Nattering Nabobs Of Negativity
"Clark's dumb, Bruce is psychotic, and Diana doesn't deserve to exist. And, oh, yeah, Dick really isn't important to Bruce at all."
You know, I was reading an article on Wonder Woman recently that just eviscerated her, and while I am well aware of the problems the character has had over the years, this author found NOTHING good about her.
I’ve found the same with the Steve/Diana pairing. People always hate Steve, and if all they know is Silver Age, I understand why, as during that era he was written as a jerk and Diana as a simpering wimp. The whole book was like a bad romance comic.
The Golden Age beginnings were progressive, and they fared pretty well in the ‘70s and ‘80s. I saw genuine moments of love and teamwork more than once and loved the ‘Destiny’ feel of the couple, as DC themselves said in WW #300.
There are people who deeply despise Dick Grayson and Robin. They take the Frank Miller psychotic view of Bruce/Batman and think it’s cool, and that includes mocking and despising his sidekick, who’s treated as pathetic and not worthy of Batman’s notice other than to get kicked around and forced to eat rats, for cryin’ out loud.
People mock and ridicule Superman for being ‘all brawn and no brains’ and ‘boring’, which makes me laugh, as he’s one of the most fascinating characters ever created, and his spot on top of the DC and comics pantheon, a figure recognized worldwide, pretty much backs my view.
Why all this fuss? Well, I’ve found that no matter what, some people somewhere are going to intensely dislike something I like, and enjoy nitpicking and using a stiletto tongue to tear down characters just for the sake of tearing them down.
Does that mean checking my brain at the door, and never being critical? Hell, no! But if I hated a character as much as some of these people do, I wouldn’t bother with them. Life’s too short. If I want to take the best of Diana and Steve and enjoy their romance, I will, just as I’ll firmly believe Dick is essential to Bruce and that Clark is cool and I don’t want him kicking ass like Batman because as Superman, he should save that for the mega-powered types, otherwise he’ll get a God complex and then we’re all in trouble!
Am I being a Pollyanna? *snorts* Have you read all of my stories? I’ve written darkness and my characters aren’t always goody two-shoes, believe me! :)
I think of myself as a miner, panning for gold nuggets among the dross, or an archeologist uncovering both the good and the bad and puzzling how it all fits together. I draw out the best of the characters, because otherwise, why would I care? When Bruce is stubborn and uncommunicative, or Clark and Diana get too overbearing or self-righteous, if I didn’t believe they have positive qualities in them, why would I bother? Even villains have to be two-dimensional or they bore me to tears.
So, the nattering nabobs of negativity can enjoy their caustic worldview all they want.
I just pity them if that’s all they ever see.