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" Autistic " insult in Superman comic book

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ASS-P
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26 Aug 2018, 6:03 am

The current issue of a Superman comic book from DC Comics, ACTION COMICS #1002, brought on controversy with having a villianius character, a gang boss, belittligly call a henchman of his " autistic ". The story is at SyFy Wire and other comic books-oriented sites, I can't link.
The scripter of the comic, Brian Michael Bendis, responded to criticism by saying he and DC got together and the insult - which was spoken by a bad guy character, not Superman, remember - will be deleted from future printings of the story. I buy Action Comics every month, and didn't know this was in the comic until I read it. I now have the issue but I haven't read it yet.


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26 Aug 2018, 3:32 pm

Bendis Responds to Criticism Over Action Character’s Derogatory Use of ‘Autism’

Quote:
Writer Brian Michael Bendis has come under fire for his derogatory use of the word “autistic,” as spoken by a villain in Action Comics #1002. Readers and comic journalists, some of whom have or work with autistic children, took to Twitter to criticize Bendis, DC Comics and its editors for the usage of the term.

Bendis has since apologized and explained why he used the term, which was uttered by a villain and not Superman himself. The writer tweeted, “Yeah, it is an insult I can’t stand. It has been said to me directly and I put it in my work to illustrate its ugliness from an ugly character who got his immediate comeuppance.”

What’s more, Bendis has reached out to his editors to ensure the word will not appear in subsequent printings or in the trade paperback. “I called my editor & told them to make sure it’s not in any other printings,” he wrote. “It won’t be in the trade. Language is tough. When trying to be real you can be real hurtful. You know it wasn’t my intention & you helped me see a way to fix it. Thank you.”

The scene in question finds Boss Moxie Mannheim chewing out one of his henchmen. When the henchman is unable to confirm Superman’s whereabouts, Mannheim becomes enraged and shouts at him, yelling, “Is Superman in Metropolis or not, you autistic @#!@#$?!”


So political correctness has gone so far that the VILLAIN can't be offensive(SMH).


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Hollywood_Guy
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30 Aug 2018, 4:43 pm

Kind of silly that this was from a Superman comic out of all things.



lostonearth35
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30 Aug 2018, 4:53 pm

I don't care if a villain character said it. I would absolutely hate reading that no matter what.



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30 Aug 2018, 6:54 pm

lostonearth35 wrote:
I don't care if a villain character said it. I would absolutely hate reading that no matter what.

Same. Especially since X Men comics are one of my special interests. If I saw that in an X Men, I would not be happy. The only usage of the word "autistic" in an X Men comic that I know of though is in New X Men 123 when Jean Grey said "At the Xavier Institute, we have 12-year-old autistic savants who can talk to atoms in their own language. Here, we still believe in the future." A much nicer quote in my opinion.


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30 Aug 2018, 7:13 pm

lostonearth35 wrote:
I don't care if a villain character said it. I would absolutely hate reading that no matter what.

I don't really see why that itself is enough to want to make you stop reading something, even though I understand why some people's experiences with the word "autistic" as an insult are very sensitive.