Superheros & Civil Liberties

I don’t follow comic books, but I do know that the tales told in them are not simply about wonder characters and their super, duper powers. Of course, it doesn’t take an English major to realize that, for example, the mutants in X-Men are stand ins for the outs in our society. Now, it seems, comic book writers have decided to be more blatant about the presence of current events in their comic panels, according to the Science Monitor. Let’s see the Hollywood Studios use this in their next superhero blockbuster:

In today’s comic books, superheroes aren’t just thinking about how to defeat the usual kryptonite-wielding villains. They’re also tackling topics such as terrorism, war, and civil liberties as a heavy dose of 21st-century reality seeps into their alternate universe.

[...]

"Civil War," for instance, explores the issue of civil liberties in the wake of a deadly explosion in a Connecticut neighborhood during the filming of a superhero reality show. Soon, superheroes are at war over mandatory registration, with dissenters facing terms in a prison that will remind readers of Guantánamo Bay.

[...]

"Ex Machina," a popular R-rated comic book published by DC Comics, also explores the divides of American society. It tells the story of Mayor Mitchell Hundred, a superhero turned New York City politician who must address issues ranging from gay marriage and the death penalty to legalized marijuana.

[...]

More recently, Superman and archvillain US President Lex Luthor tangled in 2003 over plans to invade the imaginary Middle Eastern country of Qurac, which was linked to weapons of mass destruction.

[...]

Even if they don’t touch on specific events, comic books often explore "broad themes, such as paranoia or terrorism, things that the writers perceive as being at work in society," says John Jackson Miller, a comic-book writer and editorial director for the publisher of Comic Buyer’s Guide. "They figure that they can do allegories on these things and make it feel relevant."

A. Nag on Gore

I haven’t posted in a while, so lemme ease my way back in slowly and simply lead you to this short post over at MyDD.com:

With all of the focus on Al Gore these days as a result of his successful new movie, it was only a matter of time before New York Times reporter Adam Nagourney jumped on the bandwagon and penned a piece on the former two-term Vice President. But judging by the article, which runs in the Sunday Times, Gore was well prepared to combat Nagourney’s often excessive focus on the political horserace over substance.

Jonathan Singer, the blogger behind this post, does a great job of zeroing in on the issues that many of us on the political sidelines find irritating about professional political observers; that is, their cynicism and obsessive focus on the horserace, rather than on the substance of the issues. And, as quoted in the MyDD.com post, Al Gore agrees, as he responds to A. Nag:

"We need to shift gears in corporate America and in our politics and in our economy and in our culture," he said. "Most of all, political scribes have to take off their cynical lenses through which they view every moral challenge as political spin."

Go read the MyDD.com post, and don’t forget to read A. Nag’s article over at NYTimes.com.