Indian Comics Irregular #46

In a letter to the LA Times (11/20/00), Rick Mitchell claims our
media have always been violent and wonders why commentators refuse to
address the point. As an occasional pontificator on media violence,
I'll be glad to tackle Mitchell's argument. Basically, his argument
is nonsense, as a glance at the evidence demonstrates.

Movies: R-rated movies didn't even exist until the 1960s. Before
then, a typical "violent" film featured John Wayne shooting
desperadoes bloodlessly or Bambi's mother dying off-screen. Today,
on-screen violence includes explicit rape, torture, dismemberment,
and decapitation. There's no comparison.

TV and radio: Then, a typical "violent" show was "The Shadow," "The
Lone Ranger," or "Dragnet." Today, you can see execution-style
murders every hour of the day, and even talk shows (Howard Stern,
Jerry Springer) promote "shock" and confrontation. There's no
comparison.

Comic books: Then, a typical "violent" comic showed Captain America
slugging a handful of Nazis or Superman wrapping a steel bar around
Lex Luthor. Today, Sabretooth disembowels his opponents and the
Punisher intentionally lights criminals on fire. There's no
comparison.

Video games: Oops, ultra-violent and misogynist video games didn't
exist before the 1970s. There's no comparison here, obviously.

Rap: Oops, ultra-violent and misogynist music didn't exist before
the 1970s. There's no comparison here either, obviously.

Is the picture clear? Commentators haven't addressed Mitchell's
argument because there's little or nothing to address. In no way
does a spooky radio show or World War II newsreel compare to a
slasher movie or video game with piles of blood-soaked casualties.

Little Diversity on TV

The minority coalition monitoring diversity on prime-time TV has
issued its first report cards to the major networks. ABC, NBC, and
Fox received Ds and CBS got an F. While the number of blacks has
increased modestly, the coalition noted, other minorities are almost
invisible in front of and behind the cameras.

"We're just off the graph," said Sonny Skyhawk, president of American
Indians in Film about Native Americans. "The American Indian finds
itself in the position of being nonexistent on television."

Indians on the Tube

"Walker, Texas Ranger" is the only major network series that remotely
qualifies as Native-influenced today. It's not much deeper than
shows from previous decades. Anybody remember "The Paw Paws"?
"F-Troop"? "The Go-Go Gophers"?

For a trip down memory lane, we've added a list of TV shows featuring
Native Americans to our lists of Indian movies and books. Check it
out at http://www.bluecorncomics.com/natv.htm. And don't miss our
new roundup of Indian comic books at
http://www.bluecorncomics.com/nacomics.htm.

Dot-Com Debut

As you may have noticed, we have a new URL. BlueCornComics.com, the
official website for PEACE PARTY and Indian comics information, is
now fully operational. With 400+ pages, it may be the largest site in
the world devoted to a single comic book.

The site features the same great content and some nice new touches.
Our Xoom site remains online too, so all the old links will continue
to work. For the full story on the move, see the press release at
http://www.bluecorncomics.com/releases.htm.

Rob Schmidt
Blue Corn Comics