This is ridiculous. I will be going to BODIES in a couple days in Seattle-and though Seattle is notoriously (and deliciously) liberal, there is no question the entire display is being viewed as ART. They recently erected (please don't) two statues of a father and son downtown as well, under the strict stipulation from the deceased benifactor that they be shown AS IS. Nude. And again, it's art. The difference between obscenity or poor taste and 'art' has always been where it's at, who did it, and how it's done. This leaves comics at a complete loss, due to the disadventageous perception of them as children's entertainment. Not even children's literature, according to many. The writers are rarely respected as authors outside the comic realm (unless you're Neil Gaiman and you're a literary polymath), and the artists are in the same boat. The issue is, of course, worries of sensorship and the enormous changes that can come about from overzealous, overcompensational individuals who, 10 to 1, think comics are only Superman and The Flash: but deeper still is the issue of ignorance, and the blind refusal to view anything that makes us scrutinize why we are so afraid of ourselves physically/sexually/emotionally/ect...
We burn books but we don't turn of the damn TV's, and we complain about bad influences and blame literature while displaying naught but ignorance.
I say keep on offending people, because everything worthwhile and wonderful burns someone's backside at first.
--MJ
02/23 |
