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Can We All Please Just Ignore Crazy, Racist Statements About The French-Muslim Batman-Helper

In case you’ve been out of the loop (and it’s a pretty tiny loop, so you could easily be excused) there’s more than one Batman now.  Also, one of those Batmans (the original flavor) has been travelling around the world recruiting more Batmans to be his Little Helpers.

I’ll let that sink in.

There has been some controversy over the French-Batman’s-Little-Helper Nightrunner, who is a young French-born Muslim from Clichy-Sous-Bois, the neighborhood rocked by riots in 2005, who was motivated by the death of a radical friend at the hands of the police to fight against Islamic nationals and terrorists in the French state.

And by controversy, I mean internet controversy.  Which is to say, some random people who have nothing to do with the comics industry and, in fact, nothing to do with France, said some racist and religiously intolerant stuff about the choice; and no one in the comics industry or, in fact, France, has yet responded.

There are some internet people who think is its quite the travesty that DC Comics decided to make Batman welcome a Muslim guy into his organization.  How do I know this?  Because the sites I go to for comics news have each posted articles about the people and the crazy things they said.  Blog articles highlighted by Bleeding Cool, Comics Alliance and Robot 6 run the gamut of expected themes for these sort of statements, including generous dollops of harmful Muslim stereotyping, admissions that the writer has never read a Batman comic before, accusing DC of being too PC, accusing DC of being leftist, and, last but not least, implying that DC hates soldiers because Batman insists you can’t be a hero if you kill people.

However, it is considerate of American bloggers to worry about the pride of French citizens of European descent being hurt by the choice of a non-European-descended guy to represent their country in a comic book that none of them will probably read anyway because France has its own comics industry that is in many respects more accepted as a legitimate artform by its surrounding culture than ours.

In a post refuting an opinion about a writing decision I might otherwise spend some time describing in detail why a conflicted, modern, minority character who is personally connected with France’s biggest current little-spoken-of problem is about 200% more interesting then a lily-white Musketeer (the original plan for the character) who has everything to do with the France of 200 years ago and nothing to do with the France of today.

But I’m not.  Why?  Because good ideas shouldn’t have to justify themselves to racism and religious intolerance.  Note that I did not say “racists” and “the intolerant.”  It doesn’t particularly matter to me what random people on the internet are.  What they have said is racist and intolerant.  It’s also just dumb.

So let’s get one thing straight:

People saying intolerant things on the internet is not news, it’s not surprising, it’s not unusual, and there’s no need for debate on it.  They are wrong.  Stop giving traffic to nutjobs.  And yes: in this information age, continuing to insist that a specific religion is mutually exclusive with not being a terrorist is a kind of willful insanity.

  • Anonymous

    Susana… I think I love you.

    Naw just playin, Polaris. Good article. Good job following Jay Smooth’s said/did vs. are/is. Great costume. Too bad the back up story was so much better than the main story in the two Annuals. I want to see more from that creative team.

  • Anonymous

    I’ll give credit any day to Jay Smooth and illdoctrine for teaching me a thing or two about how to talk about touchy subjects.

  • Anonymous

    Applause. Damn, maybe I does luv ya Polo. This emotional rollercoaster is exhausting.

  • http://www.facebook.com/richard.james.johnston Richard Johnston

    Nutjobs represent a certain percentage of opinion. A certain higher percentage of opinion online. As long as you give balance, I think it’s worth covering this kind of thing.

    Almost like the Westboro defence. Coverage of those nutjobs makes someone who may be vaguely homophobic so repulsed by the Westboro actions that they examine their own opinions and maybe do something about it.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_M2M6WNMW4ZG2SS74LYYE3QDOBA Web

    Geekosystem, you are one of my daily news for technology but this article of yours shows you know nothing about muslims, it shows your ignorance about the subject and you complain about people who know nothing about comics?

    This is a fictional muslim character–not real–the real muslims are crazy…yes, they are crazy, and I’m not a racist for saying it so. I’m someone who knows these lunatics. ALL muslims read the same book Quran–have you spend anytime reading it? the answer to that is no. The Quran supports and promotes pedophilia and the KILLING of anyone who disagrees with anything muslim–no matter how big or small the disagreement is.

    It is amazing to me the trolls commenting here talking trash of those who do not want to see an AMERICAN CLASSIC going PC just because some loser at DC Comics or whoever is publishing Batman now days decided to give Batman to muslims. Liberals have no brain anymore, they can’t come up with their own ideas so they want to take over the already created and famous classics and destroy them.

    Same goes to the way the good for nothing liberals now in charge of Hollywood are destroying every AMERICAN CLASSIC they can put their hands on. Take a look a ANY movie from the 70s, 80s, and 90s then compare it any movie made in this last decade and tell me if you don’t see a difference in the language they use in regards of supporting the best country in the world, The Unites States of America.

    “Good ideas shouldn’t have to justify themselves to racism and religious intolerance” when you use catch phrases to support your own idea and article you know inside of you that you are wrong.

    Islam, same with scientology, is NOT a religion. That is another PC stupidity and that is the problem is our society today. We need to start calling Islam what really is, a sect, a cult. Islam, a “religion”(???), really? what religion promotes pedophilia and the killing of anyone who disagrees with them. Any answer?

    Geekosystem, you are a tech site, please do not start writing articles about anything political or social. You will lose about 85% of the readers if you do. Because that is the percentage of Conservatives and Independents in this country. Take a look at the message the American people sent to Obama this last November. If you think you can make it with only the 15% of the population then go ahead and change this until now perfect website.

  • Anonymous

    Personally, I don’t think that the Westboro Baptist group provides any benefit to society. I don’t think the way to cure a bigot is to show them a bigger bigot. I simply don’t think that psychologically works on people, and even if it did it wouldn’t make up for the existence of that bigger bigot or excuse media coverage of them.

    When a person with power or fame, i.e., a celebrity or public official, says something intolerant, it is important to call them out on it because they are already in a place of power. If some random person says something intolerant, paying attention to them only rewards them for saying it. Particularly on the internet, where simply visiting a website endorses its profit model. The only way for random, powerless bigots to get power is to obtain your attention.

    It’s like The Game. And the Game stopped being funny like two months after I found out about it.

  • Binary

    Web, your schizophrenia has reached dangerous proportions. In your disgustingly chauvinistic, intolerant, misguided attempt to denigrate this writer and website, what jumps out is that, besides a total misunderstanding of the concept of religion, you’re basing your threats on the assumption that the US is the only country in the world.

    Geekosystem can write about any topic it chooses, because, get this, there are readers outside your country that will be glad to keep on visiting. (I should add that your 85% estimation is obviously incorrect.) 6.5 billion people, at least, don’t share your viewpoint. Think about that.

  • Binary

    (Just because the US doesn’t like a website, doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world.)

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_M2M6WNMW4ZG2SS74LYYE3QDOBA Web

    @Binary. You answered nothing about my comments or questions. Your comment, like any no answer-but-only excuses liberal, from the first word until the end is 100% name calling.

    Also, it doesn’t matter how many times you repeat a lie, just because you don’t like the TRUTH that doesn’t make it so. “Estimation”? – that is not an estimation but a fact. America is 85% Conservative and Independent and anyone with brains to do a media research knows it. Conservatives and Independents, not liberals, elected the biggest liberal in history to put a foot in The People’s White House in 2008 (Obama). He was elected because he, just like you, repeated lies again and again and again until people, including me, believed them, “It’s Bush’s fault”, “I will close Guantanamo”, “I will end the wars as soon as I become president” and “Change you can believe in”–and now that we know the TRUTH, Bush is getting applauded everywhere he goes, check YouTube’s video of his last appearance on The Tonight Show this last November in LIBERAL CALIFORNIA of all places, and selling in only 1 1/2 months 2.5 million copies of his memoir.

    “6.5 BILLION people, at least, don’t share your viewpoint”–how did you come up with that number? another line like the one from Obama’s, “2 or 3 million jobs saved or crated”? Please get real.

    America and Europe are seek and tired of the muslim-card, they are trouble no matter how many times you say otherwise. People have EYES and EARS you know.

  • Binary

    I know I shouldn’t be encouraging your delusion with replies, but I want to point out a few things. I don’t have the time or interest or patience to reply to every comment you make, so I’ll just respond to three things:

    1. You estimation is incorrect because 85% of the world’s population is not “Conservative and Independent”.

    2. 6.5 billion people: The world’s population minus the US population. This has nothing to do with political statements.

    3. Please don’t speak for people outside your country. I cannot speak for US citizens, but I certainly know what my neighbours are saying, and it isn’t what you believe.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_M2M6WNMW4ZG2SS74LYYE3QDOBA Web

    Are you some type of liberal psycho?

    I said THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is 85% Conservative and Independent, I never said “the world’s population” was.

    So you say the rest of the world “6.5 billion people, at least, don’t share your viewpoint” about muslims? are you crazy? how do you know that, can you read minds? TURN THE TV ON AND WATCH THE NEWS, the entire planet is sick and tired of the mislims DESTRUCTION everywhere they go. You sound now not just like a liberal loon but also like a muslim making things up, in other words, you are LYING through your teeth.

    And YES, I can speak for the rest of the world. The only thing I have to do is watch the news on TV and read the comments people make on news websites like The Telegraph, The Daily Mail, YouTube and LiveLeak just to name a few.

    I hope one day someone makes an app that analyzes people’s IQs before allowing them to post comments on websites. YOU are the reason why today’s society is in decadence. And yes, do us all a favor and stop replying to my comments–you are only making a fool out of yourself.

  • Binary

    “I said THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is 85% Conservative and Independent, I never said “the world’s population” was.”

    The percentage of political affiliation is irrelevant, because, I state once again, just because one country doesn’t like a website, it isn’t the end of the world. You believe that Geekosystem shouldn’t discuss particular topics because 85% of the US population will supposedly ruin the website.

    “…the entire planet is sick and tired of the mislims DESTRUCTION…”

    23% of the world’s population is Muslim. This statement is incorrect.

    “…read the comments people make on news websites…”

    Are you serious? I mean, really?

    “I hope one day someone makes an app that analyzes people’s IQs before allowing them to post comments on websites. YOU are the reason why today’s society is in decadence. And yes, do us all a favor and stop replying to my comments–you are only making a fool out of yourself. ”

    The irony of this paragraph is that the person accusing me of inferior intelligence can’t use proper grammar or spell words correctly.

    Again, I realise I shouldn’t be indulging this commenter, especially when it’s revealed that he gets his opinions from, A) the Daily Mail, and B) television and televisions news broadcasts.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_M2M6WNMW4ZG2SS74LYYE3QDOBA Web

    LOL! So looks like some moderator (GeekosystemSusana?) doesn’t want me to reply to “Binary” anymore because the “reply” button is gone from the last psycho comment.So I will just make a new comment here.

    @Binary I told you to stop replying to my comments because you only make yourself look like a fool, but no, you had to try one more time… and guess what happened again? you look like a fool once again!

    ———————–

    WOW!@Binary writes:

    1.

    Me: “I said THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is 85% Conservative and Independent, I never said “the world’s population” was.”

    Binary: The percentage of political affiliation is irrelevant, because, I state once again, just because one country doesn’t like a website, it isn’t the end of the world.

    LOL!!@this guy. People being Conservative, Independent (ideas) and liberalism is NOT a “political affiliation” but a set of ideas and values. A “political affiliation” is when you are either — in the U.S. — a Democrat or a Republican. Get it now?

    2.

    Binary: “Again, I realise I shouldn’t be indulging this commenter, especially when it’s revealed that he gets his opinions from, A) the Daily Mail, and B) television and televisions news broadcasts.”

    LOL=^..^=!! So from where do you want me to get the news from? I come to Geekosystem to get my technology news. I get my news from the TV and RESPECTED online websites, not “blogs” from people like you. Also, once again you lie, I never said I got my news from “television” shows.

    I’m giving you another chance here: you should stop replying to my comments because you are only making a fool out of yourself.

  • Bob

    The majority of terrorists in the world aren’t Arabs or Muslims, it’s white males from North America and Western Europe. Don’t believe me, check out the FBI stats.

  • Anonymous

    b2cshop.us

  • Islamisforidiots

    Just kill all the islamic/muslim trash and the world would be a better place. Taking out the retarded cunts who like/love them would be a plus.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_OZD7SRY5NFS5DCEL2IFT4BWNBM Rikard

    Wait, a Musli batman? I don’t want religion in my comics, get out of here Frenchy!

  • Binary

    1. You still haven’t provided a rebuttal to my statement that your estimation is incorrect.

    Again, you believe that 100% of Geekosystem’s readers reside in the US, and therefore the website shouldn’t discuss certain topics because 85% of said readership will allegedly abandon the site. This belief is inaccurate.

    2. The Daily Mail is not a respected news source.

    “Also, once again you lie, I never said I got my news from “television” shows.”

    You lie:

    “I get my news from the TV news channels”

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_M2M6WNMW4ZG2SS74LYYE3QDOBA Web

    I’m not going to waste my time anymore with a no-brain liberal like you. I have proved in every single one of my comments that you are a liar, you make things up as you go and that you are a delusional person.

    It was fun for me at the beginning to mop the floor with a person with no IQ like you, but now is not funny for me anymore.

    I just wish you could have honor your word about not replying to my comments anymore, but again, what else can I expect from a no values leftist.

    LOL!!@This liberal bubble head.

  • americanidiot

    Lol. if all americans are this dumb and ignorant the foreigners dont have anything to worry about. and apparently the majority of them are overweight/obese too.

  • http://www.google.com/profiles/108037014675127192334 Binary

    “…no-brain liberal like you.”

    It’s fascinating that you perceive me to be a liberal, even though I’ve never stated my political ideology. For all you know, I may be a conservative thinker, or even anarchist or socialist.

    “I have proved in every single one of my comments that you are a liar, you make things up as you go and that you are a delusional person.”

    Au contraire, you have proven no such thing; in fact, what you have proven is that you are the liar. To quote my previous comment:

    “Also, once again you lie, I never said I got my news from “television” shows.”

    You lie:

    “I get my news from the TV news channels”

    Neither have you attempted to correct this, instead giving up, insulting me, and calling me the delusional one, believing that you “mop[ped] the floor with a person with no IQ like you” (again, you say I’m the one with “no IQ”, yet you can’t even structure a sentence properly), despite evidence to the contrary.

    “I just wish you could have honor your word…”

    As do I, but replying to your babbling has shown itself to be far more satisfying.

    “…a no values leftist.”

    I have no values? Do you have proof? I have proof that I do, in my original comment:

    “Geekosystem can write about any topic it chooses…”

    Evidence of least one principle I hold dear: freedom of speech.

    “…liberal bubble head.”

    In your reply to my first comment, you derided me and accused me of: “first word until the end is 100% name calling.” Despite your apparent distaste for this, you have sunk to doing it. You start your comment calling me a “no-brain” (disregard the obvious irrationality of accusing someone of not having a brain, as for me to be a “no-brain” reading and commenting on a website would be an anomaly worth documenting) and end calling me the above.

    Also, I once again note your perception that I’m a liberal. 3 times in your comment do you call me a liberal or leftist. Considering your hatred of liberals and Obama (one only needs to read your other comments on Yahoo), this perception of me may be false, but you paint it on me because it helps you see me as an enemy.

  • Maurice_daye

    What is wrong with a muslim Batman

  • g.zeiringer

    Just read the Qu’ran, to be a muslim you have to agree with the Qu’ran. Just read the damn thing and than tell if you liked it or not


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