The Battle Bar, Our Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy

I will grant you that a single scan does not demonstrate the sexism of a particular piece of work. So the specific comic may or may not turn out to be insensitive. But the thrust of the argument as I understand it is that women are portrayed as masturbatory fantasies across the entire medium of comics. So, like, a female protagonist may save the day. Sure. But just by dint of being in a comic she will be painted as some sort of idealized sex-symbol.

And the difference between women's treatment in comics (objectification, unattainable stylization) and men's treatment in comics (idealization, unattainable stylization) is the way that attitudes translate into real-world behavior. Generally speaking, comics nerds aren't terribly inviting to female readers. That is the root of the objection, I think.

(And then there was the post where I tried to be gay enough for Nemebro. But you can ignore that one, because aint nobody gay enough for Nemebro)

Originally posted by ROTJ Vader
Current Black Leaders are all complete and utter jokes except for some such as Clarence Thomas.

Thats a funny way to spell Samuel L Jackson.

Originally posted by Zampanó
Comics as a medium lends itself to reductive portrayals of women that female readers struggle to relate to.

Though both male and female comic book characters are outlandish and unrealistic, the treatment given to women is different from men (in a negative way). This is borne out by the treatment of female comic enthusiasts.

(And then there was the post where I tried to be gay enough for Nemebro. But you can ignore that one, because aint nobody gay enough for Nemebro)

I don't think there was ever a question of whether or not there are people who are offended by the portrayal of women in comic books. The point of the contention is whether or not that offense is based upon sound reasoning. Going by what's been presented thus far, I don't think it is.

What is the inherent issue with all the women wearing ridiculous outfits and being the pinnacle of Western beauty perceptions that is not present with males wearing ridiculous outfits and being the pinnacle of western beauty?

Originally posted by ROTJ Vader

What is the inherent issue with all the women wearing ridiculous outfits and being the pinnacle of Western beauty perceptions that is not present with males wearing ridiculous outfits and being the pinnacle of western beauty?

Why are you quoting yourself, when that isn't what you said?

I made a typo.

"Leaders" vs "Culture" isn't a typo- they're too entirely separate words.

Originally posted by Zampanó
As far as I understand the argument, it is that both male and female characters are pandering to a male audience. No part of (superhero) comics pander to the female audience.

Comic books are definitely targeted toward the male demographic, like how the Oxygen channel is targeted toward house wives. Which isn't to say that that justifies comic books targeting boys more than girls- it would be better for everyone if the industry's target demographic was expanded.

But, I don't think the appearance of women in comics is what pushes away female readers. In fact, I don't even think it's an issue for anyone but the most extreme feminists. Women appreciate good looking women and fantasize about good looking women as much as men appreciate good looking men and fantasize about good looking men (I mean hell, Wonder Woman is a feminist icon, yet she's spent the past 50 years running around in a star-spangled bikini). Women appreciate good looking men with their rippling abs and bulging crotch-lines as much as men appreciate good looking women with their tig ol' bitties and washboard stomachs. Magic Mike's audience was 73% female, and it blew every economic prediction away in sales.

So point being, I don't think the appearance of the characters has anything to do with it. The problem with women and comic books is the same problem that exists in all popular fiction- women simply aren't represented much at all, let alone well. It's easy to imagine why women would be turned off of comics when 9/10 of the series' have male leads, while the women are relegated to shallow side-characters. You can have a super heroine who wears nothing but slacks and a blouse by day and uni-sex military uniforms by night, but if her character is basically non-existent, whether she looks like a retard or not is of no consequence. By contrast, a super heroine who runs around in a star-spangled bikini can be an icon if she has a well-written and well-established personality (Like Diana, or Power Girl.

Lol.

I don't care about Comic book heroes now that Ben Affleck is going to ruin Batman.

Originally posted by DARTH POWER
I don't care about Comic book heroes now that Ben Affleck is going to redefine what it means to be Batman.

I thought the same thing about Mark Ruffalo... he turned out to be perty good. Give him a shot, DP.

Mark Ruffalo was hardly ever going to ruin the Hulk. He's played that nice guy whose probably not that happy plenty of times in loads of RomComs.

But Affleck just seems like another Clooney. And we have seen his performance in a similar type role in Daredevil. So it's highly unlikely he's going to shock us.

There were just so many actors to choose from and I just feel like they've gone for a big name who can pull off Bruce Wayne, instead of thinking "forget fame, which guy will make an awesome and intimidating Batman?" Which was what Nolan did with Bale Imo.

When you go from Bale to Affleck, it's time to rethink your strategy.

IDK how they're going to make Superman vs. Batman anything but Batman and Robin with cooler fight scenes. It took an entire movie to develop Superman, and three to develop Christian Bale's Batman. So how are they going to restart Batman's whole character growth thing, while also having him fight the Man of Steel?

They should tap Keaton again. Sure, he's like 60, but he was the best Batman.

Meh. Keaton was OK, Bale was great, the rest were crap. I guess the fact that it was a shitload of years ago has something to do with it.

Keaton imbued Wayne/Batman with compelling depth.

Bale was one-note and unintelligible beneath the mask.

Now, come one. He did a good job.

Not like Ledger did with the Joker, though.

Ledger or Nicholson?

Bale was consistently overshadowed by his baddies. At least with Keaton, it was a tug-o'-war.

That's a tough one. Nicholson is scarier by default, though.

Agreed on the scarier comment.

But just in terms of pure acting...