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DarthVain writes:
I remember it was reported by Slashdot sometime ago that Lucas sued his old Prop guy (Andrew Ainsworth) for trying to sell Replica Star Wars costumes. The Prop guy lost that battle it seems in the US back in 2006, but they haven't been able to get the British courts to enforce it. It seems now the British court has ruled to "Sod Off", and "that the helmet and armor of the Stormtrooper costumes had a "utilitarian," rather than an artistic, purpose" and as such is apparently exempt.
I am not sure if anyone in the court room actually saw Star Wars, but I think I know some Ewoks that might argue how "Utilitarian" those suits of armor actual were...
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DarthVain writes:
I noticed something last night when I was re-reading Superman: Red Son. http://www.amazon.com/Superman-Red-Elseworlds-Mark-Millar/dp/1401201911/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244041637&sr=8-1
There appears to be water boarding in it. It is clearly described as torture. It appears in a scene in which Hal Jordan (The Green Lantern) is captured by the enemy and held as a POW and tortured, Vietnam style, or so it looks.
It was not too long ago that I didn't even know what water boarding looked like, however I saw this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUkj9pjx3H0 of a republican radio personality that didn't think it was a big deal and submitted himself to water boarding with horrific results.
Comparing those two images, the one from the video, and the one from Superman: Red Son, they are clearly the exact same event. Even the posturing of the persons performing the water boarding is the same, it is pretty surreal.
So what does this really mean? Well for starters I think it is a pretty good indication of what is considered torture and what is not. The comic was written in 2002 (before all the hullabaloo), and this was the worst torture image they could print to illustrate Hal Jordan's discomfort. So folks that do not get it or fail to understand that it is torture, you can point them to this comic book with its pretty pictures. I also think it is a bit iconic that the image in the book is portrayed as a sort of Vietnamesque torture scene, one that I think most US citizens would identify with "worst torture ever".
Anyway just something interesting I noticed while reading last night.
