When a man dies, you’re not obligated to celebrate his life, but you shouldn’t denigrate it, either (Fidel Castro excepted). And it’s really counterproductive to take cheap shots while trying to convince people of your maturity.
Does that sound over the moon even for a member of the celebrity left? Well, it’s not beyond esteemed late-night-virtue-signaler Bill Maher, who wrote a short blog post on Nov. 17 about comic giant Stan Lee’s death. In it, Maher opines that the mourning over Lee’s (“a man who inspired millions to, I don’t know, watch a movie, I guess”) death was excessive -- because “twenty years or so ago...adults decided they didn’t have to give up kid stuff. And so they pretended comic books were actually sophisticated literature.”
So, to translate, Maher is saying “Come on, young adults, quit being such babies and forsake your fond childhood memories of comic reading! Be a big boy like me!” And of course, no late night “comedian’s” thought would be complete without a Trump bash: The last sentence of the blog post reads, “I don’t think it’s a huge stretch to suggest that Donald Trump could only get elected in a country that thinks comic books are important.” Real insightful, Bill.
According to the Huffington Post on Nov. 20, Lee’s company POW! Entertainment decided to punch back, arguing in an open letter to Maher that:
“Countless people can attest to how Stan inspired them to read, taught them that the world is not made up of absolutes, that heroes can have flaws and even villains can show humanity within their souls...Stan is the author of millions of happy childhood memories and the provider of so many of the positive tools of adulthood.”
That’s pretty reasonable. But unfortunately, the egos of activist celebrities are seldom amenable to reason.
