Bill Maher went on a ridiculous rant about comic books and comic book movies and those who love them. He said comic books aren’t legitimate literature and should only be for children, among many other shitty things. Maher also blamed it all on millennials, as if Gen X and other generations don’t like superheroes too!?! He then went on to say that Trump could only get elected in a country that thinks comic books are important. WTF? Ok boomer. I truly have no idea how these two things correlate. Anyway Catherynne Valente tweeted an epic response that pretty much sums it all up:
Source: Catherynne Valente
What do you think of the anti-comic book rant from Bill Maher? Let us know in the comments below!
If you go back to before the industrial revolution, the average working day was between 3-6 hours for everyone. That’s it, that’s the entirety of it. Outside that time, people used their leisure for entertainment. Whether it was telling stories to each other, making music and dancing, embroidery, or (if you were lucky enough to be literate) writing/painting.
What we’re discovering is that we need these things, and modern society is doing it’s best to squeeze it out of reach from all but the top 10% of earners. So Millennials rebelled and started to make their own definitions of entertainment, and what is appropriate for adults. We’re also slowly coming to realise that “can you monetise this” is not a good yardstick for a creative hobby.
Fanfiction, mods, Let’s Play videos, and Pateron are all responses to the increasing attempts by big business to restrict our ability to do these very human things without paying them money.