Sturges on his Power Girl Two-Issue Arc

[turtlefu]

So, Matt Sturges is going to write two issues of Power Girl. Now, I am so happy Winick is off the book, even temporarily, but his comments on the nature of the arc seem to worry me.

Read for yourself.

So, what do you guys think?

 I feel like if, as a man, he knows he's basically going to be talking out of his ass on female empowerment, then he shouldn't do it in the first place. They should have gotten a female writer, somebody who actually knows what female empowerment IS, to write it.

It's not about him writing an empowered woman (even though I do think a man can't possibly know what makes a woman empowered). It's that his tone seems to think that this is him telling woman how to be empowered, and I really dislike that a man could be so conceited as to think that he can tell a woman how to be empowered. After all, you know there is going to be a moment where Peej makes a speech to the other women about "how to be their own superheroes" and obviously its Sturges talking.

For legality, the cover of his first issue:

Comments

[lieut_kettch]

About the cover: it'd be nice if the cosplaying fans wore the various costumes Peej has worn through the years.

[auggie18]

...I don't think I've heard the phrase "girl power" since the nineties.

[greenmask]

Not even sarcastically?

[nezchan]

" People might say, "What does this guy know about female empowerment?" I guess the answer is not as much as maybe a woman writing the same book, but at the same time it's a subject that deserves to be talked about."

THEN WHY THE HELL ARE WE LISTENING TO YOU AND NOT SOMEONE WHO DOES KNOW ABOUT IT?

Not enough facepalm in the world...

[mrstatham]

Is he saying he knows nothing about the subject? No. Is he saying that an actual woman would likely know more than him about said subject? Yes. That doesn't mean he has nothing to say on the matter and shouldn't be allowed to give his perspective, especially when it's actually seemingly a respectful look at a character like Power Girl from someone of a gender who aren't exactly known for depicting PeeGee in the most respectful ways.

[darkknightjrk]

THIS. I really don't get what the problem is when it sounds like Sturges has a lot of passion for the character and for what he wants to say with the character.

[darkknightjrk]

"I feel like if, as a man, he knows he's basically going to be talking out of his ass on female empowerment, then he shouldn't do it in the first place. They should have gotten a female writer, somebody who actually knows what female empowerment IS, to write it."

I disagree. While it would be nice to have more female creators in mainstream comics in general, I don't think him being a guy makes him immediately disqualified from writing about women. Finding a way to expertly write about unique experiences and create something that feels real and true to the reader is pretty much EXACTLY the job of a writer.

I just can't fault a guy for saying that he wanted to write something that would delight and maybe even inspire his young daughter, and any other young girls who get their hands on his comic.

I'm surprised that there's even any controversy about this--I thought something like this is EXACTLY what people in this Comm would want to see.

[turtlefu]

Being a guy doesn't disqualify him from writing strong female characters. Rucka does it all the time, successfully. However, he is specifically framing this story as device to empower woman when 1) He has no idea, and can NEVER have any idea, about what makes an empowered woman and 2) It basically amounts to a man telling women how to be empowered, which is not okay. Last time I checked Rucka never wrote Renee and then went "Oh hey women, now you know how to be empowered, right?"

And as long as we have male writers trying to tell these stories, there is less room for female writers, who actually know what they are talking about, to tell the story.

[darkknightjrk]

I can get what you mean about it maybe leaving less room for female writers, but I don't get how he can't write about an empowered woman and what specifically made Power Girl into one.

[mullon]

I wonder how big a shitstorm this is going to be, if there will be one at all.

[ilmari]

Depends entirely on whether the comic is any good.

If it is, you can forgive a lot of minor things. If not, all the faults of everyone involved just seem that much bigger.

[lieut_kettch]

I can't stop staring at your icon...

[thanekos]

If a shitstorm happens, I'm sure it'll be an unintentionally hilarious one.

[shadeedge]

On the basis that you don't need to have a knowledgeable opinion in order to do the job, i'll happily look forward to Matt Sturges contacting me in order to write a couple of books with him. I'm ignorant and cheap!

[arbre_rieur]

"They should have gotten a female writer, somebody who actually knows what female empowerment IS, to write it."

You're operating on the assumption that they decided they wanted to do a story about female empowerment, then thought, "Hm, who should we get to write that? I know! Matt Sturges!" But given the way the comics biz works, it's much more likely that they hired Sturges first (or asked him to pitch, whatever), and he was the one who chose to make the story about female empowerment.

[blackruzsa]

I just have to say that it's a poor assumption to make that a man cannot write a woman well, it's biased and pointless. Even if it's not as common, it's very plausible for a number of men to understand how women work and what they can do.
Also, in the first place, Power Girl isn't just about a girl being powerful, but it's about the character herself and her story and her conflicts, such and such.
It's like assuming a gay main character would have a title that's all about him being gay, and to say nothing about his personality and life conflicts.

[turtlefu]

I'm not saying a man cannot write a woman well. Rucka writes woman well. Rucka writes empowered women well. But Rucka doesn't frame his stories about empowered women as lessons on how to be empowered as told by a man.

[blackruzsa]

Given that, I can see the outrage.

[arbre_rieur]

"it's that his tone seems to think that this is him telling woman how to be empowered"

You're the one saying that, not him. As far as I can tell, you're picking that up from his statement that Power Girl attends the convention because she sees it as an opportunity to talk to her fans about empowerment, but it's a leap to go from there to your statement. Isn't that sort of behavior completely in character for Power Girl?

I kind of see where you're getting at. I've long felt that it's best if creators don't have Superman espouse political opinions (except in cases where which side is right is clear cut black-and-white, obviously). Having other superhero characters do it, no problem, but Superman is bigger than that. The slant of stories is that the man is always right in matters of morality, and it seems improper for writers to use him to give their own views that stamp of "rightness" by having Superman utter them.

Is it that you see Power Girl in a similar light, as someone whose opinion about female empowerment, by dint of the nature and role of the character, will automatically be labeled right, implying that those who disagree are wrong? And since any stance on female empowerment will be met with disagreement by at least some women, this automatically turns the story into a situation where the writer, a male, is telling at least some women that their opinion on empowerment is wrong?

Would you take issue if Sturges were to use someone else in the story, someone not cast by the narrative as the authority on the topic, to express an opinion on female empowerment. Or do you think it's wrong for a male writer to use a story to express an opinion on female empowerment, period?

[greenmask]

This is an interesting comment.

[greenmask]

Gotta say, I dislike this comment from the interiew: I think when you are at conventions, especially San Diego, you tend to see a lot of Power Girls -- and it's a look that not everyone can pull off. It requires a certain body-type in order to be convincing. The Power Girl costume leave zero to the imagination!

[kusonaga]

While he maybe could've worded it better, I do find it hard to disagree. Power Girl's costume does require a particular attribute that not all women possess.

[eyz]

People! People!
You guys and gals are making such a big fuss of this.
I'm pretty sure is intentions are honorable.
He just wants to express his opinion on the matter. Like I did wrote a paper on Samurais and old Japan back in my school days...doesn't mean I need to be a japanese (samurai) to wrote on that matter. He's not expressing "THE" opinion on feminism or whateva. Just "his take" on it, and I'm pretty sure from what I gather that he would love checkin' out someone else opinion, like if Gail Simona wrote a 2-issues arc on PG he would be all for it as well.

[pyrrhocorax]

Man, those Peej cosplayers sure are all incredibly white.

[turtlefu]

I'm pretty sure the one directly to Peej's left is supposed to be Asian.