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Llama- that entire post is worth quoting.
In another thread, I mentioned NYC Mayor Rudi Guiliani's "war" on so-called "quality of life" crimes. The graffiti vandals, the squeeqie guys, etc. The people who contributed to an overall decline in the day to day life in New York. Guiliani reasoned -- and was proven correct -- that looking the other way when these "small scale" crimes were being committed contributed to a general negative attitude toward and about the city.
There is, for me, a parallel in the use of these cutesy-poo, and usually disrespectful short-forms of the character's names. "Supes". "Bats". "Wolvie". "Maggie". They come from, and contribute to, a subtle and insidious mentality in fandom. That whole "Oh, I am so much superior to this foolish comic books I am reading! Please, don't judge me by this trash! I am better than that!" As Guiliani saw with the "quality of life" crimes, it becomes a cumulative effect, and when we throw in a few other factors, equally "small" taken on their own -- well, we end up with the mess the industry is in today, don't we?
YES. Because calling Batman "Bats" is actually exactly the same as contributing to an overall decline in the day to day life in New York. Yes, John. Yes. |
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