Batgirl Joker Cover Controversy: Wasted Effort Episode 1

Cheshire Cat Studios proudly presents… WASTED EFFORT! A new video series starring everyone’s favorite cynical duo! LaughingMan and CineMax begin the episode by highlighting the hypocrisy of online feminists and moral crusaders when it comes to fictional depiction of violence against women vs. fictional depiction of violence against men. Evidently, an unrepentant homicidal maniac (the Joker) shooting an innocent woman (Barbara Gordon) through the spine in the seminal 1988 Batman one-shot “The Killing Joke” is an intolerable act of violence as well as unequivocal evidence of the author’s misogyny. (Never mind all the evidence to the contrary, of course.) Meanwhile, a female online personality shooting an innocent man point-blank over a dozen times in one of her videos due to her illogical, paranoid fear of getting raped at all times (only to then turn to the camera and deliver an atrocious one-liner that would make even David Caruso wince) should be seen as nothing more than innocuous, wholesome fun for the whole family. Gotta love those double standards, don’t you? After that quick little demonstration, the two hosts move on to discuss the actual subject matter of this video: the recent controversy surrounding the Joker variant cover for Batgirl #41 drawn by Rafael Albuquerque. They make mention of Reason Magazine’s conflicting coverage of this incident, taking a closer look at Nick Gillespie’s take in particular. In his article, Nick Gillespie argues that even if you disagree with DC Comics’ decision to cancel Rafael Albuquerque’s cover, we should still view this as a decisive victory for the consumers. How come, you ask? Because according to the author, with the advent of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, the fans now have a unique opportunity to stay in touch with and provide feedback directly to their favorite companies and artists. To quote Nick Gillespie: “Artists must now effectively collaborate with their audiences—not slavishly giving them what they want, but seriously respecting their wishes and desires.” A noble sentiment, indeed. However, the question that both LaughingMan and CineMax can’t help but ask is: “Was it really the loyal Batman fans who took umbrage with this particular cover?” Or was it a group of professional killjoys and self-appointed moral guardians — some of whom have even proudly announced their own ignorance of the Dark Knight mythos? After all, how else do you explain the existence of #SaveTheCover: A hashtag started by actual Batman readers to apprise DC Comics that they 100% support the controversial cover, as well as to disprove the plethora of erroneous statements made by the critics; such as there not being any covers depicting a male superhero being at the mercy of one of his villains. (‘Cos there are. A lot.) We can concede that Nick Gillespie’s heart is in the right place. Companies should consider the feedback provided by their own consumers if they want to ensure customer satisfaction and stay ahead of the competition. However, more often than not we see the system get abused by an implacable virtual lynch mob that tries to censor anything they don’t like — all in the name of so-called “progress.” What’s even more demoralizing, however, is that these people’ actions seem to indicate a larger problem present in our society right now: No one wants to sit down and have an open and honest debate about whatever points of contention they might have. Instead, if things don’t go your way, the best strategy these days seems to be to publicly announce your indignation with something and demand immediate reparations. And if someone dares to object to your childish temper tantrum? Just block them on social media and claim that you’re being harassed to win over the public’s sympathy once more. Hoo boy… Well, we never promised that we would start our new show on a positive note. :S Nick Gillespie's aritcle: http://reason.com/blog/2015/03/22/in-batgirl-joker-cover-the-batshit-hits — — — Like our stuff? Support CCS on Patreon: www.patreon.com/cheshirecatstudios Website: http://cheshirecatstudios.com Facebook: http://facebook.com/cheshirecatstudio Twitter: http://twitter.com/cheshirecatstud iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ccsitunes InvertedMind's DA Page: http://invertedmind-inc.deviantart.com