Is being a “Ditkovite” in this setting like being an Objectivist/Ayn Rand disciple (following Ditko’s politics in our world) or is it more like being an extremist social conservative as ZZ seems to be describing?
I second Arky’s question: Does Ditko have a public stance on abortion that tracks social conservatives more than Objectivists, or has he been co-opted by social conservatives as a contrasting Spider-man linked figure?
Lightsabermario, I am as bewildered as you. I see your posts in my spam folder, I keep labeling them “not spam,” and yet they still don’t show up on the site. I’m reproducing the fullest version of your site-censored post here on the theory that my admin privileges will override whatever misguided bit of programming is at work here.
“Oh, now you’ve done it. You’ve brought politics into it. And now I have to talk about politics in the comments. And before long we’ll have a huge flame war. And seriously, who keeps thinking that the stuff that divides us and makes us wish for some escapism makes for great comic book material? When it’s a fictional issue then at least it’s fresh and makes you think, but when you get the exact same thing from your comic characters as the annoying talking heads on every news and radio station, what on earth would make you enjoy that?
Well, since Pandora’s box has been opened, I might as well address something, because it always bugs the crap out of me. Why does everybody assume and expect that the people protesting abortions are the same people advocating the death sentence? It makes no sense, especially when you juxtapose them like that. In both cases, the central issue is the sanctity of life.”
I feel like such a thoughtful point deserves a response. We haven’t gotten this far with Zachary’s story to turn around and make the remaining 27 pages a political tract, but real-world issues have been seeping in here since at least page 2. I would imagine at least one reader felt it was too conspiracy-minded of us to have Lee Harvey Oswald killed in this world much as he was in ours, despite very different circumstances of his arrest, as if he were deliberately SILENCED… and I’m sure at least one reader felt we weren’t conspiracy-minded ENOUGH by making Oswald the only person to go after Kennedy, who lived to see two terms as President.
One big goal of this story, very obviously, is to ask what a Spider-Man monoculture might mean for America and the world. Steve Ditko’s absolutist views are well-known to fans of comics history. Among them is the view that the innocent always have a right to their lives, and the truly guilty never do. Though I don’t know if those statements were ever applied to Roe v. Wade or death penalty arguments as such in Ditko’s work, I don’t find those applications by zealous followers of a more famous Steve Ditko to be that much of a stretch.
If they were meant to be a liberal caricature of Republicans on our world, they sure wouldn’t be promoting monks for office or investigating financial wrongdoing.
“Why does everybody assume and expect that the people protesting abortions are the same people advocating the death sentence?”
Because in GREAT many cases (not all cases, but MANY), they are. And there seems to be a significant overlap between those holding both these conflicting views, and those holding a generally extremist conservative position.
Which means if you want to quickly build a fictional profile of an extremist conservative group in the space of a comic panel, juxtaposing both of those views is a good way to do it. The danger is that some people will think that you’re saying something about people that hold either of those views and not specifically both simultaneously, or saying something about conservative groups in general and not specifically those who hold an extremist position, but as pointed out above, that’s the tightrope a creator walks when trying to tie fiction into fact.
Eh, it wasn’t particularly grating – and once I figured out it was a reference to Ditko and not the current political situation, it wasn’t really grating at all.
Shit just got heavy, man.
Is being a “Ditkovite” in this setting like being an Objectivist/Ayn Rand disciple (following Ditko’s politics in our world) or is it more like being an extremist social conservative as ZZ seems to be describing?
Well, that explains the Question get-up.
I second Arky’s question: Does Ditko have a public stance on abortion that tracks social conservatives more than Objectivists, or has he been co-opted by social conservatives as a contrasting Spider-man linked figure?
Why is it not allowing me to post anything?
Apparently the site refuses to allow me to post things that it decides it doesn’t like.
You seem to be posting a lot for someone being censored…but perhaps that’s just to confuse the masses!
Ah, broad strokes. The best brush for painting villains.
Why even use a brush? I prefer paint rollers. Or maybe just water balloons filled with paint.
Lightsabermario, I am as bewildered as you. I see your posts in my spam folder, I keep labeling them “not spam,” and yet they still don’t show up on the site. I’m reproducing the fullest version of your site-censored post here on the theory that my admin privileges will override whatever misguided bit of programming is at work here.
“Oh, now you’ve done it. You’ve brought politics into it. And now I have to talk about politics in the comments. And before long we’ll have a huge flame war. And seriously, who keeps thinking that the stuff that divides us and makes us wish for some escapism makes for great comic book material? When it’s a fictional issue then at least it’s fresh and makes you think, but when you get the exact same thing from your comic characters as the annoying talking heads on every news and radio station, what on earth would make you enjoy that?
Well, since Pandora’s box has been opened, I might as well address something, because it always bugs the crap out of me. Why does everybody assume and expect that the people protesting abortions are the same people advocating the death sentence? It makes no sense, especially when you juxtapose them like that. In both cases, the central issue is the sanctity of life.”
I feel like such a thoughtful point deserves a response. We haven’t gotten this far with Zachary’s story to turn around and make the remaining 27 pages a political tract, but real-world issues have been seeping in here since at least page 2. I would imagine at least one reader felt it was too conspiracy-minded of us to have Lee Harvey Oswald killed in this world much as he was in ours, despite very different circumstances of his arrest, as if he were deliberately SILENCED… and I’m sure at least one reader felt we weren’t conspiracy-minded ENOUGH by making Oswald the only person to go after Kennedy, who lived to see two terms as President.
One big goal of this story, very obviously, is to ask what a Spider-Man monoculture might mean for America and the world. Steve Ditko’s absolutist views are well-known to fans of comics history. Among them is the view that the innocent always have a right to their lives, and the truly guilty never do. Though I don’t know if those statements were ever applied to Roe v. Wade or death penalty arguments as such in Ditko’s work, I don’t find those applications by zealous followers of a more famous Steve Ditko to be that much of a stretch.
If they were meant to be a liberal caricature of Republicans on our world, they sure wouldn’t be promoting monks for office or investigating financial wrongdoing.
“Why does everybody assume and expect that the people protesting abortions are the same people advocating the death sentence?”
Because in GREAT many cases (not all cases, but MANY), they are. And there seems to be a significant overlap between those holding both these conflicting views, and those holding a generally extremist conservative position.
Which means if you want to quickly build a fictional profile of an extremist conservative group in the space of a comic panel, juxtaposing both of those views is a good way to do it. The danger is that some people will think that you’re saying something about people that hold either of those views and not specifically both simultaneously, or saying something about conservative groups in general and not specifically those who hold an extremist position, but as pointed out above, that’s the tightrope a creator walks when trying to tie fiction into fact.
Eh, it wasn’t particularly grating – and once I figured out it was a reference to Ditko and not the current political situation, it wasn’t really grating at all.
Is Mrs. Bonningham’s atrocious first name a deliberate misspelling or a mere typo? The most common spelling is Boadicea.
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boudica
It’s a misspelling. You’ll see why.