I caught this letter to the editor Thursday and have no idea which strip used the term “homo” recently. Anyone?
I am writing to express my disgust that you would publish, in the comic section, a cartoon with well-known slur (homo: “Offensive slang for a gay or lesbian person,” American Heritage Dictionary) as part of the gag.
While the strip is mediocre and poorly drawn (like the cheapo cartoons seen in old UHF commercials in the '60s), mediocrity is not a reason to cancel a strip.
However, blatant offensiveness is and I would not be sorry to never see this kind of tripe again.
Bard Ermentrout
O'Hara
I confess that I typically read 1/3 of the comic strips. Mutts, For Better or For Worse, Peanuts, Sally Forth, Lio, the one with Danae, the one with the 7 or 8 brothers who are cops and football players, and the Born Loser. Oh and Blondie. On the weekends, I read Opus, Prince Valiant and Fox Trot. I miss Fox Trot in the dailies.
The constant switch in and out of new comics fatigues me. They are all about people with kids and not very original.
So, I didn't see the slur. Anyone catch it? I'd be interested to see it in context before I jump to conclusions (my favorite weekend hobby). 🙂
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ha, that's funny, i just saw someone post that on the ntmto messageboard: http://board.nevertellmetheodds.org/t.php?id=73671
i have no idea what it is, though, sorry.
As the writer of “Lila” and a gay man, I'm completely dumbfounded by your comments. My straight and gay friends and I are completely comfortable both celebrating and mocking each other and will use terms like “homo” and “hetero,” “queer” and “breeder” in the spirit of collegial and humorous banter.
I can say it hasn't been easy to get newspapers to accept a gay character in their comic pages and appreciate the few that have welcomed me. They are truly risking offending more conservative readers with my topics. I've had to deal with a lot of homophobia in the past four years writing “Lila,” including people referring to Boyd as a pedophile, Lila as anti-Christian, and me as a writer promoting a sinful lifestyle. Your comments represent the first time I was ever criticized for offending my own people.
You may have noticed that there really aren't any gay characters on the comics pages except for some side characters in non-recurring stories. These, I might add, were written by heterosexuals. Boyd represents the first substantial gay character written by a gay writer on mainstream comics pages.
The comic has, indeed, been compared to “Will & Grace” for Lila and Boyd's relationship and “Sex & the City” for its more racy gags around women's issues and single life, but I feel that “Lila” is more real in that she doesn't represent a super successful NY columnist or interior designer. Both Lila and Boyd are customer service representatives who are trying to find their way, but who definitely are comfortable with themselves. Lila doesn't feel the need to live up to expectations of career women who want it all and Boyd isn't defensive or proactive about his sexuality. They are two young people from Cleveland trying to carve out their small life in the world.
I'm sorry and disappointed that you find the strip either offensive or ridiculous. But I don't think you can understand Lila or Boyd or their relationship by reading a couple of week's worth of strips. Without the luxury of television scripts, camera angles, and talented actors to endear you to the character, I would respectfully ask that you spend some time with the strip before posting your criticisms.
Sincerely,
John