[B5JMS] JMS Interview at fanboyplanet.

[b5jms at cs.columbia.edu]

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From: "Marc-Oliver Frisch" <Derschwarm at hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2004 20:32:19 +0200
Lines: 37

Jerry B. Ray, Jr. wrote:

: Several different reviews on one page, with one common theme - all the
: reviewers, from casual Spidey fans to passionate ones, hated the book,
: and gee, nary a "slut," "whore," or "tramp" to be found on the whole
: page.

It's a natural and very pragmatic self-defense reflex.

When, as a creator, you're asked about a number of people who've expressed their
dislike of your work, picking out and knocking down the nuts who are out of line
is the easiest way to react: People with common sense don't often agree with
nuts.  Subsequently, if you're successful in painting all your critics as nuts,
there's a good chance the folks who don't care either way will agree with you,
instead of wondering whether there might be anything wrong with your work.

When Austen is asked for comment on the negative criticism of his work, for
example, he tends to bring up the loonies who call him a racist or send him
death threats.  In the same vein, Bendis brings up the folks who are mad at him
simply because he "killed" Hawkeye, and Byrne is known to bring up any number of
conspiracy theories.  Likewise, Straczynski seems to have found his straw men of
choice.

Of course, this practice probably tells you more about the writers themselves
than about their critics, but I'm not surprised, to be honest.

-- 
Marc-Oliver Frisch
POPP'D! >> http://poppd.blogspot.com/
COMIKADO >> http://comikado.blogspot.com/

Jacques Derrida is dead.  Let's take the hint.

--
[This is a Usenet message, posted to the rec.arts.comics.* groups.]



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Lines: 32
From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 21 Oct 2004 08:02:20 GMT

>When, as a creator, you're asked about a number of people who've expressed
>their
>dislike of your work, picking out and knocking down the nuts who are out of
>line
>is the easiest way to react: People with common sense don't often agree with
>nuts.  Subsequently, if you're successful in painting all your critics as
>nuts,
>there's a good chance the folks who don't care either way will agree with
>you,
>instead of wondering whether there might be anything wrong with your work.

>Of course, this practice probably tells you more about the writers themselves
>than about their critics, but I'm not surprised, to be honest.
>

Of course the funny thing in your message is that you don't seem to notice the
corrolary, which is that if I (or any comics creator) criticize the critics,
however gently, the amount of screaming, tarring-and-feathering, dead-catting,
profanity and abuse that comes back is astonishing to behold.

So I guess that validates your last point, no?


 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
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permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine 
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