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starwolf_oakley (starwolf_oakley) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-09-23 23:27:00

Entry tags:

publisher: wildstorm, title: the authority

runespoor7's post of Jason Todd talking to Mia Dearden led to a thread discussion about billionaire vigilantes beating up poor criminals.

A panel from THE AUTHORITY: TRANSFER OF POWER shows that at least a few comic creators are aware of this.

"The Authority" was always pretty "out there" for superheroes. But that's Warren Ellis and Mark Millar for you.

For more than a few superheroes, actually being a superhero can be seen as a case of Noblesse Oblige. Noblesse Oblige can be seen as "With great power comes great responsibility... and a really smug sense of superiority."

It came back to Batman, as these things do. After all, we never really go into detail about how "well-off" the Kents were from farming, or how much Clark Kent's Daily Planet take-home pay is. Some seem to think it ties into "Lonely Place of Dying," that since Tim Drake's family is wealthy, Tim isn't as "street" as Jason Todd.

Quotes from users via http://asylums.insanejournal.com/scans_daily/987439.html?thread=27947311#t27947311:

runespoor7 said: "The fact is, 'Oh, Jason was lower class and her turned out badly, and then he was replaced by Tim, who came from a good family the same side of the streets as Bruce and who did very well as Robin' leaves a strange impression."

lynxara said: "In particular, confronting the class issues at work in the Batman stuff is impossible without coming to the conclusion that most of the characters involved are selfish monsters so steeped in white privilege that they've lost all grasp of reality."

icon_uk said: "Dick was suddenly an ethnic Romany with angst about the likelihood of him ending up in jail like so many of his kin."

(Post a new comment)

neuhallidae
2009-09-24 04:05 am UTC (link)

Eh...I think to narrow it down to such a simplistic concept also ignores the fact that a lot of the most dangerous threats, be they mob bosses, nation leaders, or world-ending supervillains, are also wealthy enough to fund their schemes. You don't see someone like Doctor Doom pulling something like a bank robbery unless there's either a plan you don't know about, some serious economic failing, or bad writing.

(Reply to this)

aaron_bourque
2009-09-24 04:22 am UTC (link)

I'm not even talking about this, unless the restrictions on insulting people are lessened. Let me just say two things:

1) Jason Todd didn't "turn out badly" because he was a poor kid from the street. He turned out badly because they guy writing him wanted him dead.

2) Batman doesn't go out at night and beat up poor people, and he doesn't go out at night and beat up poor people because he's wealthy. He goes out at night and beats up criminals, rich or poor, and his wealth has almost nothing to do with his crimefighting, and never has (it has to do with how he operates, not why he operates).

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	trelas 2009-09-24 05:03 am UTC (link)
	Your second point basically sums it up for me. The first point resulted a bit complicated. Jason didn't turn out badly because they wanted him dead. That just got him dead, with the majority of voters wanting that. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bashzilla 2009-09-24 04:24 am UTC (link)
	~~I thought Italy was the only country criminalizing Romani?~~All I could think of while reading this page, despite the intelligent argument you're presenting, was 'That fucking white Midnighter suit...' (Reply to this) (Thread)

	runespoor7 2009-09-24 05:46 pm UTC (link)
	I thought Italy was the only country criminalizing Romani? So very not. I know strong anti-Romany prejudice exists in all(? at least a big part) of Western Europe, plus the United States. I don't know about the rest of the world. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	dr_hermes 2009-09-24 04:43 am UTC (link)
	This is starting from a false premise. (Reply to this)

	volksjager 2009-09-24 05:36 am UTC (link)
	I recall a very nice scene with the JSA at the Christmas party. The millionaire play heroes had an table and the working class fighter guys who just wanted to clean up the local neighborhood had another and each cast a view upon the other. If anyone has that please post it. :) (Reply to this) (Thread)