Violence and Youth

I get really annoyed when people get overly nostalgic and talk about how dreadfully brutal and violent my generation is in comparison to "simpler times." So I was delighted when Ken emailed me this article from a couple years ago debunking the connection between violent video games and the "rise" in youth violence. The writer looks at FBI statistics and finds out that Generation Y is the least violent generation in recorded American history.

That first graph is the overall violent crime rate, and we're talking about youth violence here. So I found the data sorted by age, and it turns out that through 2002, youth homicide actually dropped across the board, the only increase being among adults. If I may quote directly from the D.O.J. report, "Recently, the offending rates for 14-17 year-olds reached the lowest levels ever recorded."

The lowest levels ever recorded. In other words, the Playstation era has, in fact, produced the most non-violent kids ever.

I remember when I was in High School they had a big fuss over kids who were supposedly carrying guns to school, and I remember seeing the Principal searching lockers and the dogs coming by periodically. And then when Columbine happened and the High School went on lockdown. And banning backpacks, and then taking back the ban, and then banning them again. I graduated the year before they instituted school uniforms in my public school district. (Which was funny to me, because I remember my class protesting the idea, and I remember my sister getting suspended for protesting the dress code before I ever got there.)

I'd figured back when I was in school the hysteria would fade, but every once in a while something like this idiocy (from last fall) comes up and we hear about how Congress is discussing the fucking video games and someone's crying "Think of the children!"

And we have the most violent mass media we've ever had. And the most accessible font of information ever available to young people. And we're a country that is constantly--constantly on the edge, panicking at the stupidest shit. And... the violent crime rate is dropping. (Check the Preliminary 2007 Stats, see all those minuses under "Total"?) The age trend shown in that 2005 article is that each new group of kids was more peaceful than the last.

And each new group of kids has less freedom than the last. The kids in my old High School right now probably wouldn't dream of the day those doors were left unlocked during class hours, of being able to arrive late and sneak in after the bell, or of no one buzzing past the secretary. I don't think by now any of them would have gone to school when we wore normal clothing. And the dogs and the Principal searching the locker isn't a weird thing. Security guards aren't a weird thing. If the trend continues, security guards asking girls about their menstrual cycles won't be a weird thing.

I know someone will attribute this as cause and effect, except the tightening of security and the loss of civil rights is caused by a false perception that these children are more violent than the generation that's making the rules. In reality, they're less violent and therefore deserve more freedom.

Anyway, do me a favor and pass these stats around. The last couple generations have been getting a pretty bad rap.

John Stewart cast!

According to MTV Movies Blog:

From the first time Clark Kent walked into a phone booth mild mannered and walked out able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, the concept of superheroes having dual identities has been almost as important to the genre as the superpowers themselves. Not so for John Stewart, Earth’s fourth Green Lantern and sometimes member of the “Justice League of America” — one of the more prominent heroes to choose not to wear a mask.

Now the actor who was cast to play him is pulling back his.

Long rumored to be in contention for the role, Common confirmed to MTV News for the first time publically that he was cast in the now dormant film, calling being picked for the role “an honor.”

“It’s a blessing really, to know that I could potentially be this superhero,” he enthused. “Justice League itself is an honor, and Green Lantern is an incredible character to play. It’s a blessing to be associated with it.”

I love how excited all the actors are for this movie. Hopefully with the strike clearing up they can get it back into production.

(Via)

Writer's strike may end.

New York Times:

An end to Hollywood’s long and bitter writers’ strike appeared close on Saturday, as union leaders representing 12,000 movie and television writers said they had reached a tentative deal with production companies.

The strike, which began Nov. 5, remains in effect until the governing boards of the two writers’ guilds gauge the sense of their membership this weekend and decide whether to end the walkout. The boards are expected to meet as early as Sunday, and the strike could be over by Monday morning.

A memorandum sent to some writers guild members summarized a four-hour meeting on Friday in which union leaders briefed a group of 300 strike captains. According to the memorandum, the guild boards and negotiating committee are expected to recommend the tentative deal unanimously, but they are withholding action to end the walkout until after Saturday’s scheduled meetings.

Here's the letter they sent to the WGA members.

(I know blogging's been sparse, but I came down with some sort of infection this week and haven't felt up to writing. Just wanted to share this one.)

Countdown #12

I told you so.

My heart's not in this one.

I should say something to this, since he uses my quote as the jumping-off point but I can only come up with a unenthusiastic response.

I don't really care for Journalista much anymore. The blog itself, while theoretically a useful link-source, is unreadable at work because of his use of images. I've taken it off my feed and gotten to checking it when I remember or when it comes up in my searches. Occasionally, I'll get a post or an article out of it. Most of the stuff he links I see in my normal rounds. More often I just link Dirk himself when he writes about women in comics. His opinions aren't particularly interesting, especially from the standpoint of such bitterness. His value as a journalist is debatable. Take this article for example. No neutrality, but it's an op-ed piece. But he gets the facts very wrong. Since when does Girl-Wonder.org operate from a "Think of the Children" standpoint? And how are Pink Raygun, the Spider-man movie-fans who were upset about the statue, Cheryl Lynn, Val, and me part of "the Girl Wonder" crowd? You can really only shove us all under the same tent if you're not paying attention to what we write. He uses the unreliable 10% statistic, and I've yet to see how it was figured out or how it is relevant. 1) Statistics are incredibly easy to manipulate and 2) Some things are wrong no matter who the audience is.

I mean, I know that this is a logical fallacy but Deppey's long since lost credibility to me. So I can't get interested in arguing his main point. Even about this.

And it's... disappointing. When he started up that blog I remember how excited much of the comics blogosphere was and he seems to be a very respected and widely-read person. Which tells me that's the standard of writing for much of the community.

And that makes me sad.

Well, what do you know...

It worked:

In those two panels, in that one gesture of Batman contemplating the Robins he’s lost in front of the symbol of those losses, that line of suits in cases, the glass ceiling keeping girls out of the red and green and gold costume at Batman’s side finally cracked and fell.

I'm not taking this as DC has gone feminist. But they've noticed that female fans read female characters, and given in to a reasonable request in order to please those fans.

Most importantly, the idea of female fanbase for Batman comics is in their heads, and it's a fanbase they'll market to.

And on the whole, this is pretty damned impressive from a Green Lantern fan's point of view. I mean, it took ten fucking years to get a straight white male lead's mischaracterization retconned into mind control on our side of the fence.

Quick Notes on Green Lantern

1) Once again, John is the only Lantern with any brains.

2) They are seriously foreshadowing that someone is going to come after Jim again.

3) I have some conspiracy theories about Scarface (the female Lantern burned in the fight with the AntiMonitor) but I'm going to let them stew until we get more information in this plot. I will say that I'm increasingly hopeful that this all ends with Ganthet returning to Oa and declaring that he's taking over again because the Council is full of idiots and cowards.

4) Notice that Boodika is the only one of the Lost Lanterns who is still hostile to Hal.

5) I'm annoyed there's no hint as to who the first Blue will be. I'm hoping for a female human.

6) Does anyone else get the feeling that at DC when male characters kill (Black Adam, Wonderman) it sends them to villain territory, but female heroes can kill and stay heroes (Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Manhunter)? Some sexism at work where women are thought to be less frightening and men less rational, maybe?

Ooo!

Marjane Satrapi is on the Colbert Report!

Carnival Notes

Willow's got the 7th PoC SF Carnival posted at Seeking Avalon!

The 52nd Carnival of Feminists is up recently, too.

Scientiae has their submission call posted, due date is January 30th.

Podblack Cat's got a reminder up, with some submission suggestions:Feminist SF Carnival - In Orbit Soon!

I’m looking for those bloggy reflections - whether you’re into space rangers, explorers, fighters, lovers, critiques, oblique-references, hard facts, short temper tantrums, fine analysis, bold statements, bad science, great research, small print, vipers, snipers, con-men, riot-grrrls and just plain representing the spectrum of feminist thought and the intersection with speculative fiction!

That cover gives me the willies.

I wince whenever I see the April Catwoman cover. (No, I'm not reposting it on my blog. Go look at the link.) It's not normal Adam Hughes eyerolling at the exploitation here. It actually unnerves me to the point I can't really make a judgment on whether it's sexist or not. There's something disturbing there I think would bug me if it were two men. That picture is in the middle of the point where she pulls the lip away with her teeth. Gross. And the color scheme. Blues and blacks versus yellows and browns with red in the middle. I immediately focus on the red when I see it. And it looks like she's eating part of Cheetah's face.

It's a horror cover. It has a worse effect than a Zombie cover on me. 'd examine it in depth but I'd have to stare at the damned thing and I don't like looking at it.

I find it so weird that it's the violence that bothers me with this one. I mean, I'm a Geoff Johns fan. People ripped in half? No problem. Impaled heroes? I'll keep reading. Catwoman biting Cheetah's lower lip? I have to avert my eyes and find another website. Maybe it reminds me of cannibalism or something like that.

Either way, this cover getting reposted around the community is not going to be fun for me.

Raise a glass to Heath Ledger

Patrick Verona was based on one of the biggest jerks Shakespeare wrote, but Heath Ledger played him and I liked him. I'm still willing to watch 10 Things I Hate About You (a movie in which nothing supernatural happened) multiple times.



I'm still looking forward to The Dark Knight, but it's going to be sad.

I'll believe it when I see it.

Aaron Lopresti to replace the Dodsons on Wonder Woman.

NRAMA: What are your views on Wonder Woman - what is she to you? She seems to have this continuum of meaning and everyone has one or two places upon it that resonate with them...

AL: For me she is the perfect embodiment of what it means to be a super hero, male or female. In some ways she is like Superman or Captain America (when he was alive). She is a character that has character and it makes her stand head and shoulders above the rest of female
super hero community.

Most importantly, I don't feel I am drawing sexually exploitive material when I am working on Wonder Woman. Somehow she seems to be above all of that. At least in my mind.

I'd make a joke about him having his work cut out for him, but honestly so long the costume manages to cover her butt and her breasts most fans'll be impressed with his restraint.

And guess what, it does.



And there's muscle definition.

I'm grumpy to see the Dodsons leave, though. I grumbled when they announced them because Harley Quinn was so cheesecakey, but I was really surprised and pleased with the actual work.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

I've gotten to enjoy historical holidays like Martin Luther King Day a lot more since I started blogging. There's really not much on TV or elsewhere that we haven't already seen before, but when you hit the blogfeeds on a day like today you can come up with some substance relevant to the occasion. Even blogs like this one, that don't get political beyond four-color commentary (though Kleefeld's managed to dig up two biographical comic books on Dr. King.) will have a few personal thoughts, or a link or a quote. Among the quoting and posting of "I Have a Dream" there's usually some stuff that you don't see in HS history class or that you don't remember. Last year was the first year I'd ever read "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", for example.

This year I found (through this blog) this 1996 article by Ronald Turner about the way the "I Have a Dream" speech gets misused to spread the idea that Dr. King was and claim that attempts to address racially-based injustice are acting against his legacy because they call attention to race.

Black Canary

Pictures of Alaina Huffman in costume as Black Canary in an upcoming Smallville episode. (Via)



I really like how her costume came out. Not only does the actress look the part (I always figured on Black Canary as a petite woman with a tough expression), they kept the fishnets and the basic design, so she's recognizable as the comic book character. They went with short hair rather than a long wig that would get torn off during a fight, or long hair that an enemy could grab at in a street-level fight.

The makeup mask is interesting idea. If she has some quick way to smear it on like a spray or something like a solid rouge applicator (one of those big old-fashioned round bars that you could just smear circles on your cheeks with), it makes for a good quick change and won't fall off. But makeup like that doesn't seem to obscure the face very well. I suppose you could say it's a distraction. Between it and the fishnets and the dark alley no one is going to be able to properly describe her.

She must have to carry wipes to clean it off.

Booster Gold #6

Okay, that was very fun. I like that they did and still kept everything intact. This will come back to bite the characters in the ass, though. I'm pretty sure that the mystery guy -- the one of the three who had the tech for everything to be possible -- will be revealed to be a bad guy in the near future.

Friday Night Fights

Round 3:

Well, this could be interesting.

Hmm..

Ron Howard's Imagine Entertainment and Universal Pictures are negotiating with the estate of legendary SF author E.E. "Doc" Smith for film rights to Smith's seminal Lensman novels, Al Trestrail, Smith's grandson and manager of his estate, told SCI FI Wire.

On a scale of 1-20, how pissed off do you guys think the final product would make me?

Public Service Announcement

Far be it for me to denigrate another member of the online comics community, but there are some things that just look strange and should be pointed out. I freely and fully admit that I've reacted to other fan complaints by asking incredulously if the other fan has actually read the work in question (or if they indeed know how to), and I don't see it as a question that off-limits when you find your interpretation of a work (and the tropes of the genre) to be remarkably different from another fan's reading.

However...

But really. From whence comes your indignation, internet? Have you never read a Wonder Woman comic? Ever?

If you ask that question (even rhetorically) and the first post you link is by someone who has written the comic book in question, you look stupid.

Just for future reference.

And it doesn't help that Greg Rucka shoots down your main point in the comments of that first link.

Good News!

The Wonder Woman direct-to-DVD animated movie is being cast:

Well, no firm release date, but the voice of Wonder Woman will be provided by Keri (Waitresws, MI: III) Russell, according to TV Guide’s Michael Ausiello. According to Ausiello, Russell is in “advanced talks” for the role in the animated feature, which is tentatively slated for a late ’08, early ’09 release. Russell was a favorite choice by many fans for the lead role in a live action Wonder Woman movie before said potential movie sank beneath the waves.

According to the original information Newsarama received in August, the Wonder Woman animated feature will be rated PG-13, and is described as follows:

On the mystical island of Themyscria, a proud and fierce warrior race of Amazons have raised a daughter of untold beauty, grace and strength – Princess Diana. When and army fighter pilot, Steve Trevor crash-lands on the island, the rebellious and headstrong Diana defies Amazonian law by accompanying Trevor back to civilization. Meanwhile, Ares (the god of War) has escaped his imprisonment at the hands of the Amazonians and has decided to exact his revenge using the mystical “Hand of Rage,” an ancient artifact with the power to raise armies from the dead and infuse them with a thirst for blood. Ares intends to start a world war that will not only last for centuries – but will wipe out every living being on the planet, starting with the Amazons! It is up to Princess Diana to save her people and the world – by using her gifts and becoming the ultimate Wonder Woman!

Russell will be the second actress to portray DC’s Amazonian princess in the company’s direct-to-DVD features, as Lucy Lawless is providing the character’s voice in JLA: The New Frontier, due for release on February 26th.

Well, I'm going to try and be optimistic about this one. I liked Superman: Doomsday.

They... umm... They misspelled Themiscyra in the press release.

"Hand of Rage" sounds pretty cool, though.

I need a distraction

(This'll be my seventh post, counting all three blogs, on this subject, but by now I'm pissed off. For the record, I wouldn't be posting so much if I hadn't made that resolution to post once a day.)

I was doing so well until I remember that artist who got a C&D notice over Batman. Then rage at the double-standards for male and female characters combined with rage at the fact that a lone artist gets bullied by WB goons but a big magazine like Playboy can get away whatever the fuck they want to really unsettle me for the whole night.

Fucking DC.

And the thing that kills me is once I chased Levitz down after a con panel to ask why Swamp Thing couldn't be in both DCU books and Vertigo books, just with different continuity, and he told me that he wanted to keep the all-ages books separate from adult books, so they try and keep the characters in their own imprints.

That's right, he wants to keep all-ages characters like their iconic superheroes separate from mature readers material.

But apparently it's okay for an all-ages character to be on the cover of Playboy.

Damn, I'm fuming.