You Should Read James Robinson’s Response To Strong Criticism Of A Transgender Plot Point In Airboy

It's here. I'd reprint it but that always seems unfair, even in a case like this.

Writer James Robinson, artist Greg Hinkle and Image Comics were all criticized late last week for a storyline in Airboy that is set within the transgender community. For those of you unfamiliar, the new series presents a Pirandello-style take on the material, where the old Hillman character comes to life and interacts with the writer and artist who are characters in the comic. Robinson is portrayed as an awful person bottoming out; Hinkle is portrayed as a slightly kinder soul passively marching along with the parade of excess. My understanding is that the scene in question involved putting the Airboy character in a social milieu where he interacts with transgender people and upon realizing this reacts strongly in conservative, denigrating and unappealing fashion. The criticism is that despite none of this being treated as an endorsement, both the portrayal and the idea that the community should be recruited to play such a role in such a story in the first place add to the already significant burden that community faces.

I think this kind of push and pull is so, so necessary, and I'm grateful for it. This is even though I'm one that argues -- partly because of my position of significant privilege making it easier for me to do so -- that there's a place in the world for portrayals and narratives and representations in art that are deeply hurtful and/or plugged into dire social consequences. That is never a roadblock to criticism, which I adore. A loud reaction to art and call for rejection and change, that's valuable speech that can be learned from just as the art in question may have something to say. I get a little uncomfortable when these stories boil down to our appraisal of someone's sincerity, perhaps because I'm completely unable to make that call, but getting that reaction out there? Getting to hear from a James Robinson on an issue of such delicacy? Letting people know that both disagree and, perhaps most importantly, that never thought about it, that portrayal even in satire is an issue of crucial urgency for many groups? That only adds to our ability to be human.
 
posted 10:00 pm PST | Permalink
 

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