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It's time to talk about Stan Lee's legacy as a liberal Jew.
I say it as a liberal Jew myself, who realizes that anti-Semites like to denounce the stereotype of the "liberal Jew" that they view as controlling the media and ruining the world. Whether in journalism and publishing, or in Hollywood, in the music industry and in comics, the basic grievance is that world culture is being invaded by leftist Hebrews who have Foreign ideological beliefs and incorporate elements of these beliefs into their work, often with a sinister program. in the spirit.
And here's the thing: yes, Jews succeed in a number of creative and intellectual fields, and yes, Jews are disproportionately liberal, although that does not mean every Jew is a leftist (looking at you, Stephen Miller, Steven Mnuchin and Ben Shapiro). But if we were talking about another ethnic group, these things would not be attributed to a sinister conspiracy (which, I can say myself as a Jewish liberal, does not exist. I was cruelly kept out of the loop), and they would not be cited as evidence of anything bad about our tribe. Most of them would be regarded as trivial and neutral facts which, for Jews, liberals or both, exist as points of pride, showing that members of a historically oppressed minority group who have managed to gain some their heritage and use it to leave a mark on the world.
Which brings us to Stan Lee and why he counts so much for me as a liberal Jew.
Liberalism and Jewishness were essential elements of Lee's identity. Characters such as the X-Men and Black Panther were often created for the purpose of solving social justice problems such as fanaticism, and Lee often used his "Stan's Soapbox" column to influence young children with liberal ideas. Perhaps the most famous of these editorials to have made the tour after the death of Lee was published 50 years ago, in a 1968 comic strip.
"Let's clear things up," Lee wrote. "Bigotry and racism are among the deadliest social plagues in the world today, but unlike a team of costumed super-villains, they can not be stopped by a punch or a by a striped shot.The only way to destroy them, is to expose them – to reveal them for the insidious evils that they really are.The bigot is an irrational hate – a man who hates blindly, fanatically, indiscriminately If he's dealing with black men, he hates ALL black men.If a redhead once offended, he hates ALL red.If a stranger beats him to get a job, he is angry at ALL strangers He hates people he's never seen – people he's never known – with the same intensity – with the same venom. "
Lee added, "Now, we are not trying to say that it is unreasonable for one human being to screw up another, but, although everyone has the right to hate another person. As long as the individual, it is totally irrational and obviously foolish to condemn an entire race – to despise an entire nation – to vilify an entire religion. Sooner or later, we must learn to judge ourselves according to our merits. or later, if a man is to be worthy of his destiny, we must fill our hearts with tolerance, because then, and only then, we will be truly worthy of the concept that man was created in the image of God – a God who calls us ALL – His children. "
Lee never gave up these views, reiterating them last year as white nationalists were heading to Charlottesville to denounce Jews, African Americans, immigrants and other non-Jewish groups. white. Last fall, he also said in a video to his fans: "Marvel has always been and always will be the reflection of the world right outside our window, this world can change and evolve, but the only thing that will never change is telling our stories. stories of heroism ".
"These stories have room for everyone, regardless of race, gender or skin color," he added. "The only things we do not have room for are hatred, intolerance and fanaticism."
That's not to say that Lee did not have his blind spots. First and foremost, Lee remained adamant until, in 2015, Spider-Man was only described in the movies as a white, straight man. Spider-Man's early comics also had flagrant sexism, while early versions of the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and Hulk incorporated cold-war Cold-Jerk rhetoric with hero's motives, apparently without hesitation. The vast majority of Marvel's heroes were usually white and heterosexual men, a legacy that is still found today in the cast of most Marvel films and the unfortunate fact that many comic book fans feel that their rights to predominantly white and male properties (see harassment experienced by many comic book creators or the negative reaction directed against Michael B. Jordan when he was chosen to embody The Human Torch). As the cliché says, Lee was a product of his time and, for every Stan Soapbox as the legendary column of 1968, there were other ideas in his work that remained stuck in the reactionary assumptions of his day.
Yet the fact that Marvel has been dominant in promoting liberal ideals – a truth reinforced earlier this year when "Black Panther" became a mega blockbuster – is indisputable. It's something I identify with as a Jew because, like Lee, I think it's important for those of us who have a platform to talk about it. use this voice to help others. Although millions of people who feel this way who are not Jewish, the exclusively Jewish aspect of this belief comes from the fact that Jews have been subjected to terrible discrimination for many years. As a result, many successful Jews feel obliged to pay for it, ideological liberalism being the metaphorical control we give to others who need and deserve the same happiness we have enjoyed. .
If this sounds like another way of saying that a great power involves a great responsibility – that is Spider-Man's mantra – it's not a coincidence. Take this passage from Haaretz published after Lee's death:
We all know the wise and dark mantra of Spider-Man: "Great power implies great responsibility." But is it also a biblical quote?
This seems like a good question for a rabbi. And that was actually the almost serious question that Rabbi Simcha Weinstein had to submit to none other than Stan Lee – the cartoon legend who co-created Spider-Man and proposed Spidey's motto, who died on Monday at 95 years.
"He had the feeling of having extracted it from the Bible. he asked me half jokingly if it was in there, "recalls Weinstein, a New York-based rabbi who also writes comic book books and their connection to Judaism. "I jokingly replied that this must be in one of the comments."
Matthew Rozsa
Matthew Rozsa is an author of breaking news for Salon. He holds a Masters degree in History from Rutgers University-Newark and holds a Ph.D. in History from Lehigh University. His work has been published in Mic, Quartz and MSNBC.
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