There’s been a lot said about Frank Miller in the past few days after his comments about the Occupy Wall Street movement. Miller called the protestors “a pack of louts, thieves, and rapists, an unruly mob, fed by Woodstock-era nostalgia and putrid false righteousness. These clowns can do nothing but harm America.”
This, Miller tells us, is anti-American. But the borderline fascist subtext that pops up so often in Miller’s work? I suppose that’s completely pro-American.
And somehow, Miller finds a way to claim that OWS empowers al-Qaeda. The same al-Qaeda that’s pretty much been decimated and has gotten so desperate for members, they’ve resorted to bad rap videos and porn advertising (yes, I’m serious). Miller says the OWS should do the decent thing and “go back to your mommas’ basements” or “enlist for the real thing.” Miller is obviously doing his part. What’s that? No, he’s never served a day in his life in the armed services. But he does his part by creating comics where a thinly-veiled knock-off of Batman punches Muslims (I’m not joking, but I wish I was).
Back in the day, Frank Miller was one of the masters. He was the kind of creator other creators aspired to be like. He’s done great work, such as Daredevil, Daredevil: Born Again, Ronin, Wolverine, Batman: Year One, The Dark Knight Returns, Elektra: Assassin and others. But then he did a follow-up to The Dark Knight Returns, called The Dark Knight Strikes Again.
It was already becoming plainly obvious that Miller had gone a bit loopy. He then followed that up with All-Star Batman & Robin, a book so bad and so over-the-top, I still can’t tell if it’s supposed to be serious or satirical. After that, he decided to try his hand again in Hollywood, and he did so by directing Batman in Sin City The Spirit. Then came Holy Terror, which I mentioned above. And I’m not going to go into that too much because if I do, I’ll probably go on a rant not unlike that of “The Goddamn Batman.”
And now this. Miller comes out with a position so extreme that Glenn Beck, a man so extreme that Fox News told him to leave, is praising him. Way to go, Frank!
So this brings me to the title of this post — I would like to thank Frank Miller. Why? Because Frank Miller has shown me I have absolutely zero reason to give him any of my money. Frank Miller has come out and said to me, “please, do not buy my books. Because you’re just going to get more extreme right-wing propaganda that supports blatantly xenophobic, fascist ideals.”
Message received, Frank. Thanks for helping me save money in these difficult economic times.