FAITH MANAGES: Reaction Rape

I bring this up because I was going to do a bit about Cullen Bunn wussing out in the face of fantard dickery but, found out about issue #44 of Aquaman, the one where Aquaman gets raped.

Rape is considered second, or even equal to murder in the list of horrific things you can do to another human being and when it’s presented in fiction it traditionally elicits the correct reaction ie. revulsion from the audience.

Except fantards of course!

Now there is a school of thought that states you shouldn’t depict rape in comics, which is bollocks. Anything can be depicted in comics, it simply requires context and skill to evoke the correct emotional response from the reader, and if that’s notÂ the a fore mentioned revulsion please have yourself sectioned.

If you have a character being raped and it’s presented as a joke, then yes, that is a fault of the creative team who are demonstrating a complete lack of understanding in humanity and narrative and I would worry for their mental state If you show rape as a horrific violation and allow for a studied portrayal of the consequences, then rape becomes a tool in the dramatic arsenal of the writer, not a pleasant one but then neither is murder, child abuse, or any number of ‘isms out there that get constant mileage in comics. You’re not supposed to enjoy it, you are supposed to be revolted by it and if the creator has done their job then you will be.

The purpose of media is not just to entertain the emotionally stunted but to inform reaction in those who want their fiction to make them think and draw emotions you wouldn’t otherwise feel. If you aren’t mature enough to handle those reactions or emotions, then grow the fuck up or stop reading comics that are aimed above your mental age.

It’s an interesting benchmark of maturity in the reader that if you can allow something like this…