James Robinson to Issue Statement on "Airboy" #2 Controversy

[CBR News]

As the controversy over the treatment of the transgender community in "Airboy" rises, Robinson took to Twitter to acknowledge the complaints.


Full article here.

[gurkle]

I'm not fond of the idea that if a comic has hurtful words or even reinforces stereotypes, it's contributing to real-world harm. For one thing, it's not necessarily true (whether art contributes to violence is a long-standing question that doesn't have a clear answer). For another thing, it assumes that the critic is smart enough not to be influenced by these attitudes, but the other readers out there are not.

It also assumes that even if the characters would realistically say these things or think these things, they shouldn't. That's not a wrong attitude to take per se - some stories use the n-word where it would realistically be used, some don't; it depends on the story - but I think it matters that "Robinson" as he portrays himself would realistically not use any other word but the word he uses here.

Robinson presumably wrote this scene knowing and expecting he'd get this kind of reaction, so I'm not playing a violin for him. I just think a lot of the responses have been based on the idea that only bad people say bad things, or that if a character has a hurtful attitude he should be punished for it or learn a lesson.

[TheReality]

I'm not fond of the idea that if a comic has hurtful words or even reinforces stereotypes, it's contributing to real-world harm. For one thing, it's not necessarily true (whether art contributes to violence is a long-standing question that doesn't have a clear answer). For another thing, it assumes that the critic is smart enough not to be influenced by these attitudes, but the other readers out there are not.

It also assumes that even if the characters would realistically say these things or think these things, they shouldn't. That's not a wrong attitude to take per se - some stories use the n-word where it would realistically be used, some don't; it depends on the story - but I think it matters that "Robinson" as he portrays himself would realistically not use any other word but the word he uses here.

Robinson presumably wrote this scene knowing and expecting he'd get this kind of reaction, so I'm not playing a violin for him. I just think a lot of the responses have been based on the idea that only bad people say bad things, or that if a character has a hurtful attitude he should be punished for it or learn a lesson.

Agreed. I don't understand the controversy. People say awful, intolerant, racist, small-minded things all the time. And two of the characters seem to reacting negatively to the jerk in red. (Just in the panels I saw.)

From what I can gather, it looks like they're just acting in character. And perhaps they're not of good character on this issue. People are complex. Maybe all 3 of these guys (who it seems are based on real-life counter-parts) are great people on a lot of things, but on this issue, they're intolerant, uncomfortable, and not particularly progressive. This doesn't read like hate speech for the sake of hate.

I used to casually know a trans woman (she was really the friend of my then-gf). Back when I met her, around 2001 or so, "tranny" was not considered derogatory. It's possible Robinson was unaware that the word has such a stigma.

[Synthozoid]

It's obvious to me that Robinson is writing himself as an over-the-top, pre-sobriety a-hole on purpose. You are supposed to dislike the character in the book. I'm sure he feels awful that it came across as hurtful to anyone.

[JayBee]

Honestly... I thought the issue was fantastic and the thought of it being a problem never occurred to me.

[Ragdoll]

I totally support the creative team here. But the article says "the comments of the characters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the writers" but fails to mention that this series is a 4th wall breaker and that the characters and the writers are in fact one in the same lol.
The comic was funny. This reeks of forcing an issue where there is none, like all the phoney outrage against the Age Of Ultron movie.

[HellHere]

I liked #1, and I liked #2 right up until they went over... I honestly don't think they meant to cause offense, and actually think they thought they were being progressive (see the panel about gendering), but when you're using this to highlight that we're in a world that's so awful Airboy thinks the Nazi's have won, and then use it as a device to push him over the edge... it does not come off so well and I can see how people would be hurt by it.

[JayBee]

I liked #1, and I liked #2 right up until they went over... I honestly don't think they meant to cause offense, and actually think they thought they were being progressive (see the panel about gendering), but when you're using this to highlight that we're in a world that's so awful Airboy thinks the Nazi's have won, and then use it as a device to push him over the edge... it does not come off so well and I can see how people would be hurt by it.

A character who's entire world vanished was drugged and taken to a place where he engaged in sexual activity with a person who's gender identity clearly did not reflect his preference unbeknownst to him for obvious reasons. I think him being pushed over the edge makes perfect sense.

The depiction of people with behavior or viewpoints that are not ideal is not an endorsement of those viewpoints or actions.

[HellHere]

The depiction of people with behavior or viewpoints that are not ideal is not an endorsement of those viewpoints or actions.

I know, which is why I said that I thought the writers had very different intentions to what actually happened. This is a gross out comic, no one in it is coming off as a particularly together person, and they're obviously not being held up as good examples in either word or deed.
But trans people get murdered over this, suffer violence from people claiming they lied to them, are treated like perverts and rapists in waiting in today's world and that is something you should take into account when using them as a device like this.

[Rene Narciso]

I didn't read the comic, but it's my impression that writer James Robinson is purposefully writing character "James Robinson" as a bit of a jerk. The character is not supposed to be an example or a role model. We're not supposed to agree with the character's views or words.

As for Airboy himself, he is supposed to have been transported from some idealized 1940s world, correct? It makes sense that he would be transphobic. Actually, it would have been pretty strange if he weren't. Yes, there were crossdressers and such in the 1930s and 1940s, and it's not impossible that a soldier would have experience with them in some nightclub (Berlin in the pre-Nazi years had a pretty lively gay nightclub scene, for instance) but Airboy is supposed to be an stereotype of the clean-cut old-times hero, right?

I'm supportive of the rights of gay and trans people, but it rings strange when fiction depicts stories that are supposed to be based on the real world and there is this complete acceptance of LGBT people going on, even in time travel/historic scenes. Even in our modern, liberated world, I'd say plenty of men have a degree of transphobia. If you take men of the past, chances are the feeling was much more intense. A realistic story would reflect that. As long as the transphobic folks aren't depicted as heroic for being transphobic (I don't think this is what's happening in this comic), then it's cool with me.