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Tag: greg rucka

  • September 6th, 2013 2:04pm


    quatorz:
    I just saw that NSA post and you’d posted something the other day and in the tags you called people out: something along the lines of ‘hey this really happened! How about bitching about this instead of Ben Afleck as Batman’. And I know what you mean, but I look and think ‘what can we actually do?’ I mean, other than wholesale revolution and and just cleaning house of entire govt. agencies (which would probably require the former) what change can we affect? Do you ever feel that way?

    I was feeling a little cranky, honestly. It’s not to disparage peoples’ passions. I’ve just found the world very, very hard to take these last few weeks especially. The situation in Syria is horrific, and there’s no clear path to a right answer, only a thousand choices that lead to wrong ones. The tensions between the Snowden revelations and the – in my opinion – bald and even affected naivete of some folks about the nature of espionage, and my own concerns about balancing privacy with national security (which is a catch phrase so over-used the words are now devoid of meaning, but which, if you think about them, really break them down, are quite a valid function of government). And the list goes on and on and on.

    It’s dark out there, and it’s easy to say, well, yes, but it always has been (and that’s not true – it’s been darker, it’s been lighter, but right now? It’s pretty damn dark). It’s easy – and very attractive – to be cynical and disengage, or to simply disengage through ignoring everything, but neither makes anything better, and neither leads to solutions.

    So what can we do? We can make noise. We must make noise. We’re all busy, yeah, but you know what? A lot of us are online, and it takes a minute to find the email of your senators or your congresspeople, and you can find their office phone numbers, too. You can take five minutes to write an email and say what you think, what matters, and to let your representatives know that you will remember what they do and what they say. You have to follow through; we all have to follow through, with praise and condemnation alike.

    And no, it doesn’t feel like nearly enough, but it’s a start.

    Being informed, informing others, looking at facts and trying to verify them (and that can be hard, too; there’s disinformation on all sides, and conspiracy theorists to muddy the waters, too). 

    If enough people start to push, any boulder can be moved. We have to fight despair. We have to fight that exact feeling of helplessness, because that is exactly how we’ve gotten where we are – made to feel powerless, so what’s the point?

    I’m approaching rambling, here, and I apologize. But I will add this – it’s cliché, but one person can make a difference. And you never know how that difference will be made.

  • March 14th, 2013 5:06am

    Good story, an embracing of the Greek mythology and history, and a Diana that is clearly her own agent. Amazons who are worthy of the name, not in the sense that they’ve amputated a breast, but in the sense that they are not-to-be-fucked-with. Little-to-no romance. A costume that makes more sense. An epic sword fight. A thematic core that addresses the questions of xenophobia v. inclusion, and nature v. nurture, and that takes the core feminism of the concept and instead of apologizing for it or avoiding it, embraces it as a given, so it is simply there, rather than being what it’s about.

    Mostly, one that embraces the character rather than apologizes for her.

    — Greg Rucka, on what he wants to see in a Wonder Woman movie (via thehappysorceress)

  • December 25th, 2012 1:41am

    twocatsandatrombone:

    Greg Rucka, Why I Write Strong Female Characters

    But there is one question that I, personally, have been asked more frequently. This one:

    How Do You Write Such Strong Female Characters?

    This past year, 2011, I was asked this question a lot, and here we are into the first quarter of 2012, and it’s happening again (or still, if you rather). Most frequently, it comes up in regard to my work in the comics industry. If you know comics, and if you know superhero comics specifically, you’ll likely be familiar with the reasons why. Last year was not banner for the ladies, and this one isn’t off to a strong start, either, in fact. Wasn’t good for women within the industry itself, nor within the pages of the stories being told.

    Those who’ve had the unmitigated temerity to actually comment upon this state of affairs publicly have ended up paying a surprisingly heavy price. The gender of the speaker has been largely irrelevant, though to be sure, it’s the women who’ve stepped up have taken the harder hits. But all who’ve pointed out the absence of women both on the page and behind it have been ridiculed, insulted, and, absurdly enough, even threatened with violence. Conversely, those attempting to defend their mistreatment of women within the industry have revealed a staggering lack of understanding, empathy, and self-awareness, while seeming to rejoice in an arrogance that is near heart-stopping in its naked sexism and condescension.

    To say there are those who don’t get it is an understatement; it would be like describing the Japanese tsunami as ‘minor flooding’.

    … Gender isn’t simply a biological trait; it’s a societal one. The female experience is different from that of the male, and if, as a male writer, you cannot accept that basic premise, then you will never, ever, be able to write women well. A man walking alone through Midtown Manhattan at three in the morning may have concerns for his safety, but I promise you, it’s a very different experience for a woman taking the same walk, and it’s different again for a man wearing a dress. Think about it. That’s a societal factor, and it’s a gendered one, and this is not and can not be subject to debate. If you’re looking to argue that sexism is a thing of the past, that the world is gender-blind, you’re not only wrong, you’re lying to yourself.