Since the topic of sex, nudity and making sure goldbrickers dont get caught at work came up...
What do you think your responsibilty begins and ends when it comes to making sure the general web public doesn't have their sensibilities offended?
[quote:e23b7ef005="Willie_G"][quote:e23b7ef005="Willie_G"]What do you think your responsibilty begins and ends when it comes to making sure the general web public doesn't have their sensibilities offended?
I'm going to add on to this "...have their sensibilities offended, or surprised because you didn't warn them about your content?"
You do and do not have a responbility to make sure the 'public' isn't offended to your comic. The manner in which it's handled is simple, if your content has been G rated, and you decide for whatever reason that you're moving beyond that rating, a simple warning page would be sufficient. Beyond that you have no further responsibility, give the readers the opportunity to decline or accept the content before they're made to see it unexpectedly. It's just common courtesy and respect for the many diversified opinions that are out there.
Screw that. If I was doing a G rated comic and I wanted to move into NC17 I would do it very slowly so that the reader wouldn't even realize they've been reading a sex comic until well after the first cock-in-mouth incident had passed.
my observation is that the standards by which the general public's sensibilities do or don't get offended are so mutable as to be one of the Great Mysteries of Life.
I don't think I neccessarily have a responsibility to censor my comic. It's my comic, and I never promised anything to anybody. The fact that I haven't done it YET certainly doesn't count as a binding promise not to suddenly devolve into Hot Wombat Porn, while scattering profanity like flower petals in springtime.
However, I do censor it anyway, in part because I've gotten a fair amount of mail from people telling me that they read it with their kids, and it's been listed a few times as a PG comic suitable for family reading, and people write to say "Hey, I recommended your comic to my (family member of possibly tender sensibilities)" and so on. And I'm perfectly happy to be there.
It's not that I HAVE to censor it, or that I'm obligated to. It's my comic, it's listed on a site that carries adult content, and I never promised nobody nothin'. The whole you-haven't-done-it-before-so-you-have-to-warn-us thing doesn't really ring true to me either. Prior behavior does not constitute a binding legal promise to continue in that vein. It might be polite and courteous to do so, but it's not an OBLIGATION. It's polite to use your napkin, too, but if you don't, it's not a federal case.
But nevertheless, I keep my comic clean, my characters have no apparent sex lives (and in some cases, no apparent genitalia, either) and don't use any cursing stronger than "damn." Not because I HAVE to, or feel obligated to, or think that people would yell at me if I crossed some moral line, but because I'm glad that kids like it, and that people feel comfortable recommending it to their elderly maiden aunts. And I don't think that sex or profanity would add anything much to the story--it's not the sort of tale that would benefit from being "edgy", and either you like an adventure story about gods and wombats, or you don't. The sort of people who won't read a comic because it doesn't have enough sex and swearing are really not my target demographic.
Nevertheless, my decision to keep things censored is a decision based on the audience I'm looking to appeal to, and not an obligation. If someone wants to run an NC-17 hack-slash-sex-fest, they absolutely have that right. The web is surfed at your own risk, and there is no onus on the artist to make sure that nobody has their minds warped by a rogue nipple. My art gallery is chock full 'o nudity, and I don't bother pasting a huge "WARNING! OFFENSE POSSIBLE!" page whenever anybody is about to open an image. If you're that easily offended, Net Nanny should be running anyway.
I go by the sex=shit rule. If I don't show characters taking dumps, I don't show them having sex. They do both, or at least expell bodily waste SOMEHOW, but I don't show it necessarily. This rule is secondary to the "show what matters rule". An inspiration on the toilet while reading the bathroom wall can be shown, like an important sex scene where something changes. But that's for story-based comics.
And I think it's a good idea to let readers know what to expect early on in subtle ways. It would seem really random in some stories to do a sex scene or even show a character changing clothes because so far what's done doesn't fit with that aesthetic. So it becomes less and less "what would you do?" and more "What fits? What's right for what I'm trying to do?".
So Ursula and Ghastly are both doing the right thing. Woo.
-Meaghan
[quote:850689df3a="mequinn"]I go by the sex=shit rule. If I don't show characters taking dumps, I don't show them having sex. They do both, or at least expell bodily waste SOMEHOW, but I don't show it necessarily. This rule is secondary to the "show what matters rule". An inspiration on the toilet while reading the bathroom wall can be shown, like an important sex scene where something changes. But that's for story-based comics.
So, is this offensive or not?
No, just turned on :P
Anyway, I have this theory that most people are offended because they are afraid of getting turned on by something that "disgusts" them (emphasis on "").
I have a different theory that sexual arousal is a conspiracy of the Catholic Church and Jack Chick backs me up on that.
Bleh~ I'm only giving people what they want. I haven't heard any complaints yet... though lots and lots of requests... :?
~Liriel
I have a different theory that sexual arousal is a conspiracy of the Catholic Church and Jack Chick backs me up on that.
I'd believe it. Put girls in hot miniskirts and then tell the priests they can never get laid? And they wonder why they're having so many problems...
ComixTalk is not responsible for comments, blog and forum posts. News and ComixTalk Magazine articles are copyright by their respective authors.
ComixTalk, its websites and logos are ©2003-2009 | Managing Editor: Xaviar Xerexes | Site Design: Mind Faucet
MY NAKED BODY PARTS!
Since the topic of sex, nudity and making sure goldbrickers dont get caught at work came up...
What do you think your responsibilty begins and ends when it comes to making sure the general web public doesn't have their sensibilities offended?
Personally, I like offending people's sensibilities. It's something of a hobby of mine. If I can make someone see the world in a way they hadn't previously considered, then my job is done. While I don't go out of my way to do so, neither do I feel it's MY responsibility for what OTHER people are going to think and feel. That's up to them. No two people are the same and so no one is going to think in indentical terms. Having to plan for every contigency would be tedious and boring. I'd rather say what I have to (either verbally or artisticly) and let the world sort it out.
I have absoluetly no responsibility what-so-ever to ensure that the sensibilities of the general public are not offended by my work. Period.
Re: MY NAKED BODY PARTS!
[quote:f966648127="Willie_G"]What do you think your responsibilty begins and ends when it comes to making sure the general web public doesn't have their sensibilities offended?
I'm going to add on to this "...have their sensibilities offended, or surprised because you didn't warn them about your content?"