Most of the time I try not to dwell on the negative aspects of the comic book industry. Like everything, there are flaws to it and certain individuals will often be divisive and cause minor outrage. It’s why I quietly hold my tongue on most occasions when reports come out about creators, as I give them the benefit of the doubt until proven guilty. Sometimes though, the guilt and evidence are immediate and I have to respond, despite all attempts to do otherwise. This week, on a day where I should be focusing on the promise of the DC’s cinematic future, I instead hit a giant roadblock. In a podcast recording , David S. Goyer was on a panel of writers who work in the film industry. Goyer, whose work includes last summer’s hit Man of Steel and the forthcoming Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice, was asked his thoughts on She-Hulk. He had the following to say.
“I have a theory about She-Hulk. Which was created by a man, right? And at the time in particular I think 95 percent of comic book readers were men and certainly almost all of the comic book writers were men. So the Hulk was this classic male power fantasy. It’s like, most of the people reading comic books were these people like me who were just these little kids getting the s*** kicked out of them every day… And so then they created She-Huk, right? Who was still smart… I think She-Hulk is the chick that you could f*** if you were Hulk, you know what I’m saying? … She-Hulk was the extension of the male power fantasy. So it’s like if I’m going to be this geek who becomes the Hulk then let’s create a giant green porn star that only the Hulk could f***.”
Goyer would later be asked about his thoughts on the Martian Manhunter. His thoughts were best summed up in the following quote.
“How many people in the audience have heard of Martian Manhunter?” (Applause.) “How many people that raised their hands have ever been laid?”
David S. Goyer is not entirely wrong. Yes, She-Hulk was created in a period of time where men were the readers and men were the writers. But that does NOT make her a character based on sexual fantasy. She was in fact created so that Marvel could stop ABC from gaining copyright on the character and creating a spin-off of the popular Incredible Hulk TV show. That he knew she was created by men in a period where men read the most comics is where his validity stops.
She-Hulk is one of my favorite comic book characters, period. Ignoring that she very well may be my favorite female character, she is developed and independent. Though she draws her roots from the Incredible Hulk, she has never been tied down to being a side character or afterthought. In fact, she currently stars in one of my favorite current comics! She-Hulk has sustained her own book more than once and has more single issues tied to her name than mainstay Marvel characters such as Cyclops, Nova, or the Guardians of the Galaxy! Her continued presence in the Marvel Universe makes her one of the most popular and commanding women in the entire company alongside Invisible Woman, Black Widow, and Captain Marvel.
What David S. Goyer’s statement represent is the thinking that the comic book community fights every day. Female characters are not just there to be plot points for the male characters. They have their own worth. They have their own stories. Sexualizing female characters says more about the writer than it does the character. And the worst part of Goyer’s statements is that he is not alone in his thinking. He’s just the one who got caught saying it. There are plenty of comic book fans and probably even writers who think/feel the same way. And as such, nobody thinks anything of the fact that he is the writer who gets to bring Wonder Woman to the screen for the first time.
The most upsetting part of this entire debacle isn’t that he degraded one of my favorite comic book characters and made her a sexual plaything. I can deal with the opinion of one man. What upsets me is that he is clearly not going to shepherd DC’s films into the right direction. By reducing a female character to a sexual fantasy and marginalizing one of the most popular Justice League members of all time, it is clear that David S. Goyer is not going to honor the source material or take care of the characters. He will service the executives, Batman, and Superman. He will go with the easy option, which is to make the boys big and strong and cool, while everybody else suffers. Our best hope is that this situation explodes and forces action, or at least teaches Goyer to rethink his stance on the matter.
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