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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Gary:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>>>> It's fine that you didn't like the story - by the sound of you
pretty much</DIV>
<DIV>>>> loathed it - but am I to understand that you've never read
other stories</DIV>
<DIV>>>> where Daisy has bullied Donald and beaten him silly over some
real</DIV>
<DIV>>>> or imagined slight? </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Daisy can certainly be tempermental; what I find
objectionable in this particular story is the fact that to exorcize Daisy at the
end, Donald beats her very violently-- we clearly see him punch her twice in the
face, then take her by the feet to smash her (head) repeatedly on the
ground.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>That is what shocked me-- and, as I said, I'm not
prudish either; I love horror comics (E.C., Eerie, ...) and have no problem
with the violence in a animated features.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The problem here is the character being beaten is
Daisy (albeit possessed)-- a female character.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Seeing Donald chase the nephews with a stick to
punish them (rightfully so or not) is not exactly a pleasant idea either, but
it's rarely actually shown, and usually the punchline of a story (with sometimes
even Donald being pursued at the same time, as is the case at the end of a
drama club story by Barks-- the one with Sir Potkettle if I remember
correctly).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Here, we see Donald beat Daisy to what would be
pulp normally.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>And it's not funny.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>In spite of the dialogue, there's no tragic
sense of "sorry, but there's no other solution" (unlike <EM>The Evil
Dead</EM>, where you can feel for Ash, who must fight, maim and destroy his
friends and his girlfriend).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dr Wertham would have found his job already done
for him with this story; he might even have said that the ending shows beating
Daisy was not enough; even her true self is violent at the end, rather
than thankful. He would have concluded she (and women, through her) was depicted
as evil, and/or that Donald had not beaten her enough (a woman needs a good
beating).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This is certainly not what I think the authors
meant, mind you.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>My problem is with Donald beating her up
so.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'm sorry if my criticism sounded harsh
(towards the authors and Gemstone). If it were not for this climactic
beating, the story would be okay; but I can't find any justification for one
character so graphically beating up a female character (or children if
that had been the case) in a Disney comic.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Olivier</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>