I've condensed the captions from the first few panels on to the top of one that made me raise an eyebrow:
Scientology is one of the "fictions they have invented"?
I don't disagree but I'm surprised, knowing how litigious Scientologists can be, that DC let this through. Maybe their defence will be that on Earth-2, it's acknowledged as fiction?
Good to see you back Gary, haven't checked in a bit. I guess those representing Scientology could sue, but fuck em, who cares? It's a fictitious world in a fictitious comic. I doubt they'd have grounds to sue unless they could prove malicious intent on DC's and the writer's part to attack their "religion". Nice to know the 1st Amendment here is actually useful for some things.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dale - it's good to be back.
DeleteI think it's weirdly bad taste for a DC comic. I share the writer's axe to grind with Scientology, but singling it out for special scorn is pretty self-indulgent for a corporate product, and it's not like the writer's picking on a brave target - if you substituted literally any other religion in that panel, readers would be hugely offended and horrified, but not this one.
ReplyDeleteDC doesn't really have editors any more, right? Geoff Johns woulda just had Tom Cruise's arm ripped off.
While I agree it's odd to single it out, I can't agree that it's not like the writer's picking on a brave target
DeleteIf that panel were a Christian church, a Jewish synagogue, a Muslim mosque or anything else, I agree readers of those faiths would be offended. However, Scientology is renowned for striking back at criticism with litigation. It's unfair to single it out, but it's not defenceless.