This is a weird headline. Ok the guy really is a Batman researcher. I'm not sure why it was so important to mention that the Batman co-creator's son was gay though, unless that was somehow relevant to the creation process or his life experience or something.
It's important from a narrative standpoint in telling his own story of researching this; the point of these talks is much less about teaching kids the history of the co-creator of Batman than it is telling the story of the researcher and writer who put that history together. The point is to hopefully inspire a few kids to go down a similar path themselves.
It was presumed, since Bill Finger's only child was a gay man who died thirty years ago, that no heir to his estate existed. The researcher discovering that Bill had a granddaughter would lose its impact without the knowledge that his only child was gay.
Finger died in obscurity in 1974, with artist Bob Kane credited as Batman’s only creator. Finger’s only child was a son, Fred Finger, who was gay and died in 1992 at age 43 of AIDS complications. Bill Finger was presumed to have no living heirs, meaning there was no one to press DC Comics to acknowledge Finger’s work.
But Nobleman discovered Fred Finger had a daughter, Athena Finger. That, he said, is a showcase moment of the presentation he estimates he has given 1,000 times at schools.
“It’s the biggest twist of the story, and it’s usually when I get the most gasps,” Nobleman said. “It’s just a totally record-scratch moment.”
Nobleman’s research helped push DC Comics into reaching a deal with Athena Finger in 2015 to acknowledge her grandfather and Kane as co-creators. That led to the documentary “Batman & Bill,” featuring Nobleman.
Yeah it's a vital component of the story, and any pushback reaks of 'dont say gay'.
The same reason famous women inventors and inventors of color are often singled out to us in gradeschool.
Because history was written almost exclusively by (or at least authored by if they had others write it) heterosexual Caucasian men who largely wrote themselves as the victors of every war, inventor of anything they could take credit for, etc.
A child in that biased vacuum might come to the incorrect conclusion that straight Caucasian men are the best and the brightest rather than the truth: that they're merely the writers of their own historical press releases.
Gay people have invented, authored, and created for all of human history, largely under the guise of being straight lest they be shunned and cast out of halls of power.
That's why it's important to demonstrate to children that creation comes from people who look like and have similar identities to themselves. Imagine being a 13 year old realizing you're gay and remembering that civilization was created largely by straight people who largely also chose to make gay people's lives living hells, if they let them live at all.
yea, though many cultures around the world don't place a high emphasis on these kind of values
Wtf. There was no gay invention of Batman.
The point is the co-creator only had one son who was gay and had died in the 90s, so has no living heir to fight for his recognition. By surprise twist, his gay son had a daughter! That's the whole thing. That's why it's interesting.
Oh god, the humanity, the children!!
Gay people have invented, authored, and created for all of human history, largely under the guise of being straight lest they be shunned and cast out of halls of power.
No the persons comment was very much lumping the creation of Batman under this. Like, yes, the story is cool and very surprising given the circumstances. But that isn't what the person you're replying to is taking issue with.
What would this be called, gay-washing? I don't know, I also don't really care. I'm just pointing out what I see.
Yes. I am well aware of the Finger family and have been a long supporter of getting his name on the comics.
The above comment directly links the creation of the character to a son who had nothing to do with the creation.
His son would’ve been his only heir eligible to receive compensation if DC ever made things right, but he died young (from AIDS) and never had any children himself (because he was gay).
Edif: He did have a child! Wow!
Wow!
And this reaction is precisely the reason why the son being gay is a key point of the talk (it's the twist of the story, and Finger's gay son having a daughter who could demand restitution was the only reason DC eventually recognised him as co-creator!), and why removing that fact from the talk wouldn't just be homophobic, but also profoundly stupid (not that being homophobic isn't profoundly stupid already, of course, but this makes it stupidity squared).
Since nobody read the damn thing: it was a key talking point
Finger’s only child was a son, Fred Finger, who was gay and died in 1992 at age 43 of AIDS complications. Bill Finger was presumed to have no living heirs, meaning there was no one to press DC Comics to acknowledge Finger’s work.
But Nobleman discovered Fred Finger had a daughter, Athena Finger. That, he said, is a showcase moment of the presentation he estimates he has given 1,000 times at schools.
“It’s the biggest twist of the story, and it’s usually when I get the most gasps,” Nobleman said. “It’s just a totally record-scratch moment.”
Ok so they didn't think the son had an heir but he actually did, I still am not sure that the son's sexual orientation is that important in a story about Batman to elementary school kids.
The only reason someone would get offended at the mere mention of gay people existing to elementary school kids is that they don't want gay people to exist. Take a look at yourself and ask why this upsets you.
It’s not a story about Batman. It’s a story about the creation of Batman. That’s why it’s important.
And about DC being arses, and Finger's gay son having against all expectations a daughter being the only reason said arses eventually recognised him as co-creator.
Why are straight white people the only people who don't need a plot justification to exist?
Non-straight here: It would be just as weird to mention heterosexual people being straight when it's irrelevant to the conversation, IMO. If you're making a point to mention the person's sexuality, there should be a reason for it.
In this case, it did have that. He was known to be gay, but turned out to have a daughter that no one knew about.
But we absolutely see backlash of the type of "why does he have to be gay" in response to something as simple as two men holding hands, or other things that would never be seen as "making a point to mention someone's sexuality" if that sexuality is straight. I'm generalizing away from this particular example and addressing the idea that anything that isn't cishet is abnormal and requires justification.
They're agreeing with you by saying that no one's sexuality should be forced to be disclosed, much less should it require justification unless absolutely necessary.
This isn't about forcing people to disclose their sexuality. "Why does he have to be gay?" Is almost always an effort to force people not to disclose their sexuality, but it's only ever used when the sexuality being disclosed is non-straight. You have never seen and will never see any reaction at all to a straight cis male character simply using the phrase "my wife" but a cis female character doing exactly the same will elicit a backlash. They'll dress it up as being against unnecessary sexualization, but the only sexualization that's ever unnecessary is queer sexualization. Straight sexualization is never a problem.
This is a weird headline. Ok the guy really is a Batman researcher. I'm not sure why it was so important to mention that the Batman co-creator's son was gay though, unless that was somehow relevant to the creation process or his life experience or something.
It's important from a narrative standpoint in telling his own story of researching this; the point of these talks is much less about teaching kids the history of the co-creator of Batman than it is telling the story of the researcher and writer who put that history together. The point is to hopefully inspire a few kids to go down a similar path themselves.
It was presumed, since Bill Finger's only child was a gay man who died thirty years ago, that no heir to his estate existed. The researcher discovering that Bill had a granddaughter would lose its impact without the knowledge that his only child was gay.
Yeah it's a vital component of the story, and any pushback reaks of 'dont say gay'.
The same reason famous women inventors and inventors of color are often singled out to us in gradeschool.
Because history was written almost exclusively by (or at least authored by if they had others write it) heterosexual Caucasian men who largely wrote themselves as the victors of every war, inventor of anything they could take credit for, etc.
A child in that biased vacuum might come to the incorrect conclusion that straight Caucasian men are the best and the brightest rather than the truth: that they're merely the writers of their own historical press releases.
Gay people have invented, authored, and created for all of human history, largely under the guise of being straight lest they be shunned and cast out of halls of power.
That's why it's important to demonstrate to children that creation comes from people who look like and have similar identities to themselves. Imagine being a 13 year old realizing you're gay and remembering that civilization was created largely by straight people who largely also chose to make gay people's lives living hells, if they let them live at all.
yea, though many cultures around the world don't place a high emphasis on these kind of values
Wtf. There was no gay invention of Batman.
The point is the co-creator only had one son who was gay and had died in the 90s, so has no living heir to fight for his recognition. By surprise twist, his gay son had a daughter! That's the whole thing. That's why it's interesting.
Oh god, the humanity, the children!!
No the persons comment was very much lumping the creation of Batman under this. Like, yes, the story is cool and very surprising given the circumstances. But that isn't what the person you're replying to is taking issue with.
What would this be called, gay-washing? I don't know, I also don't really care. I'm just pointing out what I see.
Yes. I am well aware of the Finger family and have been a long supporter of getting his name on the comics.
The above comment directly links the creation of the character to a son who had nothing to do with the creation.
His son would’ve been his only heir eligible to receive compensation if DC ever made things right, but he died young (from AIDS) and never had any children himself (because he was gay).
Edif: He did have a child! Wow!
And this reaction is precisely the reason why the son being gay is a key point of the talk (it's the twist of the story, and Finger's gay son having a daughter who could demand restitution was the only reason DC eventually recognised him as co-creator!), and why removing that fact from the talk wouldn't just be homophobic, but also profoundly stupid (not that being homophobic isn't profoundly stupid already, of course, but this makes it stupidity squared).
Since nobody read the damn thing: it was a key talking point
Ok so they didn't think the son had an heir but he actually did, I still am not sure that the son's sexual orientation is that important in a story about Batman to elementary school kids.
The only reason someone would get offended at the mere mention of gay people existing to elementary school kids is that they don't want gay people to exist. Take a look at yourself and ask why this upsets you.
It’s not a story about Batman. It’s a story about the creation of Batman. That’s why it’s important.
And about DC being arses, and Finger's gay son having against all expectations a daughter being the only reason said arses eventually recognised him as co-creator.
Why are straight white people the only people who don't need a plot justification to exist?
Non-straight here: It would be just as weird to mention heterosexual people being straight when it's irrelevant to the conversation, IMO. If you're making a point to mention the person's sexuality, there should be a reason for it.
In this case, it did have that. He was known to be gay, but turned out to have a daughter that no one knew about.
But we absolutely see backlash of the type of "why does he have to be gay" in response to something as simple as two men holding hands, or other things that would never be seen as "making a point to mention someone's sexuality" if that sexuality is straight. I'm generalizing away from this particular example and addressing the idea that anything that isn't cishet is abnormal and requires justification.
They're agreeing with you by saying that no one's sexuality should be forced to be disclosed, much less should it require justification unless absolutely necessary.
This isn't about forcing people to disclose their sexuality. "Why does he have to be gay?" Is almost always an effort to force people not to disclose their sexuality, but it's only ever used when the sexuality being disclosed is non-straight. You have never seen and will never see any reaction at all to a straight cis male character simply using the phrase "my wife" but a cis female character doing exactly the same will elicit a backlash. They'll dress it up as being against unnecessary sexualization, but the only sexualization that's ever unnecessary is queer sexualization. Straight sexualization is never a problem.