Please pardon the cheap alliteration in the title. It was announced some time ago that a major DC super hero would come out as homosexual. Since the announcement, there has been a bit of media storm and a guessing frenzy among fans and critics as to who this character is. Now let’s not forget that Marvel’s first openly gay superhero, Northstar, gets married soon (sorry, Northstar, but marriage sucks). Well, the news is out, as DC announces that Earth 2 #2 will reveal that Alan Scott, the Green Lantern of Earth 2, is in a homosexual relationship. As much as cynicism tempts me to claim this as a publicity stunt to try and steal Marvel’s thunder, I don’t think it is. And I don’t think it’s a bad idea.
So why am I eschewing cynicism? Well, in all honesty, I personally believe that if DC were doing this to trump Marvel and/or to gain publicity, they would have outed one of the “true” major heroes. An Earth 2 Green Lantern is a pretty big deal to those who really follow the DC multiverse closely, but that’s only a portion of the comic book collecting community. Now this may garner a bit of news and a few more sales for a while, but I don’t think that publicity is the sole motivator behind this. Any publicity garnered from an event like this will last only a few months, so it will be a very minor blip on the sales radar.
Also, the story’s writer, James Robinson, has written homosexual characters before. So in effect, they’re taking this seriously, which they should. They’re handing the ball to someone who has demonstrated an ability to run with it and score repeatedly. And it’s some of Robinson’s statements in an interview reported by Newsarama that lead to my next point: why it’s not a bad idea.
I think you have to remember that this is a reboot. It isn’t like I’m taking an old character and suddenly making this character gay. This is a brand new interpretation of this character.
This is a reboot. DC Comics is going through a period wherein they’re presenting younger, fresher, hipper, and more modern interpretations of their canonical heroes. And I’ve chosen those last two words carefully, because comic books provide the US with a canon of mythological heroes. As a rhetorician, I could spend hours waxing on about how myth attempts to persuade us and how the heroes serve as our models for behavior, but I’ll just suggest reading the works of Giambattista Vico, Kenneth Burke, and Joseph Campbell should any be interested. The point is that they reflect who we are, what we value, and what struggles we overcome. Think of the X-Men and the Civil Rights movement.
Now, I’m sure that there will be some backlach to this from the religious community who will say that an “Athiest liberal academic” is here trying to tear down their beliefs. And I could spend more energy than necessary arguing against that interpretation of me, but it will fail. I will simply say that beliefs do not make you a moral person – actions do. That’s why the mea maxima culpa is the deed.
So, as of now, being that I haven’t read Earth 2 #2 (and I’ve never been much of a Green Lantern fan anyway), I can only tentatively guess that having Scott be openly gay rhetorically suggests that gay people are no different from anyone else in terms of moral or heroic qualities (GASP! SHOCK! HOLY NO DUH, BATMAN!). That’s not a new idea. Remember from Sunday School when you learned about Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan? Well, the point of that story is that helping those in need makes a person good. Goodness, according to Jesus was not defined by ethnicity or anything physical. Here’s the moral of the story from the NIV:
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:36-37)
So, remember: your neighbor doesn’t have to be just like you. He (or she) doesn’t have to be a Pharisee among Pharisees. He or she doesn’t have to share your outlook on life. He or she simply has to be merciful and helpful to those in need. This parallels my last post wherein I advised gamers to “Be excellent to each other.”
So, while I can’t offer any detailed analysis of the rhetorical function this will serve, because I haven’t read the series yet, I don’t think that this will be a bad idea. I won’t know if it will be a good idea until after reading a few issues, which I may likely do. The difficult part will be getting over my dislike of Green Lantern enough to give the story a fair look. But if I had to hazard a guess, I’d say that the purpose behind this is just to remind people that homosexuality has nothing to do with a person’s moral fiber. One’s moral fiber in this social world is defined not by the characters one loves but by the character of love one demonstrates through one’s actions.
All you need is love. – John Lennon
Love conquers all, let us therefore yield to love. – Virgil
Love your neighbor as yourself. – Jesus
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