Last edited Sun Feb 16, 2014, 03:22 PM - Edit history (1)
One of the quotes in the OP says:"Television producers and publishers have told me the same story", writes Walter, "that in society they cannot make decisions based on quality or morality, they must make decisions based on sales."
But that's disingenuous. My son, who is very interested in the doings of the comics industry, has explained to me how this applies to the recent moves by DC Comics that have pissed so many people off. DC has recently narrowed down the scope of what they publish to appeal primarily to middle-class white males in their 30s and 40s. This makes short-term economic sense for them, because if 50% of your potential readers fall into a single demographic, while the other 50% are more widely spread out, you get the most bang for the buck by focusing on that one dominant group and ignoring everyone else. But it's also a long-term recipe for corporate disaster.
Part of that marketing strategy also grows out of the fact that a single issue of a comic now costs $4 or $5 -- compared to when I was a kid and you could buy a comic or two out of your weekly allowance and still have a nickle left over for penny candy. That in itself limits the potential market to the dwindling pool of people who can afford those prices and makes it a more attractive sales strategy to target only those people.
Inequality and greed aren't the only causes of rampant sexism in the media, of course. But I suspect they're the primary explanations for why it's getting so over-the-top right now.
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