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A grumble about a rant.
Apr. 14th, 2001 12:17 amIt's always a great disappointment when people who have so much talent and greatness in them turn out to have a few screws loose in other areas. Maybe it's nature's way of compensating the rest of us: "Yes, they have this mega-talent, but I'll make them idiot savants/drooling idiots in other facets of life." In other words, no one gets to have it all.
A few years ago, in issue #186 of his long running comic book/graphic novel, "Cerebus" artist/writer Dave Sim included an inexplicable misogynist essay of some considerable length. His apologists called it his answer to the overwrought rhetoric of the feminist movement. I read it, cringed, and could only shrug and say, "If you say so. Sure. Whatever." In it, he ranted how the male rational light was sucked away by the feminine void of emotion. (There's obvious Freudian overtones here, the manifest castration as presented by the vagina, et cetera, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.) As I said, after plowing through it, "Well, if perhaps he'll bring it full circle eventually, just as he intends to bring the plotline of 'Cerebus' to its logical conclusion with the main character's death, with a rant about masculinity, and then, a philosophical synthesis at the end."
That was my cheeriest possible interpretation. Alas, it turns out my worst fears are true, Dave Sim is simply irrational when it comes to the topic of women. It's sad that he uses his art as his staging ground. This rambling, incoherant mishmash of an essay appeared recently in issue #265 and is reproduced here:
The Comics Journal: "Cerebus Creator Dave Sim's Latest Tirade on Gender On-Line!"
The commentary that follows in the site's message board is quite lively.
The saddest commentary is that this essay isn't even as inflammatory as the previous one I mentioned, yet he speaks seriously of spanking women as a method of keeping them in line.
::sigh:: I rarely agree with her, but it would be fun to watch Camille Paglia rip this piece apart.
A few years ago, in issue #186 of his long running comic book/graphic novel, "Cerebus" artist/writer Dave Sim included an inexplicable misogynist essay of some considerable length. His apologists called it his answer to the overwrought rhetoric of the feminist movement. I read it, cringed, and could only shrug and say, "If you say so. Sure. Whatever." In it, he ranted how the male rational light was sucked away by the feminine void of emotion. (There's obvious Freudian overtones here, the manifest castration as presented by the vagina, et cetera, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.) As I said, after plowing through it, "Well, if perhaps he'll bring it full circle eventually, just as he intends to bring the plotline of 'Cerebus' to its logical conclusion with the main character's death, with a rant about masculinity, and then, a philosophical synthesis at the end."
That was my cheeriest possible interpretation. Alas, it turns out my worst fears are true, Dave Sim is simply irrational when it comes to the topic of women. It's sad that he uses his art as his staging ground. This rambling, incoherant mishmash of an essay appeared recently in issue #265 and is reproduced here:
The Comics Journal: "Cerebus Creator Dave Sim's Latest Tirade on Gender On-Line!"
The commentary that follows in the site's message board is quite lively.
The saddest commentary is that this essay isn't even as inflammatory as the previous one I mentioned, yet he speaks seriously of spanking women as a method of keeping them in line.
::sigh:: I rarely agree with her, but it would be fun to watch Camille Paglia rip this piece apart.
