Who Says Superheroes Aren’t for Adults?

credit: The Watchmen

Feeling regret for something that one has done when it actively or even passively harmed others is all well and good since it might mean that a person had no idea what they were doing. But in this case, Alan Moore isn’t making a lot of sense (which feels like it’s par for the course) since he’s likening the adult reaction to comic books and their movies as a road to fascism. It feels safe to say that a lot of people have given a collective ‘Huh?’ and are justified in doing so. One also has to wonder if Moore is fully aware of what he’s saying and what allusion he’s making since, like it or not, people enjoy superheroes and their villains. They don’t necessarily follow them or wish to instill them as dictators that will run the lives of those around them. Not only is it a rather silly notion, especially since it takes a while to make it work, but it sounds like something that might be taken in the very wrong way by a large number of people. The fact is, adults love comic books for a few reasons, but one of them is simple: it allows us to feel like kids again. The fact that Moore wants to call this infantile and dangerous almost makes it feel as though Moore might have a few issues of his own to iron out before he starts calling out the fans that have helped to make his work and the work of so many others so incredibly popular. 

Calling out the fans in this manner is far more troubling than Moore’s fear of fascism. 

There’s no doubt that arguing on this point would make a lot of people irritable or even angry since Alan Moore is a big name in the world of comics, and it’s easy to think that a lot of fans wouldn’t want to question someone who’s done so much for the industry. However, this is the type of statement that might be made to incite a bigger argument (and possibly be a bid for more attention) or is something that is meant to be a distraction for something else. The latter doesn’t feel as though it’s the case, to be fair, but calling out adult fans for loving superheroes is an odd thing to do, especially when these fans have spent so much over the years and have helped to make folks like Alan so popular and, yes, so incredibly wealthy. The guy does have a net worth in the millions, so it’s a bit suspect when someone with this kind of scratch in his pocket starts calling their fans in this manner, especially since the same people he’s calling out are those who will continue to pay for the pleasure of reading the comics and watching the movies that have come from his work. 

How does loving superheroes lead to fascism again?

This still has yet to be fully explained in ways that those of us who have apparently been seeking the ‘good old days’ by enjoying comic book movies and comic books. In this manner, it would appear that Moore is of the mind that those of us who still enjoy the comics and the movies that are born from them don’t know how to live our lives as grown adults and are more likely to want someone to tell us what to think and how to live, thereby giving rise to fascism. The problem here is that a lot of people who enjoy such movies know very well where the line between reality and fantasy is drawn, and while it shifts continually as movies and comics continue to change (not grow up), people still remember how to think for themselves, as any website that is open for discussion would prove. So, Mr. Moore, fascism is not hiding behind the comics or the movies. It would appear that it’s about as real as a certain serpent god, at least in this case. 

credit: Swamp Thing

The fact that people agree with him is more frightening than the idea of fascism. 

I could say that these days it doesn’t take much more than an idea and a social media account to get people talking and get them to agree with something that another person says. But the fact is that it’s been this way for a long, long time, minus the social media portion of it, of course. Those who know how to seek influence and gain it are typically those who know how to say what people want to hear and how to hook them into listening just long enough to convince folks that this is in fact worthwhile idea. 

People are free to enjoy what they will. 

Like it or not, Alan Moore is a popular character and his words do carry a lot of weight thanks to the work he’s done and the fans he’s gained. But one has to wonder when the fans will decide they’ve had enough and see him as little more than someone who has, for some reason, seen fit to turn on those who have allowed his voice and his creations to be heard for so long.