Tag Arts

Originally posted: http://www.geekosystem.com/sharon-lamb-superheroes/
by Susana Polo | 4:48 pm, August 19th, 2010
Psychologist Sharon Lamb thinks that todays superheroes send the wrong messages to young boys.

There is a big difference in the movie superhero of today and the comic book superhero of yesterday… Today’s superhero is too much like an action hero who participates in non-stop violence; he’s aggressive, sarcastic and rarely speaks to the virtue of doing good for humanity. When not in superhero costume, these men, like Ironman[sic], exploit women, flaunt bling and convey their manhood with high-powered guns.
The comic book heroes of the past did fight criminals, she said, “but these were heroes boys could look up to and learn from because outside of their costumes, they were real people with real problems and many vulnerabilities,” she said.

In response to her statement, you could ask “Have superheroes really changed over time?” (Yes, everything does.) “Is there something about movies that requires superheroes to become more violent?” (No, they’re just as violent if not more in current comics.) and even “Why is it a problem that superheroes are no longer clear cut examples of heroism?” (Who knows.)
But all of those questions allow Dr. Lamb to stand unopposed on one fundamental assertion: that all superheroes are for children.
But first, a tangent: “real people with real problems and many vulnerabilities,” who speak “to the virtue of doing good for humanity.”  Has anyone seen Batman Begins or The Dark Knight?  The first two X-Men movies?  Spider-Man?  Hancock? Even Iron Man 2, the only superhero movie that fits her description, does a pretty good job of showing that Tony Stark is a man with a serious problem, and not a hero we should take a face value.
Back To My Point
While the superhero genre has well established tropes and rules, any genre can accommodate tonal shifts.  No one would imply that Animal Farm represents a corruption of the talking animal genre of children’s literature.  Fantasy doesn’t get called out for telling morally ambiguous stories.
There are comic book superheroes for kids, yes.  Captain Marvel has had a kid oriented series lately, and then there’s Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and others.  But the majority of comic book superheroes haven’t been written for small children for twenty years now.
When good, they are full of morally ambiguous heroes and villains, tricky ethical situations, and hot button issues like gay rights and global politics; when bad, they’re still full of violence and questionable depictions of both sexes. Today’s movie superhero is something decidedly different from today’s comic book superhero, which makes comparing comics of the past to movies of today particularly fruitless.
To Sum Up
Anyone who still thinks that our depiction of superheroes in the mainstream adult media (like Iron Man) should be held to the same standards of unobjectionable content as superheroes in children’s movies (like The Incredibles) doesn’t really understand what it is they are talking about.
In the interest of full disclosure, it seems like Dr. Lamb does have some legitimate things to say about how we market products to young boys and what that does to them.  I just can’t get past her assertions about a single genre of storytelling.
(via Wired.)

Originally posted: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/real_life_superhero_saves_driver_Rq7nRXmcVLDp8hfXkWUx0L
A self-styled superhero was protecting the streets of Seattle on Tuesday night — launched from his secret base at the back of a comic book store.
The masked man, who calls himself Phoenix Jones, came to light after he stopped thieves from stealing a man’s car in Lynnwood, a suburb of Seattle, on Sunday night, local media reported.
Jones, who wears a bulletproof and stab-proof black-and-gold bodysuit, rescued a driver who only wanted to be known as Dan.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE
Dan went to call 911 when he saw thieves putting a metal strip down the window of his car — but before he had the chance to dial the number, Jones sprang into action.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/real_life_superhero_saves_driver_Rq7nRXmcVLDp8hfXkWUx0L#ixzz1ADn3S7Xa
“From the right, this guy comes dashing in, wearing this skintight, rubber, black-and-gold suit, and starts chasing him away,” Dan told local TV news station KIRO.
Jones told KIRO that he began his crime-fighting crusade nine months ago from his secret base at the back of a local comic store.
“When I walk into a neighborhood, criminals leave because they see the suit,” said Jones. “I symbolize that the average person doesn’t have to walk around and see bad things and do nothing.”
Jones, who carries Mace and a Taser, said he was stabbed once and had a gun pulled on him several times during his regular patrols but so far sustained no serious injuries.
His story mirrors the plot of the 2010 film “Kick-Ass,” which follows a high school student who turns himself into a superhero even though he has no powers or training.

Who is the Cartoon Princess?  I’m a very slightly somewhat kindasorta known cartoonist in the LGBTQetc indy comics/webcomic community…. I’ve spoken on convention panels, been in a few books, so….. yeah, a medium sized fish in a really, really, very small pond. But I’m foolish enough to believe that there’s power when people, especially marginalized people, tell their own stories, we light a path for those who come after. With the ravishes of teen suicides that are now making the news but are always devastating our youth, they need stories. They need to be inspired but, even more, need to be empowered to tell their own stories. Sharing our stories is a way that we as human beings build community, connect with each other, come to understand each other. When we tell our stories, we show youth that they are not alone, that they are okay. We light a light to show youth at risk of suicide a way home. When at risk kids share their stories, fiction or nonfiction, they claim a beachhead of survivability, and reach a hand out to their peers, showing that they can survive together.  It is my mission not only to tell my own stories, but to empower youth to as well, through donations of writing and art supplies to LGBTQ youth groups, GSAs, and youth psychiatric hospital wards and facilities. In this way, I hope to be a real life….. sidekick.
Why a Real Life Sidekick? Well a ‘Superhero’ inhabits a liminal space of ideal or ideology made flesh. Those are big boots to fill!  I’m not sure I can live up to what a superhero must be, but a sidekick…. a sidekick is a student. An aspirant. Someone who is not yet ready to step into the full potential of a super hero (if indeed they ever will; not everyone graduates to the big leagues!)  Do I know my mission to inspire and empower will work?  I do not. But I am committed to learning, growing, acquiring the skills to reach out to more and more kids. I am not fully trained in my mission, but I will learn the skills I need to do what needs doing.
As a sidekick needs a mentor, I’ve created the character of the Cartoon Queen. Admittedly, she is strictly conceptual…. a personification of my philosophies. But I am here, I am flesh and blood, and I hope to make my mark the the decision of at least one youth to stay alive.
 

I had a can of expired Mace I wanted to get rid of, I wanted to depressurize it so it wouldn’t go BOOM in a trash compactor. So I decided to show how well these work.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlcnp3PKtLk

This was the largest gathering of RLSH from all over the country to date, It was a photoshoot for the Real Superheroes Project in LA. 19 RLSH were in attendence.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLii_3oidXU

Superhero was part of Patrick Wilsons security force at the Sunscreen Film festival. In return he was kind enough to take questions from the Real Superhero community. He had just played Night Owl II in the Watchmen & was well versed on the subject. He had done his homework & was facinated by us as well.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzd7Iv3NPck

After nearly being rained out, we got lucky & the mission went ahead.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hU5aWLtxgw

Years ago to prove the versatility of the ARMA 100 self defense shot cannon, I fired a PBJ out of it to show that anything that can fit in it’s 37mm tube could be fired.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EygauxPJUyQ

Symbiote came to town for some TJ buisness that ML wanted us to get out of the way. We needed to do some early saturday banking so Sym came to Clearwater the night before.
Pefect opertunity for a patrol.
We headed to ST.Pete as they have a high Mugging/purse snatch/break in rate & headed out on foot.
Stopped every now & again by people who thought what we did was cool.
I swear to God, as were walking through the park by the Pier Some guy sitting by the fountain says “hey man! Do you know Zetaman?”
So we talked to him & his pal for awhile and found it wild that Zeta even had a fan on the oposite corner of the continent. The guy told us a wild story about how he & his ex were a Clown team who would juggle with each other, each one using just one of their arms to make the Juggle. Without her, he couldn’t juggle at all…sad.
There are a TON of Dark long brick alleys with patrons from the AMC theatre walking thru them to their cars so we spent a LOT of time watching drunken kids (Mostly young girls) walk to their cars thru the dark alleys (W/O them knowing we were there of course) to make sure nothing bad happened.
So we get to a corner, and there is this group of kids, one tall skinny boy (and I mean boy) with a bunch of young girls (And I mean girls) walking up the street away from the corner.
they pretty much ignore us which is fine and we are still standing there getting ready to go the opposite direction when this scary, rough looking dude with a Roofers tan, ratty jeans, and a tee covered in paint litterally shoots past us after them with a towel over his shoulder, he has his hands in his pockets, he’s looking all around, and he’s closing on the kids….
Sym & I just look at each other, (aparently he felt it too) say nothing, and start back after the guy.
We’re closing the distance & he’s still intent on the kids, closing fast, suddenly he looks back over his Shoulder, see’s us and his eyes get as big as a anime characters.
He hangs a fast left down a alley and we don’t see him for the rest of the night.
Sym & I look at each other & I say “Did we just prevent someting bad from happening?”
I guess we’ll never know.
Then we met this TINY little dude (see pic) who was a professional Ukelele player! He stopped us for pics & info about the RLSH. Then we talked about Tiny Tim.


 

Red Line Films is producing a real life superhero show for IFC (Independent Film Channel), titled “Hero House”.
Red Line Films has dealt with many people in the real life superhero community while working to put together this show. They have shown a total lack of integrity, through their actions in dealing with real life superheroes. They have created a pilot in which they do not have real life superheroes best interest at heart. Red Line Films does not care the slightest bit about real life superheroes, or in providing an inspirational and positive show. They are looking to exploit real life superheroes for for the sole reason of monetary gain.
Red Line Films have shown their true character and intentions time and time again.
They came into it not really knowing much about rlsh or the community. They showed that they would do whatever it takes to get a show on TV, without caring about how the real life superheroes would look or be portrayed.
A little while back Red Line Films tried to get a show on MTV titled “Super-Duper” and it failed.
On this show they wanted to use real life super-villains, which would make rlsh look like a joke and to fuel the idea that rlsh are cosplayers and larper’s.
They very much wanted certain people on the show because they were crazy. People whom have shown to be destructive and possibly harmful to others. Even after being told about said person they did not care, showing that they were more interested in drama rather than doing something positive. Also this showed a blatant disregard for cast members safety.
When they were trying to find cast members they lied about who they were signing for the show. They told others that I was signed on to do the show, when I was committed to another project which they fully knew. They lied about having several real life superheroes who were signed to their show, when they also were not.
Red line Films tried to get rlsh who were signed on to do other projects to sign on with them knowing full well that it could cause the rlsh legal problems. These people would tell rlsh’s signed on with another show that their contracts did not mean anything or that they could get them out of said contract. These people are liars, and do not care about putting you in legal trouble.
They talk negatively, and bad mouth real life superheroes to other rlsh. Not only do they talk negative about real life superheroes, but when interviewing real life superheroes they attempt to get them on camera bad mouthing other rlsh. This has been corroborated by several individuals who have been interviewed by them. I will have more about this in future articles.
For the IFC show Hero House, it seems as though they have targeted a lot of newer, younger, lesser know, and experienced rlsh. This allows them to make it easier to manipulate them.
They have underage kids as a part of their cast; knowing full well that they have them doing dangerous things and putting them in harmful situations. Once again they show a lack of concern for their safety. The use of underage kids is unethical, immoral, and irresponsible.
There is more information to come about Red Line Films and their pilot show Hero House for IFC.
Keep checking www.RealLifeSuperheroes.org for more information.