Originally Posted by
TresDias
I like Remender's writing even if I've found it and his behavior to be baffling more than once. It's engaging and he comes up with great ideas. Even what he was going for with the Havok speech was a great idea, but it was executed terribly. It's ironic that Bendis -- whose writing I usually can't stand -- got what was so wrong with it.
To elaborate on that, coming together and being one people does not mean we should -- or even can -- "ignore labels." It means we embrace the differences in one another, not overlook them or tolerate them. It means legitimately valuing the differences of people who aren't like you. The reason Havok's speech wasn't well received among many people, especially minorities, is that the things we don't have in common with others are as vital and important to who we all are as the things we do share in common. What sets us apart is as important to identity as the things that don't, whether that be race, taste in music, talents, language or anything else.
I have a fairly privileged (yes, I'm using that word) position to view this from as I'm half-Mexican but look White. I have some Hispanic traits that may become apparent after a person knows what they're looking for, but in my entire life (I'll be 28 next month), I've only had one person ever clue in to the fact that I'm Hispanic without being told. Once. Ever. I've even had a manager at a previous job call me into the office a year after I was hired to ask if I put myself down as "Hispanic" on my application in the hopes of getting an interview. They even straight-up asked "Did you play us?" That was both uncomfortable and annoying.
Being that I identify as Hispanic, I've often wished this stark contrast wasn't the case, though I'm well aware that my appearance has benefitted me.
Anyway, I know what Remender's intention was when he wrote that, and I've never been angry at him about it. Even as I read it I knew what his intention was, even though the wording was heartbreakingly off the mark. I do think he should have been given more benefit of the doubt, but he also handled himself poorly not just in writing that scene but in how he responded to those who took issue with it. I like to think that he's learned from both the poor writing and the poor handling of that incident, though, and that we could, indeed, have a real conversation with Rick Remender at this stage in the game.
As for stuff like this #FireRickRemender controversy, that should never have happened. I can understand that there were a few people confused by the error in the recap of issue #4 referring to both Jet and Ian as infants, but, really, anyone who read even just issue #1 should have been able to see that Jet was no infant there, despite Romita Jr.'s major shortcomings in the depiction of anyone who isn't an adult. Even without all that, Jet herself stating her age in issue #22 should have put the matter to rest before it could ever be a thing.
To bring this brief round of musings full circle with the topic of the thread, I think we certainly can have a real conversation, and not just with Rick Remender, but with anyone we're willing to have a conversation with. In this age of Twitter and tumblr, though, people don't always want to have a real conversation. They want to get others incensed and rally them into sharing an opinion.
That's what I believe happened with this #FireRickRemender thing. It began with one person who not only isn't a fan of Remender, but passionately dislikes him for reasons all their own. They were given an easy opportunity to turn the tide of public opinion against him and hopefully achieve what they wanted -- i.e. Rick Remender unemployed.
Maliciousness such as that is shocking to imagine, and I hate to conclude it to be the case, but, as others have noted in this very thread, the Internet has a startling way of dehumanizing us. Not just in how we see others, but in how we ourselves behave. It's somehow easier for many people to be cold in cyberspace, where, in speaking to or of another person, we aren't unavoidably confronted with things that remind us of all-too-human traits such as anxiety, pain and fear.
Again, yes, we can have a real conversation as long as we remember that it's other human beings -- with all their similarities to us and all their differences -- we are talking to.