The billionaire press has latched on to this Dimitry Yakoushkin dude like a Titanic passenger who found a life ring. Rando nuts like him are not "The Left", do not represent millions of pro-Palestinian Americans, and are not the masterminds of a second Jewish Holocaust. So, we should now all join Promise to America and take a more balanced view of Israeli/American genocide in the Middle East and ethnic cleansing in AmeriKKKa? Nothing would please Elon Musk more, I think.
Hi! I'm not a billionaire or part of the press, and ALSO consistently upset and alienated by people like Dimitry, and others that have been using the issue of Palestine to just attack Jews! It really, really sucks, and causes a lot of anxieties for left wing Jews like me! Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
I think a lot of the anger online and at the ballot box and in the mob is frustration, resentment of a world that’s really… Not great these days. Rich assholes hoarding everything, poverty everywhere else, wars, democratic backsliding, jackbooted thugs terrorizing cities, equal rights for lots of groups in danger or actively rolled back. It’s getting kinda Lord of the Flies these days, or like we’re all on a sinking ship clawing each other’s eyes out to get to the lifeboats. I tend to notice most majority white morons who figure the way to satisfaction is try take everything unto themselves like it’s the fifties again—and it’s definitely too kind to some of them to pay attention only to this when there are those for whom that would be the goal even if there were lots for everyone, as they really are just fucking bitter they’re losing their share of money and power relative to other groups—but it comes out lots of other ways. Idiots like this chasing and harassing a generally decent guy, people screaming in the comments, even people electing idiot corrupt racist criminals, kinda figure: some of the fuel is the frustration, the desperation. Could write a longer soliloquy on how demagogues love being able to ride that anger. Not excusing it, not at all, and people gotta learn cooler heads, just noting the temperature. (Oh and speaking of: heat waves are correlated with an increase in violent crime, and not like we’re short of those either these days. Not really thrilled about living in these particular interesting times.)
It’s not that deep! A woman with the same powers as Superman who also drinks and parties like a sorority girl is a great premise for an escapist summer blockbuster, and a great contrast to all the previous cinematic versions of Clark Kent/Kal-El we’ve gotten. That movie would have been set entirely on Earth, and I bet it would have sold a lot more tickets than the movie they actually produced. It is truly insane that a university professor would call you a “misogynist pig” and tell you to “fuck yourself” over such an innocuous comment.
I suspect that “drunk sorority girl” is the kind of movie that DC originally had planned, back when Supergirl was merely a cameo inserted at the end of the Superman movie. But once a (female) screenwriter and (male) director were assigned, they got cold feet. According to IMDb, the woman who wrote Supergirl is a first time screenwriter. She certainly has never written anything as big as a $170 million superhero movie. That’s an enormous amount of pressure, and perhaps that led her to play it safe by producing a dour, overly serious and joyless screenplay in the mold of “Man of Steel?” (I have not seen Supergirl, this is based solely on reviews I’ve read which were uniformly negative). Maybe she was afraid of being attacked online for being a bad feminist by portraying Supergirl as a fun-loving hot mess?
I had my own “This is how she interacts with strangers online?” moment today and I deactivated my Bluesky account. Donald Trump has taken enough of my joy these last 11 years. I’m not gonna allow increasingly unhinged people on social media to take any more of it.
Thanks! And yes, lighthearted teenage Supergirl is consistent with how the character was depicted at her peak popularity. Once she was aged into early adulthood in the mid 1970s, she struggled to connect with audiences.
Exactly why I do not do any social media, cuz it ain't social. It's an online mob of self-righteous assholes with sprinkles of decent people here and there wondering, like you are, WTF happened to people.
I don't have time for that shit. Sorry to hear about your experience but it is all too common. Some people must use it for their jobs, careers, etc. I'm lucky in that regard.
Very well said, Stephen. Part of the reason I like Wiener (and am proud to be voting for him this year) is that more than any other politician, her articulates my exact feelings about Israel/Gaza (it's a genocide, the current Israeli government is full of maniacs, but the State of Israel has a right to exist and must be allowed to defend itself, and anti-Semitism is a very real threat).
As a San Franciscan who considers himself a strong trans ally, I was absolutely heartbroken about what happened the other day. Yes, people have a right to be angry with Wiener, to protest him, to publicly criticize him, to vote against him, but (a) can we please try to be just a bit more civil about this and actually have a respectful dialogue? (I've been fortunate to have such discussions with multiple people whose views on the topic differ from mine) and (b) like it or not, the issue of practicality has to feature into politics on some level, and this is beyond impractical: It demonizes a strong advocate, it gives potent fuel (and tacit support) to forces that are exponentially more destructive, and it takes our eye off balls that I feel are just as important. (I still don't understand why the Gaza issue has become the No. 1 issue in many LGBTQ circles. Why is it more dire than climate collapse or American fascism? For God's sake, why is it more important than LGBTQ oppression?)
I had a lot of thoughts about "Supergirl," (and, being a middle-aged lady who was once a superhero and fantasy-loving girl, growing up in an era where I didn't get to see myself as either in movies, I really wanted to like it), and while my issues were different than yours, I still ended up at the same kind of overall feeling of, meh, it was fine. But I can't believe you got attacked like that for raising really valid observations (and ones that would have been fun to discuss!).
For what it's worth, your observation ties into some of my own issues, which is that writers seem unwilling to let woman protagonists be legit fuck-ups and make mistakes based on issues they need to work through- Supergirl drinks because of her past trauma, but we never see her avoidance issues actually affect the plot, or lead her to make mistakes. The moment Ruthie's sword is stolen, she's being a hero- she's still always doing the right thing.
It's a form of benevolent chauvinism; being unwilling to write women characters in action movies as complicated and fallible.
When I first left Christianity the concept of original sin was one of the things that drove me out. The idea that people are inherently bad because of some stupid shit an ancestor did was abhorrent to me, and still is.
Now, I *do* feel like people are generally shitty. Not because of some magical fruit in a garden that didn't exist, but just because there's something very wrong with us as a species, like on a genetic level. Some bullshit leftover from our evolutionary past that makes all of us predisposed to be the worst we can be.
Thank you for explaining this phenomenon in a medium that requires attention and thought. Scott Wiener is a courageous leader for many of us here in California, and if we disagree about specific issues it does not make him (or me) subject to physical threats. Same with you and your opinion about a film. These responses show how our culture is deteriorating.
I hope the people from the Trans March have the opportunity to go to Palestine and live alongside people who are experiencing authentic terror, where I imagine they will be welcomed with loving kindness and gratitude. When one is actually under threat, things may look different.
I believe this exact phenomenon has left us as a culture wide-open to manipulation, particularly by well-funded state disinformation campaigns that stretch back to the first Trump campaign (and across more than a decade of EU elections). And we seem to lack curiousity or introspection into how we've been manipulated through our divisions. This is an old story: hate *is* violence, and it's self-defeating and self-perpetuating, while choosing non-violence is both hard and brave.
Parenthetically, my wife was not keen on her girls' night viewing of Supergirl. Quote: I wouldn't have been as disappointed if I hadn't expected better (based on writing and directing from previous Superman movie).
I'm scared of where we are all heading. A while back, before twitter became a nazi bar, I had a rando tell me he would gladly shoot me because I had a different opinion from (presumably) him. I point blank asked him if he was really willing to shoot a fellow American over politics and he answered yes. A few days ago, I saw Raskin and Lawler get into a shouting match in Congress and my first thought was "we are almost at the point of someone getting beat by a cane". I have thoughts about Israel, and I don't think it's antisemitic to point out that as a nation, it is very bad, pretty much an apartheid state and I try not to vote for anybody who continues to support it. I don't think they are our ally in any sense of the word. If someone wants to call me names for that, whatever, I guess. But if you start getting physical, that's a whole different ballgame.
As far as Supergirl goes, we didn't go see it because A) movie tickets have become stupid expensive and B) I heard it was dark and murky to hide the bad visual effects. I do see your point that drunk sorority girl might be more fun and lighthearted, especially for a summer superhero movie, than a deeply troubled young woman, but I'm not sure that should end with "go fuck yourself, misogynistic pig".
But it's not just online, people have lost civility in the real world. I see so much absolutely rude ass behavior out there every fucking day now. People have stopped considering other people completely. "Greed is good" and "I got mine" have replaced "be kind" and "do unto others". I have no clue how we turn this shit around or if its even still possible.
I read and re-read this column, in an effort to understand the case you were making. I completely agree with your point that online communication has become coarse, vulgar, divisive, cruel, and unhinged. On the other hand, while I love your writing and appreciate your insight on so many topics, I was, at first, troubled by your statement that the Supergirl movie might have been "a more successful film" if the main character had been a "drunk sorority girl" who just wants to "party". I completely agree that the reactions of people who surely could have been more constructive, were inappropriate. But I can also see why they misinterpreted your comment as misogynist and demeaning, and immediately (but inappropriately) chose violence. When I first read the comment, it surprised me. I have been reading your columns for years, and don't believe you are capable of misogyny. I also know absolutely nothing about sci-fi/super hero films, so wasn't sure what to make of your comment in the social media post.
Your expertise in super hero and sci-fi stories is considerable. Perhaps you were trying to say that this genre called for the Super Girl character to be a drunk sorority girl in order to appeal to the (predominantly male) fans(?) If your intention was to communicate that super hero fans are unlikely to appreciate a more nuanced character whose drinking is a form of self medicating, and instead just want to see a "drunk sorority girl", I think your amazing strength as a writer could have made that clearer. Unfortunately, you may not have stuck the landing. That doesn't excuse the hateful responses you received. Or maybe I am still completely unclear about the case you are making.
Again, I don’t think “drunk sorority girl” (not my original term) is an inherently bad thing. My point is that the Supergirl in SUPERMAN potentially seemed like a lighthearted young woman who enjoyed having a good time (like many college kids), which is different from a more traumatic character you might see in a western or film noir (neither of which are popular genres). I would say this about a male character as well
I agree; while I have never found your writing misogynistic in any way and would give this comment the benefit of the doubt, I am not able to determine the point your comment was attempting to make. Even after reading this post, I am unsure of the point your comment was attempting to make…
I really appreciated this comment -- I think it highlights our tendency to stereotype, pigeonhole, and reduce people (and how it's not the exclusive to conservatives):
'I think there is also a revealing liberal bias to “drunk sorority girls,” as I know many women who were in sororities in college and attended their share of keggers. They were still bright, driven women. It was just college.'
The billionaire press has latched on to this Dimitry Yakoushkin dude like a Titanic passenger who found a life ring. Rando nuts like him are not "The Left", do not represent millions of pro-Palestinian Americans, and are not the masterminds of a second Jewish Holocaust. So, we should now all join Promise to America and take a more balanced view of Israeli/American genocide in the Middle East and ethnic cleansing in AmeriKKKa? Nothing would please Elon Musk more, I think.
Hi! I'm not a billionaire or part of the press, and ALSO consistently upset and alienated by people like Dimitry, and others that have been using the issue of Palestine to just attack Jews! It really, really sucks, and causes a lot of anxieties for left wing Jews like me! Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
I think a lot of the anger online and at the ballot box and in the mob is frustration, resentment of a world that’s really… Not great these days. Rich assholes hoarding everything, poverty everywhere else, wars, democratic backsliding, jackbooted thugs terrorizing cities, equal rights for lots of groups in danger or actively rolled back. It’s getting kinda Lord of the Flies these days, or like we’re all on a sinking ship clawing each other’s eyes out to get to the lifeboats. I tend to notice most majority white morons who figure the way to satisfaction is try take everything unto themselves like it’s the fifties again—and it’s definitely too kind to some of them to pay attention only to this when there are those for whom that would be the goal even if there were lots for everyone, as they really are just fucking bitter they’re losing their share of money and power relative to other groups—but it comes out lots of other ways. Idiots like this chasing and harassing a generally decent guy, people screaming in the comments, even people electing idiot corrupt racist criminals, kinda figure: some of the fuel is the frustration, the desperation. Could write a longer soliloquy on how demagogues love being able to ride that anger. Not excusing it, not at all, and people gotta learn cooler heads, just noting the temperature. (Oh and speaking of: heat waves are correlated with an increase in violent crime, and not like we’re short of those either these days. Not really thrilled about living in these particular interesting times.)
Sorry to hear chat about Chanda. She usually seems like a decent person on Bluesky, to the extent that I see her posts.
It’s not that deep! A woman with the same powers as Superman who also drinks and parties like a sorority girl is a great premise for an escapist summer blockbuster, and a great contrast to all the previous cinematic versions of Clark Kent/Kal-El we’ve gotten. That movie would have been set entirely on Earth, and I bet it would have sold a lot more tickets than the movie they actually produced. It is truly insane that a university professor would call you a “misogynist pig” and tell you to “fuck yourself” over such an innocuous comment.
I suspect that “drunk sorority girl” is the kind of movie that DC originally had planned, back when Supergirl was merely a cameo inserted at the end of the Superman movie. But once a (female) screenwriter and (male) director were assigned, they got cold feet. According to IMDb, the woman who wrote Supergirl is a first time screenwriter. She certainly has never written anything as big as a $170 million superhero movie. That’s an enormous amount of pressure, and perhaps that led her to play it safe by producing a dour, overly serious and joyless screenplay in the mold of “Man of Steel?” (I have not seen Supergirl, this is based solely on reviews I’ve read which were uniformly negative). Maybe she was afraid of being attacked online for being a bad feminist by portraying Supergirl as a fun-loving hot mess?
I had my own “This is how she interacts with strangers online?” moment today and I deactivated my Bluesky account. Donald Trump has taken enough of my joy these last 11 years. I’m not gonna allow increasingly unhinged people on social media to take any more of it.
Thanks! And yes, lighthearted teenage Supergirl is consistent with how the character was depicted at her peak popularity. Once she was aged into early adulthood in the mid 1970s, she struggled to connect with audiences.
Exactly why I do not do any social media, cuz it ain't social. It's an online mob of self-righteous assholes with sprinkles of decent people here and there wondering, like you are, WTF happened to people.
I don't have time for that shit. Sorry to hear about your experience but it is all too common. Some people must use it for their jobs, careers, etc. I'm lucky in that regard.
Very well said, Stephen. Part of the reason I like Wiener (and am proud to be voting for him this year) is that more than any other politician, her articulates my exact feelings about Israel/Gaza (it's a genocide, the current Israeli government is full of maniacs, but the State of Israel has a right to exist and must be allowed to defend itself, and anti-Semitism is a very real threat).
As a San Franciscan who considers himself a strong trans ally, I was absolutely heartbroken about what happened the other day. Yes, people have a right to be angry with Wiener, to protest him, to publicly criticize him, to vote against him, but (a) can we please try to be just a bit more civil about this and actually have a respectful dialogue? (I've been fortunate to have such discussions with multiple people whose views on the topic differ from mine) and (b) like it or not, the issue of practicality has to feature into politics on some level, and this is beyond impractical: It demonizes a strong advocate, it gives potent fuel (and tacit support) to forces that are exponentially more destructive, and it takes our eye off balls that I feel are just as important. (I still don't understand why the Gaza issue has become the No. 1 issue in many LGBTQ circles. Why is it more dire than climate collapse or American fascism? For God's sake, why is it more important than LGBTQ oppression?)
I had a lot of thoughts about "Supergirl," (and, being a middle-aged lady who was once a superhero and fantasy-loving girl, growing up in an era where I didn't get to see myself as either in movies, I really wanted to like it), and while my issues were different than yours, I still ended up at the same kind of overall feeling of, meh, it was fine. But I can't believe you got attacked like that for raising really valid observations (and ones that would have been fun to discuss!).
For what it's worth, your observation ties into some of my own issues, which is that writers seem unwilling to let woman protagonists be legit fuck-ups and make mistakes based on issues they need to work through- Supergirl drinks because of her past trauma, but we never see her avoidance issues actually affect the plot, or lead her to make mistakes. The moment Ruthie's sword is stolen, she's being a hero- she's still always doing the right thing.
It's a form of benevolent chauvinism; being unwilling to write women characters in action movies as complicated and fallible.
Anyone who would label you a misogynist doesn’t understand what misogyny is.
Feels like the social contract is breaking down in the United States some days. I'm not sure how you fix that or if you even can.
Other days, I see reminders that there are helpers. There are kind people still. There are still communities worth preserving.
I'm so tired.
When I first left Christianity the concept of original sin was one of the things that drove me out. The idea that people are inherently bad because of some stupid shit an ancestor did was abhorrent to me, and still is.
Now, I *do* feel like people are generally shitty. Not because of some magical fruit in a garden that didn't exist, but just because there's something very wrong with us as a species, like on a genetic level. Some bullshit leftover from our evolutionary past that makes all of us predisposed to be the worst we can be.
Thank you for explaining this phenomenon in a medium that requires attention and thought. Scott Wiener is a courageous leader for many of us here in California, and if we disagree about specific issues it does not make him (or me) subject to physical threats. Same with you and your opinion about a film. These responses show how our culture is deteriorating.
I hope the people from the Trans March have the opportunity to go to Palestine and live alongside people who are experiencing authentic terror, where I imagine they will be welcomed with loving kindness and gratitude. When one is actually under threat, things may look different.
Was the human race ever really civilized though? Or did we just kind of pretend for a bit before inevitably backsliding?
Well this is going to keep happening because Murc's Law is Cruise Control for Cool (and Clout)...and this is a great way to get clout!
What a lovely synthesis of two distinct threads.
I believe this exact phenomenon has left us as a culture wide-open to manipulation, particularly by well-funded state disinformation campaigns that stretch back to the first Trump campaign (and across more than a decade of EU elections). And we seem to lack curiousity or introspection into how we've been manipulated through our divisions. This is an old story: hate *is* violence, and it's self-defeating and self-perpetuating, while choosing non-violence is both hard and brave.
Parenthetically, my wife was not keen on her girls' night viewing of Supergirl. Quote: I wouldn't have been as disappointed if I hadn't expected better (based on writing and directing from previous Superman movie).
Too many people who believe their way of seeing the world is the only correct one and don’t mind letting everyone else know, loudly. It’s so tiresome.
I'm scared of where we are all heading. A while back, before twitter became a nazi bar, I had a rando tell me he would gladly shoot me because I had a different opinion from (presumably) him. I point blank asked him if he was really willing to shoot a fellow American over politics and he answered yes. A few days ago, I saw Raskin and Lawler get into a shouting match in Congress and my first thought was "we are almost at the point of someone getting beat by a cane". I have thoughts about Israel, and I don't think it's antisemitic to point out that as a nation, it is very bad, pretty much an apartheid state and I try not to vote for anybody who continues to support it. I don't think they are our ally in any sense of the word. If someone wants to call me names for that, whatever, I guess. But if you start getting physical, that's a whole different ballgame.
As far as Supergirl goes, we didn't go see it because A) movie tickets have become stupid expensive and B) I heard it was dark and murky to hide the bad visual effects. I do see your point that drunk sorority girl might be more fun and lighthearted, especially for a summer superhero movie, than a deeply troubled young woman, but I'm not sure that should end with "go fuck yourself, misogynistic pig".
But it's not just online, people have lost civility in the real world. I see so much absolutely rude ass behavior out there every fucking day now. People have stopped considering other people completely. "Greed is good" and "I got mine" have replaced "be kind" and "do unto others". I have no clue how we turn this shit around or if its even still possible.
I read and re-read this column, in an effort to understand the case you were making. I completely agree with your point that online communication has become coarse, vulgar, divisive, cruel, and unhinged. On the other hand, while I love your writing and appreciate your insight on so many topics, I was, at first, troubled by your statement that the Supergirl movie might have been "a more successful film" if the main character had been a "drunk sorority girl" who just wants to "party". I completely agree that the reactions of people who surely could have been more constructive, were inappropriate. But I can also see why they misinterpreted your comment as misogynist and demeaning, and immediately (but inappropriately) chose violence. When I first read the comment, it surprised me. I have been reading your columns for years, and don't believe you are capable of misogyny. I also know absolutely nothing about sci-fi/super hero films, so wasn't sure what to make of your comment in the social media post.
Your expertise in super hero and sci-fi stories is considerable. Perhaps you were trying to say that this genre called for the Super Girl character to be a drunk sorority girl in order to appeal to the (predominantly male) fans(?) If your intention was to communicate that super hero fans are unlikely to appreciate a more nuanced character whose drinking is a form of self medicating, and instead just want to see a "drunk sorority girl", I think your amazing strength as a writer could have made that clearer. Unfortunately, you may not have stuck the landing. That doesn't excuse the hateful responses you received. Or maybe I am still completely unclear about the case you are making.
Again, I don’t think “drunk sorority girl” (not my original term) is an inherently bad thing. My point is that the Supergirl in SUPERMAN potentially seemed like a lighthearted young woman who enjoyed having a good time (like many college kids), which is different from a more traumatic character you might see in a western or film noir (neither of which are popular genres). I would say this about a male character as well
I agree; while I have never found your writing misogynistic in any way and would give this comment the benefit of the doubt, I am not able to determine the point your comment was attempting to make. Even after reading this post, I am unsure of the point your comment was attempting to make…
I really appreciated this comment -- I think it highlights our tendency to stereotype, pigeonhole, and reduce people (and how it's not the exclusive to conservatives):
'I think there is also a revealing liberal bias to “drunk sorority girls,” as I know many women who were in sororities in college and attended their share of keggers. They were still bright, driven women. It was just college.'