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CBLDF Auction with Sim & Gaiman
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.
Don't forget guys, these are the people who are fighting against the DMCA, the USA PATRIOT ACT, and any other civil liberty limiting crap legislation.
Good job guys, we love ya all.
IGB: More fun than eating oatmeal!
[shields: up] The DMCA came during Emperor Clinton's reign.
Note: This isn't off topic, really.
It's actually out there doing some really important work, raising money to defend against various attempts to shut down the comics industry.
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 might find it.)
The CBLDF is not a joke, it's out there on the front lines fighting for important liberties promised to us all by the First Amendment.
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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.
Next these "activist lawyers" will want it to be legal to put Saving Private Ryan in the same video store with the Garfield movie.
Don't blame me; I'm never given mod points.
One of the cases I'm familiar with because it's a comic book shop I occasionally shop at. Ketih's Comics in Dallas, TX. One of the employee's was convicted of selling an adult comic to an adult. The adult books were kept in a separate section of the store, and children were NOT allowed in that section. Still, a concerned mother (read "fundamentalist wack" -- oops, I mean faithful churchgoer) complained, and an undercover cop (I think he was a sherrif's deputy?) went in and - Gasp! - was allowed to buy and adult book (some Manga title).
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!
Everything you know is wrong, Just forget the words and sing along.
No, they're defending the right to print it and sell it - not saying where it has to be sold.
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?
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.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Andrew Rilstone, who's a hell of a lot smarter than me, wrote a number of essays about this, which are frickin' brilliant.
Cerebus the Aardvark: An Obituary
Cerebus the Aardvark: An Obituary (2)
Is Dave Sim Mad?
Is Dave Sim Mad? (Update)
Does Dave Sim Have Occasional Moments of Lucidity?
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
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca