anti-marxistcult:

Subversion is the name of the game. Social norms, biology, homeostasis, cultural values – all need to be subverted and/or destroyed if they conflict with the clarity presented by utopian movements. It’s all a means to re-socializing populations. If they can unconsciously convince the consuming masses that everything about the human condition is socially constructed, then they can re-educate everyone to believe the “right” things and silence anyone (through legislation and social pressure) who resists.   

It sounds rather conspiratorial and fantastical, but the core thinking by people in positions of influence at Marvel and other domains of media production comes straight from modern academia, and this kind of thought in academia is derived from the ruinous ideologies that devastated much of the 20th century. For creators, editors, and administrators at Marvel Comics, it’s not primarily about producing entertainment anymore – it’s about being a moral agent through the lens of their shared world view.   

Being a moral agent doesn’t necessarily sound so bad, but it all depends on the contents of your worldview. These aren’t the working-class folks from blue-collar neighborhoods that used to populate Marvel decades ago – Marvel now has the mentality of affluent, latte’-drinking, tumblr-emoting, pseudo-revolutionary hipsters from up-scaled neighborhoods. What’s playing out in the interaction between what Marvel Comics is producing and the reaction of the readers is simply  a contest of competing values, both moral and intellectual.  

Current creators, editors, and administrators have made comic books a battleground for an ongoing culture war that is already happening in the real world. They express confusion about sales because they have been convinced – isolated in their opulent universities, posh neighborhoods, and echo-chamber offices – that they’ve been winning this whole time. Well, unfortunately for them, reality isn’t so easily subverted.