I've been thinking about Rob Liefeld and how essentially he's the punching bag of comic book artists.
Guy who just makes mindless buff guys with exaggerated surface level appeal and can't even draw feet, one of the worst consequences of 90s era comics.
I've been thinking about that maybe we've been too mean towards such artists?
In 2000s/2010s, mediocrity and anything less than that, especially when it tried to be sincere, was relentlessly mocked, creating the cringe culture we lived through, while other figures were heralded and role models.
But now, one by one, a lot of the most beloved artists of that era are exposed to be not so good people, or just another brand of mediocre, the consequences of that era turned out to be very bad (2010 culture of commentary youtube, cyber bullying and lolcows) and people are starting to sincerely enjoy the works of the artists who were mocked once, or find something to appreciate about them.
So the question is, do you think audiences were too mean? We engaged in the culture of ridicule too much? And have we passed that era of ridicule and mockery?
I mean you're kind of touching on a different idea too, which is: in this culture where everybody is valid, where everybody deserves love and understanding and acceptance, how do we give and take criticism?
And the obvious answer there is that we are constructive. We do our best to suggest improvements. And when we can't be constructive, we don't "punch down." You level the playing field. Lift up people that are unfairly below you, drag down people that are unfairly above you.
Are we punching up at Rob Liefeld, or down? Well, have you ever walked the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of a big budget summer blockbuster?
Rob Liefeld has. Multiple times. He may not be executive rich, but a quick google estimates he has an eight figure net worth -- about $20 million. He probably owns a big house and lives very comfortably. It's almost guaranteed he doesn't have to work anymore, unless he wants to. Certainly, if I had $20 million dollars, I could absolutely stretch that to last the rest of my life. Easily!
So does he deserve it? Yeah, a little. Not a lot, but a little. There are worse artists than Rob Liefeld, but are they more successful than him? Not usually. So he's earned a "kick me" sign, I think. I don't think that's unfair to say.
But then you need to ask yourself a new question: did Rob Liefeld earn that "kick me" sign himself, or did the internet elevate him to that level of celebrity by making such an example of how bad his work is? This is where we get into "lolcows" and folks like Chris-chan, right?
(Serious answer about Rob Liefeld: No. Deadpool was popular and would have gotten these movies even without Liefeld being roasted over stumpy feet, tiny eyes or too much cross hatching)
Because there are damaged people who aren't going to walk away. People who kind of get trapped in a loop of just making things worse, and worse, and worse -- and the worse it gets, the more famous they get for "being worse." And it can start to look like punching up at a celebrity, but it's a celebrity that you created by being parasocial.
That is absolutely undeserved.