There are plenty of heterosexual marriages between heroes in the DC universe. It was a core theme of Aquaman's character, and with Animal Man. I'm not a DC guy, but given time I could probably find a few more. I can't condemn them entirely; it's really dependent on the character and storyline- Batman wouldn't work as a married man, for instance. It's the exploitative nature of the contest that rubbed me wrong, not the alleged sexualization of suicide. Harley is supposed to be second only to the Joker in batpoop craziness, but for a long time female characters have been more visual art and less actual character. It's in questionable taste and it perpetuates the idea that females in comics are just scantily clad eye candy.
On Sep 9, 2013, at 7:41 AM, Luke Jaconetti <[email protected]> wrote: > Honestly, I don't see how the fourth scene sexualizes suicide in any way. > She's eletrocuting herself in the bathtub. Of course she's naked. > > I hope all of these "outraged" people don't ever watch the movie Better Off > Dead, or else John Cusak and Savage Steve Holland better start fearing for > their lives. Is suicide something horrible? Yes. Is Harley Quinn a > goofball character, prone to doing ridiculous things such as trying to kill > herself and failing? Yes. This is satire; give me a break! > > Finally, the creators on Batwoman quit because of several "eleventh hour" > editorial changes, a common theme in the New 52, the last of which was being > told that their character could not get married. That she was a lesbian had > nothing to do with it; marriage of heroes in general is verboten at DC > currently. > > On Sunday, September 8, 2013 11:06:24 AM UTC-4, cwpreston wrote: > Way to perpetuate the comics-are-mysoginistic meme, DC. > > http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2013/09/dc-comics-asks-for-naked-harley-quinn-suicide-drawings-for-talent-contest.html > > DC Comics asks for naked Harley Quinn suicide drawings for talent contest > > In a rather appalling move, DC Comics is holding a talent search for artists > that requires the entrants to draw DC character Harley Quinn in various > suicidal tableaus, one of which is also naked. > > Here are the panel submission requirements: > > PANEL 1 > Harley is on top of a building, holding a large DETACHED cellphone tower in > her hands as lightning is striking just about everywhere except her tower. > She is looking at us like she cannot believe what she is doing. Beside > herself. Not happy. > > PANEL 2 > Harley is sitting in an alligator pond, on a little island with a suit of raw > chicken on, rolling her eyes like once again, she cannot believe where she > has found herself. We see the alligators ignoring her. > > PANEL 3 > Harley is sitting in an open whale mouth, tickling the inside of the whale's > mouth with a feather. She is ecstatic and happy, like this is the most fun > ever. > > PANEL 4 > Harley sitting naked in a bathtub with toasters, blow dryers, blenders, > appliances all dangling above the bathtub and she has a cord that will > release them all. We are watching the moment before the inevitable death. Her > expression is one of "oh well, guess that's it for me" and she has resigned > herself to the moment that is going to happen. > > The outrage online was swift, with one tumblr user writing, "Congrats, DC, > for fully driving me away. I kept defending you, because you were the comics > I grew up with. But you keep disappointing me, and this is the last > (disgusting) straw." > > Most users are not only disgusted with the continued use of suicide but also > the blatant sexualization of said suicide in panel 4. > > Commenter Seairra Willett writes, "The sexualization of suicide is something > I will not be putting effort into for a talent search. I'll let the other > fanartist draw naked Harley in a bathtub. I'll gladly draw anything but > sexualized characters and suicide scenes for a very well-developed character." > > Meanwhile, one of the contest creators, Jimmy Palmiotti, tried to defend the > panels as being "Looney Toons"-esque, before deleting his Facebook comments. > But not before Christina Stewart got a screengrab (below). > > This comes on the heels of the "Batwoman" creators quitting DC Comics because > their lesbian crimefighter was forbidden from getting married to her > girlfriend in their comics. > > > Photo/Video credit: DC Comics, Facebook > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "The Unique Geek" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/theuniquegeek. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Unique Geek" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/theuniquegeek. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
