[B5JMS] Where is JMS? In the past he defended Sins Past

[b5jms at cs.columbia.edu]

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Lines: 46
From: menshevik at aol.com (Menshevik)
Date: 07 Oct 2004 18:58:53 GMT


>When I wrote my original response to JMS’s post, I tried to be as polite as
>possible while still honestly representing my viewpoint. In hindsight, I
>think I
>erred on the side of politeness. There’s a lot that JMS said that bugged the
>hell out of me... I’ve been doing a slow burn over it since last night and
>now
>feel the need to get it off my chest.
>
>First, it angers me that the only thing JMS addressed was the way he saw Gwen
>being “attacked” here. The only reference I’ve seen like this was one
guy who
>made a joke about Gwen being “damaged goods” after sleeping with Norman
>Osborn.
>This was nothing more than a joke, and a rather funny one, I thought. If
>anyone
>else seriously characterized Gwen as a “slut,” then they’re idiots not
worth
>responding to. If you’re going to take the time to post here, then why not
>respond to legitimate criticism and/ or questions? There’s certainly no
>shortage
>of them.

Well, as I read his post, the main purpose was to state that he
was not going to be drawn into this debate (in spite of attempts
to "shame" him into joining it by things like this threads or 
jumping-to-conclusion statements like your own
"Then I guess by his silence he's conceding that the criticism he's received on
this arc is representative, reasonable, and accurate."
He then made a few observation about the debates so far,
noting that so far the reactions were very much as he had
expected them to be with that single exception.
And I can testify that I've seen quite a lot of statements very
harsh on Gwen as she appeared in "Sins Past" (on the lines 
of "slut", "whore" etc.). So maybe JMS has followed a bit more
of the debate here and in other forums than you did. I have
to say that considering the time he probably spent on that
last debate he got involved in on RACMU, I would find it
understandable that he would feel reluctant about getting
bogged down in another one if he can help it.

Tilman

"Who wants to read something about this subject will find it in a book, the
title of which I've forgotten. But it's the 42nd chapter."
               Professor Johann Georg August Galletti (1750-1828)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Lines: 49
From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 07 Oct 2004 23:03:41 GMT

>>First, it angers me that the only thing JMS addressed was the way he saw
>Gwen
>>being “attacked” here. The only reference I’ve seen like this was one
>guy who
>>made a joke about Gwen being “damaged goods” after sleeping with Norman
>>Osborn.
>>This was nothing more than a joke, and a rather funny one, I thought. If
>>anyone
>>else seriously characterized Gwen as a “slut,” then they’re idiots not
>worth
>>responding to. If you’re going to take the time to post here, then why not
>>respond to legitimate criticism and/ or questions? There’s certainly no
>>shortage
>>of them.

Except of course that's not what I said  What I said was this:

"The only thing I will mention, the only thing that did surprise me, was the
degree to which some folks have turned on *Gwen*.  I've heard of the
madonna/whore dynamic, but I've never actually seen it played out this
strenously.  I can't even begin to count the number of posts I've seen from
folks who are
calling Gwen a slut, a whore, and a tramp...that this destroys her as a
person...that it would be better if she had been raped than having had
consensual sex."

My comments were meant to be general in nature.  You are trying to change them
into a specific rap against this newsgroup.  

If you want to get an eyeful, go over to newsarama.com and do a search for gwen
and slut, tramp or whore.  Or just read through the threads there in the
talkback and review sections.  Go on over to comicboards.com or the
insidepulse.com forums the comicbookresources forums...you'll get more than
enough of this.  

Go take a look for yourself, don't take my word for it.  Or just do a google
search with those terms.

It's not like I'm making this shit up, you know.

 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2004 by synthetic worlds, ltd., 
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine 
and don't send me story ideas)