16 replies to this topic

[Bentayuk]

This has been bothering me a little and I just want to get it off my chest.

On Sunday I was walking around the stalls, which were all as enjoyable as ever. However I was some-what disturbed when my younger brother (who's 16) asked me what 'spam' was. At first I was confused, until he showed me that a seller was selling "spam" comics at his stall. These are not for children and are adult only, which does not have a place at these conventions.
Personally, they don't bother me, but it was rather shocking as these events are largely family friendly. The comics were covered by a white/opaque cover, that made the front of each row slightly-covered, but not entirely. Basically it didn't leave much to the imagination.
Now I'm not telling people how to live or hwatever, or trying to be preachy, it was just a bit odd, in my opinion. For these type of events, I don't think there's a place for that.

Edited by Bentayuk, 10 July 2012 - 12:58 PM.

[pez]

Obviously you didn't get a good look at the manga  books did you .  And for a long time there was a dvd  stall that sold adult material . It's become more mainstream these days .

[dazzlerjames]

I'm not sure what they are but agree with the above - alot of Manga books (and a fair amount of cosplayers!!) are at the same level and I'm sure at 16 he's seen worse!

The fact that they were covered probably means that the seller was responsible and wouldn't sell them to children anyway

[JessCansBe1337]

At 16 he is hardly a child... yes, there were children wandering around, yes adult stuff should be hidden a little so that only those of age can investigate further but it definitely does not 'have no place'. I noticed on one of the small press comic stalls there was a note on one of their comics that said 'this is ruuuuude'. As long as they are somewhat censored/come with age warnings then there is no problem in my eyes. Comics/manga/art etc can have nudity and sex without it being out-and-out 'P-word' (even if some may use it as such - whatever floats your boat!). Even if very explicit adult material is available from dvd sellers, it technically still counts as 'film' and SM cannot really have much control over what is being sold, just insist that the adult material is somewhat obscured/given warnings, as it seems to have been.

Edited by JessCansBe1337, 10 July 2012 - 01:09 PM.

[Jumpyghostface]

I take my kid (10) to all sorts of things, and I know well not to assume that any comic is child-friendly.  I think it's fine that these things are sold, as long as the dealers know to stop any kid from buying them, and to point out to adults with kids in tow that the stall probably isn't one they'd want their kid to stop and browse at.

With covers on the comics you saw, it seems likely that the dealer was a responsible one.

[Yunalesca]

Each to their own.... personally I mentioned several times that it was not an event I would bring children to, especially small ones.

[Berber Anna]

There was an entire stall devoted to yaoi and [censored]. I don't see the problem -- the sellers know what they're selling, they're not going to allow little kids to browse.

Edited by Berber Anna, 10 July 2012 - 01:19 PM.

[JessCansBe1337]

Yunalesca, on 10 July 2012 - 01:15 PM, said:

Each to their own.... personally I mentioned several times that it was not an event I would bring children to, especially small ones.

Yeah, small children should be considered carefully because of the crowds and all the queuing - would not necessarily be fun for them. Whilst I don't care what the stalls sell - as people have said, as long as the stall-holder is responsible then it is not an issue - but I was in the Robert Maschio talk and as it was in a fairly open stage I remember thinking I wouldn't like my hypothetical kid to be overhearing this! So to me the only issue with children is the guest talks, whose language cannot be controlled aside from a quick 'tell off' look from crew. Saying that I'm sure most would take families into consideration. Robert was just a rare one that was more like an adult stand-up comic than an actor giving a talk/Q&A haha.

[Bentayuk]

My point was not my brother, he's 16 years old. I just don't think that type of manga should be sold at these events. Regardless of whether you choose to bring your child or not, many families do. I just thought it was bad taste. It'd be the same if I found adult mags or playboy being sold there. Just becuase it's illustrated in manga style, doesn't make it acceptable at an event where children clearly are going to be.

[etmuse]

People take their children all the time into newsagents and corner shops that sell 'adult' magazines. As long as the sellers are responsible about it (in the same manner as shops putting these things on high shelves) I don't see that it's any more inappropriate.

[Berber Anna]

I guess the point is where would you draw the line? Are adult comics that are being sold at stalls that clearly make an effort to keep them semi-concealed (in boxes or with coverings) worse than cosplayers in revealing outfits? And if not, then what's too revealing? LFCC isn't mainly aimed at children, the main focus is clearly adults, so personally I feel that banning things that aren't appropriate for children is taking a step too far. I do think that very explicit covers should be concealed, but that's already being done.

[markymark66]

Berber Anna, on 10 July 2012 - 01:56 PM, said:

I guess the point is where would you draw the line? Are adult comics that are being sold at stalls that clearly make an effort to keep them semi-concealed (in boxes or with coverings) worse than cosplayers in revealing outfits? And if not, then what's too revealing? LFCC isn't mainly aimed at children, the main focus is clearly adults, so personally I feel that banning things that aren't appropriate for children is taking a step too far. I do think that very explicit covers should be concealed, but that's already being done.

Christ how some so the girls were dressed in cosplay wud be too explicit for a 16 year old!!

[Bentayuk]

Didn't say I wanted it "banned", I mean they have Italian gore films there too. Maybe I was just surprised to see that type of manga sold there, I know serveral people who were surprised too. I guess on here I'm alone in that opinion. You'll find me at the next event, behind the snuff table.


NOTE: My mate at work just explained to me, from the sellers stand point, several thousand people coming to an event over 3 days is big business for that type of stuff, so it's understandable why they would sell at the event.
Just not my thing I guess.

Edited by Bentayuk, 10 July 2012 - 02:37 PM.

[JessCansBe1337]

Oh other big events that are more anime-based have whole Yaoi sections that fangirls of all ages flock to lol. Like I said, if anything I think it is the guest's talk content that may not be suitable for all ages and maybe a disclaimer about SM not being responsible for the guests' language so take children at own discretion could be handy but I'm sure it is fairly rare that people like Robert Maschio get up and make a load of dirty jokes/lewd comments, haha.

[Jumpyghostface]

Bentayuk, on 10 July 2012 - 02:16 PM, said:

Just not my thing I guess.

It doesn't have to be.  It's not my thing, either, but that doesn't matter, because i don't have to expose myself to it, or expose my kid to it, if I don't want to.

As another poster pointed out, there's far, far worse in many corner shops, and in supermarkets at child eye-level with no opaque covers or responsible dealers in sight to stop your kid looking at them.

[ericsdonor]

There were some girls there that were dressed in very little and showing more off than I cared to see and they didn't have an opaque cover over them, it's very much down to personal opinion and choice and to be honest LFCC is so big now that I can understand why that dealer would want to be there!!!

[SilvaNemesis]

I took my Playboy cover for Bai Ling to autograph, I think these things can be included in the show/stalls as long as they're done in the right way so that nobody is offended. I'm 34 so I suspect there's little left to offend me anymore! You could go to extremes with it, if you interprete it that way, sexuality is everywhere you look... maybe a female cosplayer wearing a skimpy outfit, the cover of a magazine, a racy 8x10 on one of the photo stalls. But hopefully there's so much other stuff there to see that it shouldn't cause a problem.