DC sucks - the handling of Batwoman & Harley Quinn
I thought it was pretty shameful how DC cancelled Batwoman's same-sex marriage with Maggie Sawyer - making the super talented J.H. Williams III & company bolt the company - but now this news about Harley Quinn, and the fetishsizing of suicide.
http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/09/07/harley-quinn-contest-dc-comics?cmpid=tp-ptnr-scribol
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Look at Marvel - they let Northstar's big gay wedding go ahead. WTF is with DC?
1. it's Harley Quinn. She's supposed to do messed up shit. But as usual, painting a female character in anything other than the "right" way, is somehow sexist and fetishizing. And, to repeat, it's Harley Quinn. The woman that willingly involves herself in an incredibly abusive relationship. The woman that constantly makes excuses for The Joker because she loves him. But THAT aspect of it isn't focused on?
2. Williams flat out says in the article that DC didn't want ANY WEDDINGS. PERIOD. If DC was going to be anti-gay marriage, they never would have let them get engaged in the first place, imo. Or am I reading it wrong?
Yes, DC has had some major problems of late with it's editorial. In fact it's been horrible at times, causing very talented writers to leave books. In this case though, I actually think people are overreacting.
Originally posted by -Pr-
1. it's Harley Quinn. She's supposed to do messed up shit. But as usual, painting a female character in anything other than the "right" way, is somehow sexist and fetishizing. And, to repeat, it's Harley Quinn. The woman that willingly involves herself in an incredibly abusive relationship. The woman that constantly makes excuses for The Joker because she loves him. But THAT aspect of it isn't focused on?
I don't think people are overreacting; objectification of women and trivialization of suicide are both things that we need to be on guard against. In this case, the art contest was exploitation pure and simple, without artistic merit to justify it. At a certain point, saying "it's Harley Quinn" doesn't really change the wrongness of the situation.
Originally posted by Omega Vision
Well, it doesn't help that the request came up a few days before National Suicide Prevention day.I don't think people are overreacting; objectification of women and trivialization of suicide are both things that we need to be on guard against. In this case, the art contest was exploitation pure and simple, without artistic merit to justify it. At a certain point, saying "it's Harley Quinn" doesn't really change the wrongness of the situation.
That is bad timing, i'll admit.
I think they are overreacting, tbh. Is objectification far too present in comics? Yes. Definitely. That said, there are worse examples than this one and nobody bats an eyelid.
Exploitation in what sense? The request might be a bit outlandish, but it IS consistent with the character, so I have to disagree and say that saying "It's Harley Quinn" does count at least somewhat.
I'm not saying it was a good idea by DC. I'm not saying people have no right to be offended. I just think that this is an easy target, and screaming at it isn't the way to go about changing the status quo.
While I'll grant that I might be somewhat desensitised to all of this, I genuinely think that the reaction and outcry far outweighs the actual content. Not that it's not bad; just that it's not AS bad as people are stating.
Why did they want to see artistic submissions of Harley Quinn naked and committing suicide? Not Harley looking bodacious and scantily clad, or covered with blood and creating havoc with some kind of weapon...but that. I almost think DC did this on purpose to thumb their nose at National Suicide Prevention Week, thinking any (bad)publicity is good publicity.
I mean, look at the backlash this year when they signed Orson Scott Card to do a Superman storyline, to take advantage of his name for the forthcoming Ender's Game movie...but then all his shameful personal prosecution of gay marriage in the USA took over the headlines. Was that worth it, just for publicity?
Originally posted by Omega Vision
Well, it doesn't help that the request came up a few days before National Suicide Prevention day.I don't think people are overreacting; objectification of women and trivialization of suicide are both things that we need to be on guard against. In this case, the art contest was exploitation pure and simple, without artistic merit to justify it. At a certain point, saying "it's Harley Quinn" doesn't really change the wrongness of the situation.
I agree with this. DC is behaving badly in both those instances and people should point it out to them.