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Tweak says, "I am a fish (times 400)"

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."

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	grazzt 2009-09-24 07:14 pm UTC (link)
	I'd disagree with that. Class is your position in society. It's strongly influenced by who you are and how you're raised, but it isn't immutable. Sure, moving between stratas of class can get you looked down on by their members, but it is possible. I guess our argument is doomed to failure if we can't even agree to a definition of terms, huh? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	thandrak 2009-09-24 07:18 pm UTC (link)
	So, what is Peter's position in society? On the run from cops, a job with no permanency, and let's not even look at his love life... That said, this all started with a discussion of privileged upbringing. I don't really think you can say Peter enjoyed that at all. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

grazzt
2009-09-24 07:32 pm UTC (link)

Peter's position? Well, he's a superhero. I suppose that would map onto "aristocracy" in the real world in many ways. Alan Moore wanted to explore that comparison further in "Twilight of the Superheroes", with a new feudalism forming around the DC superheroes.

And even if Peter didn't enjoy a privileged upbringing, that doesn't magically erase any class subtext. His father-figure imprinted on him the idea that powerful people have a duty to others. When he ascended into the upper-class (so to speak), he had to relearn that lesson, brutally.

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