Has CBM.com LOST its IDENTITY?

Has CBM.com LOST its IDENTITY?

“Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy, and ideas are bulletproof.” -V Has CBM.com lost its "idea" behind its own mask?

Editorial Opinion
By Woodinator - Oct 14, 2013 09:10 AM EST
Filed Under: Other

I've been a member and erratic contributor to ComicBookMovie.com for several years now. I love the news, scoops and editorials. I love the comradery and even the ribbing between users. However, in the last few years I have witnessed a change that both puzzles and bothers me.



One of the most talked about frustrations with a recent Comic Book film was started during the climax of: Man Of Steel. When Kal-El finds himself faced with no other option, he snaps the neck of Zod, dropping his dead body to the ground. There have been numerous articles about the subject, whether they be editorials, interviews, etc... While I believe that there have been numerous valid arguments on both sides of the debate, the real problem is when we find that our hero... our shining example of what is right with the world, develops slippery morality.

Truth is, it's too early to tell if there's any validity to this complaint. We won't truly be able to judge that statement until we see how (or if) the issue is dealt with in the sequel.

However, there is another hero that has fallen prey to this ideology. A hero that I've watched fall into marred morality over time and found that their grasp on who they are has been lost. That hero's name is: ComicBookMovie.com

Unlike the Man of Steel issue, this has been going on for some time. Sequels have not saved it from becoming an anti-hero... or possibly even a villain.



I remember the first time I typed [frick] into a comment here on CBM only to find that it had magically become [Frick]. I thought the censorship was stupid and it frustrated me at first, until I realized something very important; I am a 33 year old man who is passionate about Super heroes, video games and cartoons. Though I don't have a problem embracing my inner man-child, it does occur to me that there is another demographic that is wildly attracted to these things; Children. So as a father of two I found myself willing to relinquish my own rights for the protection of those who also enjoy our site.

Needless to say I got over the decision to censor users fairly quickly. Recently however, I have found myself appalled by the inconsistency in the censorship of the site that I'd grown to love.

Lately, there has been an over abundance of sexualized material shared on this site that has far greater consequences on our children than a four letter word. Whether it's barely covered cosplay, erotic body paint (disguised as cosplay), Esquire spreads, Porn Parodies, or endless articles centered on the boobs starring in Machete Kills.

We have lost our way. Either we are a site that acknowledges that children will (and do) come to this site and we need to censor the content we allow it to carry, or we need to embrace the anti-hero (or villain)we've become and make it known that this site is NSFW and is for Adults only.

In the words of a CBM character that knows what it means to walk the line of villain and hero:

"Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy, and ideas are bulletproof." -V (From V For Vendetta)

It's time for CBM to decide what the "idea" that resides behind our mask is really all about.

Pick a side CBM... Pick a side.

Woodinator out.
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HulkSmash89
HulkSmash89 - 10/14/2013, 10:00 AM
My view is comic book movies have changed over time, not just through visual aspects but through story telling as well. I work for a before and afterschool program for elementary children and we can only watch PG movies, but most of the kids have seen all of the marvel cinematic movies. So its not that it has lost its identity, its just changing. People have to choice especially parents how to judge movies that their kids can view. For me, my parents always said I could watch whatever superhero movie I wanted to, and if it had scary parts in them it was a risk I had to take.
SauronsBANE
SauronsBANE - 10/14/2013, 10:11 AM
As a college student, this is one of the best messages in an editorial I've seen in a while. Unfortunately, since the majority of this site is made up of horny teenagers, and the owners of the site don't respond well to criticism, this will fall on deaf ears.

The pages and pages of hot women that users post in the comments section is unnecessary and distracts everyone from the point of being on this site...talking about comic books and their movies. Cosplay is intrinsically connected to comic book movies, so I don't think that will go anywhere anytime soon.

But despite what any other ignorant users will say, you have perfectly legitimate points. Thanks for writing this, thumbs up!
Shaggy
Shaggy - 10/14/2013, 10:23 AM
cough*nailbiter*cough
Shaggy
Shaggy - 10/14/2013, 10:25 AM
easy solution to this problem though...move to CBR instead
SauronsBANE
SauronsBANE - 10/14/2013, 10:33 AM
^ that's exactly the type of user who is in the majority here on this site. Sad, really.

@Woodinator, ignore posts like intruder's, since there's undoubtedly more comments like that on the way. The site celebrates users like that and ignores others who actually come here for reasons other than porn.
Shaggy
Shaggy - 10/14/2013, 10:45 AM
Intruder is still here? i was hoping you'd have shot yourself by now
SauronsBANE
SauronsBANE - 10/14/2013, 10:53 AM
@Intruder, You literally said, and I quote,"People can freely express themselves" and yet in your previous comment, you basically told spewed vitriol and immature insults at the author to leave the site because you disagree with his opinion. Hypocritical?

And as if to prove that you are either one of those immature teenagers running around on this site, or you just have the mindset of one of them, you have to insult his use of html of all things, because NO ONE ever uses bold or italics. *rolls eyes*
Woodinator
Woodinator - 10/14/2013, 10:54 AM
@intruder, my kids are definitely more mature than you are.

You guys are missing the point. If you don't want the site to be kid friendly and you want it to be adult only... Then make it adult only! Yes kids can get on a porn site but that isn't the sites fault. It's a website owner's responsibility to label it as what it is and what it's target audience is.

The point is don't tell me I can't say [frick] if (as Martian... Has pointed out) I'm allowed to say bitch , bastard, and show nude models (paint does NOT = clothing). It is by definitions two faced, hypocritical behavior!

This site has no clue what it is, what it was, or who it wants to be!


P.S. Thanks Sauron'sBANE1
Woodinator
Woodinator - 10/14/2013, 11:28 AM
Yeah, I guess you're right... I WANT a comic book movie site that is about comic book movies. Stupid me. I use to have one. It was called ComicBookMovie.com

Apparently it changed directions and left me behind. I apologize for pointing out flawed logic and hypocritical behavior.

I guess this site really is a place where "people can freely express themselves"... Well, unless your point of view is based on something more than an erection. Because if you care about content you should:

A) go somewhere else
B) make your own site
C) insult people to feel better about your insignificant lives
Woodinator
Woodinator - 10/14/2013, 11:56 AM
@ yossarian

So...

C - ignore the "childish behavior" and be above the rest of us. I am sure whatever the hell conversations you will rehash about a [frick]ing movie is profound and important enough that it will change us all.

...was meant to be encouraging? I'm so sorry, I didn't take it for the constructive criticism you meant it to be.

Damn! I forgot I'm not supposed to use bold words to get my point across!

bagadoosh
bagadoosh - 10/14/2013, 2:56 PM
or watch your kids and stop asking a website to do your parenting for you , you make the decision as to what is and what is not appropriate for your kids ...for the love of god please don't leave it in the hands of the interwebs .

let me help ... This site is not for kids !!!
TheYoungMan
TheYoungMan - 10/14/2013, 4:58 PM


But ya, it is kind of weird to think that a bunch of little kids probably innocently wander onto this "comic book" site and get more than they bargained for. I guess CBM.com should probably full-out censor it's stuff, or just go ahead and label itself as an adult site.
TheYoungMan
TheYoungMan - 10/14/2013, 4:59 PM
I don't really care either way, because I come here for the news.
ComicBookMovie
ComicBookMovie - 10/14/2013, 5:06 PM
Seems like we always get this criticism (and these editorials) around the time of year where Comic Book Movies are scarce, and we are allowing a bit more "fun" and wider genre news on the site because of the lack of CBM news.

For those of you claming we are censor nazis, I would note that we generally ALLOW critical articles about CBM.com to stay up as long as they are well written, honest, and to the point. This flies in the face of what you are accusing.

CBM.com is one of the most free, user-friendly sites on the Internet. Which is why we are popular and successful and have attracted a large community of fun people. But that kind of freedom attracts dicks, whiners, and overly-sensitive people as well. That is the price of running a user-generated site. If you fall in that last category, maybe the site isn't for you.

As for censorship. I do plenty of deleting pics and comments and banning negative users who do nothing but troll or attack the site. The only censor is ME, and my taste (or lack thereof) rules. That is the perk of owning an INDEPENDENT site. If you don't like my standards... Tough titties.

Oh and one other fallicy I've heard from users who attack the site is that the power users somehow represent the site. That is not true--although I ask all the users to whom I give privileges to agree certain rules of conduct. But I (Galactus/Jim) and Nate are the ONLY owners of this site. Everybody else contributing is simply a user, or a user who has gained extra privileges.
Greengo
Greengo - 10/14/2013, 5:43 PM
Really?? I coulda swore power users can censor the comments in their articles.

Nail was in a mood one day and he didn't appreciate me calling him sensitive.
Greengo
Greengo - 10/14/2013, 5:47 PM
I think Woodinator got really offended by those Iron Nipples.
ComicBookMovie
ComicBookMovie - 10/14/2013, 5:49 PM
That is the one thing I allow ALL users--to be able to delete comments within their own articles. After all, they are THEIR articles, and if they don't want their comments to get hijacked by gusto's miley cyrus pics, they should be able to make that call. But most contributors eventually realize that allowing freedom of speech (even negative stuff) is more interesting than being a censorship nazi. I was speaking generally, that I am responsible for most censoring--as it should be. I can go in and edit comments, delete pics, ban users. Nobody can do all that but me. So the "standards" of the site are all on me.
SauronsBANE
SauronsBANE - 10/14/2013, 5:53 PM
@CBM, nobody is accusing this site of anything. Or at least, this article isn't. Maybe you're referring to some of the comments or something. The actual article was just saying, as a few have smartly pointed out, that the site should either censor everything and make it PG and kid-friendly, or become an adult-only site. He's not saying you guys are overly-censoring things or anything of that nature.

Maybe the actual author of the article can explain himself better, but that's the way that I took it.
ComicBookMovie
ComicBookMovie - 10/14/2013, 5:54 PM
I was commenting on the article AND some of the comments.
SauronsBANE
SauronsBANE - 10/14/2013, 5:57 PM
Okay I hear ya, Big G.
ComicBookMovie
ComicBookMovie - 10/14/2013, 6:00 PM
Sauron,
You bring up one other point that I'd like to comment about... We always get criticized for not only the content of the site, but we are somehow responsible for every dork's comments on the site as well. I find that silly. This is a user-generated site, run by two guys, with literally MILLIONS of visitors. To be roasted for every comment or pic post that is put on our site is ridiculous. It's like blaming the movie theater for allowing people who you don't like into the movie. People who cannot differentiate between the site and its users need to think a little deeper before casting aspersions.
StrangerX
StrangerX - 10/14/2013, 6:50 PM
I've been here for a while. What I have noticed through the years is the people who are new or complain have decided to rally with others who don't get the humor of the site. Or the way the editors operate. Yet, since the beginning its pretty much been the same. The community of fans have always competed on who's the best what actors they prefer or why this or that wouldn't work. The only thing now is there are more people involved. So we see much more of it.
Greengo
Greengo - 10/14/2013, 6:53 PM
"and if they don't want their comments to get hijacked by gusto's miley cyrus pics.." -Galactus

LMFAO!!!!! : )


SomTingWong
SomTingWong - 10/14/2013, 7:03 PM
I think that the site was fine until just recently. We were all used to those perverted users posting half-nude pics and the cosplay articles were pretty easy to ignore but when the powers post articles like Jamie Alexander's photo shoot that's just unnecessary and it's just downright ridiculous when they make it to the featured content box of the site. Lately that's been happening a lot and I think this site needs to get back on the relatively all-age friendly path. The site is a lot less fun for me with the articles of late.
SauronsBANE
SauronsBANE - 10/14/2013, 7:13 PM
I find it too perfect that Gusto had the 69th comment on this article =P
Greengo
Greengo - 10/14/2013, 8:15 PM
I told ya gusto you were in self imposed exile hombre...

On Sabbatical, if you will.

The place is not the same with out you. xoxoxo
WYLEEJAY
WYLEEJAY - 10/14/2013, 10:42 PM
Simple really. Dont let your kids come to THIS site, if you don't like what you see here. I choose what articles my son looks at. He doesn't use the internet on his own. And he's twelve. When he does use it, he KNOWS what he can and can't look up. Cause I teach him. And I'm not blind. I know he WILL google a naked chick sooner or later. Probably already has with his friends.

And this site knows exactly what it is. A site where users can express themselves. Including you. Everyone has their own tastes, and it shows in their articles. So what if Nailbiter likes painted nipples, cause they ARE painted. Within the rules and he knows how far he can push it. So what if other Power users post flame bait articles, don't read them if you don't want to. So WHAT if someone acts like a hypocrite with their comments, because they have the same freedom of speech that me and you do.

:)
6of13
6of13 - 10/15/2013, 5:57 AM
As a couple of other users above my comment have already said, people need to parent their own kids with what they should and should not be viewing on the internet.
NovaCorpsFan
NovaCorpsFan - 10/15/2013, 11:01 AM
Big G, were you in the debating team in high school? You just seem the type, all authoritave and winning people's thoughts, just seems ypu've had practice.

Or maybe you've read "Hypnosis: The Sure Way To Win The Minds Of Millions".

...

Does that sound offensive? I'm worried I'll end up with LEVI, shaking a cup outside IGN.
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