Avatar porn! Get your Avatar porn!

So remember a few posts back when I listed four reasons for loathing Avatar? I said:  “The Na’vi were designed with one thing in mind: To make new jerk-off material for fanboys everywhere.”

Well, the evidence is in the stats. Here is a list of the the search engine terms that brought people to my blog the first day.

neytiri nipple
na’vi nude
na’vi porn
na’vi female
na’vi naked
avatar na’vi sexy
nude na’vi
neytiri sexy
neytiri’s nipples
avatar nude film
na’vi boobs
na’vi sex
neytiri porn
neytiri hot
neytiri nipple slip
na’vi nude girl
neytiri breasts
avatar girl

Make of this what you will.

Should profs teach their own books?

There are certainly pros and cons, both practical and ethical. The answer to the question, I discovered, really depends on the context. Here’s an article I wrote for the Globe and Mail’s GlobeCampus section:

When Memorial University of Newfoundland student Nathan Downey looked at his third-year linguistics syllabus for the first time, he was peeved. The professor had assigned his own book.

“It seemed too shady for words, a professor pimping his own—very costly—textbook. I thought for sure he only taught the course to sell a few more books each year,” said Mr. Downey.

But in retrospect, he admits, it wasn’t so bad.

Click here to read the rest.

Oooh, pretty

I’m not a big Georges Jeanty fan, but I’m digging these classic throwback covers of late. This one’s all Lichtenstein-y.

(via  i09)

Avatar sucks. There, I said it.

And here are four reasons why:

[Warning, there will be spoilers]

1. The racism

I knew, based on the premise alone, that this movie would be racist, and boy was I not wrong.

A strong, fierce, and proud people with the ability to network with an entire fucking planet and everyone who’s ever lived and died there decides to make a white meat-head American solider their leader, after he’s had only three months of training?

Oh, and because they’re all wacky and spiritual (Aboriginals, amirite?) his ability to tame a big fucking dragon makes them totally forgive him for infiltrating their society, sexing their already betrothed daughter, and failing to um, you know, warn them of their IMPENDING DOOM until about an hour before the tanks arrive!

His girlfriend even forgives him, despite that his goons killed her father.

Fortunately, I am not alone in these interpretations. From the Toronto Star:

Actress Robinne Lee (Seven Pounds), who is of black and Chinese ancestry, told the Associated Press the movie has echoes of Hollywood’s version of the Pocahontas story – “the Indian woman leads the white man into the wilderness, and he learns the way of the people and becomes the saviour.

“It’s really upsetting in many ways,” added Lee, who does not appear in Avatar. “It would be nice if we could save ourselves.”

Simone Browne, an assistant sociology professor at the University of Texas at Austin and a former Toronto resident, believes Cameron was aware these issues would spark debate.

“It was very deliberate in its design and I don’t think we can dismiss it as innocent,” said Browne. “I think it may be racist in its effects, because it is still containing the same old tropes about the white man’s burden.”

[...]

Critics also complained that non-white actors play the five key Na’vi roles. The man who rescues them, played by actor Sam Worthington, is white.

Wait, I think I’ve seen this movie already.

2. The sex

The Na’vi were designed with one thing in mind: To make new jerk-off material for fanboys everywhere. I spent most of the film waiting for Neytiri’s nipples to slip while she did acrobatics in her beaded belly-top vest — seemingly the perfect battle armor.

Allegedly, the Na’vi pork each other by entwining their sexy tails together. Of course, since that’s also how they tame animals, I’m led to believe that the Na’vi spend most of their time running around and fucking forest creatures.

I can’t find the clip online, but if you’ve seen this movie, I dare you to argue that Jake Sully doesn’t brutally rape that Banshee (A.K.A dragon).  He attacks it, ties it down, and forces his tail-genitals on its tail genitals until it becomes motionless and subdued. Then he says “You’re mine now.”

I’m not the only person to reach this conclusion. In fact, there’s already a term for it on Urban Dictionary: Braid-Rape.

And since all of nature is like this networked computer or something, I guess that means they’re cybering?

Since the film kept things under wraps to maintain a reasonable rating, you can expect the “good stuff” on the DVD. Here’s an excerpt of what to expect from the A.V. Club:

Neytiri takes the end of her queue and raises it. Jake does the same, with trembling anticipation. The tendrils at the ends move with a life of their own, straining to be joined.

MACRO SHOT — The tendrils INTERTWINE with gentle undulations.

JAKE rocks with the direct contact between his nervous system and hers. The ultimate intimacy.

And that, my friends, is just the canonized porn. The Internet may very well collapse under all the fanfic this movie will spark.

3. The Clichés

It has all of them. Every single one. It has a war scene that starts out badass, but then goes slow motion as you see a montage of soliders getting slaughtered as one character looks around in dismay. This, of course, is set to sombre, native female vocals.

And at the end, the word AVATAR in papyrus flashes on the screen, just in case you forgot what movie you just donned ugly plastic sunglasses to watch.

4. The Universe building

Actually, I love universe building. But in this visually appealing, technologically impressive, shitfest of a movie, it will only prove make the world a worse place.

This universe is huge. I’m talking Star Wars huge. The possibilities for spin-off stories and characters are endless. If I’m curious about it, I can only imagine what the true Avatards are coming up with.

Do you know what this means? It means Avatar will never go away.

Ever.

Fuck.

If it doesn’t seem consensual, it probably isn’t

This may be the most horrifying story I’ve ever read. From Jezebel.com:

“Need a real aggressive man with no concern for women,” read an ad posted on Craigslist in early December. It included a photo of a woman from Wyoming. She did not post the ad. A week later, she was attacked.

According to police, a former boyfriend posted the ad on Craigslist, seeking someone to assault his ex-girlfriend. Jebidiah James Stipe, a Marine stationed at Twentynine Palms, California, wrote the ad on December 5th, pretending to be a woman looking to fulfill a rape fantasy. The victim saw that ad two days later, and contacted police, and Craigslist, and the ad was removed.

Unfortunately, two days was just enough time for Ty Oliver McDowell to see the ad and respond. Stipe and McDowell began a brief correspondence, with Stipe posting as his ex. McDowell told police that during an online chat, Stipe told him what “she” wanted: “humiliation, physical abuse, sexual abuse.” He also provided McDowell with her address. On December 11th, he broke into her house and attacked her, saying: “You want an aggressive man, bitch, I’ll show you aggressive.” Immediately after, she called 911 and reported the assault. Upon arrest, McDowell told detectives he thought he was fulfilling her fantasy, and was unaware that he had raped anyone.

I don’t think anyone will argue that Jebidiah James Stipe is reprehensible scumbag whose actions would make any decent human being’s skin crawl. But what about ol’  Ty “Oops, I thought she was into it” McDowell.  Sorry, but I don’t buy it.

Consent is always key. Consenting adults can do whatever they want to each other for all I care, whether it’s pegging in Pikachu costumes, or engaging fantasy rape scenarios. But consent for something so obviously problematic requires more than seeing a Craigslist post and exchanging a couple e-mails. I certainly don’t know what was going on in McDowell’s mind, but you’d have either be extremely stupid or willfully ignorant to not be skeptical of this situation.  I’m leaning towards the latter.

“Hello there, total stranger. Please break into my most-likely locked home and assault me. We don’t need to meet-up first. I’ll act like I don’t know you, and we won’t discuss it afterward. Safeword not necessary.”

Nothing about this sent off alarms? Not once was he like, “Hey, maybe this isn’t what it seems?”

When the law is unclear on any subject, the courts must always consiser: “What would a reasonable person do in this circumstance?” A reasonable person would not have answered that ad. I hope both of these men are made an example of.

What’s in a name?

OK, OK so Girl Comics is kind of a sucky name. It sounds like the book will be filled with My Little Pony references and pink text. It implies that it’s  “about” girls, instead “by” them. It may scare away potential male consumers (idiotic ones, anyway). And really, if anything, it should be “Women.”

But really, who cares? It’s going to be awesome.

From editor Jeanine Schaefer in an interview at The Beat:

“It’s actually comics BY women—and I mean, top to bottom: written, penciled, inked, colored, lettered. The logo is by a woman, all the interior design, production, proof-reading and editing is all by women.

Although some creators have gravitated towards their favorite female super hero, it’s not specifically focused on our female characters, and I’m not trying to generate content that I think will appeal to more women. I don’t want to give away all the stories, but we’re really running the gamut of Marvel characters, from Punisher to the FF to Mary Jane. We’re making great comics by great women, period—when given the opportunity to create a story about whatever they wanted, the pitches I got back from everyone have been hugely diverse in tone and characters.

That said, I definitely think women and girls will pick this up but not because we’ve hit upon the combination that will make all women like comics. I’m hoping it’ll be encouraging to see so many women who are making their livings in comics, that the idea will be reinforced that comics can be (and already are) as much for them as they are for men.”

This is the coolest thing Marvel’s done in a really long time. Nevermind cramming as many scantily clad superheroines into one series as possible. Women don’t only want to read about women.

Instead, this compilation showcases real female role-models: women who do amazing work in a male-dominated field.

Contributors include Kathryn Immonen, Marjorie Liu, Devin Grayson, Ann Nocenti, Trina Robbins, G. Willow Wilson, Stephanie Buscema, Amanda Conner, Jill Thompson, Louise Simonson, Valerie D’Orazio, Colleen Coover, Molly Crabapple, Nikki Cook, Ming Doyle, Abby Denson, and Carla Speed McNeil. The book is edited by Jeanine Schaefer, and we’re happy to debut the cover of the first issue, by Amanda Conner, colored by Laura Martin.

The first issue is planned for March to tie in with Women’s History Month — 2010 is both the 30th anniversary of the founding of the National Women’s History Project AND the first appearance of She-Hulk.

Sextual activity is not the real issue

I was recently interviewed by Pam Frampton for a column in the Telegram, Newfoundland and Labrador’s daily newspaper, about sexting — the so-called phenomenon that’s been making headlines since a recent report revealed its prevalence amongst young people.

Sexting is the practice of texting or otherwise transmitting sexually explicit conversations or nude or sexually evocative photographs.

[...]

A poll conducted in the United States by The Associated Press (AP) and MTV in September found that more than one-quarter of the roughly 1,250 teenagers and adults ages 14-24 who were surveyed said they sexted, either using cellphones or online, usually to a romantic partner.

My well-documented long-distance relationship means I’m familiar with the world of virtual sex. So I lent Frampton my perspective.  She integrated my quotes professionally and totally within context.

Sheena Goodyear, 24, who is originally from this province but now lives on the mainland, says sexting is great for keeping a relationship fun and exciting, particularly in her case, because her boyfriend lives in another province. She believes in talking frankly about sexual matters, but also urges caution and common sense.

“I’ve never sexted in the ‘sending naked pictures’ sense of the word, and I wouldn’t,” she writes.

“My boyfriend lives in another province, so we have to use technology to maintain a healthy sex life outside of our regular visits. Mostly, that involves phone sex, or sex via instant messaging. But with so much distance between us, it’s easy to run out of things to say, so we also spice things up with some salacious text messages. And on occasion, we take it to the webcam.

“The technological realm is not that different from the real world. It’s just another medium through which we communicate. Obviously, people have relationships in real life, so they’re going to have them online, too. People have sex in real life, so they’re going to take that aspect of themselves and explore it virtually. People have always written sexually charged letters to their lovers. And phone sex is certainly not a new phenomenon. Sexting is just that, but adapted to new mediums. It’s not as terribly shocking as some folks are making it out to be.

“That said, just like how you need to make responsible decisions about sex in real life, you need to be equally responsible about online sex or sexting. For one, cover your tracks. Texting a naked picture or sending a sexual e-mail could come back to haunt you.

“And if you’re underage, you need to be especially careful. There’s no guarantee the boy or girl you’re sending this stuff to won’t turn around and send it to all your peers or post it online for everyone — including your parents — to see. It’s no secret that teenagers are mean. Also, if you’re underage, those pictures are problematic from a legal perspective. In the digital era, there’s an infinite collective memory. Exercise extreme caution, kids!”

Nevertheless, I’m concerned about one of the column’s messages, which comes across as a cautionary tale:

In Cincinnati in 2008, an 18-year-old girl hanged herself after she was ridiculed at school. She had sent her boyfriend a nude photo of herself, which he sent to other girls after they broke up.

These stories are extreme examples of the tragic ramifications sexting can have.

Did this girl make a decision she came to regret? Of course. But she did not do anything wrong, and her actions are certainly not to blame for the tragedy that ensued.

It’s easy to blame the dangers of technology, but this is actually a very old story. It just played out in a new medium. Hope Witsell explored her burgeoning sexuality with a boy whom, as it turns out, she couldn’t trust, and for this perfectly natural act, garnered scorn from her peers.

And how did school administrators respond when Hope’s peers harassed her and called her a whore? They suspended Hope from school.

Instead of punishing her peers for their anti-woman bullying, they punished her for engaging in a sex act. Then, her parents grounded her.

This story reeks of sexism from the high-schoolers, the boyfriend, and most of all, the adults in Hope’s life.

A blog post at Sylvia Has A Problem sums it up nicely, when she describes the “slut-shaming, woman-hating, sex-hating culture that divides young women into ‘good’ (virginal) and ‘bad’ (fallen) and allowed a 13-year-old girl to believe that she had ruined her life forever by showing a boy her tits.”

It wasn’t because she made a momentary, impulsive expression of her barely-adolescent sexuality (or gave in to peer pressure from boys who felt that her body was public domain; if the latter, that is just another horrible thing to add to this horrible thing, but either way it was not because she took a picture of her boobs). It wasn’t because of a media-manufactured techno-trend. It wasn’t the internet. It was not that, as this putrid “news” article disgustingly asserts, “The downward spiral of Hope’s life was unstoppable.”

[Note: She is not referring to the Telegram article.]

If everyone I know who had a picture of their boobs on the internet before their 18th birthday killed themselves, I’d have a lot of dead friends. I wouldn’t be around to remember them, though, since I’d be dead too.

It wasn’t SEXTING.

It was you, adults, all the adults in her life. The high school assholes too, but they’re in high school. You’re adults. She was thirteen years old and she was driven to her grave for nothing and there was nothing inevitable about this.

Frampton, however, concludes her column with sound advice and an intelligent overall message: Talk to your kids.

Responsible sexting between consenting, committed adults who value each other’s privacy can be harmless.

But given how easy technology makes it to reach out and touch someone these days, it’s worth remembering that it’s equally easy to reach out and ruin someone’s life.

And that’s worth talking to your kids about. Face to face.

Kant via comics

Long before I was a comic book nerd, I was straight-up English Lit nerd. While majoring in English at Memorial University of Newfoundland and studying romantic poetry, I fell totally in love with Immanuel Kant’s philosophy of aesthetics. Specifically, I fell in love with the notion of the sublime, because it was the best explanation I had ever heard for the chilling beauty of where I grew up — Labrador.

“In the dynamical sublime there is the sense of annihilation of the sensible self as the imagination tries to comprehend a vast might. This power of nature threatens us but through the resistance of reason to such sensible annihilation, the subject feels a pleasure and a sense of the human moral vocation.” — Wikipedia

Complicated? Well, today I found a video that combines my loves so perfectly. Pop-culture guru Douglas Wolk explains Kant’s aesthetic philosophy in 15 minutes in the context of comic books.

[No matter how hard I try, I can't embed this damned video. Click here to view it. And fuck you, WordPress.]

(via i09)

Boobs 2: Electric Boogaloo

And in for my second boob-related post, I present to you:

2. Some girl I don’t know’s boobs (hidden behind a link due to possible not-safe-for-work-ness)

If you can’t click, it’s a picture of male hands, wearing all 8 Blackest Night promotional rings, holding up some girl’s breasts. It’s posted on Bleedingcool.com and its purpose is promotional. Originally, it hails from Larry’s Comics.

The picture itself doesn’t bother me. I like rings, I like Blackest Night and I like boobs. (Though it would have been a hundred times better if she was wearing the rings herself and holding her own breasts).

No, the bothersome thing is Larry of Larry’s Comics’ response to one reader’s complaint.

The comment:

::facepalm::

Between this and his tweet about hoping for “hot lesbian action” in the latest iteration of ‘Tec…

You stay classy Larry.

Larry’s rebuttal (my emphasis):

Interwebs are the best,
somebodys wrong on em, you can snipe away.

Ran a fun promo in the shop. Got some creative pics. Figured this one was Rich’s speed.

I know its sophmoric, and the problem with the industry today.
I know its insulting to women in some way, and the reason they are not flocking to comic shops.
I know, I’m the shop owner that hurts the industry. Whatever..

Customers got a kick out of the promo, got creative and had fun. I sold a shitload of product. That’s all I really give a rats ass about.

Always Classy…you anonymous fuck!

And this attitude, my friends, is why it’s hard to find a decent comic shop to call home.

Written World puts it best:

“Men like this are actively investing in making their own little “No Girls Allowed” spaces with their childhood toys. This isn’t even just a guy who didn’t stop to think before he crossed a line. This is a boy drawing a line in the sand and trying to disgust the girls.”

And might I add that anyone who talks about moving product without a hint of irony  is an automatic douche.

And Larry, I’m not anonymous.

Boobs

In keeping with the women in comics theme I sometimes have going here, it’s time to comment on two related stories making their ’rounds in the ol’ tubes. And they are both about boobs.

1. Powergirl’s boobs

So, in JSA 8–Page Giant #1by Jen Van Meter, Powergirl defends her costume in an ultra-meta moment that reeks of “This is actually the author speaking.”

Folks were rightfully irked. Laura Hudson over at Comics Alliance put it this way:

“Do not lecture me when I’m in the middle of reading a superhero comic about why you think I’m reading it wrong. Or at the very least, write a scene well enough so I don’t feel like you’re lecturing me, because there are few things more disruptive to a narrative experience than watching the writer peek around the curtain and set up a teleprompter for the characters.”

But this story has a wonderful ending. Van Meter, instead of lashing out or hiding away, carefully considered the criticism and admitted her approach didn’t work.

From the comments section of a 4thletter post:

“A friend forwarded me links to your post and to a couple other blogs that have picked up on your comments, and I feel compelled to reply because you’re right — I failed in what I was trying to accomplish with the ‘Spin Cycle’ story, or, at the very least, I failed you and many of your respondents.”

It’s good to be reminded that writers are just people working for a living. Sometimes they try new things. Sometimes those things work. Sometimes they really don’t. And we all move on.

[Sidebar: While the explanation for the boob-hole doesn't belong on the comics page, I do think it holds water. Boob holes FTW!]