It still instills a dynamic that the best way to solve disputes is by force
How often is it that superheroes start the violence? Or are you suggesting that smiling as your teeth are knocked down your throat should be the reaction, here?
and that some parts of the public are undesirable by fiat.
… given the predilection of comics for redemption arcs, antiheroes, the struggle of being different, and the fucking X-Men, I’m gonna have to press X to doubt on that.
Given the current affairs of the US in which half our federal officials are trying to outlaw trans folk, I’m hyper-aware that this is a bad message to give.
You’re hyperaware that a message that isn’t being sent is bad. Okay. I’m very aware that Teletubbies advocating genocide is bad. Good thing that’s not at all relevant.
How often is it that superheroes start the violence? Or are you suggesting that smiling as your teeth are knocked down your throat should be the reaction, here?
Here in the US, law enforcement escalates to force far more often than they encounter someone who is already aggressive, so it raises a question why villains in comics so consistently engage first?
The propaganda is in what is implied. Redemption arcs are the exception not the rule, and the implication is that most villains don’t get redeemed.
Now maybe it’s because they know their audience wants to see brightly colored supers knock the tar out of each other, and that might be true, but in the context of police work or vigilantism, it does paint human civilization as a lot more violent than it is. How often do heroes see violence break out during their day to day life (rather than, say, tracking it by police radio?)
I get that you don’t want your hobby criticized too sharply. Still, have you seen Spider-man stopping Proud Boys from harassing a drag queen? Have the avengers interposed themselves between a BLM demonstration and the police armed with CS-gas and riot munitions? (I really don’t know if they’ve done these things. I’d be delighted to see right-wing culture wars cross into the MCU, but Disney has their own opinions about their right to continue capitalizing.
Do you actually read comics as it seems like a lot of your assumptions are taken from adaptations like the MCU. Of course these versions of the hero’s and their stories are watered down and the edges sanded off as they have to appeal to as many people around the world as possible to justify their production costs.
The actual comics deal with these kinds of issues a lot and tend to have a pretty progressive message thoughout these days.
Here in the US, law enforcement escalates to force far more often than they encounter someone who is already aggressive, so it raises a question why villains in comics so consistently engage first?
… because superheroes aren’t cops?
This is not in any way a normal reaction to a image of a woman in a catsuit called Black Cat singing showtunes from the musical Cats.
Take your hangups somewhere else.
Except that superheroes fight crime that’s vigilantism or law enforcement. And yes, when they were fighting crime, the police did have a (well cultured) reputation of restraint, all the while releasing dogs on civil rights protestors. And yes, police in the comics were Andy Griffith police, not even COPS police.
Take your hangups somewhere else.
Feel free to block me if you truly think I’m being hyperbolic. I’m far from the first person to make these observations, though.
