K+C Blog 2/27
The Escapist's anti-Nazi statements and actions concerned Sam and Joe's employers and publishers. What are the challenges of balancing social advocacy and private enterprise? Can you think of any issues today which would provide a similar challenge? What issues should comic books or graphic novels be exploring?
Many questions arise when it comes to balancing social advocacy and private enterprise: Should companies be able to use their platforms to support/oppose social cause? Is it ethical to mix these two worlds? Does private enterprise add too much competition to social advocacy when it should be about coming together to support a cause and help one another? Or are the funds generated by private enterprise for social advocacy too generous to turn down?
An issue today that is commonly intertwined with private enterprise is climate change. Major companies such as Unilever, Patagonia, Nestle, Ikea, and Tesla have all been known to invest loads of money into the fight against climate change. The only real problem/challenge in this is that each company has its own agenda and it is nearly impossible to know how genuine their efforts are (or is it that their climate change investments end up earning them more money?). In this case, there still seems to be very little negative impact - the companies benefit and the world benefits.
What issues should comic books or graphic novels be exploring? I think that if comics are to incorporate social advocacy, it should be subtle and should promote only basic morals. As we talked about in class today, X-Men was originally made to advocate for the acceptance of non-white races. I think comic books allow for a special opportunity to reach the youth with the agenda of teaching morals and principles. This would allow for more civilized future generations to discuss social issues without the blatant interference of business.
Many questions arise when it comes to balancing social advocacy and private enterprise: Should companies be able to use their platforms to support/oppose social cause? Is it ethical to mix these two worlds? Does private enterprise add too much competition to social advocacy when it should be about coming together to support a cause and help one another? Or are the funds generated by private enterprise for social advocacy too generous to turn down?
An issue today that is commonly intertwined with private enterprise is climate change. Major companies such as Unilever, Patagonia, Nestle, Ikea, and Tesla have all been known to invest loads of money into the fight against climate change. The only real problem/challenge in this is that each company has its own agenda and it is nearly impossible to know how genuine their efforts are (or is it that their climate change investments end up earning them more money?). In this case, there still seems to be very little negative impact - the companies benefit and the world benefits.
What issues should comic books or graphic novels be exploring? I think that if comics are to incorporate social advocacy, it should be subtle and should promote only basic morals. As we talked about in class today, X-Men was originally made to advocate for the acceptance of non-white races. I think comic books allow for a special opportunity to reach the youth with the agenda of teaching morals and principles. This would allow for more civilized future generations to discuss social issues without the blatant interference of business.
Love the pictures, as always Claire! Your use of rhetorical questions certainly keeps this blog post moving and provides a series of ideas to ponder after the conclusion of your brief opinion piece, however, I do wish that you explored some of these questions a little more. You bring up an interesting point that there are numerous companies whose PR office has made it their image to present their eco-friendly business model and fund the climate activism struggle, and I like your idea that this form of activism is permissible so long as their is a contribution to the greater good. However, where I tend to stumble in this thinking is who, exactly, draws the line that decides what is good? Sure, helping to fund cancer research for orphans is universally beneficial, but if an arm manufacturer decides that their work is beneficial and their pro-war propoganda would help bring global peace, even at the expense of millions of lives, is this "good?" I suppose my only question is where do we draw the line between social activism and political involvement. Thanks for another thought-provoking blog post.
ReplyDeleteClaire,
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. I especially am intrigued by your determination to continue using visual aids. I also discussed the issue today of climate change appearing in media and the entertainment industry, as it is by far our most dire and controversial topic as the world attempts to balance an economic need for energy sources and the destruction of the world's ecosystems. It would be interesting to explore some of these concepts and how they are already present in movies and television. I wonder, how can we determine basic morals? This gray area is potentially how companies are able to enter such radical territory in a gradual and purposeful way. Do you think this is a dangerous platform in general, and who should regulate these principles followed? Thanks,
Bailey