There is going to be territorial pissing and finger pointing in this.
I'm watching a lot of these geek and nerd outlets that cropped up around the same time the MCU started hitting it off and they are carbon copies of one another. They all have the same dreg opinions. Disney Star Wars is awesome, Captain Marvel is gonna be amazing I guarantee it! (hey shut up you dont know if it's going to suck you misogynist), and so forth. There is no varied opinion any more. Everyone wants to be safe. This is weird and new to me since I remember having good natured blow out fights with my friends over characters and plot lines. It was absolutely common to walk into a shop and there was some debate or conversation going on about a title. The lack of a dare I say diverse opinion is beyond suspicious to me. It to me is confirmation that these publications want to be on the good side of the corporate overlords. It's a strange thing to me to see a supposed subculture crave mainstream acceptance.
But that's just it isn't it? Geek culture is no longer a weird underground subculture. It was "appropriated" from the quiet, sarcastic, and witty by the empty headed drooling general masses. The people who don't question anything and don't have the foresight to see things coming down the road. They just want non offensive material and everyone who doesn't to shut up and go away. They are bullies. Just like the bullies who shoved kids into lockers these bullies are as I said, dumb, unoriginal, and fearful. They fear content that may contain a racist who says "nigger" in context (Oh it has happened plenty in the old school...send you to your fainting couches if you read it) they fear if there aren't gay characters proudly proclaiming that they are gay that gays won't have role models, they fear so much and like any bully they excuse their actions. The excuse given is "tolerance, love, and inclusion". On the surface it seems hard to argue against but we're going passed the surface here. I'm going to be blunt throughout but especially right here. These comics and other media that challenge your thinking and are offensive weren't made for you. They were made for people who can sort out what the writer is saying. You came into something out of your league.
Any superhero/role model you can think of has already long existed. While you guys who hadn't adopted this stuff yet were doing whatever we were reading about a diverse cast of heroes doing all kinds of shit. Yes, we had black, gay, female, characters you name it way before you came in and started stamping your feet. The thing is-is that these superficial (and essentially meaningless) traits didn't matter. It was very rare to see their skin color or preference/dislike for dick take center stage. The prevailing and desired stories from these people is that the black /gay/female character MUST face someone who hates them for being those things. The problem is again we've already done this. It's not a compelling story in a world of aliens, mutants, monsters, and anything else an imagination can cook up. Most old school readers want the world of imagination...isn't that what fiction is supposed to be?
You brought your insecurities with you while arrogantly proclaiming that anyone who desires stories about aliens and vampires to be fragile. No. The fragile ones are the people who cannot see bravery, self sacrifice, noble suffering and other heroic traits in people regardless of how they look. All you do is insult and spit on the people who supported the culture you usurped. You should feel ashamed of yourselves but we're way passed that. You folks are not like us. And we are not like you. There's nothing wrong with that but now we have to share this space and we were always happy to do that with new comers. I used to love recommending old and classic gems to new people in the shop. But now, now you ingrates act like we were never here. That we are in the way of shit you feel entitled to. I actually could deal with this but it's worse. You're also a lot dumber than us.
Comics and games used to challenge thought. You'd experience something and reflect on what it meant to you personally and on a societal level. They used to get you to think not spoon feed you cotton candy about how "muh white man bad" or "GRRRRRL POWER!" and this is what I mean...those messages can be written into comics and movies if one is clever and talented but now because you guys dont understand nuance (and you don't. this whole "war" is because you dont understand nuance in comics) it has to be ham fisted in. You're also too dumb to realize where this thing is going.
Disney right now is acquiring a huge share of imaginative properties out there. With IP laws it will be very hard to imagine a new character that is not in some way a Disney character. Do you think they won't sue you into poverty if you create a character similar to one of theirs? They are already already suing fans for music that sounds too close to "their own". (they bought the imperial march they didn't create it) They are already censoring negative opinions on their next movie. And I have seen hide nor hare of any of these aforementioned geek outlets talking about this. It is literally "YAY rotten tomatoes stopped trolls from dissing Captain Marvel" to 'whoop whoop' in the comments section. How fucking embarrassing. Too dumb to realize corporate power is monopolizing your very own imagination and silencing people who don't like their products. I remember when "we" were smart and didn't want mega corporations in charge of what counts as original thought. Again shame would be appropriate but we're way passed that now aren't we? Because you stand for love tolerance and inclusion right? Except the people like me who are pointing out the bad things you are doing to a culture. We can go fuck our own misogynistic asses can't we?
Tell me would you in the name of love inclusion and tolerance tell the gay community what they should and shouldnt be reading what they should like, Tell them their opinion doesnt matter because they're gay and call them names if they told you to fuck off? No? That would be weird, controlling, and kind of a hateful thing to do right? No one would buy the love inclusion and tolerance nonsense you tout would they? Well, you've done it to geek culture and continue to do so-so excuse me while I don't buy your love inclusion and tolerance bullshit.
I don't think this can go back how it was. And I don't know what happens now. All I know is after having been raised in the comic shop I now look at it and I don't recognize it. Sure it sounds like an old fogey thing to say but yeah...every decade comics goes through some hoard coming in and trying to kick the shit out of it. I've been here for a few battles.
You haven't...you probably dont even know what the Comics Code is or where it came from. Over protective moms, religious groups etc comics has always bounced back. This time it might not-it might stay this misshapen mess of identity politics cross bred with sci fi. Eventually the fad will die down and you will lose interest because the mainstream will be on to something else and you'll go with it. I'll still be right here-as I've always been.