Comic Book Will "Marry Superheroes"

[edwest2]

I find that hard to believe considering the amount of press this is getting.

Peace,
Ed

 

[edwest2]

Is artistic expression allowed to exclude any dimension of a moral code. What would Aquinas think of such?

Isn’t that where we are today when artists can smear Christ with urine and call it artistic expression?

What have catholic historians written on artist expression?

I read another thread on Green Lantern but really don’t read comic books but love comic heroes and would love for the kids I am around to really love them too but have declined any interest in showing them these comic heroes because of all the controversy around them. I’d been the first out there to buy the Lego and Happy meals but I totally avoid them and I am sure I am not alone in parenting this way.

Good for you.

And since I know people in the comic book business, they have, at least in the past, served their audiences and exhibited common decency. Now, they have a choice, they can tell anybody who disagrees with their ideologies and propaganda that “we” don’t need people like “you,” or they can listen to everybody and find out what they want, which is what every business that wants to stay in business does. If ideology boils down to “we don’t care what you think,” that’s fine too. I just won’t be buying comics.

I encourage all Catholic parents to avoid the Happy Meals toys and the Legos as well. Other toys not involved in all this propaganda are just fine.

Peace,
Ed

 

[edwest2]

I think we have a classical or traditional aesthetic of artistic beauty that clashes with a modern or post-modern one. Not much we can do about it except try to promote the former and point out the defects of the latter.

I don’t think this has anything to do with artistic beauty. This is about promoting the gay marriage is good agenda. I’ve since abandoned calling anything modern or post-modern. Defects is too polite a word.

If you read any good book about art and illustration, there are rules. Good rules that not only guide but help inform the conscience of the reader either explicitly or implicitly. Give me a Marvel or DC title prior to 1968.

Peace,
Ed

 

[Crescentinus]

That’s not the first time I’ve heard of something like that – in Japan, back in '88, Studio Ghibli did a double feature of Grave of the Fireflies (a grim war drama about two children trying to survive in the wake of the March, 1945 firebombing of Tokyo) and My Neighbor Totoro (a innoffensive piece of light children’s fantasy), played in that order.

Apparently, the director of Grave had intended the movie to be very much a “take that” and a “you suck” to the teenagers of the time, who were propelling Japan into two decades of relative juvenile disorder, and Grave was meant to shame them by showing them what their parents and grandparents had had to endure so they could live their carefree lives. Totoro, I can only assume, was put at the end to help lighten the mood somewhat (and because when the double feature was shown with a reversed billing, audiences would leave after Totoro).

I just wish that such a thing can also be done to the West.
When it comes to Western anti-war films, I’ve seen “Avatar” which is a proselytizing piece of propaganda nonsense! It doesn’t show what war is like! It only shows relativism in a good light.
And last time I checked, “Grave of the Fireflies” is not anti-war.

 

[edwest2]

I was just reading an entry on Jim Shooter’s blog (which looks like it’s on hiatus) in which he was talking about the explosion of sex in comics. (I was debating posting the link to the article here, but I won’t, as it does include suggestive panels he was using to illustrate his point. The blog as a whole is at www.jimshooter.com) Shooter is not against sex in comics per se, but he is against explotative or gratuitous sex in comics. If there is a reason for there to be a sex scene, if it truly is integral to the story that the writer wants to tell, if it is appropriate to the age group that the story is targeted to and if it is tastefully done (i.e. not just there to get porn into the comic), his point is it shouldn’t be a problem.

He argued, though, that many writers don’t take those points into consideration. A BIG case in point was a two-issue arc in Action Comics in the '80s, where John Byrne has Superman and Big Barda kidnapped by an exterrestrial porn producer to make a X-rated film and I am not making this up. And, yes, it got published. Shooter straight-up said that if Byrne had pulled that while they both were at Marvel, he would have shot the story down in flames, superstar artist or no.

I’d say the same goes for gays in comics. If there is a real reason in the story the character has to be acknowledged explicitly as gay, then by all means include that character. If it is only for shock value, or to have a token homosexual or as a publicity stunt, or anything that is NOT dictated by a story-driven reason, then why bother? Writers don’t usually make much mention of a character’s heterosexuality unless he or she is in a romantic relationship, after all. In most cases, it’s immaterial.

While I was in college in the 1970s, I met the fine artists and regular artists - meaning people who were learning how to draw real things as opposed to just throwing paint against the canvas. I was also talking to writers and you know what? All that talk about “necessary for the story” was just plain false. Either they were lying to themselves or everybody else, because when they got their “so-called freedom” in the 1970s to explore those things, the level of abuse was instantaneous. Yeah, we’ll have comics where the attractive girl’s blouse gets torn off, exposing her bra, “for the sake of the story.”

“Tastefully done” was another lie. Recently, I saw a reference to a very popular comic book series from the early 1970s, and all I can say is that a few people were boiling mad because Marvel had decided to not show a particular female character’s butt a certain way. Ever heard of a slip? It was worn under a dress or skirt so as not to show a young lady’s behind “in a certain way.”

“Appropriate to the age group” is another lie. If it’s a sin when you’re a kid then it’s still a sin when you’re an adult. The fiction was spread that once people reached a certain age, it was no longer a problem. Let me just state here: that is 100% wrong.

The “MATURE” label is complete fiction. All it means is: we’ve got some bare boobies in here and maybe some bare butts. Once again, a mature mind is one that does not say, “I’m an adult now and I can see whatever I want.” If you’re Catholic, that’s just not going to fly.

As a professional editor and published writer, I’ve seen a ton of SF and Fantasy manuscripts, and whenever we get a good manuscript and the writer wants to make the story “modern” by adding cussing and swearing, I mark every word with my yellow highlighter. The company I work for is family friendly and it’s going to stay that way.

Ever hear of the blacksploitation movies of the past? It was about pimps and bare boobs and butts.

I’ve been involved in crafting stories for a while, advising young writers and discussing this subject with others. There is no reason to make sexuality a part of the story - none. Sure, you can have beautiful women that are whole persons. Sure you can have the guy kiss the girl. But comics, even those produced today, are all aimed at the young.

About the recent Free Comic Book Day:

“Publishers are wisely targeting young readers more with each new FCBD,” Gerry Gladston, co-owner of Manhattan’s Midtown Comics, told TODAY.com. He called it “a great idea” that “helps foster a comic reading habit among young people.”

Another falsehood. I never bought a comic book or magazine out of habit. I bought it and read it and thought to myself, “Wow. That was a great story.” The books that didn’t appeal to me in the late 1960s, I just didn’t buy them. And if I bought a comic that looked good but had a bad or boring story, I’d just stop buying it. I still have a few comics that I bought just because I thought I’d like them but really didn’t when I finished reading them.

So - to all comic book publishers. Face it. Comics are mostly for kids. Adults don’t get a free pass on sin just because they’re 18 or 21.

Peace,
Ed

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

Ed,

You continually befuddle me.

I would like to clarify a few things,

1. Is it or is it not your contention that sinful activity should not be portrayed in literature and media?
2. Is it or is it not your contention that, for Catholics, a piece of literature or media is either appropriate or not, and that maturity has no bearing whatsoever on determining whether a piece of literature or media is appropriate for consumption?
3. Will you or will you not apologize for prematurely and erroneously judging the film “Brave”?

 

[edwest2]

Ed,

You continually befuddle me.

I would like to clarify a few things,

1. Is it or is it not your contention that sinful activity should not be portrayed in literature and media?
2. Is it or is it not your contention that, for Catholics, a piece of literature or media is either appropriate or not, and that maturity has no bearing whatsoever on determining whether a piece of literature or media is appropriate for consumption?
3. Will you or will you not apologize for prematurely and erroneously judging the film “Brave”?

Sure.

1.)

vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_29061936_vigilanti-cura_en.html

2.)

Maturity is only limited to the education or understanding of the reader or viewer. You don’t give a kid in First Grade a textbook meant for those in the 12th Grade. And you don’t ask kids to help resolve problems in real life since they have no real world experience or comprehension of many things due to their lack of knowledge, and inability to take on responsibilities that are beyond their current capabilities.

You’ll have to provide a few examples of what you mean by maturity as it relates to Catholics regarding certain media. For example, buying porn or certain magazines that focus primarily on lewd portrayals of women are right out, But then there’s the latest issue of Women’s Health which has the words “Ultimate Orgasms” on the cover which refers to a “how-to” article in the issue. Or Cosmopolitan’s regular cover announcements of 101 “new” sex secrets, as if human beings prior to Cosmo had no clue.

I used to respect literature. In the past, I was encouraged to read Classical Literature. Can you give any examples of current literature that you consider worthwhile reading for Catholics?
Brave is a separate subject. I am not an official critic and my impressions were indeed my impressions. I’ll just say that I’m tired of let’s defy “authority” stories where acting like a little adult who is smarter than the actual adults, who, by the way, in the case of the men, were presented as buffoons, or clowns, as one newspaper reviewer wrote, is presented.

If I offended you, I’m sorry. However, little kids are often influenced by their peers, or age group, even in a cartoon. I couldn’t tell how old the little girl was - maybe 13, or 15 tops.

Peace,
Ed

 

[edwest2]

To further clarify on 2:

The Hays Code or Motion Picture Production Code

General Principles

1. No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin.
2. Correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama and entertainment, shall be presented.
3. Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be created for its violation.

Particular Applications

I. Crimes Against the Law
These shall never be presented in such a way as to throw sympathy with the crime as against law and justice or to inspire others with a desire for imitation.

1. Murder

a. The technique of murder must be presented in a way that will not inspire imitation.

b. Brutal killings are not to be presented in detail.

c. Revenge in modern times shall not be justified.

1. Methods of Crime should not be explicitly presented.

a. Theft, robbery, safe-cracking, and dynamiting of trains, mines, buildings, etc., should not be detailed in method.

b. Arson must subject to the same safeguards.

c. The use of firearms should be restricted to the essentials.

d. Methods of smuggling should not be presented.

1. Illegal drug traffic must never be presented.
2. The use of liquor in American life, when not required by the plot or for proper characterization, will not be shown.

II. Sex
The sanctity of the institution of marriage and the home shall be upheld. Pictures shall not infer that low forms of sex relationship are the accepted or common thing.

1. Adultery, sometimes necessary plot material, must not be explicitly treated, or justified, or presented attractively.
2. Scenes of Passion

a. They should not be introduced when not essential to the plot.

b. Excessive and lustful kissing, lustful embraces, suggestive postures and gestures, are not to be shown.

c. In general passion should so be treated that these scenes do not stimulate the lower and baser element.

1. Seduction or Rape

a. They should never be more than suggested, and only when essential for the plot, and even then never shown by explicit method.

b. They are never the proper subject for comedy.

1. Sex perversion or any inference to it is forbidden.
2. White slavery shall not be treated.
3. Miscegenation (sex relationships between the white and black races) is forbidden.
4. Sex hygiene and venereal diseases are not subjects for motion pictures.
5. Scenes of actual child birth, in fact or in silhouette, are never to be presented.
6. Children’s sex organs are never to be exposed.

III. Vulgarity
The treatment of low, disgusting, unpleasant, though not necessarily evil, subjects should always be subject to the dictates of good taste and a regard for the sensibilities of the audience.

IV. Obscenity
Obscenity in word, gesture, reference, song, joke, or by suggestion (even when likely to be understood only by part of the audience) is forbidden.

V. Profanity
Pointed profanity (this includes the words, God, Lord, Jesus, Christ - unless used reverently - Hell, S.O.B., damn, Gawd), or every other profane or vulgar expression however used, is forbidden.

VI. Costume

1. Complete nudity is never permitted. This includes nudity in fact or in silhouette, or any lecherous or licentious notice thereof by other characters in the picture.
2. Undressing scenes should be avoided, and never used save where essential to the plot.
3. Indecent or undue exposure is forbidden.
4. Dancing or costumes intended to permit undue exposure or indecent movements in the dance are forbidden.

VII. Dances

1. Dances suggesting or representing sexual actions or indecent passions are forbidden.
2. Dances which emphasize indecent movements are to be regarded as obscene.

VIII. Religion

1. No film or episode may throw ridicule on any religious faith.
2. Ministers of religion in their character as ministers of religion should not be used as comic characters or as villains.
3. Ceremonies of any definite religion should be carefully and respectfully handled.

IX. Locations
The treatment of bedrooms must be governed by good taste and delicacy.

X. National Feelings

1. The use of the Flag shall be consistently respectful.
2. The history, institutions, prominent people and citizenry of other nations shall be represented fairly.

XI. Titles
Salacious, indecent, or obscene titles shall not be used.

XII. Repellent Subjects
The following subjects must be treated within the careful limits of good taste:

1. Actual hangings or electrocutions as legal punishments for crime.
2. Third degree methods.
3. Brutality and possible gruesomeness.
4. Branding of people or animals.
5. Apparent cruelty to children or animals.
6. The sale of women, or a woman selling her virtue.
7. Surgical operations.

Reasons Supporting the Preamble of the Code

I. Theatrical motion pictures, that is, pictures intended for the theatre as distinct from pictures intended for churches, schools, lecture halls, educational movements, social reform movements, etc., are primarily to be regarded as ENTERTAINMENT.

Mankind has always recognized the importance of entertainment and its value in rebuilding the bodies and souls of human beings.

But it has always recognized that entertainment can be a character either HELPFUL or HARMFUL to the human race, and in consequence has clearly distinguished between:

a. Entertainment which tends to improve the race, or at least to re-create and rebuild human beings exhausted with the realities of life; and

b. Entertainment which tends to degrade human beings, or to lower their standards of life and living.

Hence the MORAL IMPORTANCE of entertainment is something which has been universally recognized. It enters intimately into the lives of men and women and affects them closely; it occupies their minds and affections during leisure hours; and ultimately touches the whole of their lives. A man may be judged by his standard of entertainment as easily as by the standard of his work.

So correct entertainment raises the whole standard of a nation.

Wrong entertainment lowers the whole living conditions and moral ideals of a race.

Note, for example, the healthy reactions to healthful sports, like baseball, golf; the unhealthy reactions to sports like cockfighting, bullfighting, bear baiting, etc.

Note, too, the effect on ancient nations of gladiatorial combats, the obscene plays of Roman times, etc.

II. Motion pictures are very important as ART.

Though a new art, possibly a combination art, it has the same object as the other arts, the presentation of human thought, emotion, and experience, in terms of an appeal to the soul through the senses.

Here, as in entertainment,

Art enters intimately into the lives of human beings.

Art can be morally good, lifting men to higher levels. This has been done through good music, great painting, authentic fiction, poetry, drama.

General Principles

1. No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin.
2. Correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama and entertainment, shall be presented.
3. Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be created for its violation.

Particular Applications

I. Crimes Against the Law
These shall never be presented in such a way as to throw sympathy with the crime as against law and justice or to inspire others with a desire for imitation.

1. Murder

a. The technique of murder must be presented in a way that will not inspire imitation.

b. Brutal killings are not to be presented in detail.

c. Revenge in modern times shall not be justified.

1. Methods of Crime should not be explicitly presented.

a. Theft, robbery, safe-cracking, and dynamiting of trains, mines, buildings, etc., should not be detailed in method.

b. Arson must subject to the same safeguards.

c. The use of firearms should be restricted to the essentials.

d. Methods of smuggling should not be presented.

1. Illegal drug traffic must never be presented.
2. The use of liquor in American life, when not required by the plot or for proper characterization, will not be shown.

II. Sex
The sanctity of the institution of marriage and the home shall be upheld. Pictures shall not infer that low forms of sex relationship are the accepted or common thing.

1. Adultery, sometimes necessary plot material, must not be explicitly treated, or justified, or presented attractively.
2. Scenes of Passion

a. They should not be introduced when not essential to the plot.

b. Excessive and lustful kissing, lustful embraces, suggestive postures and gestures, are not to be shown.

c. In general passion should so be treated that these scenes do not stimulate the lower and baser element.

1. Seduction or Rape

a. They should never be more than suggested, and only when essential for the plot, and even then never shown by explicit method.

b. They are never the proper subject for comedy.

1. Sex perversion or any inference to it is forbidden.

 

[edwest2]

1. White slavery shall not be treated.
2. I strongly disagree. Miscegenation (sex relationships between the white and black races) is forbidden.
3. Sex hygiene and venereal diseases are not subjects for motion pictures.
4. Scenes of actual child birth, in fact or in silhouette, are never to be presented.
5. Children’s sex organs are never to be exposed.

III. Vulgarity
The treatment of low, disgusting, unpleasant, though not necessarily evil, subjects should always be subject to the dictates of good taste and a regard for the sensibilities of the audience.

IV. Obscenity
Obscenity in word, gesture, reference, song, joke, or by suggestion (even when likely to be understood only by part of the audience) is forbidden.

V. Profanity
Pointed profanity (this includes the words, God, Lord, Jesus, Christ - unless used reverently - Hell, S.O.B., damn, Gawd), or every other profane or vulgar expression however used, is forbidden.

VI. Costume

1. Complete nudity is never permitted. This includes nudity in fact or in silhouette, or any lecherous or licentious notice thereof by other characters in the picture.
2. Undressing scenes should be avoided, and never used save where essential to the plot.
3. Indecent or undue exposure is forbidden.
4. Dancing or costumes intended to permit undue exposure or indecent movements in the dance are forbidden.

VII. Dances

1. Dances suggesting or representing sexual actions or indecent passions are forbidden.
2. Dances which emphasize indecent movements are to be regarded as obscene.

VIII. Religion

1. No film or episode may throw ridicule on any religious faith.
2. Ministers of religion in their character as ministers of religion should not be used as comic characters or as villains.
3. Ceremonies of any definite religion should be carefully and respectfully handled.

IX. Locations
The treatment of bedrooms must be governed by good taste and delicacy.

X. National Feelings

1. The use of the Flag shall be consistently respectful.

 

[edwest2]

Reasons Underlying the General Principles

I. No picture shall be produced which will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrong-doing, evil or sin.

This is done:

1. When evil is made to appear attractive and alluring, and good is made to appear unattractive.
2. When the sympathy of the audience is thrown on the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil, sin. The same is true of a film that would thrown sympathy against goodness, honor, innocence, purity or honesty.

Note: Sympathy with a person who sins is not the same as sympathy with the sin or crime of which he is guilty. We may feel sorry for the plight of the murderer or even understand the circumstances which led him to his crime: we may not feel sympathy with the wrong which he has done. The presentation of evil is often essential for art or fiction or drama. This in itself is not wrong provided:

a. That evil is not presented alluringly. Even if later in the film the evil is condemned or punished, it must not be allowed to appear so attractive that the audience’s emotions are drawn to desire or approve so strongly that later the condemnation is forgotten and only the apparent joy of sin is remembered.

b. That throughout, the audience feels sure that evil is wrong and good is right.

II. Correct standards of life shall, as far as possible, be presented.

A wide knowledge of life and of living is made possible through the film. When right standards are consistently presented, the motion picture exercises the most powerful influences. It builds character, develops right ideals, inculcates correct principles, and all this in attractive story form.

If motion pictures consistently hold up for admiration high types of characters and present stories that will affect lives for the better, they can become the most powerful force for the improvement of mankind.

III. Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be created for its violation.

By natural law is understood the law which is written in the hearts of all mankind, the greater underlying principles of right and justice dictated by conscience.

By human law is understood the law written by civilized nations.

1. The presentation of crimes against the law is often necessary for the carrying out of the plot. But the presentation must not throw sympathy with the crime as against the law nor with the criminal as against those who punish him.
2. The courts of the land should not be presented as unjust. This does not mean that a single court may not be presented as unjust, much less that a single court official must not be presented this way. But the court system of the country must not suffer as a result of this presentation.

Reasons Underlying the Particular Applications

I. Sin and evil enter into the story of human beings and hence in themselves are valid dramatic material.

II. In the use of this material, it must be distinguished between sin which repels by it very nature, and sins which often attract.

a. In the first class come murder, most theft, many legal crimes, lying, hypocrisy, cruelty, etc.

b. In the second class come sex sins, sins and crimes of apparent heroism, such as banditry, daring thefts, leadership in evil, organized crime, revenge, etc.

The first class needs less care in treatment, as sins and crimes of this class are naturally unattractive. The audience instinctively condemns all such and is repelled.

Hence the important objective must be to avoid the hardening of the audience, especially of those who are young and impressionable, to the thought and fact of crime. People can become accustomed even to murder, cruelty, brutality, and repellent crimes, if these are too frequently repeated.

The second class needs great care in handling, as the response of human nature to their appeal is obvious. This is treated more fully below.

III. A careful distinction can be made between films intended for general distribution, and films intended for use in theatres restricted to a limited audience. Themes and plots quite appropriate for the latter would be altogether out of place and dangerous in the former.

Note: The practice of using a general theatre and limiting its patronage to “Adults Only” is not completely satisfactory and is only partially effective.

However, maturer minds may easily understand and accept without harm subject matter in plots which do younger people positive harm.

Hence: If there should be created a special type of theatre, catering exclusively to an adult audience, for plays of this character (plays with problem themes, difficult discussions and maturer treatment) it would seem to afford an outlet, which does not now exist, for pictures unsuitable for general distribution but permissible for exhibitions to a restricted audience.

I. Crimes Against the Law
The treatment of crimes against the law must not:

1. Teach methods of crime.
2. Inspire potential criminals with a desire for imitation.
3. Make criminals seem heroic and justified.

Revenge in modern times shall not be justified. In lands and ages of less developed civilization and moral principles, revenge may sometimes be presented. This would be the case especially in places where no law exists to cover the crime because of which revenge is committed.

Because of its evil consequences, the drug traffic should not be presented in any form. The existence of the trade should not be brought to the attention of audiences.

The use of liquor should never be excessively presented. In scenes from American life, the necessities of plot and proper characterization alone justify its use. And in this case, it should be shown with moderation.

II. Sex
Out of a regard for the sanctity of marriage and the home, the triangle, that is, the love of a third party for one already married, needs careful handling. The treatment should not throw sympathy against marriage as an institution.

Scenes of passion must be treated with an honest acknowledgement of human nature and its normal reactions. Many scenes cannot be presented without arousing dangerous emotions on the part of the immature, the young or the criminal classes.

Even within the limits of pure love, certain facts have been universally regarded by lawmakers as outside the limits of safe presentation.

In the case of impure love, the love which society has always regarded as wrong and which has been banned by divine law, the following are important:

1. Impure love must not be presented as attractive and beautiful.
2. It must not be the subject of comedy or farce, or treated as material for laughter.
3. It must not be presented in such a way to arouse passion or morbid curiosity on the part of the audience.
4. It must not be made to seem right and permissible.
5. It general, it must not be detailed in method and manner.

III. Vulgarity; IV. Obscenity; V. Profanity; hardly need further explanation than is contained in the Code.

VI. Costume
General Principles:

1. The effect of nudity or semi-nudity upon the normal man or woman, and much more upon the young and upon immature persons, has been honestly recognized by all lawmakers and moralists.
2. Hence the fact that the nude or semi-nude body may be beautiful does not make its use in the films moral. For, in addition to its beauty, the effect of the nude or semi-nude body on the normal individual must be taken into consideration.
3. Nudity or semi-nudity used simply to put a “punch” into a picture comes under the head of immoral actions. It is immoral in its effect on the average audience.
4. Nudity can never be permitted as being necessary for the plot. Semi-nudity must not result in undue or indecent exposures.
5. Transparent or translucent materials and silhouette are frequently more suggestive than actual exposure.

VII. Dances
Dancing in general is recognized as an art and as a beautiful form of expressing human emotions.

But dances which suggest or represent sexual actions, whether performed solo or with two or more; dances intended to excite the emotional reaction of an audience; dances with movement of the breasts, excessive body movements while the feet are stationary, violate decency and are wrong.

VIII. Religion
The reason why ministers of religion may not be comic characters or villains is simply because the attitude taken toward them may easily become the attitude taken toward religion in general. Religion is lowered in the minds of the audience because of the lowering of the audience’s respect for a minister.

IX. Locations
Certain places are so closely and thoroughly associated with sexual life or with sexual sin that their use must be carefully limited.

X. National Feelings
The just rights, history, and feelings of any nation are entitled to most careful consideration and respectful treatment.

XI. Titles
As the title of a picture is the brand on that particular type of goods, it must conform to the ethical practices of all such honest business.

XII. Repellent Subjects
Such subjects are occasionally necessary for the plot. Their treatment must never offend good taste nor injure the sensibilities of an audience.

Peace,
Ed

 

[Pat_Payne]

, “Grave of the Fireflies” is not anti-war.

You are correct, sir. As early as 1988 when the film was in general release, the director (whose name escapes me) gave an interview in Animage Magazine where he explicitly said that “Grave” was NOT to be seen as an anti-war movie.

 

[Crescentinus]

You are correct, sir. As early as 1988 when the film was in general release, the director (whose name escapes me) gave an interview in Animage Magazine where he explicitly said that “Grave” was NOT to be seen as an anti-war movie.

I think that is one of the reasons why it is more beautiful than “Avatar”.