Not a member? Sign up now
Conservatives angry at Archie comics' impending gay marriage plot
By Jessica GentileSeptember 16th, 2011, 2:00 pmComments (42)
There hasn't been this much drama in Archie-land since, um, ever. It was announced earlier this year that Archie's gay friend Kevin Keller would wed a man in an upcoming issue. And now conservatives are outraged that America's most wholesome comic book is stepping into sexually progressive territory. Because nothing influences today's youth more than a 1940s-era cartoon. It's what they read when hanging out at barbershops while eating penny candy, for sure.
Well, that's what Peter Spriggs, a senior fellow at the Family Research Council thinks, at least. Here's what he told Fox News:
"It's unfortunate that a comic book series usually seen as depicting innocent, all-American life is now being used to advance the sexual revolution. I think whatever boost in sales might come from the novelty or curiosity factors will be more than offset by the number of both kids and parents who will be turned off by this storyline and its obvious social and political agenda."
Hmm, by this logic, innocent all-Americans can't be gay-married. Also if the issue doesn't sell, it's not because of any political agenda. It's because Archie comics are seventy-years old..
Tags
Archie
gay marriage
Commentarium (42 Comments)
first off, what a fucking surprise!! secondly, considering all the tail archie gets and the amount of free love that occurs between the characters within this twisted series, i'd say they already had done a bit for the sexual revolution long before we even had a name for it
I always loved Archie Comics, and now I love them even more.
Is there anything (real or imaginary) that doesn't "outrage" conservatives?
Wow, Mr Spriggs' outrage was incandescent, wasn't it? Why even said it was "unfortunate!" Those are fighting words where I come from!
okay:
a. "Because nothing influences today's youth more than a 1940s-era cartoon." Ha!
b. it's also wrong because, clearly, jughead is the gay one.
jill
http://inbedwithmarriedwomen.blogspot.com
They probably freaked out over racial integration in comics too.
Did they miss the Jersey Shore story line? or the Archie and Valerie relationship from the Josie and Pussycats crossovers (I actually ship that pairing and that would have sent shockwaves 30 years ago)? Archie comics has been doing a lot to push sales the past two years with edgier story lines....the Archie Marriage books read like plots to Melrose Place (no joke and its aimed aimed at an older audience)...and it works as books keep selling out as people follow the interesting story lines. Bubble-gum plots really don't hold the attention of an oddly savvy young audience anymore. I manage a comic shop so I speak from the cynical soap box of geekdom.
Archie's gotta do everything it can to sell some comics, they're losing their target audience to angry birds. Because lets face it, no one ever reads archie unless they're poopin', and we all know smartphones own the poop entertainment these days.
Is there anything (real or imaginary) that doesn't outrage liberals?
Seriously... they're all the same.
Uh, no they are not.
Uh, yes they are. Stop being so naive. Liberals whine and cry just as much as conservatives do, just about different things.
Uh, no they aren't. Stop making false equivalencies. Conservatives are angry about a whole myriad of imaginary threats: Wars on Christmas, wars on Easter, black people, hispanic people, anyone from other countries, immigrants, muslims, anyone "who looks like a muslim" (terrorist!), non-christians, atheists, fake birth certificates, well established scientific theories, vaccines that "cause retardation", etc. ad nauseum.
@jr ... don't feed the troll.
Very true. Sorry that Betty sees fit to call you a troll for speaking out against the liberal orthodoxy. In any case, you couldn't be more correct and this "article" is a case in point.
jr - Stop your pathetic race-baiting and general idiocy. Fat, dumb and stupid is no way to go through life although, in honesty, I don't know if you're fat.
Race baiting? Fat? Nice try. I'm not fat, but thanks for reminding me that I forgot a few from the list: Acorn, Planned Parenthood, Michelle Obama tackling childhood obesity...it goes on forever.
I also forgot: When conservatives have their ugly truths laid out for all to see, they will often resort to feeble distraction tactics: In your case, it was an ad hominem logical fallacy in which you called a person "fat", "stupid" or an "idiot" rather than debate the points of the conversation.
@jr: I'm not even a conservative (if I had to label myself I suppose I would be a libertarian with some aspects of anarchism thrown in for good measure) so I have nothing to defend here, but just about none of the things you listed above are even remotely true. Especially the parts about "fear or black people, immigrants, Muslims, etc." -- I really don't understand how or why so many liberals stereotype conservatives as being racist. It's simply not true. Just because they don't believe in worthless entitlement programs that only encourage folks to remain on the dole, or opening the borders to anyone who feels like sauntering across, or defending our nation and our interests against radical (note: only radical) Islam, does not make them racists. It's simply not so, no matter how vehemently you try to characterize them as such.
But sadly, I totally get that posts in a forum aren't going to change your closed, misdirected mind, so keep on thinking all of that.
"Libertarian with some aspects of anarchism thrown in" sounds like Teabagger territory to me. What did you say about protecting America from "radicals"? You might be one! So "none" of the things I listed above are true? That's interesting, because every single threat to conservatives I listed above is well documented and overly hyped, especially by the most conservative "news" media. Try to disprove even one of those threats and let's see how far that gets you.
It's sad but telling that you segue straight from "conservatives aren't racist!" to "just because we don't believe in entitlements". I forgot, white people are never unemployed or cash welfare checks. It's charming that you think the unemployed are lazy too. BTW, the latest conservative talking point, "entitlements" only works on low information voters. The rest of us know we paid into unemployment, social security, etc. We also don't fall for any of the other Orwellian labels like "job creators" (rich people, wall street, corporate job outsourcers) etc.
Open borders? What, as if you're a descendant of the indigenous people of North America that were so recently raped and slaughtered so you could have your Walmart? Religious discrimination is OK in the name of defending...um...religious freedom? Uh huh. As much as you've tried to distance yourself from the conservative threats I've listed, your own explanations show that you're incapable of sweeping them under the rug. At least you "get" from my posts that I'm not capable of falling for your particular brand of concern trolling.
@ novenator: perhaps you should check your history books to see which party was the most vehememtly (and violently) against racial integration in the '50s and '60s. (hint: it begins with a 'D')
It's Southerners, no matter what party they're in. And now they're all Republicans.
Fast forward to today...which area of the USA is the most xenophobic, racist, undereducated and contains the most uninformed voters?
Are republicans all about the money and family values, because they wouldn't get laid any other way?
mragh, you must be homeschooled by strict parents. Here are the votes for/against the 1964 Civil Rights Act by region and party: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964#By_party_and_region
Note that even conservative Dixiecrats voted for it more than southern Republicans. Now they're all part of the GOTea Party.
I didn't know that Archie and company had been around that long, since it never occurred to me to look it up. I'm sure there have been gay characters in the series before now; they just never made a big deal out of it.
Conservatives enjoy being angry. It's what they live for. If there were no reasons for them to be angry, they'd make some up. Oh wait, they already do that.
agreed. The focal point in the conservative life is fear, anger, and hate.
And the focal point in liberal life appears to be ignorance, smearing and a completely misplaced attitude of superiority.
The focal point of conservatives is to accuse liberals what conservatives are guilty of. Unfortunately for them, obfuscation only works on "low information voters" (Republicans)
And the focal point of liberals is to accuse conservatives of what liberals are guilty of. Again, they're all the same just with different talking points. And the further to the extremes of left and right you go, the worse and more wrong the viewpoints become.
Keep flogging those false equivalencies, MRAGH. Nobody is falling for it.
I'll bet that if Archie came out openly against gay marriage in his comic, that everybody on Nerve would equally outraged and scream that the comic needed to get with the times. Don't be so naieve, Nerve. And by the way, nerve, your writers really suck.
"And by the way, nerve, your writers really suck."
Wow, I bet you really hurt their feelings with that last part!
The truth frequently hurts, jr.
Well, if Riiiight thinks they "suck", it makes you wonder why he/she comes to this site.
Okay,
a. " Because nothing influences today's youth more than a 1940s-era cartoon." Exactly.
b. Um, wasn't Jughead already the gay one?
jill
http://inbedwithmarriedwomen.blogspot.com
Geek, not gay.
@jr : thanks man, just for speaking out. Here in Scandinavia the States too often seem like a trainwreck waitin to happen, it´s just good to know that smart people are up for a debate on things.
Thank you. Some of us are trying to keep the train on the tracks!
The following usernames have been identified as trolls:
"@" (followed by any username)
"Riiiight" also known as "Anon" (his fake gay male alter ego not to be confused with "anon")
"liberal"
"Observer"
"Jocksniffer"
"ggg"
Please do not feed the trolls because your response is the only thing that motivates them. By popular definition, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room or blog with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion. The particular species known as "Nervis trollus familiaris" is recognized by the following behavior:
- Unprovoked personal attacks.
- Sexist, racist or homophobic comments.
- Constant complaining about how Nerve "sucks".
- One person using many usernames and/or hijacking your own username.
- Behavior known as "concern trolling", which is when a person lurks and then posts on a site or blog, expressing concern for policies, comments, attitudes of others on the site. It is viewed as insincere, manipulative, condescending or fake. Concern trolls pretend to be a supporter with "concerns". Concern trolls who use fake identities are also known as "sockpuppets".
I bow down hmulby in the presence of such greatness.
yBfBXE cazobgikeqvl