A superhero message board made me think deeply about freedom of speech.
To summarize what happened, a member of the DC Comics message board "toonzone" named Disney Boy or DB posted his thoughts on Superman with a board disscussion titled “How Superman Became a Violent Nutcase," and complained when he received negative feedback from other posters, Justice League producer Bruce Timm, put his two cents into the issue with a suburb post.
After reading Timm's analogy, I began to realize that his comments reflect the fact that many people do not consider the major consequence of free speech: the freedom of rebuttal. Think about it, anytime someone gives their opinion, there is bound to be someone who disagrees and they will say so. Historically speaking rebuttals ranged from verbal outcries, and protests to severe violence.
What bothers me the most is the fact that most people are like "Disney Boy." They rant that don’t deserve the “harsh criticism” for their opinions, but the fact of the matter is that people have to be more responsible for the way they express their views. If you are going to voice your opinion with questionable language, you better be prepared to receive feedback in the same tone.
Is this problem huge? Not really, but more and more people are becoming aware of it thanks to blogs. With the comments section, writers are now able to discern how readers interpret their writing, and can adapt or keep their writing style to further their point. In the end, I feel that writers should speak their mind in what ever manner they choose to do so, but more importantly they must not rebuke dissenting opinions of the same tone. If one doesn't take time to listen, then free speech is worthless.
Travis Carter @ Sat, 02/18/2006 - 4:20pm
I understand where you are coming from, but I do not see how your point is supported here. The issues you point to about what can happen from comments are valid, but that is not really what you are talking about. And the superhero argument did not seem to get out-of-line at all, but just furthered the discussion. I agree that some people can start controversy then not listen to what anybody else says, but I do not think these are some examples of it. But I agree with your point.