Comments on: Rictor & Shatterstar share a friendly embrace on the milestone X-Factor #50 Cover

By: Josh

Josh — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:38:18 +0000

Hold up folks. You absolutely can not be invalidating the guy's opinion merely because he signed his post "Straight Male and Proud"! He has EVERY right to be proud of who he is just like we do. To say he doesn't merely because he's in the majority negates everything we as gay individuals fight for. Gay, Straight, or Other, we all want the same thing. EQUALITY. So treat it as such and comment on the content of the post, not the signature.

By: BionicBoy

BionicBoy — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 02:23:32 +0000

Not really caring for either Rictor or Shatterstar, should I be buying these issues to "support the cause"? wait for the trade? not care?

I do my best to buy all the Young Avengers stuff they put out, bought Manhunter like a maniac and gave issues away to get other people hooked, and hold out hope that Obsidian will become a viable member of the JSA…

By: g_whiz

g_whiz — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 21:01:41 +0000

I entirely agree with Britboyblue. The convenience of being in the majority already ensures your demographic (straight, white males) are already going to be widely represented in all forms of entertainment from fiction to film. The idea that gay characters have been gradually more representative, and comic universes have become gradually more inclusive is enough to give people who cling to the status quo- like our "Proud" straight guy- reason to feel unjustifiably uncomfortable. At the end of the day, a visible gay characters (or people) shouldn't have much bearing on who he opts to have relationships with…unless of course he doth protest too much.

By: BritBoiBlue

BritBoiBlue — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 12:31:41 +0000

Well, I'm not saying that his being straight is what invalidates anything. It's the phrasing, really. 'Straight Male and Proud!' seems akin to commenting on an issue of race with 'White Male and Proud!'. It just seems daft and indicative of a lack of understanding/sensitivity to the issue at hand.

We have Gay Pride, we're Out and Proud because we -need- to be and because we've all fought hard to get to where we are today. Likewise for ethnic minorities, feminists and other oppressed groups. If you're a straight male, you're automatically accepted, approved and catered to by the majority of society, why do you need to state pride about that?

By: heroesnhunks

heroesnhunks — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 09:12:44 +0000

I agree that recent increases in representation are simply due to mainstream media catching up.

But I DO not think that being a "straight proud male necessarily negates anyone's opinion on gay issues. Living in San Francisco I have met a number of very cool stand-up 100% straight guys who still have valid opinions about gay issues that stem from somewhere besides the usual fear that a gay guy might notice them.

By: BritBoiBlue

BritBoiBlue — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:54:12 +0000

The guy closed out his comment with 'Straight Male and Proud!'

I'd say his points are a little invalidated by that.

By: Dyl

Dyl — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:33:47 +0000

I'm pretty sure he wasn't referring to Flatman from the GLA or Living Lightning from the Texas Rangers but that was another recentish outing.

I do think there has been an increased volume of representation of gay themes in all forms of media in recent years (Jack & Ianto, Tara & Willow) and this merely reflects the realisation that there are indeed gay people in society, in the same way the presence and portrayal of female and non-white figures changed over the last decades; so what can be perceived as shock value is really just an improvement in representation of the truth of the world we live in.

By: Matthew (Not Matt)

Matthew (Not Matt) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:10:28 +0000

Could have been referring to the Rawhide Kid fiasco of a few years ago? No point there but shock value, IMHO. Maybe the Flash's rogue, Pied Piper? Did he ever have a subtext-laden backstory? Out of cannon, there was Robin's revelation in the Dark Knight Returns miniseies. Shocking, but it was Frank Miller. What else would you expect?