Bill, on Larry King you conceded to never having read comic books, “I didn’t even read them when I was a child”, ** yet you had no issue dismissing the entire story telling medium; “… a culture that thinks that comic books and comic book movies are profound meditation on the human condition is a dumb fucking culture.”
You are an elitist who is flaunting his ignorance despite acknowledging it. It is actually the overabundance of closeminded people that is of greater cultural concern. I hope you can follow me on this, Bill, because you are woefully out of touch. Comic books and graphic novels win significant literary awards and are becoming an integral part of the literary landscape in the education system from grade school on up. This is not because standards are dumbing-down, it is because comic books are important.
Your post is short, and you clearly made an effort to put a lot of stupid into it, but I’m just going to focus on two sentences.
This sentence encapsulates the entire post:
“But the assumption everyone had back then, both the adults and the kids, was that comics were for kids, and when you grew up you moved on to big-boy books without the pictures.”
First, nothing makes a man seem quite as sharply relevant as the use of “back in my day” aphorisms. Second, back when? I’ll just assume back then was the early to mid-sixties. There were lots of assumptions from that time which proved to be untrue or simply were once true but changed with time. A lot can happen in half a century. Catch up.
Your concluding remark:
“I don’t think it’s a huge stretch to suggest that Donald Trump could only get elected in a country that thinks comic books are important.”
I infer from your post that you are of the opinion that comic books are foolish. By linking them with Donald Trump, I infer that you view him similarly and used the opportunity to get a shot in.
Where this unravels is that comics books and graphic novels are not foolish and the folks who hand out awards like the Pulitzer agree. Movies based on comic books or comic book characters garner Oscar nods for more than special effects and sound tracks.
Bill, a man who dismisses something without any consideration or knowledge on the topic, is a dumb fucking man. In this particular instance, if that same man had previously taken a paycheque for a role in a comic book movie, say, “Iron Man 3”, that would additionally make him a hypocrite.
Timing your curmudgeon huff to be within days of Stan Lee’s death, additionally makes you a douche bag.
Footnotes
** This appears to slightly contradict your blog post, Bill; “…I read them now and then when I was a kid…”. Bill, can we agree that in the period between being a kid and being a child you hardly ever, to never, read comics and that that period was the extent of your involvement with comic books thus making you a complete non-authority on them?