this is an excerpt of the comic industry’s reaction to Frank’s words (see more at post’s end):
And once again, another hero crumbles…this time in the comics industry. All of us who have read Frank Miller’s stuff get that he’s got quite the opinion, and he chose to show this one in a most unfortunate, narrow-minded rant against Occupy Wall Street. That it followed up just after the release of his latest book, Holy Terror, only reinforces that one more man is not a hero. Besides, these things are just one man’s opinion.
First of all, I think that people are letting their emotions get the better of them. In all honesty, OWS probably doesn’t give a load of crap about what he thinks of them. This isn’t some superficial expedition that they’re on, and they’ve heard a lot worse already by people much bigger (or should I say smaller) than Frank Miller. If OWS cried at every negative rant, then they would have given up from the very beginning when there was a lot more of it. And judging from the comment section in most blog posts about this event, a lot of people feel like Frank and will spout their venom simply because they can. But if they can’t back up their words with their own action, then why take it seriously, right?
I’m not going to talk about Frank Miller as a hero, though I do like a lot of his works. Does this mean that I plan to throw out all of his previous works because of some words he misspoke. No, I won’t simply because no one should ever hold the throne of hero forever, if at all. People change, especially as they get older and have experienced the amount of bad that life throws at us. There are some people who are consistently evil through most of their lives, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t the potential for them to be humane for a moment or two. And there are many who are good with some bad moments. We’re all capable of both good and bad. We’re humans, not heroes.
Even those brave men and women who give up their lives to protect our different societies aren’t infallible. Extreme situations sometimes require that we stop thinking, just so that we can save our sanity. The ugliness that we do will affect us all at some point in our lives, and cause us to react with that deepest set of emotions that are driven by thoughtlessness. No one or nothing is perfect. No one or nothing is next to godly – no matter how they portray themselves. Those portrayals are what they choose to wear as their cloak, the image that they want transmitted as their reality. Most times, reality is unrealistic.
The comics industry loves their heroes and holds them to such high revere because they realize that heroes are not easy to find, nor do they stay heroic forever. Even in the comics, heroes are twisted constructs that are clearly not pure in their intentions and actions. Today, a lot of people were disillusioned by one man who is human. And this man won’t be the last hero to fall for so many reasons.
I honestly believe that every human should only be allowed a finite time in the spot light, because inevitably one of those seven deadly sins will take them down. The true heroes are those we don’t hear about and will probably never know. As long as we remember that there are those out there who really do heroic things everyday for little to no return, then all of our known heroes who fall are simply…human. Not perfect. Flawed.
Even flawed objects can be used for reference. There is no need to throw away something because it isn’t perfect. It can be used as a counter balance so that we can truly appreciate when something close to perfection does come along. When heroes crumble, we feel the pain deep within. But just remember that it’s the open mind that can move past that imperfection, and remember that there are things that we can appreciate about them. We have more important things to worry about than what one man thinks. We have more to do than just pick sides about the subject of OWS. Even those who occupy know that this is bigger than them.
We’re in a fight for our lives. Calling each other names, spouting hatred, allowing the wrong to persist – these are things that we need to be worrying about. Because each one of us will eventually have to decide for ourselves about what we want for a future. We don’t have time to worry about one man, be it a comic creator or a politician, because we have an entire world to remake. Much bigger than some shallow words spoken by someone who chooses to only see the superficial. It’s what these types of people create: hatred, inequality, intolerance, prejudice, torture, death, and so much more, that we need to be fighting against…not fighting about.
FYI:
Below is a Batman comic page redone into Frank’s words against the 99% – the 99% who used to buy his comics, though it might now change as he has definitely touched a nerve inside and outside of his own industry: Read Bleeding Cool’s coverage and then read the reworded Batman art that used to speak against the 1%, but no longer does.
