A whole lotta thoughts

[Olivier (M&D)]

Hello everyone!


>>>> I very much hope that the [Gottfredson] Library is in color
>>>> instead of black and white. 

With the focus on the alterations, and my own admiration of  the E.C. Archives' coloring, I had not even considered this angle.
Firstly, Gemstone has a great staff of  colorists, so there is nothing to worry about if  it's colored.
Secondly, I'm not sure; it's true that the original art is better appreciated in b&w; but then, you could argue that zip-a-things (what's the name exactly? zip-a-tone? I don't remember) were used to add shades of  gray, which is coloring too.
Or maybe an altered color Library first, then an unaltered b&w Library just for us.   :D



>>>> It seems to me though that while these strips contained awful stereotypes
>>>> and racism, that "many* forms of entertainment (other strips, cartoons, movies)
>>>> at this contained similar awful things.  So perhaps the saddest part of this
>>>> is that these Gottfredson strips were the norm instead of the exception... :(  

It is, and others were certainly much worse and some truly racist.
I have been reading a few things related to this subject lately.

First, I re-read David's note in the "Disney Treasures" book, which I mentionned previously. It was an excellent introduction.

Two nights ago, I read again "The Sacred Jewel" (1934), which is set in Stumbool (geography buffs will remember that's in Umbrellastan); many of  the Turks/Arabs are actually African stereotypes, essentially in a graphic manner; actually, the locals are in Oriental garb, but the they are all "black" characters.
The dialogue, however, is an interesting mix: convoluted sentences convey a stereotypical obsequiousness, which sometimes is but fork-tongued, as the following sentence is actually not-so friendly; on top of this, the whole is phrased in mangled pseudo-Elizabethan English ("wouldst", "thou", "hast", ...), which makes for very odd dialogue (and adds to the artificiality and superficiality of  the polite phrasings, or just a touch of recurring humor).
The thing is, even though the  names and architecture hint at a region, it is only for the sake of exoticism, and you could hardly say it aims to point at a specific place with a very specific intention in mind, especially with this Arabo-Africano-Elizabethan mix. You can always discuss those stereotypes, and the use of  a name that is very close to that of  an actual city, but the latter is not a target.

Here are a few samples of  dialogue from the story...

-   (October 20, 1934)
(Emissary 1)   "A thousand pardons, noble Captain, we are as dust at thy feet but it seemeth strange that a vessel should try to deliver a box across the sea by remaining at the warf!"
(Emissary 2)   "Of course, the magnificent Captain can explain this, even unto such stupid fools as we!"

-   (October 22, 1934)
(Emissaries 1 & 2, in unison)   "We have conferred and reached to a decision! Doubt, we have none, of the honorable Captain's story and our faith in his noble character never falters! But--!!"
(continues)   "-- He lies like a snake!"

-   (November 12, 1934)
(innkeeper)   "Somet'ing we canst do for help our extreme noble visitors-- No?"
(same)   "Ah! Those extreme noble gentlemen! Indeed, they wilt become over-happy to receive thy party! First left door on gallery-- just enter, and thou wilt be welcomed!"


>>>> Does anyone wonder what will be censored in the future? 

Outside of  comics, TV shows are often in the line of  fire, leading to explanations and changes.
"24", for instance, was criticized for depicting Arabo-Americans as terrorists only.



>>>> I think it would be very naive to think that stories produced today
>>>> will not have items in them that 50 or 100 years down the line
>>>> will be considered unacceptable.  So if I live into my 90s,
>>>> perhaps I will see Disney comics produced in the 1980's that will
>>>> be edited due to content!

Let's resume this discussion in fifty years!
(We already have a message waiting for us in 2016.)



>>>> The two monthly titles now have 64 pages each
>>>> (for a total of 128) and cost together about 16 dollars.
>>>> The soon to be released Walt Disney Treasures TPB
>>>> costs 17 dollars and has 160 pages.  So how about
>>>> having a monthly TPB of say 192 pages (3 prestige title pages
>>>> combined) for say about 20 dollars?

The logic is economically sound and appealing, but the idea of  no longer having WDC&S and US is distressing, though you could still call that TPB "WDC&S".



>>>> That is all for now even though I have many more thoughts.
>>>> I will save some of these for another issue of the ML as I do not
>>>> want drive ML members *too* crazy with my views and ideas! :)

With few people actually writing, it's nice to have some relatively long messages.


Have a nice week!



Olivier
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