[Snowflakian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBlueMarvel

Without succumbing to a knee-jerk reaction in either direction, I think this is a debate that adult action-figure collectors should embrace. I have always laughed quietly about some of the comic characters being marketed to our children. Wolverine is a wanton murderer, yet he’s packaged as a hero (or anti-hero…you pick). I remember being just as fascinated with Wolverine as I was terrified of him growing up as a kid in the 80’s. The open secret with Deathstoke, for those of us that remember, is that he was/is a pedophile (on top of also being a for-hire murderer). Or at least that was what those Teen Titans stories from the 80’s seemed to allude to with the relationship between him and Terra (who was what? 12-13?). Sabretooth, when first introduced as an Iron Fist enemy, was a rapist and cannibal. When Creed shows up later in a Powerman and Iron Fist comic, Luke nearly kills him for what read like a sexual assault against his then girlfriend (Harmony). My point is that many of these characters are truly inappropriate for kids. While I agree that parents should rear their children without placing onerous expectations on society, I also believe that society should respect that childhood is a delicate and formative life phase. Like it or not, whether you agree or not, children are quite impressionable. Biologically speaking, the brains of kids are not fully formed. In fact, our brains don’t stop developing (on a synaptic or neural level) until we are 23-25yrs old. If this “soccer-mom” (FYI: a stereotypical descriptor that is loaded with certain prejudices) was as aware of some the aforementioned comic book character backgrounds as she is with Breaking Bad, well, we’d have a bigger issue on our hands. Be glad she’s only a fan of AMC programing. Similar to what Poison Shadow mentioned, I have a stake in this as I worked for years with inner-city "at risk" youth, specifically, teens that were in and out of juvenile remand. By the way Shadow, I don’t think you should feel like you have to recuse yourself from this debate. Your “closeness” to the issue makes you an ideal candidate for this type of dialogue. I’m not as interested in having a war of petitions as I’m interested in creating a meaningful conversation. Is there a middle ground here within the context of the larger issue? I’m not sure, but we won’t know unless the issues are fleshed out via communication.

I agree it should be discussed.

And you bring up some great points about the comic heroes.
I'd add to that a few:
Dr. Light as a rapist was a key aspect in a DC story. He was heavily featured as a comedic bad guy in the titans toon. Speedy/Arsenal/Red Arrow was a heroin addict. Spoiler was a teen mom(though that story was handled with care to be a speaking point on that issue!). The list definitely goes on for a lot of the comic figures that can have complaints thrown against them. Harley Quinn is also a speaking point on domestic abuse and is an iconic survivor of such occasionally sometimes still portrayed in media as having relapses in returning to the joker where it glorifies their abusive relationship.

Even X-23, the character I focus heavily on, has her own convoluted story issues that cover a wide array from abuse, prostitution, murder, and more. Pretty much all the comic figures do have some element to their backstory that could be complained about somewhere if it were spun. Even Black Widow and especially Elektra.

So while breaking bad figures are a hot bed topic for controversy because of the show, the question comes up where do you draw the line on bannings? Like book burning, once you start with one, where does it end? Once precedent is set, more would follow. The best argument for this is offering an aisle that's dedicated to that and only that. One that doesn't have the side kid stuff like Mario, Sonic or other figures that would appeal to younger.

That's my only complaint to the collector aisles at TRU now. It has a mix of kid appeal and adult appeal when it should be solely adult appeal like Mortal Kombat and similar. By having the kid appeal stuff in it(usually because it's a mainstream media/popular media and video game figures) it mixes the audience too much creating instances where parents will take their kids down that aisle without realizing what else is in there. So my concern is more towards not taking the ability of parenting out of the parents hands but in helping them. If these elements were more separate it wouldn't be as much of an issue. At least the blatant ones. Comic figure packaging tends to hide it better and has different outlets that don't carry the same convoluted back stories, but it should be noted that if one is banned, it won't be long until they come for those too.