Why do comic fans get stereotyped so much?

[superboyprime]

A friend linked me to this yesterday, and I just had to share. Written and drawn by some guy who works in a comic book shop, Our Valued Customers is a webstrip in which he quotes actual things he's heard his customers say.



Some other stand-outs beneath the cut...

Comments

[icon_uk]

Fair point, the WW2 example is frankly horrifying, worse yet because I can't imagine ANYONE reading Maus that way...

[psychopathicus_rex]

In a weird sort of way, I kinda see what he was getting at, even if he phrased it abominably. The thing about WW2 is that, even though it WAS pretty much the earthshaking event it's presented as, we are overexposed to it to the point where it's become old hat. I don't think there's been a year in recent memory that didn't feature at least two or three WW2 movies coming out in theaters, not to mention the countless books, TV shows, etc. I can see how someone could get desensitized to the subject to the point where its genuine importance just doesn't register - WW2 has practically become a genre in and of itself, and people say similar things about various genres. It's like Westerns - there WAS a genuine Wild West, and it was an important period in American history, and all kinds of interesting things happened during it, but we've been buried in Westerns to the point where just the idea of it seems corny to some people. (It's not the best of comparisons, of course - the Wild West didn't feature the systematic slaughter of countless people - but you see what I mean, I hope.)

[icon_uk]

Maybe it's being British and probably a little older than many on the comm, but I can't quite view the past like that, and despair of a world that could.

And I think there might be quite a number of Native American tribes who would demur with your last point, up to a point of course.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Well, all I can say is that I've seen my fair share of WW2 movies, and they're getting awfully predictable. I recognize that they chronicle an important war that we must never forget and so on, but a break would be nice, ya know?
And yes, fair point, but I would call the US treatment of Native Americans of the period more 'systematic oppression' than 'systematic slaughter'. It included a good deal of slaughter in the bargain, of course, but there was a hell of a lot more cooperation between Native Americans and Wild Westerners than there was between Jews/minorities/etc. and Nazis.

[greenmask]

Well noted.

[valtyr]

Possibly due to being British, I agree with you.

[icon_uk]

It had to happen sooner or later! :)

[valtyr]

I like to agree with people sometimes. It's good to be a little bit unpredictable... ;)

[icon_uk]

Ah yes, Rule of Acquisition 76 - "Every once in a while, declare peace... It confuses the hell out of your enemies."

:)

[brandiweed.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's being British and probably a little older than many on the comm, but I can't quite view the past like that, and despair of a world that could.

A couple things: 1) The US doesn't have (for want of a better phrase) many physical scars from WWII-- our country never got bombed so there aren't areas where people in living memory can tell you how they had to rebuild the entire block; 2) American media really, really loves WWII (both in movies and games), perhaps because it was our last "good war" (without all the moral ambiguity and sense that 'we lost' of Vietnam).

[runespoor]

Talking as a jewish Frenchwoman, I for one would definitely be happier if there were a little less grossly over-dramatized bad flicks about WW2. I can confirm that desensitisation to WW2 and to the Shoah is rampant in France, to the point where there are people basically saying 'oh no, not again with that, aren't you ever going to stop whining'. To the point that it gets flung in your face when you try to voice concerns about antisemitism today - often, it gets overlooked, because Jews are viewed as stuck in the past.

And I also think it's an upsetting lack of respect about tragedy. Not all movies/books are like that, obviously, but sometimes I wish the Shoah was a little more taboo a setting in fiction.

[irrelevant]

the Wild West didn't feature the systematic slaughter of countless people

A goodly number of Native American peoples would beg to differ.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Please see my response to icon_uk, who made the same point.

[newnumber6]

To be honest, the first time I read it, I thought he was saying:

The Nazis are Cats, the Jews are Mice, so this way you actually care about who wins (between cats and mice).

Sort of playing on a fairly commonly expressed sentiment that funny animal books are pointless, you can't get invested in the struggles of cats and mice. Then I read it again and realized it was probably meant:

The Nazis are Cats, the Jews are Mice, so this way you actually care about who wins (between Nazis and Jews).

Which is obviously horrific.

Then it occured to me that although these may be "actual conversations", every conversation the creator relays is reinterpretted in his own head first. I mean, half the time when I repeat what somebody said ONLINE, with the text right above me, I quote it wrong and have to double check. Unless he was actually video/audio recording his customers, or has a photographic memory, it's always possible something was misheard. It could very well be that the person meant the first one and his words actually reflect that.

I hope that's the case in at least some of them, but of course pretty horrifying people aren't uncommon.