Posted: 22 September 2016 at 3:39am | IP Logged | 1
|
|
|
Back in the day, the likes of "Stan's Soapbox" was often the first page I turned to in a comic. He was so avuncular and friendly to the readers. He has that reputation as being like that - and I am sure it is well-deserved.
However, with all due respect to him and others, what if Stan Lee had had a forum like this one, with daily interactions, etc? Would there not have perhaps been a time where he might have been having a bad day or got into an argument with someone?
I've read a lot of complaints about comic creators, including our host, from forum users, Twitter users, Facebook users, etc. And yet I'm thinking, isn't it unfair to expect a creator to be 100% happy/polite all of the time? Blimey, I don't see eye-to-eye with my mother 100% of the time so I am bound to have disagreements with comic creators. And yet some fans use it as an excuse to say, "Look at him/her, look at how they interact with fans, look at their grumpiness, etc."
To err is human, eh?
I feel privileged to be on this forum. I also feel privileged to be able to have interactions on social media. Sometimes it's a brief answer to a question or an acknowledgement - late WWF wrestler Roddy Piper retweeted a tweet of mine once - but on this forum, we can interact with our host, we can read his thoughts, we can learn stuff, etc. And we do it for FREE. My god, as a kid, I'd have climbed Everest to have that constant interaction with certain comic creators.
At the same time, it's unrealistic, whether we're talking about comic writers/artists or sports stars, to expect someone to be 100% happy all of the time. Whether it's our host or anyone else, they are all humans. Some days, people can have a bad day, not feel like speaking, etc. And yet time and time again I find some internet users attacking certain people for not being perfect!
In 2016, we are privileged to be able to communicate instantly and daily with certain people, whether they are wrestlers, actors or comic professionals. And yet with a privilege like that, I think it's essential to remember that with daily/regular interaction comes the responsibility to remember that the person you are interacting with isn't perfect and won't necessarily be 100% happy-go-lucky all of the time. If a Stan Lee Forum had existed in the 1960s, I am sure he would have had occasional arguments/disagreements/bad days.
So, on a final note, when I hear things like "This person was grumpy this morning" or "He could have been a bit more humorous with me", I try to remind people that anyone, famous or not, is human. And if you can find a human being who is happy 24/7 and who you never disagree with, well good luck with that!
Any thoughts?
|