“I've never read a Harlequin romance. Harlequin romances aren't written for me and I have no interest in reading a Harlequin romance. That says nothing about the quality of Harlequin romances. They may be brilliant. They may be terrible. But they don't appeal to me based on my own preconceived notions of what they are. I'm not their target audience.
Some books are written for children. I was a fan of all things Marvel as a kid. But Spidey Super-Stories had simplified, minimalist stories aimed at young children and I never gave them a second glance.
Books can have target audiences. Stories can be written and drawn in a way where some people will take offense while others cherish it--and that's okay, provided there's enough of an audience to keep it going.
Raina Telgemeier writes and draws hugely popular comic books aimed at girls aged 8 - 12. That's a very narrow demographic, sure, but girls in that range eat that shit up. Would her books be MORE successful if she tried to broaden their appeal? Probably not. She may very well lose the thing which appealed to her readers by including things which would attract males in my age group.
Similarly, Dav Pilkey writes books aimed at preteen boys. I don't seek them out but they sell a crazy number of copies.
Marvel and DC have made an effort to appeal to different demographics over the years and their aging male readers take great offense at no longer being part of the target audience for a handful of their titles. Are those books good or bad? I have no idea. They're not for me--and that's fine.
Not everything has to be for me.
I don't read Harlequin romances, I don't read Spidey Super-Stories, I don't read Raina Telgemeier books and I don't read Dav Pilkey books. And that's okay. There can be other things for other people. It doesn't all have to be aimed at me.
There is no shortage of things for me to read. Let other people have things.”
Above is a Facebook post by Savage Dragon Creator Erik Larson.
Mr. Larson wears his politics on his sleeve. But this is important.
This is a very well spoken concise article on this problem in fandom. Some will see as I Savage Dragon Creator negative About certain books or genres, but in reality who is simply making a statement on the reality is that certain arts have target audiences. Certain things are written for certain sensibilities. Not everything is for you. The fact that they were going to make a comic like “new warriors” that was aimed at people in their Teens and 20s, you don’t have the same worldview sensibility as them. It’s written by someone that age for someone that age.
That doesn’t make them bad books it just makes them not for you. Great art is not generic. It’s never been. You may not realize the books like new teen titans and uncanny X-Men were inclusive for the time. Look at the avengers and justice league how many African-American characters, Asian American characters were present on the roster in 1980. Understanding that male comic book fans are and always have been a cowardly and superstitious lot, these creators crafted characters to while didn’t have an obvious Homosapien race color or creed had similar life experiences to an ethnic circumstance throughout The creators lifetimes.
Thing that bugs me the most about people being upset about art that isn’t targeted for everyone is that art that is targeted for everyone is boring. Homogenized dreck.
So don’t get mad if they make a book about a young Ms. Marvel that you don’t like or understand it’s not for you. Don’t get mad if they broaden the horizons of your favorite super team or maybe recraft in a way that’s not for you anymore.
Grow up man children you’ve had a lifetime worth of characters who looked and lived like you. A lifetime worth of characters that if they didn’t look like you you’ve crafted them in Waze that were palatable for you.
Not all art is for you even if it used to be for you when you were 18 or 20 or 30 and it’s not for you when you’re 50. Change isn’t bad it just might not be for you . Do you still have your old Comics your old movies. Not everything is for you and if there is something that resonates with you whether it be nostalgia or some other commonality in a book that is aimed at a younger Or different ethnicity audience that’s great too
This is my non-concise version of what Mr. Larson said
He was very frank. Very terse
My concise version of what he said is
“ dear 35 to 50-year-old White male members of fandom...
... Grow up”
Hugs and kisses
Dr. troll hunter
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