Alan Moore vs Frank Miller on the Occupy movement
Occupy fashion: The Guy Fawkes mask from V for Vendetta. Don’t even mention the movie to Alan Moore.
We read about the sniping in Pharyngula.
Frank Miller on the Occupy movement:
“Wake up, pond scum. America is at war against a ruthless enemy.
“Maybe, between bouts of self-pity and all the other tasty tidbits of narcissism you’ve been served up in your sheltered, comfy little worlds, you’ve heard terms like al-Qaeda and Islamicism.
“And this enemy of mine — not of yours, apparently – must be getting a dark chuckle, if not an outright horselaugh – out of your vain, childish, self-destructive spectacle.
“In the name of decency, go home to your parents, you losers. Go back to your mommas’ basements and play with your Lords Of Warcraft.
“Or better yet, enlist for the real thing. Maybe our military could whip some of you into shape.”
The whole rant is here.
Artwork from Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns.
Well Bruce Wayne IS the 1 percent. Much as we admired the Dark Knight movie its message was disturbing; we let it go because it’s a movie.
Would Miller be more receptive to the Occupy movement if the activists wore Batman cowls or the Spartan loincloths from 300?
Alan Moore replied in an interview:
“Well, Frank Miller is someone whose work I’ve barely looked at for the past twenty years. I thought the Sin City stuff was unreconstructed misogyny, 300 appeared to be wildly ahistoric, homophobic and just completely misguided. I think that there has probably been a rather unpleasant sensibility apparent in Frank Miller’s work for quite a long time. Since I don’t have anything to do with the comics industry, I don’t have anything to do with the people in it. I heard about the latest outpourings regarding the Occupy movement. It’s about what I’d expect from him…
“As far as I can see, the Occupy movement is just ordinary people reclaiming rights which should always have been theirs. I can’t think of any reason why as a population we should be expected to stand by and see a gross reduction in the living standards of ourselves and our kids, possibly for generations, when the people who have got us into this have been rewarded for it…”
First line: Ka-pow! Aray!
We have not been as supportive of the Occupy movement as we could be; our reactions have been “Nakatikim din kayo, ano?” and “Been there, done that”. But we respect the idea, we understand their rage, and above all We Don’t Like Bullies.
Reminder: Drop by bookstore on the way home and pick up some Alan Moore books. (V for Vendetta is on our list of favorite books of the year.)
Comic books: today’s political arena.
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Got a couple of collections of Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing issues from the 1980s. Mat loves them.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
December 6th, 2011 at 07:26
Thank goodness Moore issued a rebuttal to Frank Miller’s screed. Miller seemed to come off sounding like those Fox News drones. Another personality from the comic book field that actually has ties to the Occupy Movement is Green Arrow and former Uncanny X-Men writer Ann Nocenti:
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/11/14/ann-nocenti-responds-to-frank-miller-on-occupy-wall-streethttp://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/11/14/ann-nocenti-responds-to-frank-miller-on-occupy-wall-street
With Ann at the helm of Green Arrow, I hope she’ll highlight more of Oliver Queen’s left-leaning politics.
December 6th, 2011 at 15:15
Frank Miller has always been a douche. I have no idea how he still gets work. I barely read what he’s done, but I’ve seen it chockful of misogyny and homophobia, and that’s enough for me to think how overrated he is.
I’m glad Alan Moore (and actually dozens of other comic book creators) spoke out against Miller. I myself am not 100% behind this Occupy thing, I feel there are other ways to kick the establishment in the heinie, but as you said, the idea is there and bullies shouldn’t be tolerated.