vbartilucci
01-16-2008, 08:23 AM
(Cross-posted from Newsarama, in case Gail doesn't visit any time soon)
You know how sometimes you see a movie or read a story and some off to the side little detail just touches you, and for no damn reason affects you way more than it should?
There's this little moment in a Gail Simone/John Byrne Action story that depresses me every time I think about it.
Action 830. One of the best uses of Dr. Psycho in recent memory. And God willing he shows up in Wonder Woman at this level of sick powerful.
But there's this one bit. On the plane in the beginning of the book, Psycho uses his powers on everyone on the plane, just because they're annoying him. He takes a little annoying kid and shuts down his emotion centers, making him "incapable of showing love" to his mother. That's a mad sick act, and just hammered home how sociopathic this little gnome is. It's one of those perfect little character moments that tells you in one moment exactly what this character is and what he is capable of. It's "Do you feel lucky?" level good.
I can't get that kid outta my head. It's been YEARS and I can't forget about him.
My daughter's autistic (specifically Asperger's Syndrome). She's quite high functioning, and doing very well, but I've seen kids in her therapy sessions basically in the same place that that kid is in now. That bit of personal experience, along with my basic resistance to seeing innocent kids placed in danger in fiction (not to mention actually HAVING dangerous thing happen to them) just kicks me in the gut about that kid. I'm tearing up right now as I write this. My wife is even more sensitive to that stuff than me; she would have actually started bawling if she read the issue.
Two important things to note:
1) You are blameless in this situation, and this is not a "complaint". This is TOTALLY me assigning far too much importance and emotion to a little offhanded scene in a comic book. You are not responsible for my reaction, and you are not required to think through everything you write to make sure that it won't piss someone off or make someone sad.
2) This is testament to your kick-assness as a writer that such a little throwaway bit can engender such a reaction. You make characters good enough that a reader can really care or worry about them. That's a great power, and we know what that brings...
But do me a favor. Tell me it wore off. Maybe after Psycho gets knocked out or moves too far away, all of the compulsions and changes he planted in people fade, like Mr. Mxyzptlk's magic when he says his name backwards. Throw me a coda.
Thanks.
----------------
On a lighter note, has anyone else had something like this? Some little throwaway bit in a book just grabbing at you like a fishhook in your eyeball?
You know how sometimes you see a movie or read a story and some off to the side little detail just touches you, and for no damn reason affects you way more than it should?
There's this little moment in a Gail Simone/John Byrne Action story that depresses me every time I think about it.
Action 830. One of the best uses of Dr. Psycho in recent memory. And God willing he shows up in Wonder Woman at this level of sick powerful.
But there's this one bit. On the plane in the beginning of the book, Psycho uses his powers on everyone on the plane, just because they're annoying him. He takes a little annoying kid and shuts down his emotion centers, making him "incapable of showing love" to his mother. That's a mad sick act, and just hammered home how sociopathic this little gnome is. It's one of those perfect little character moments that tells you in one moment exactly what this character is and what he is capable of. It's "Do you feel lucky?" level good.
I can't get that kid outta my head. It's been YEARS and I can't forget about him.
My daughter's autistic (specifically Asperger's Syndrome). She's quite high functioning, and doing very well, but I've seen kids in her therapy sessions basically in the same place that that kid is in now. That bit of personal experience, along with my basic resistance to seeing innocent kids placed in danger in fiction (not to mention actually HAVING dangerous thing happen to them) just kicks me in the gut about that kid. I'm tearing up right now as I write this. My wife is even more sensitive to that stuff than me; she would have actually started bawling if she read the issue.
Two important things to note:
1) You are blameless in this situation, and this is not a "complaint". This is TOTALLY me assigning far too much importance and emotion to a little offhanded scene in a comic book. You are not responsible for my reaction, and you are not required to think through everything you write to make sure that it won't piss someone off or make someone sad.
2) This is testament to your kick-assness as a writer that such a little throwaway bit can engender such a reaction. You make characters good enough that a reader can really care or worry about them. That's a great power, and we know what that brings...
But do me a favor. Tell me it wore off. Maybe after Psycho gets knocked out or moves too far away, all of the compulsions and changes he planted in people fade, like Mr. Mxyzptlk's magic when he says his name backwards. Throw me a coda.
Thanks.
----------------
On a lighter note, has anyone else had something like this? Some little throwaway bit in a book just grabbing at you like a fishhook in your eyeball?