Bill Maher tells comic fans, Toy collectors, and game players to "Grow Up!"

[From The Shadows]

Aww… someone sure needs a huuuug~!

[Kai "the spy"]

I used to watch his show regularly for a few years, but like others I grew tired of his islamophobia, his berating of progressives, of millennials, and basically anyone who disagrees with him.

What is the ultimate nail in Maher's coffin of credibility in this case is that he justifies his "live your life like I tell you to" rant by quoting the bible. Bill fucking Maher. Quotes the bible. To tell people how they should live.

[Malvolio]

Here's the thing. You can like someone, enjoy their art, and still hate one or two things about that person. That doesn't make the person a total douche. In the case of Bill Maher, I agree with a lot of points about politics and religion. But here, he's wrong. He thinks he's grown up because he wears a tie to his job? He writes jokes for a living, refuses to get married or even have a long-term relationship because he doesn't like the idea of "working" on the relationship. And he's telling us to grow up? Come on!

[Ilan Preskovsky]

Don't you just love it when someone talks authoritatively about something of which they clearly have no knowledge? Bill can often come across like a smug douche but this was just embarrassing.

[Bruce Wayne]

He is right. Just part of the further infantilization of society.

[wjowski]

He is right. Just part of the further infantilization of society.

Clearly we should go back to the good old days and burn cats for fun.

[LordUltimus]

Kevin Smith did a tweet.

Bill Maher is an atheist, not an islamophobe. He also was critical of Christianity.

Is it okay for Liberals to criticize Islamophobia but not atheism?

Is it okay to criticize him for being an anti-vaxxer?

[Kai "the spy"]

Bill Maher is an atheist, not an islamophobe. He also was critical of Christianity.

Is it okay for Liberals to criticize Islamophobia but not atheism?

First off, I know that he's an atheist, a very critical one at that, who once did a whole documentary film on the dangers of religion, which is the point of why he loses credibility when he tells us "Stop liking things children like, it says so in the bible".

Second, I'm an atheist, and I can tell you, he goes after Islam more and harder than any other religion. He claims that Islam is the most dangerous religion out there, totally ignoring Christian terrorists in Africa, the fairly recent decade-long violent conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland, as well as violent racists, homophobes and anti-abortionists who justify their actions with their Christian beliefs. While his critizism of Islam is largely reduced to violent extremists, his critizism of Christianity, Judaism, etc. is mostly about how "ridiculous" and "silly" they are.

And ultimately, Maher being an atheist does not preclude him from being an islamophobe. These are not contradictory things, they can actually go very easily together.

[Powerboy]

Here's the thing. You can like someone, enjoy their art, and still hate one or two things about that person. That doesn't make the person a total douche. In the case of Bill Maher, I agree with a lot of points about politics and religion. But here, he's wrong. He thinks he's grown up because he wears a tie to his job? He writes jokes for a living, refuses to get married or even have a long-term relationship because he doesn't like the idea of "working" on the relationship. And he's telling us to grow up? Come on!

I know. A guy who once bragged that he's never even held a baby mocking other people for not moving on into more adult aspects of life.

[Powerboy]

Bill Maher is an atheist, not an islamophobe. He also was critical of Christianity.

Is it okay for Liberals to criticize Islamophobia but not atheism?

I'm an atheist. I don't care that Maher is an atheist too. He's also an Islamophobe. He generalizes and uses extremely selective examples while ignoring other evidence.

[Vakanai]

Bill is a funny guy who's politics I mostly agree with. He's also kind of a douche narcissist. I don't think you can be on television these days without being a stubborn ass.

[Tuck]

This is the kind of thing that shouldn't bother a person, unless they think it's true, and applies to them.

The way some people react to these kinds of innocuous criticisms is how we end up with the compensatory "maturity" of the Snyderverse.

[Deathstroke]

Most of the show was about Trump. This was one little segment. And he has had Michael Moore on probably more than any other show.

Look, he's a comedian with a pretty good show about politics. He is not a spokesman for Democrats or liberals or anybody.

To be fair, the segment might have been small, but given that it is his ending rant it tends to take on more weight.

I look at it this way, he can say what he wants (and as a fan, I've liked stuff he's said more often than not) but it isn't like I live my life worrying about his acceptance or condemnation of my particular enjoyments.

I thought what he said was stupid. But after he said it, I turned off the TV and went to read a comic book. Life moved on for me.

[DebkoX]

He should respect people and their decisions.

[Buried Alien]

Peter David has responded (via Facebook):

Bill Maher has informed us, both on Twitter and again last night, that comic books are for kids and that fans of them are basically stunted individuals who are unable to accept adulthood.

So let's talk about fans.

Fans love to argue. They are particularly big on arguing who their heroes can defeat. And periodically they gather in large crowds, sometimes numbering over 50,000. They pay ridiculous entry fees to get in, and many of them dress up like their favorites. In the places where they gather, they cheer on their respective faves, chant together, eat and hang together. They buy a ton of merchandise, dropping hundreds of dollars at a time. And if they're lucky, they get autographs and go home happy. Hell, on rare occasions they even attend parades dedicated to their heroes.

And that's just Mets fans.

It's also Yankees fans, and Phillies fans, and Dodgers fans, and Jets and Giants fans, and Knicks fans, and so on throughout the country.

Hell, Bill Maher even profits off it, since he bought a minority share of the Mets in 2012.

And all these games...they involve balls. Isn't that interesting? Large ones, small ones, that get bounced or hit or thrown. Balls, which are--as you know--one of the favorite toys of babies.

Yet interestingly no one, not even the profiting Bill Maher, ever accuses sports fans of being juvenile. Of being overgrown children. Get a whole bar riled up about Yankees versus Red Sox and no one is going to say, "My God, grow the hell up."

That's because, as Neil Gaiman pointed out, if you have stories told via words alone, that's books and the realm of adults. Have pictures by themselves and that's art, and also for adults. But the moment you combine words and pictures, assholes believe that that makes it entertainment purely for children.

I've said this before but it bears repeating: comic books aren't juvenilia. Comic books are modern myths. The definition of a myth is something that is defined within its own essence. If you ask someone, "Who is Gomez Addams?" they will reply, "He's a character created by cartoonist Charles Addams." IF you say, "Who is Superman?" people will likely respond, "He's a superhero, the last son of Krypton, with the secret identity of Clark Kent." In the same way that if you ask who Hercules is, you'll be told that he is a half-god born of Zeus having an affair with a mortal. You don't put it in context of its creation; you define it as itself. People who find Spider-Man fascinating are just as valid and adult in their interests as someone who studies Arthurian legend. The fact that it's happening in modern time and we know who the creators are doesn't make it any less mythic.

Nor is the multi-billion dollar success of their movies proof of their crossover appeal, according to Maher. "They're all the same!" he declares, asserting that ALL comic book movies are about superheroes fighting over "glowy" things (like athletes fighting over a ball, remember.). The short answer is, Yeah, right, "Black Panther" is just like "Wonder Woman" (neither of which involved anything glowing.). The longer answer is, Yeah, right, super heroes fighting over glowing things is sure an accurate description of Men in Black. Or Road to Perdition.. Or Kingsmen. Or V for Vendetta. Or From Hell. Or 300, Sin City, American Splendor, Atomic Blonde, Ghost World,Dredd, Scott Pilgrim vs the World, and on and on.

BUT, Maher further asserts, comics aren't literature. Well, let's figure that out. The dictionary definition of literature is: written works, especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit. So what's lasting merit? It seems reasonable to assume that it's obvious: something that lasts. That transcends generations. So since Action Comics #1, which was produced over eighty years ago, still has resonance, that would seem to satisfy the definition, as does Spider-Man who was created fifty-five years ago. But perhaps it's deeper than that. Perhaps to be literature, it must be critically acclaimed. Like Watchmen was when it won the Hugo. Like Sandman when it won the Bram Stoker award. Like Maus was when it won the Pulitzer.

How many Pulitzers do you have on your shelf, Bill?

I'm not pissed off with Maher because he went off on a rant about fans. God knows I've done that myself. I'm pissed off because he went off on a rant that was factually wrong, demonstrably inaccurate, and incredibly unfair. His words come from ignorance, and I wish to God he would do something, anything, to educate himself.

PAD

Thank you, Mr. David.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)