Alan Moore Criticizes Modern Superhero Stories as ‘Unhealthy Escapism’

[Michael Watkins]

Does he care about being famous? He still lives in the same town in the Midlands that he has all his life. He gives money from movies made from his work to the artists. It's not as if he's moved to California and poses for photo opportunities with Brad Pitt.

not that it is important but he's probably well known in his town. sometimes, that's enough celebrity for an individual. he's like Doom in Latveria.

[Coin Biter]

not that it is important but he's probably well known in his town. sometimes, that's enough celebrity for an individual. he's like Doom in Latveria.

Oh, Northampton isn't that much like Latveria Fewer Ruritanian style castles, for one thing.

He certainly loves the place, which should endear him to us, if nothing else.

[Myetche]

Alan Moore hates everything. This is nothing new.

[hedgehogvampire]

I could care less what he thinks. I read comics not as "escapism" but because I enjoy them. Just like I enjoy watching TV shows or movies. I don't watch them to escape, but because I enjoy watching them.

To me, he sounds bitter lately and almost jealous of others who are getting praise for their work. As far as I'm concerned, he's entitled to his opinion, but I disagree with it and again, couldn't care less what he thinks.

This is totally me too. I don't read comics for "escapism" I like them because I enjoy them and they entertain me. If someone likes to read comics for "escapism" then let them. Why is he such a stick in the mud?

[The Whovian]

not that it is important but he's probably well known in his town. sometimes, that's enough celebrity for an individual. he's like Doom in Latveria.

LOL! He's Doom without the cool costume, powers, intelligence and looks.

[The Whovian]

Alan Moore hates everything. This is nothing new.

This is true

[Iron Maiden]

The guy who used other peoples creations/ characters that had lapsed in to public domain after he left comics is complaining? Maybe I'll read it later.

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

People on a comic book forum deriding someone else as being bitter.

Ok then.

[Lee]

I find the comments rather amusing, coming from a man who believes himself to be an actual magician.

[Michael Watkins]

People on a comic book forum deriding someone else as being bitter.

Ok then.

can we still disagree with what he's saying? or is that not cool for a comic book forum?

[colonyofcells]

People who believe they have magic like powers or have some type of access to the powers from the gods are pretty common since majority of humans are quite religious. There are many geniuses in history who were quite religious or spiritual. The scientist Isaac Newton was quite religious and some of his beliefs probably look stupid to many current humans.

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

can we still disagree with what he's saying? or is that not cool for a comic book forum?

Disagreeing with Alan Moore can have you transformed into a farm animal of some sort.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

What Moore is saying is not all that different from what Simon Pegg brought up in a much nicer, less cranky old man way a few months ago.

"Recent developments in popular culture were arguably predicted by the French philosopher and cultural theorist, Jean Baudrillard in his book, ‘America’, in which he talks about the infantilzation of society. Put simply, this is the idea that as a society, we are kept in a state of arrested development by dominant forces in order to keep us more pliant. We are made passionate about the things that occupied us as children as a means of drawing our attentions away from the things we really should be invested in, inequality, corruption, economic injustice etc. It makes sense that when faced with the awfulness of the world, the harsh realities that surround us, our instinct is to seek comfort, and where else were the majority of us most comfortable than our youth? A time when we were shielded from painful truths by our recreational passions, the toys we played with, the games we played, the comics we read. There was probably more discussion on Twitter about the The Force Awakens and the Batman vs Superman trailers than there was about the Nepalese earthquake or the British general election."

And it's very difficult to disagree with what's he's saying here. As the world is becoming ever complicated, our culture seems to be retreating into escapism in the form of childhood nostalgia to avoid dealing with the very real adult problems we have. However, this is not exclusive to nerd culture, the non-geek world does it just as much with celebrity gossip, reality TV nonsense or sports. Our political discussion has so little to do with actual ideas or discussion of policies, it may as well be another reality TV show.

That said, I am equally capable of endlessly discussing superheroes and childish nonsense as I am discussing foreign affairs, the climate and the effects of technology upon our society. I can do both and, frankly, they both have value to my life. We need escapism as much as we need a sober and realistic understanding of our world's problems. The tricky part is striking the right balance.

For some, whose entire lives are devoted to minutae of Batman's fictional world or which specific flavor of Superman is currently being published, the balance is clearly off. I know that for much of my ill-spent youth, that balance was waaaaaay off because I devoted an unhealthy number of hours online getting into pissing contests about Hal Jordan that now seem utterly pointless.

Now, I probably should go exercise instead of blathering on further about this....

[GreenLanternRanger]

Moore being his usual grumpy self, nothing to see here folks. :P


Edit: I do agree thought that society is indeed becoming increasingly infantile/juvenile overall, but I would say comics are one of the few mediums that haven't gone down the toilet nearly as much as other forms of storytelling and entertainment. And honestly even escapism can help or harm society like anything else. Good stories that make us think and feel can genuinely make us better people, just as garbage content can dull our minds & spirits. At the end of the day mankind have always been storytellers and entertainers, the big problem with modern society though seems to be learning how to use such things properly. for example in terms of television it helps to have more progressive all-ages shows like Steven Universe over junk food like modern SpongeBob or a nature documentary over reality television. If you use your stories to teach as well as entertain you are helping much more then something that is merely meant to insulate.

But getting back to comics, I feel to some degree most comics be they mainstream or indie do have something interesting to say, weather it is something simple like general morality or something complex like the human condition, politics, etc. But yes even in comics there is junk food here in there, but thankfully not quite as much as with television.

But that's just my 2-cents.

[Buried Alien]

What Moore is saying is not all that different from what Simon Pegg brought up in a much nicer, less cranky old man way a few months ago.

"Recent developments in popular culture were arguably predicted by the French philosopher and cultural theorist, Jean Baudrillard in his book, ‘America’, in which he talks about the infantilzation of society. Put simply, this is the idea that as a society, we are kept in a state of arrested development by dominant forces in order to keep us more pliant. We are made passionate about the things that occupied us as children as a means of drawing our attentions away from the things we really should be invested in, inequality, corruption, economic injustice etc. It makes sense that when faced with the awfulness of the world, the harsh realities that surround us, our instinct is to seek comfort, and where else were the majority of us most comfortable than our youth? A time when we were shielded from painful truths by our recreational passions, the toys we played with, the games we played, the comics we read. There was probably more discussion on Twitter about the The Force Awakens and the Batman vs Superman trailers than there was about the Nepalese earthquake or the British general election."

And it's very difficult to disagree with what's he's saying here. As the world is becoming ever complicated, our culture seems to be retreating into escapism in the form of childhood nostalgia to avoid dealing with the very real adult problems we have. However, this is not exclusive to nerd culture, the non-geek world does it just as much with celebrity gossip, reality TV nonsense or sports. Our political discussion has so little to do with actual ideas or discussion of policies, it may as well be another reality TV show.

That said, I am equally capable of endlessly discussing superheroes and childish nonsense as I am discussing foreign affairs, the climate and the effects of technology upon our society. I can do both and, frankly, they both have value to my life. We need escapism as much as we need a sober and realistic understanding of our world's problems. The tricky part is striking the right balance.

For some, whose entire lives are devoted to minutae of Batman's fictional world or which specific flavor of Superman is currently being published, the balance is clearly off. I know that for much of my ill-spent youth, that balance was waaaaaay off because I devoted an unhealthy number of hours online getting into pissing contests about Hal Jordan that now seem utterly pointless.

Now, I probably should go exercise instead of blathering on further about this....

To make a long story short, the "real world" does not offer people much they want to embrace these days.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)