kids who down vote anyone who dares to disagree with them...
Yeah, that's the way they operate. They can't handle people who think differently from them. I've never used Reddit personally.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a lot of people I went to high school with. Even though I generally got along with everyone, there was a whole group of people (who for a time I considered my "friends," even though they eventually turned out to be anything but) who were only nice to you if you agreed with them. Otherwise they would do everything to destroy you because you dared to disagree with them. I was kind of a pariah among the "nerds" because of my conservative beliefs.
ReplyDelete