Leave it to über-contrarian Bill Maher to post insensitive comments about the loss of Stan Lee.
This past weekend, the American TV host took to his own blog to pen a scathing open letter on “adulting” and generally belittle the medium of comic books. To make matters worse, Maher’s high-brow ramblings even went so far as to suggest that the sheer popularity of comics, as an entertainment medium, is part of the reason why Trump got elected. His words, not ours.
Now, Stan Lee’s team have issued an impassioned response to Bill Maher and his gross, untimely rant, stating that while he’s very much entitled to his opinion, disregarding Lee’s entire lifework only undermines Marvel’s ‘Main Man,’ and Maher should be using his massive platform to inspire good in others, not to stoke controversy soon after the death of an industry titan.
Mr. Maher: Comic books, like all literature, are storytelling devices. When written well by great creators such as Stan Lee, they make us feel, make us think and teach us lessons that hopefully make us better human beings. One lesson Stan taught so many of us was tolerance and respect, and thanks to that message, we are grateful that we can say you have a right to your opinion that comics are childish and unsophisticated. Many said the same about Dickens, Steinbeck, Melville and even Shakespeare.
But to say that Stan merely inspired people to “watch a movie” is in our opinion frankly disgusting. 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. He gave us the X-Men, Black Panther, Spider-Man and many other heroes and stories that offered hope to those who felt different and bullied while inspiring countless to be creative and dream of great things to come.
The open letter continues below, and concludes with what is perhaps Lee’s most famous line…
These are but a few of the things we the fans of Stan Lee also consider “adulting,” because life both as a child and grown-up can indeed be a struggle. Stan is the author of millions of happy childhood memories and the provider of so many of the positive tools of adulthood. Our shock at your comments makes us want to say “‘Nuff said, Bill,” but instead we will rely on another of Stan’s lessons to remind you that you have a powerful platform, so please remember: “With great power there must also come — great responsibility!”
Stan Lee sadly passed away last Monday, prompting a mass outpouring of support and tributes from the four corners of the Internet. His immense legacy will live on, of course, and moviegoers can look forward to another few cameo appearances (read: Avengers 4 and Ralph Breaks the Internet) in the coming weeks and months.
