Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass Sucks (Part 2)

[@dg4545]

When you say "keep politics out of comics" i think you mean "don't use media to push a certain political bias or agenda in the audience's face". Because you can have a political message in media and make it work. I think it just depends on the execution.

[@BlackLightJack.]

*ahem* Keep AGENDAS out of comics. my mistake.

[@dg4545]

@@BlackLightJack. but now that we are on the subject I don't understand what makes people think that period comics like this provide "a good example" for women to begin with. How is being an irrational, arrogant, toxic and entitled toddler in a tira supposed to be a good example of how women to treat others? "If you don't have the same way of thinking as me then you are a sexist white male" "If you support this politician then you are an awful person", that shit is just petty and childish. Yet that is what the media thinks is "acceptable" in today's society. Alienate and humiliate anyone who has different ideologies than you.

[@GoregeousLey]

Right. X-Men used a lot if civil rights for their story, and it works!

[@the_unholynjh3513]

@@dg4545 This is exactly what I think. I feel like representation is a lot better when it's just there. There's no special attention on it because it's just a normal thing. You can certainly have stories that center around issues such as racial or gender inequality and have them work, but they have to be well written. I feel awkward when my mom brings special attention to the fact that I'm a girl in stem, because it's just my interests, nothing special. As long as no one's an arse to me about it I'm not gonna put myself on some high horse about it because again, it's nothing special.

[@kingj9664]

@@BlackLightJack. Have you ever read a comic from not modern day I was a Bud from the past that put politics in it ended and still wanna being good like some X man stories or heck even stories from milestone comics they're the people who made static shock

[@Chaotic_Jackal]

I really hate how modern DC keeps trying to shoehorn Harley into being a “Lol so quirky and random” style character. In the original animated series she was crazy yes, but much like the Joker her seemingly random actions where often just a smokescreen to conceal just how dangerous and cunning she actually was. Now she just does stupid things only for the plot to save her every time.

[@corenlavolpe6143]

"Look at how they massacred my girl"

[@daelen.cclark]

Now if she used her dumb luck and randomness as her own smokescreen (like Jack Sparrow in Curse of the Black Pearl), that’d be different. But I think even James Gunn knows how to do that correctly.

[@nightwish1453]

@@daelen.cclark and with James Gunn I think he managed to get the best portryal of Harley amongst the movies

[@-8h-]

They seem to have gotten "crazy" mixed up with "retarded".

[@daelen.cclark]

@@nightwish1453 Exactly!

[@rainershea3880]

That “I am a queen” scene is supposed to fulfill the fantasy of putting a privileged person in their place. In reality, that’s not how you enact social change.

[@UrsahSolar]

I definitely think the manager is siding with Karen on this one.

[@SunnysFilms]

Kick Ass: Hit Girl is an eleven year old girl who can beat up grown men because she's been obsessively and single-mindedly trained by her dad since she was five. Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass: Harleen is an eleven year old girl who can beat up grown men because she is a girl and girls are strong and don't need to be taught anything because they're just naturally good at everything. Because they're girls.

[@banana_walter_]

slay girlboss!

[@jim-bob3093]

Nothing like verbally abusing and physically imtimidating a small woman in front of her children because she asked to keep it down. Yas queen?

[@jessicadriver1636]

Yeah and most importantly how dare this muscles chick insult Betty rubble and her jewelry.

[@corenlavolpe6143]

"Write what you know" is only good advice when you know a lot and are always eager to learn more. As a writer myself, I do a ton of general research just to get even minor details right.

[@daelen.cclark]

And that’s what I’m trying to do. It can be properly done.

[@corenlavolpe6143]

@@daelen.cclark godspeed my dude. Its pretty fun for me personally bc I love learning, but it can also be a slog

[@nadillasakinah950]

Me too! I’m writing a sequel for my book where I need to research on carnivals

[@lupinsredjacket3191]

@@nadillasakinah950 I'm writing a fan-fiction that involves researching specific geographic locations in Hell from works like Dante's Inferno and Paradise Lost. Research is fun. Lol.

[@daelen.cclark]

@@corenlavolpe6143 That is true. (It’s just hard for me to wanna write, sometimes.)

[@leopardnosepaws]

Pretty sure its public etiquette that if you're in a restaurant and you're shouting at the top of your lungs about stupid shit, people are going to tell you to shut up. You can't get mad if people are telling you to be quiet

[@nationalinstituteofcheese3012]

She didn’t even say that the muscles person was saying anything bad. Just that her behavior was annoying

[@cakefrosting6451]

To write Joker as a dude who takes down only corporations sounds so weird. Whole basis of Joker existing is because he’s a full on psychopath/ sociopath in some stories who would wreck up ANYTHING and CAUSE CHAOS for the mere fun of it. Also rip Poison Ivy in this comic, she’s dumbed down to an activist. Don’t mind the race change but the fact that Ivy remains some regular human with a now rather nasty personality, makes her blend into the background for me because I can’t be bothered with her.

[@lovelycloudyskies]

It’s weird how Joker and Harley as people to terrorize corporations for two reasons: 1. Joker and Harley terrorize citizens, not big corporations. If they did, it would be just for the mere pleasure of it, nothing political 2. Why would you write corporate greed as the big problem in GOTHAM CITY? Gotham City’s problem was villains terrorizing people, that was the whole point of Batman. It would’ve made more sense if it was in Metropolis, and the main character was Superboy or something. (I would put in Supergirl, but she’s basically a blonde female version of Superman, backstory and everything. Would’ve been better if she was written as an ordinary girl but got kidnapped and used for an experiment of Lex Luthor.)

[@redman7775]

I feel that the mom at 8:03 is an insert for the artist's feelings for this hellfire story

[@corenlavolpe6143]

That's pretty based

[@ryanleatigaga7596]

In my opinion, as long as you can give both sides a good reason why they think the way they think, you can put politics in ANYTHING. The X-Men could fit into any prejudiced group, like black people, gay people, poor people, etc, and the mutants are not all treated like they're damsels in distress (like Magneto.) However, you NEED to write both sides as humans. You can't just paint one side as "the good side" and the other as "the bad side." Real life is way more complicated than that.

[@SaiyanGamer95]

I think it would be best to have a "good side" and "bad side" is if you're just making a simple story. Like, "here's our main characters and they're good because they're the good guys and they fight the bad guys because they're bad", like those old 80s cartoons. Politics are incredibly complicated and nuanced. But I know we live in an age where people are all "If you don't agree with me exactly, then you're a terrible person" when it should be "It's okay if you don't agree with my views, what matters is that we respect each other and why we believe what we do."

[@tultsi93]

Wasn't X-Men originally racism allegory?

[@lloydlandrum3040]

@@tultsi93 I assume you typoed and meant X-men.. If so no Stan Lee himself mentioned they was not originally a allegory for anything .. the allegorical writing came later as the pieces fit together just right to make them allegorical for varies bigotry.. Racism the most obvious

[@tultsi93]

@@lloydlandrum3040 Oops, now I see I made a typo. Thanks for correcting. And wow, an allegory which is inclusive? No wonder X-Men is so popular!

[@lloydlandrum3040]

@@tultsi93 Still wasn't originally allegorical as they was made first as just misfits trying to find there place basically and also as a way to not need new origin story for powers each time on new characters.. As for X-men eh the popularity has ebbed abd flowed over the years

[@Adamguy2003]

I LOVE you pointing out in the beginning how horrifically this wretched comic perverts Harley's backstory from the well- known and solidly- accepted prior lore. Mariko Tamaki has a real habit of trying to write for well- established comic characters that she clearly knows absolutely nothing about, has no interest in learning about, and simply takes a crude perversion of their personality and shapes it into a mouthpiece for her views (She'd have fit in perfectly among the writing staff for the thankfully- now- cancelled 'Batwoman' show, in that sense). She's done it for Starfire, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy; I wonder who'll be next? Oh, and I too hate how Harley has been used by much of pop culture over the last few years; Her personality has been dumbed down from a complex, funny and yet incredibly sad henchwoman of the Joker and victim of his manipulations, into just "I'M QUIRKY, AND I HATE MEN! WAAAAAAAHHHHMAAAAAAAAN POOOOOOOWWWWEEEEEEEERRRRR!" @ 8:03, notice that he/ she/ whatever the hell that thing is not only insults the woman, but also proceeds to insult her little children (Who have said and done absolutely nothing, btw, let alone anything that would warrant such treatment) by calling them "Children of the corn." A character who nastily insults FREAKING CHILDREN for no reason is portrayed as heroic! I've noticed that the Woke crowd increasingly have no problem with insulting and mistreating children. I vividly recall a video I saw in which a group of girls on their way to a kind of junior cheerleading competition had to walk past some sort of BLM protest (Maybe they were protesting the competition for some reason, I don't know). The head BLM- er started shouting all kinds of insults and even threats at the girls and their parents, mostly involving their race, through a megaphone. These girls and their parents were just walking quietly past, not doing or saying anything to provoke the BLM- ers, yet the BLM- ers still leapt at the opportunity to hurl vile verbal abuse at kids. Heck of a world we're living in, isn't it?

[@Ramsey276one]

First point? FULLY AGREE Tamaki Mariko is not interested in writing characters by their canon. Only uses the Buffalo Bill style, JUST THE SKIN *pathetic*

[@XxFloofyxX]

Ohh boy, if im part of/support anyone who isnt a straight white wealthy male, i can verbally and physically attack people into agreeing with me! Better be submissive or i can cancel you on twitter

[@idontexist1966]

Just saying "they" is fine. I know it's hard to tell the gender of that character however people who look like that do exist and I doubt they're as awful as this person is, so I don't see any reason to insult the appearance. (not to mention it saves time to just say one word rather than tripping over oneself again and again because it can get confusing) I do agree, they're absolutely awful, not only creating a public disruption but also insulting literal children is absolutely disgusting.

[@daelen.cclark]

This may sound like I’m part of the “stupid western enabler” problem, but I feel like politics can be used in art properly if it isn’t preachy or stereotypical.

[@arsd.711]

Exactly, after all at the end of the day you're trying to tell a story, and it should be entertaining while still giving way for your message. The best example I can give is the games made by Red Candle games which are heavily based on their local politics and history to the point of getting banned and/or pulled out of stores. Political portrayals should be nuanced and have a deeper meaning, not just shoehorned in.

[@corenlavolpe6143]

My comment was about this too. I understand some stories should only be escapism, but other stories can use politics to create a whole bunch of interesting things in the story. Politics can be the cause of large scale conflicts between nations, or the ideologies can serve as motivation or framing devices for characters. In 1984 the politics was the source of conflict for Winston (and everyone else), since the state and its authoritarianism was the reason the world was as awful as it was, and why he couldn't be free or be with Julia, etc. Starship Troopers is also a good example but it does kinda feel more open about Heinlein's personal political ideology. Literally having a teacher character discuss his philosophy to students very clearly, but the story also contains a narrative about an interspecies war, humans against arachnids, and that's not really reliant on the political aspects of the story aside from explaining how the humans governing body functions, just some worldbuilding really.

[@lloydlandrum3040]

And not one sided .. but the reason ''keep politics out of comics'' is even a thing is how at a point most employed that insert politics does it poorly in a bad way... thus its a phrase mostly directed at those cases

[@fenrisvermundr2516]

That's pretty much how most feel. They don't mind politics being in media, they just hate being preached at, doesn't matter what side is doing it.

[@daelen.cclark]

@@arsd.711 Or even in movies like “They Live”. It can be done.

[@Zeuken]

8:18 The mother is thinking what I'm thinking. " Four eyed crimson chin lookin hipster looking like a tribal warrior preaching to me over making noise. I did not have kids for this I just wanna eat".

[@giorgiapetrei5421]

Is it me or "This is MY neighborhood, I've lived here all my life. You are NEW HERE" Sounds like something a racist person would say to the Poc family that just transferred? Imagine if it was the lady who said that to Harley and her friend. Not a very "woke" sentence, I think.

[@KnTenshi2]

The people who do this also believe "there are no bad tactics, just bad targets", meaning that everything from gatekeeping to violence is only wrong when used against the "wrong" people. For them, there is no comparison because one is against white people and the other is against non-white people - the target alone makes the difference.

[@angrytheclown801]

Oh it's woke. Remember, it's always OK when they do it.

[@omniviewer2115]

I think what gets me the most about stories like this is how the roles of hero and villain are always reversed. I mean, it's one thing if you have a superhero voicing certain political ideas; many people point to the time Green Lantern and Green Arrow shared a title and usually wound butting heads because - at the time - the former was conservative and the latter was liberal. But the thing about that series is that both characters are heroes in the end, so we know that they are moral figures when all is said and done. But then you have books like this, and various other works produced in recent years, where the characters we are meant to see as the moral hear of the story are the villains, or in some cases they simply behave like villains. These writers are using established characters to spout political agendas that we, the audience, are meant to agree with, but they are spoken by characters who are evil, or at best misguided in the direction of evil. And the heroes? They're depicted as boring, out of touch, secretly corrupt, and impotent when the chips are down. The whole thing reeks even worse once you realize that connection. Naturally, I'm not saying that villains cannot be portrayed as heroes in certain circumstances. Terminator 2 gave the T-800 a splendid turn from bad to good, for example. However, with that change came certain stipulations. In order to be a true hero in the story, the T-800 had to stop killing people and take on a more fatherly role to the young John Connor. He was not allowed to just be the same killer robot from the first movie; he had to change and become truly good. Had he remained a heartless death machine the whole way through, the film would not have worked half as well. As for Harley Quinn, everyone wants her to be a hero, but they don't want her to be heroic. She's only counted as a hero because she has the right agendas motivating her, and she's aiming her bat at the heads of people who are even worse than her. How do we know they're worse? Um...patriarchy, I guess. Oddly, that winds up creating a blatant double standard. A villain placed in the role of hero is allowed to still behave like a villain, but should a hero do the same thing, it's a fall from grace. Harley can beat the tar out of as many Joker goons as she wants to, but God forbit Superman snaps General Zod's neck because heroes don't kill. Poison Ivy can let her killer plants eviscerate a whole city in the name of environmentalism, but don't you dare show Batman causing property damage in a chase scene. We're not meant to trust in our heroes, but we are still meant to hold them to their standards, but the villains can still literally get away with murder as long as they say they're not villains anymore. There was a time when we weren't meant to agree with the villain's philosophy. At best, we were meant to see them as maybe have one good point, but that point is lost amid everything else. Now we're meant to see the villains are moral arbiters of the future. Am I the only one disturbed by that?

[@Saltedroastedcaramel]

@@drawingdragon People these days take the gray and grey mentality too far they don't realize they're in the black

[@NebLleb]

Nope.

[@hassathunter2464]

Its because evil people keeps making the characters self-inserts. And they genuinely think they are good, somehow. And villains are no longer decided by any actions, but their superficial traits.

[@Anme96]

Attack on titan did it better. The author was as objective as possible with each character and their politics and showed how they clash or unite. What i love the most (because it isn’t done a lot) is that he included the fighting within a group too ( violence vs diplomacy )

[@DepressooEspressoo]

Hell even in jjba (especially in part 5), you can tell the guys are male. Sure they are wearing what could be considering feminine (lipstick,long hair,high heel boots,boob windows,and I think even nail polish) but you can still tell they are male with their muscles,voices,and names Because the creator has base them off of fashion magazines but all in all they are still good written characters regardless if they look a little feminine. But in breaking glass, I still confused if "mama" or the glass guy? Are supposed to be a girl or a guy or non-binary even. Because their character design are don't give us anything. I don't know either tamaki wanted to break gender norms with those two characters or something but she with doing a horrible job at that and writing good characters because my God the glasses person manage to annoy me.

[@Ramsey276one]

Golden Wind AKA Italian mafia Couture Gang XD Love it, BTW

[@eddieweird]

JJBA it's a perfect example on how to write a story (subjective opinion I know) Araki does his homework when it comes to the places and characters the main JoJo is in. A ton of Jojo characters aren't just cookie cutter characters. They have a struggles and backstories that made them to what they are. It's incredible

[@Saltedroastedcaramel]

This is why I like how anime is able to handle gender expression over how the west does it.

[@otakumangastudios3617]

I honestly think that there’s much better social representation in anime.

[@nationalinstituteofcheese3012]

Gotta love how she’s portraying her very crazy and psychopathic tendencies as quirky and cute. Great message for the kiddos

[@thetwelfth9987]

8:06 this dialogue is so cringe it would cure your depression just so it could watch you cry as it makes you even more depressed.

[@nyafields4534]

That dialogue was so cringy. Like, what on earth 💀💀💀

[@catarana6135]

I think politics in comics CAN work. The problem is presenting one view as entirely correct and/or using a bastardized strawman of the other side to "win" the argument (or better yet only showing one side of the argument). If it is a comic with multiple ideologies given a fair shot then I think it would be okay but nobody seems to have enough knowledge or decency to portray their opponents fairly. Edit: Then again if this happens politics is likely to be central to the story, not just garbage inserted into a story as a mouthpiece

[@corenlavolpe6143]

Presenting many ideologies in a fair light is something I'm attempting to do in my own story. And I agree, what bothers people the most is the strawmanning and unearned sense of moral superiority. It is, among other things, very immersion breaking.

[@Alondro77]

I don't think politics works in any 'super-power' comics, because it's a world in which LITERAL POWERS AND SUPERVILLAINS EXIST... that alone would so massively alter the societal dynamics that our puny issues would be utterly irrelevant. For crying out loud, in a universe with Storm... why the heck would ANY climate change either way be an issue when she could CHANGE THE WHOLE FRIGGIN THING at a whim? When there are beings that can toss planets around like basketballs, our real-world politics becomes absurd. Our societal issues are meaningless. Hell, it might be a slap to the face of many people to shout down ALL the global politics of ALL kinds in super power comics: YOUR PETTY ARGUMENTS ARE MEANINGLESS YOU IDIOTS! THERE'S A MONSTER THAT'S LITERALLY GOING TO EXPLODE THE PLANET RIGHT THERE!! IT DOESN'T CARE WHAT YOU BELIEVE!!!

[@catarana6135]

@@Alondro77 oh for sure, but I meant in general stories. I don’t remember who said it, but a guy talking about writing tips for sci-fi said something along the lines of not making things blatant stand ins for modern issues, to make them in a way that the story will still have a culturally relevant message in the future

[@Adamguy2003]

YES! EXACTLY! The key is to ensure it stays merely social commentary, not one- sided propaganda. Rather than comics, I think I'll use 'The Simpsons' as an example of both: First, consider the classic episode "Itchy and Scratchy and Marge." It looks at controversial social issues (Violence and other objectionable content in media aimed at children, and eventually veers into the much broader conflict of freedom of expression vs. censorship), yet does so in a remarkably balanced way; It pretty equally satirizes people on both sides of the issue, yet at the same time concedes that people on both sides of the issue each have some valid points. It really leaves it up to the viewers to make up their own minds on where they stand on the issue. This is a great example of the right way to do social commentary. Next, let's look at newer episodes of 'The Simpsons.' The aforementioned subtlety, balance and respect for the viewers' intelligence are now completely gone. When looking at social issues, it now portrays one side of the issue (Usually the far- left side of it) as being 100% right in every way and adhered to by saintly and wise heroes, while portraying literally everyone on the other side of the issue as being either stupid, ignorant, or flat- out evil. This is one- sided propaganda. Like I said, it's important to remember the distinction between the two and keep it from veering from thoughtful and thought- provoking social commentary into simply ramming one's personal beliefs down others' throats.

[@otakumangastudios3617]

I think also the difference between propaganda and artistically doing social commentary is how direct it is and shoehorned it is. For example, the entire reason why X-Men was written the way it was, was because it was supposed to be analogous for racism and other sorts of prejudices that people face every day. Also we get an imperfect villain character who is not intrinsically evil, but inherently screwed up, and is so heavily affected by the PTSD of his childhood during the holocaust, that he sees the world through a crooked lens. He is so scared of what will happen to the mutants due to the prejudices towards them that basically, in other words, he becomes a Twitter SJW. Interesting, right?

[@timfortune9]

When that film guy first showed in Part 1, I immediately said "So that's the Joker". And then lo and behold... I'm just seeing out of context panels and the point of everything being predictable because of the bias is spot on.

[@skeeball7844]

My sibling is a deadringer for Tamaki in terms of personality and holier-than-thou identity politics. Deadass says that Batman is worse as a character because he’s a billionaire. Makes me want to chew my bones out of my body.

[@skeeball7844]

Anyways, I love your videos because you remind me that I am indeed sane.

[@mads9638]

I know this is the important part but I hate when people call Poison Ivy by Ivy before she gets her power because her real name is Pamela the Poison Ivy is her alias. Gotham did the same thing and I hate it. and here it is just lazy or lake of care because Mariko Tamaki did remember Harleys real name

[@ShioriMizuyamiKyu]

Any of Mariko’s work in a nutshell is that one angry tweet from Twitter and Tumblr.

[@SirLuckySlime]

Every day this line of a character rap battle rings more and more true.. "You could have been original, then big wigs made you cheesy And these days you've been decreased to the Deadpool of DC"

[@cheyennesmith3365]

One thing I noticed in Tamaki’s books is that there’s always a character that flips two middle fingers at the same time.

[@arsd.711]

I think putting in politics can work for a story, but it depends on the execution and how they're portrayed. A simple black/white view of the politics forced on characters without it aligning to their actual morals would be a no go. If there's a need for it in the story, there should be another character or moment that challenge their views without being painted as the one in the wrong. There should be something deeper than just their politics defining their actions. Just like what I pointed out in another reply, after all at the end of the day you're trying to tell a story, and it should be entertaining while still giving way for your message. The best example I can give is the games made by Red Candle games which are heavily based on their local politics and history to the point of getting banned and/or pulled out of stores. But they have a lot of fans all around because of how gripping the story they've told. Political portrayals should be nuanced and have a deeper meaning, not just shoehorned in and being preachy.

[@IReadTooMuchCrap]

I was almost late to work yesterday because I was drawing, and was trapped in the zone by this video. But yes, I'm all for a drinking game for the next comic!

[@gachaleaf1551]

The artstyle: AMAZING!!!!❤❤❤ The dialogue: "Let me just ruin this"

[@MikotoNui]

For those who want to read a comic about Harley Quinn’s backstory where she goes from the psychologist from Arkham to the Sidekick after falling for the Joker, may I suggest you Stjepan Sejic’s Harleen? Although it only lasted for short three volumes, it’s writing is leagues better to match with the art. He’s also the author behind his original works Sunstone, Death Vigil and recently Fine Print.

[@pepekovallin]

That character talking down to a mother in front of her kids is so strange, like, she just asked you to stop acting like a weirdo in a public place, you could have just said "I'm sorry"? She instead acts like those annoying bully characters that do the impossible just for the sake of being annoying

[@StormyStars64]

I havent finished this one yet but turns out there was a D.C writing budget that got cut so they hired people like Mariko Tamaki who joined so they can get popular and theY look better on resumes since they worked on D.C, i cant find the old source besides a comment.

[@AColonDashSix]

The problem is Harley was ALWAYS defined by her relationship with the Joker, that's the point of the character.

[@eatatjoe]

What the *FUCK* was that "queen/dee-va" stereotype dialogue?! Mariko or whoever her name is just reintroduced racism.

[@rheverend]

Modern comic authors form their entire identity around their sexual orientation and personal politics, so that’s all they write about

[@blankadams3120]

Okay, so, the only 'glass' I think Harley broke in the comic was Ivy's greenhouse...? With the bomb set up that landed her in prison? And, no, Harley would never have been able to fight against Joker. And giving the Joker an actual backstory is just wrong.

[@blankadams3120]

@@MrNickPresley You know what, DC? I want a Guy Fawkes like backstory for the Joker... just, an entire town converging on the local police force in clown masks, but, one of them continues the masquerade all the way to Gotham. Yes, I know that's partially the story to the Joker movie...

[@hassathunter2464]

The title obviously refers to "Glass ceiling" cause can't not have your politics hammered at every single point.

[@tfordham13]

🎵Your back,back at it again🎵

[@akirafudo4419]

8:09 ah yes nothing said your strong like insulting a middle age woman and her kids all because she told you to keep it down.

[@bradleyharris774]

Seeing Mariko Tamaki's utterly rancid writing makes me feel better about my own writing skills because I would have to actively try to be this bad and she does it so naturally.

[@krnatsu]

I'd say the problem isn't so much politics specifically being featured in comics, or any form of fiction, rather its execution. The issue with writers like Tamaki, is that they present one idea as objectively correct and the one that runs parallel to be objectively incorrect. However, there are a ton of stories that implement politics in ways that don't force the watcher into being on the main characters side. I.e. the Gundam franchise, I know its an anime, but Gundam (with some exceptions) does a great job at showing the brutality of war and that its a morally grey issue where there only people in the wrong, are the people ok with fighting when it can be avoided, Villains like Zeong from the original MSG, aren't Villains necessarily due to their ideology, but rather how they go about executing their ideology. The problem with "villains" or "heroes" in stories written by people Tamaki, is they lack pragmatic points the audience can get behind, they lack a compelling point that makes them feel less like characters and more like people. This story, I'm Not Starfire, HGS and others are bad, because their characters are only there to act as the authors' political mouth pieces, because they don't have a unique and fleshed out personality, they're less like people and like characters, they're just images that sometimes say something because otherwise the author gets fired

[@Alondro77]

Well here's the difference: it uses THAT WORLD'S politics, which are 'similar' to ASPECTS of ours, but aren't on-the-nose one-for-one duplications. The fictional world in those manga is SELF-CONTAINED, and therefore come across as genuine and independent from our own. This makes the storytelling far more compelling AND immersive, since the reader is not being told what to think.

[@LR-jb6zn]

woke story writting is all the same. they writen by wrong people that think they are right.

[@sixthcitysaint]

8:04 This image is not only Memeworthy, but Tamaki's writing for this character makes it even better. Looking back Mariko Tamaki's career is essentially someone writing a Woke version of "Carpe Diem" on finished art and expecting profit and notoriety.

[@mrlovekilling31]

I hate politics being shoved into our modern day entertainment

[@justaskmonica1013]

The sad fact a beautiful piece of artwork is ruined by the egotistical writer

[@jemjimjam5444]

I hate how people have ruined Harley Quinn's character. I'm not the biggest fan of DC and hasn't seen every piece of media with Harley in it, but everything as of recent plays her madness like a joke -- which can be fine sometimes -- but it's not really taken seriously and it's instead just a bonus point to make her "quirky and different". At this point, Mariko Tamaki is just ruining beloved characters and I can't tell if it's on purpose or not anymore.

[@draydenhotel9051]

Here's a question I had why wasn't the penguin the big villain of the story. Rich, white, old and a business man.

[@ItsJustTeddington]

The dialogue sounds like it was written by a 14 year old white girl who just watched Rupaul's Drag Race. But this time, it's a schlubby middle aged cat lady.

[@CarpettinginMotel.townson]

You wanna know what’s interesting? When you posted this video, JustSomeGuy simultaneously posted a video about manga overcoming comic sales in America…..

[@thebluedemon2613]

I'm starting to feel more confident about becoming a writer in the future

[@samanthamark3012]

Hear me out here, I'm about to take literally two minutes to fix the entire story. I've sipped my tea, and I'm ready to spill it. I agree about Harley, she should be a normal person. I'd approach it as an establishment of here morals and why she wanted to be a therapist. Instead of "uh oh, white man gentrification" it could be about how people in power are corrupt, specifically in Gotham, because everyone is corrupt in Gotham lol. And how people in powered being corrupt, destroying the city, and preying on the innocent affects everyday people. This also gives motivation for Harley wanting to help by being a psychiatrist. My next point? HAHA IMMA BOUTA SLANDER BRUCE WAYNE! Bruce Wayne aka batman is directly related to "uh oh, corrupt people in power" and "uh oh so much crime". That's his whole shtick. Now, assuming that Bruce is older than Harley, you can have a 15 year old Harley and a very much active Bruce (all be it, not Batman yet). Bruce is very active in politics, and always has been, so it would be easy to name drop him a lot. Ohoh? What's that? Bruce Wayne could lowkey be corrupt and have negative effects on Gotham despite his seemingly pure intentions? :O whoa, that sounds like a 3 dimensional character that breeds conflict! You could honestly take this in any direction, from more of an interpersonal conflict focused story about Harley as a teen figuring out what she wants to be, to a social commentary about how despite pure intentions you can easily be corrupted. Wow, I used 2 braincells and my basic knowledge of Batman lore to create a decent concept for a compelling story while still using elements of Breaking Glass. It's almost like I have a grasp of reality or something. Aight, Imma head out.

[@ThiccSumoWarDog]

I think Metal Gear is a good example of a story that uses politics in its narrative without it being preachy. Because ultimately the plot isn't about using political messages to prop up or defame a particular political ideology (outside of obvious psychos) - it's all about how war is hell no matter how you slice it, and politics are instead used as a motif to show how that's the case through various factions throughout the series. It does HAVE political messages in it, yes, but those messages aren't the point of the games, they're just themes used to tell a good story. That kind of approach to writing politics is something that people like Tamaki don't seem to understand - to them, politics IS the only story worth telling.

[@eddieweird]

You're cooking the mother of all omelets Jack You can't fret over every egg -Strong Political Man

[@giulyblaziken268]

Also, compared to "mama" and the ice cream person in this comic, in metal gear raiden looks kind of feminine but you can still tell he's a man

[@SaiyanGamer95]

Persona is also a good example, though it more so uses social politics; women aren't just sex objects (Ann), don't let society define you (Persona 4 and 5 as a whole), or hell, even the concept of "hold your superiors accountable when they do something morally wrong", which is actually considered pretty radical in Japan. Hell, the series (or at least 3 to 5) is all about showing the issues with Japan's culture while still being entertaining and not trying to force a certain viewpoint down your throat.

[@ivonnesaysmiau]

METAL GEAR IS A W GAME

[@arbiterskiss6692]

I suppose with the revelation of Joker's true identity and agenda, Harleen would have shouted, "I've lost the real me!"

[@shannonlewis2022]

I think the best political-ish game I’ve played recently is “Great Ace Attorney Chronicles”. The game features a Japanese protagonist living in Britain, and it takes place during the Meiji period. The game does acknowledge the anti-Asian racism in that setting, but Naruhodo never wavers in helping the innocent or doing the right thing, and gradually his enemies come to respect him. The difference is that the setting weaves these themes in so they feel natural, and the characters are actually likable.

[@naotohatayshi7189]

Love your style

[@zettey5744]

Lol I love this dude and I’ve just found his content today pls keep pumping out these vids

[@radicalpollution4270]

BlackLightJack should be a voice actor for these comics in case corporations (unfortunately) decide to green light any of Tamaki’s comics to animation.

[@immortalmangafan3565]

Politics can work in these mediums. Watchmen had politics but was still great, Aot has politics but it’s still great. I honestly think that putting an agenda into these stories is harmful

[@iratami]

No art yet, but about 7 chapters into a rough draft of a Child of Starfire comic. Though calling them chapters might be a bit excessive. It's more like 7 rough story ideas trailing from one to the next with lots of room for expansion. For anyone wondering, gave Starfire 5 kids, because single mother of one seemed weird. 3 boys 2 girls, And none of them can use star bolts, though otherwise they have powersets similar to Starfire. Starts off with MC in college, more or less what the first arc revolves around along with trying to get into a superhero organization. Arc 2, mostly family drama and Maybe introduce Daddy dearest "probably Dick Grayson, who knows" and continue till graduation. Arc 3 Joining a hero team and have it be a little monster of the week for a while, Get to know the team, build relationships, make sure everyone is three dimensional and make sense. Arc 4, big bad is introduced, team gets the floor wiped with them, saved by more senior heros, training, team building, trauma resolution. Arc 5, More unified team, actually able to beat the big bad, only have some of them nearly ddie instead of the whole group, and everything resolves happily ever after ish. Only characters I have conceptualized are the MC, his by arc 2 BF and comrade, Eldest brother kind of turning into a villain for a couple of arc, Starfire acting like an adult who has been heroing for the last like 100 years or something, 2 older sisters and the younger F2M sibling. If the rough synopsis sounds interesting, or if anyone has sugestions for something that would be significantly better than "I am not Starfire" let me know. I have several pages written up already, and the only people with names are preexisting characters like Starfire, the other titans, and the BF who I want to go by Dire Knight, being a Dire Wolf themed hero.

[@otakoob]

Tekken4 stage's theme is a nice touch

[@SamtheBravesFan]

The woman should have just straight out said to the man-chick that she was acting like a lunatic in front of her kids.

[@Touriquette]

Young Harley is a L4D2 hunter, lol.

[@goodnaturedgamer8181]

Don't make it a drinking game it might kill someone x) Great work as always dude.

[@beccaknight5763]

Right we would be drunk by page 2 🤣

[@KillerMoth3663]

15:40 it's always the redheads that get blackwashed. Ariel, Starfire, almost Batgirl, Poison Ivy, Iris and Wally West, April O'Neil, MJ Watson, freaking Jimmy Olsen

[@WladcaPodziemia]

I agree. Politics/ideals/etc CAN be included in comics and other medias... BUT most authors seem to be unable to do that while creating good product.

[@eltheabberation]

Honestly, I feel so bad for the artist. The only other good thing about this comic is that it actually made me curious about Harley's actual backstory. I wish it had been a comic about Harley growing up in Gotham, and instead of the comic being about her "overcoming the evil rich-white-corporate-bigots," it would be about her trying to help the cities crime problem in her own way (hence her become a psychiatrist) (At least this is what I know about her backstory)

[@JVovk2002]

It would have been great to see Harley in psych classes, trying to go down the right path and be a therapist, knowing where she ends up. Maybe a younger version of the Joker, in one of his many old disguises is the inspiration for her to learn abnormal psychology? Maybe even another villain? It would have been significantly more interesting, maybe not in an action sense, but in a character development sense. Wasted potential

[@elizahamilton5599]

I’m pretty sure mama is a very flamboyant man

[@Rogue.Rainbow]

If there was a drinking game on Tamaki’s PoS writing we’d all be D E A D!

[@xivering]

7:15 the delivery of this line made me cackle goddamn

[@spiderlily7058]

There's an interview clip from NBC with Rod Serling talking about politics in stories. I can't remember Serling's words verbatim, but he basically said that if you want politics in a narrative, don't make your characters' real world counterparts obvious (white men evil, include currently known political organizations, etc). If you want the reader/viewer to sympathize with your character give them characteristics that the reader/viewer can relate to. Characteristics meaning aspects of a person's character, not physical characteristics. Enough of my blathering though, go find the interview! It's great! Sums up the problem with modern creative writing.

[@AnthonyDaFox]

I refuse the Play the Tamaki Drinking. Cause i have too Much Self Respect and lack the Self loathing for my Liver to treat it so Poorly.

[@omegasynth2775]

"Team up with her anarchist friend Joker" Excuse me-?

[@DeadMeat991]

Tamaki is actually spamming twitter memes in place of real writing and dialogue. How is she even a writer?!

[@fluidwolf]

Love how the whole clapback thing with the girl in the ice cream place is basically just completely the whole woke idea that writing out huge paragraphs of nothing somehow is a big win or makes it funny. It doesnt make their point stronger, it doesnt make it funny. It is just annoying seeing big walls of text from characters so far up their own butts who wont shut up

[@witherslayer-7315]

eh, I kinda disagree with the politics point. I think it should be allowed in stories but of course, there will always be a good and bad way to do it. as much as people want to deny it for some reason, many very popular mangas also include politics and/or slightly political messages in their stories. and sometimes to enhance the world building for example. and some comics have included these topics and utilized it well before. politics has existed in all media since forever. the difference here is that these politics are literally just put there for no other reason than to preach to the audience. it basically had no effect on the plot otherwise and does nothing for the story.

[@LR-jb6zn]

"these politic are literally just put there for no other reason than to preach to audiance" i call that propaganda.

[@plushehchan8643]

I think one of the reasons I hate these stories so much is that the characters just…. don’t change. At most, characters in modern stories get stronger physically or finally starts to believe in themself, but like, that’s it. No change in belief system, no questioning their beliefs, no brutal reality checks, no change of purpose, it’s SO. BORING. And if young folk genuinely believe this is the way to be, I’m worried they’ll lose their shot at the actual happiness that is gained through growth, introspection, and analyzing the other side, rather than demonizing it. They might think the world has to change for them, and they’re perfect, etc etc, but I’m more worried about the flip side. If happiness can only be achieved by staying exactly as you are, then what about those who do that and aren’t happy? Perhaps they’ll believe that they simply aren’t capable of happiness, or worthy of it, and because they believe change is impossible or, even worse, a bad thing to do, they will simply remain miserable. There are many paths they can take after that, and we all fear for our loved ones on those paths. Change is possible, change is good. You can have disagreements, you can have moments of questioning your own beliefs - because questioning your beliefs is not a sure fire way to abandon them, at times it can even strengthen them! It’s good! You can love and support someone without 100% agreeing with their beliefs. It’s unfortunate because they had the set up for a huge wake up call - no, Harley can’t punch the wolf, and to blame victims and hate those who help is only going to strand you when you truly are in the position to “punch the wolf”. You’ll find that the punch does nothing, in fact, you’ve just thrown your entire body in range of his jaws. They could have done something with that, to slap Harley with the cold hand of reality by having her push everyone away, and when she finally gets to “punch the wolf” (figurative, stand-in for villain or antagonist) she gets totally beaten down - and all alone, she realizes Little Red was not a coward for needing the Lumberjack’s help. Sorry for the ramble, got that sleepy brain with all the thoughts 😅 wonderful video, thank you!

[@klulu-kun]

As a writer, I do agree that obvious politics sucks and I practice staying away from that when writing my stories. I'm neutral even, so I have no real message to say. However, I honestly have an idea to use a political/philosophical point through the mirror of horror. And I'll leave the "point" up to interpretation to fuck with the audience. Haha.

[@corenlavolpe6143]

That sounds like a fantastic idea. Political discourse is already horrifying at the moment.

[@klulu-kun]

@@corenlavolpe6143 Exactly, horror is great for personifying our fears. As long as it's cool (like Pennywise, Alien, Leatherface, etc) and not cringey and obvious. Should be expressed through the lore of the world. Not saying those killers have political ties, but they're scary yet can be used to explore issues we have (growing up from childhood trauma, corporations controlling our fate, etc).

[@blankadams3120]

8:39 Why does the indeterminant gender one look like Electro in Amazing Spider Man in that profile?

[@thenumber27issomehowtaken]

“keep politics out of comics” Meanwhile old captain America

[@topcat59]

Honestly the art looks magnificent but when it comes to the story and their ties with politics it’s stupid. Harley is a bat shit crazy clown girl, why would she ever care about things like society, that’s more poison ivy thing when it comes to plants.🐱

[@user-zs9ux1ru8u]

It sucks that the art style is good 😔

[@izanasato]

Jack, if I manage to write Harley Quinn’s backstory in a better light than Mariko Tamaki, will you read it?

[@banana_walter_]

tbh you're the most interesting commentary youtuber ive seen lmao

[@neroy8244]

I personly disagree with the statement "keep politics out of comics" or "you should never put politics into comics because you know how the story will end". I think it is also important to understand that comics were always political to some extend. Heck, at first comics were nothing but political. They were used to shine light on politics without being to obvious as to get in trouble with it. Exspecialy in times of world war 2 they were nothing but political and propaganda. I can list a long line of political comics that are actually good like: Superman: Red Son; Watchmen or Green Lantern (1960) #85 and #86. I want to point out the last of those 3 a bit more as this is the one I last read and Roy Harper is also one of my favorite DC characters that also has a lot of political influence on him. In the famous Green Lantern and Green Arrow crossover in Green Lantern (1960) #85 "Snowbirds Don't Fly" and #86 "More Deadly Than the Atom Bomb!" the two heroes discover that Green Arrow's sidekick Speedy got addicted to an illegal substance. Green Arrow and Green Lantern reacted completly different to the matter though. While Green Arrow was completly disgusted, disappointed and angered and threw Speedy out, Green Lantern was empathetic and wanted to help the young boy. At last it was pointed out that only through the help and empathy of others Speedy was able to recover and not by getting tossed away. This story shone light on the so called "drug war" that we can still find today in the USA while in other countries like the Netherland they learned that the war against drugs is best won with helping those who suffer from addiction and not tossing them away. It is a very political story but a good one. It shone light on a political problem with a beloved character and how it could be fixed. I highly encourage people to look at it or the character Roy Harper as a whole. Roy Harper (Speedy/Red Arrow/Arsenal) as a whole is a very underrated character with much political history (for example his fight with addiction as already mentioned or his growing up with the Native American tribe, the Navajo from who he addapted the culture and language). Maybe you, BlackLightJack, could one day make a video about that, maybe to compare how to write a political story and how not to. I would love to watch that!

[@Alondro77]

When an entire work is pure propaganda, automatically the stories lose all ability to contain creativity; because they must never be allowed to deviate from the agenda or ask any questions that might call to question the agenda's dogma. Causing the audience to think outside the narrow blinders of the politics permits the risk of some of the audience rejecting the agenda! That must not be permitted! Anyone who deviates is to be cancelled on Twitter at once! ;]

[@Ramsey276one]

Painfully accurate Hilariously tragic

[@PhillipOnTakos]

This along with stuff like Gotham High it feels like DC is just letting people write their weird Batman Highschool fanfiction AU.

[@miguelbarros4765]

In all interations of harley origem stories, harley was allready a acrobat before meet joker........ and in some comics, she just was acceteped in a university because of this (sorry my poor english, Im a brasillian)

[@kollaphobic]

8:04 I AINT READING ALLAT 😭🤦

[@danielmorales6285]

16:34 and to add to the bingo if a character is a anarchist because we have Lincoln from I’m not starfire and joker here

[@Drixenol86]

Correction: leave propaganda out of comics.

[@alexandritequeen7052]

As a woman, I really, really, REALLY wish they'd stop making movies, comics and games SO boring, repetitive and political. I have to rely on past western entertainment from years ago to enjoy myself or anything else from Japan because at least they know how to make things entertaining.

[@kerryraven229]

I‘d be interested in Harley origin story how she became interested in psychologie to study it and in psychopaths to work at arkham asylum later.. she seemed interested in them when starting there the way she looked at joker at the first day there in the episode from batman TAS

[@gl1tchygreml1n]

Politics ruins everything. Fiction should be fun, not piss you off!

[@caitlinsnowfrost8244]

If we "kept politics out of comics" we wouldn't get actually interesting stuff like X-Men, Watchmen, or Superman Smashes the Klan.

[@drxpgodxx487]

I think he means don’t use comics to push agendas

[@caitlinsnowfrost8244]

@@drxpgodxx487 I recognize that, but there is a difference between not using comics to push an agenda and just straight up "keeping politics out of comics."

[@Ramsey276one]

I guess we can elaborate and say: Politics? In my comics? It’s more… um… wait WHERE IS THE *COMIC?!*

[@lloydlandrum3040]

Stan Lee admitted X-men didn't start as anything remotely what would be viewed as political .. that was added in later.. Watchman started as a commentary on things so political there ... Superman that story sited true for sure so you got two factors correct

[@caitlinsnowfrost8244]

@@Ramsey276one Agreed 100%; Breaking Glass still definitely felt more focused on politics than on plot. And the politics in it just felt kind of...insignificant, if that makes sense? Like really dumb things to get hung up on. I also hate that the character of "Ivy" felt like they couldn't decide whether they wanted Poison Ivy to be in the comic or not so it just seemed like: Harlivy fans: Is Poison Ivy gonna be in this? Tamaki: Well yes but actually no.

[@Goozero1]

I get what you mean by 'keep politics out of comics'. It's just putting stuff there and not making stuff interesting. There's room for critique and issues in comics. Plopping it onto a page, one-by-one, just mentioning it isn't the way to go about it.

[@Kirbykracklegirl]

I don’t think we should keep agendas out of comics. I think we need agendas to tell good stories. We need agendas that inspire people to change and to grow. Agendas baked subtly into the media that inspire good morals. I love vintage comic books, and even in those books the authors have agendas. Literally in one of my New Mutant comics, Illyana Rasputin was about to be sold by alien slave traders, and Xavier and Xandra swoop in and save her! Literally theirs the line, “No human should ever be sold!” That’s an agenda! It’s a GOOD agenda. Because it’s true. It’s Not for social justice, but an agenda for justice. You cannot tell a good traditional superhero story without religion. Judeo-Christian religion especially. Religion gives us our morals. Morals distinguish the hero from the villain. If there’s no God, we each define our own good, so our heroes turn to villains and our villains to heroes. You don’t have to be religious, but you have to agree that fundamental truth exists. Zombies ninja dinosaurs also help tell a good superhero story.

[@Boomrainbownuke9608]

their incorporation of joker pisses me off! he's supposed to be a lunatic that thinks his world isn't real! he thinks its just a comic so his actions have no real consequences! he's not some smug rich guy! he was an average dude until he lost it! there was even an issue where he thought he killed batman so he was like this world im in actually is real because i the villain killed the hero but once he found out batman lived he was visibly sad by the realization of him being correct that his world is fake. thats who the joker is! he's not some smug prep!

[@thevisual5426]

This background music sounds REALLY familiar. I can't quite place it...

[@BlackLightJack.]

;)

[@JeckTheMan]

Heheh part 2

[@ChaosoneX]

Aside here, but did Mariko Tamaki suffer a stroke in real life? I can't help but notice part of her face doesn't move well.

[@jackcough8580]

istg wattpad writers can do better