Inappropriate comic book titles

Comic book issues almost always have a title name attached to them.  Traditionally this might be a play on words, or an actual thought out title to the issue in question, but with the new 52, I have been noticing a few creep in which are more or less ripped off from pop culture - I, Vampire #1 had the name Tainted Love;  I, Vampire # 2 had the name Girls Just Want to Have Fun; Red Hood and the Outlaws #1 had a play on I Fought the Law and the Law Won; and Red Hood and the Outlaws #2 had Shot Through the Heart (from You Give Love a Bad Name.)   Mostly some pretty innocuous if unoriginal titles.  Is it possible to go too far with the concept though?  Well, Green Lantern Corps #1 was titled Triumph of the Will.  This is in some respects a good title for a group of heroes that rely on willpower, but also maybe a poor choice because the phrase is most famous as the title of one of the most famous Nazi propaganda films ever made (by Leni Riefenstahl about the party congress in Nuremberg in 1934.)  Of course, words have different meanings based on the era, but there are a lot of words associated with this period in history which have never really been rehabilitated and this phrase may in fact be included among them.  I personally would not have chosen this as the title of anything I ever worked on, even if the writers meant to give the phrase new meaning, it still conjures reminders of one of the darkest times in the history of mankind. 

@joshmightbe said:

Can anybody top that?

@RazzaTazz: Sorry about that. I was thinking you may have just meant inappropriate, meaning ambiguous in that manner or ribald or anything else and had been using that title and its Nazi reference as an example. Josh might be was probably thinking the same.

Wow...that is well, inappropriate
 
Another great post by Razz
 
For reference this the film 
 

I rather doubt anyone had any intention nor inclination to reference the Nazis regarding the choice of title, Then again this is just my opinion and I have no definitive proof to defend it.

The other titles, I mean, I think they are fun. I don't see anything wrong and I am a big New Wave music fan so I got a chuckle reading them. In the now defunct TV show HEROES, the horn rimmed glasses guy almost always spouted some referential line to a rock and roll song in each episode.

Seems like this is simply coincidental pertaining the title that you mentioned.

It would be more inappropriate if "Will" wasn't actually the source of Green Lantern's abilities.

@Vance Astro: Not so sure, would have been easy to call it "Triumph of Willpower"

@cattlebattle said:

Wow...that is well, inappropriate

Another great post by Razz

For reference this the film

Could it be deliberate though?

I mean the Corps all represent different "emotions or feelings" the Nazi's were all about controlling the world and cleansing it of impurities... so it may actually be deliberate.. and clever IMO

@ReVamp: Well for me personally I don't even read the titles and wouldn't notice but they show up on my profile page after editing them.  I was kind of surprised to see the name of a nazi propaganda film on the profile page last night though

@cattlebattle said:

Wow...that is well, inappropriate

Another great post by Razz

For reference this the film

Could it be deliberate though?

I mean the Corps all represent different "emotions or feelings" the Nazi's were all about controlling the world and cleansing it of impurities... so it may actually be deliberate.. and clever IMO

@ReVamp: Pfft. DC> Marvel in all things witty and intelligent :P

@ReVamp: Pfft. DC> Marvel in all things witty and intelligent :P

Well hey, Lion King referenced Triumph of the Will and Riefenstahl's filming techniques from Olympia are used in a lot of sports coverage today. 'Triumph of the Will' doesn't have to be associated with Nazi's - the VW car was Hitler's little project and we're fine driving those. I don't see any problem in GL referring to it, especially since it makes sense in context.

And I studied Leni and have my own views on her, but calling 'Triumph' a propaganda film might be a little strong. It's definitely a political film, but you could make the argument Leni was doing artsy stuff with her subject matter just to be artsy and clever and make something un-boring. Then the Nazi's lost the war and... she got the shortest straw of anyone.

@RazzaTazz: If the story does not have aryan supermen taking care of jews (or doing mass gymnastics) it is not offensive or inappropriate at all. "Triumph of the will" is widely used english phrase. Duh. Are you really thinking that this comic book is some kind of homage to the frigging nazis? I sense too much misplaced political correctness here...

@joshmightbe said:

You Win! lol

@ReVamp said:

@.Mistress Redhead. said:

@ReVamp: Pfft. DC> Marvel in all things witty and intelligent :P

Never said it wasn't. That Statement is 100% true. Unfortunately, its like saying, "A Cat is stronger than a mouse". Problem is... they both f**ked if a tiger shows up, y'know what I mean? Or have I lose you in the analogy? :P

*chuckle*

I like you ;)

I never would've caught this, and I'm giving the creators the benefit of the doubt that they just didn't catch it either.

*chuckle*

I like you ;)

@ReVamp said:

@.Mistress Redhead. said:

*chuckle*

I like you ;)

Awwww, does that mean I get a cookie? I like Cookies? If it serves any consolation you're getting +15 cool points for having Barbara as an AV.

well for the compliment you get 10000000 cookies

@ReVamp said:

@.Mistress Redhead. said:

*chuckle*

I like you ;)

Awwww, does that mean I get a cookie? I like Cookies? If it serves any consolation you're getting +15 cool points for having Barbara as an AV.

well for the compliment you get 10000000 cookies

@ReVamp said:

@.Mistress Redhead. said:

@ReVamp said:

@.Mistress Redhead. said:

*chuckle*

I like you ;)

Awwww, does that mean I get a cookie? I like Cookies? If it serves any consolation you're getting +15 cool points for having Barbara as an AV.

well for the compliment you get 10000000 cookies

10 Mill? Psssh, Cheap ass. That'd barely keep me entertained for an hour. Hehe :P

I thought that was more than 10 mill... I failed maths...

@ReVamp said:

@.Mistress Redhead. said:

@ReVamp said:

@.Mistress Redhead. said:

*chuckle*

I like you ;)

Awwww, does that mean I get a cookie? I like Cookies? If it serves any consolation you're getting +15 cool points for having Barbara as an AV.

well for the compliment you get 10000000 cookies

10 Mill? Psssh, Cheap ass. That'd barely keep me entertained for an hour. Hehe :P

I thought that was more than 10 mill... I failed maths...

@ReVamp: OH OH Look I am not following you.. now I am.. even bigger present!

@ReVamp: OH OH Look I am not following you.. now I am.. even bigger present!

@ReVamp said:

@.Mistress Redhead. said:

@ReVamp: OH OH Look I am not following you.. now I am.. even bigger present!

Too bad, I saw that you were following me before I saw the comment. Ding Ding. :P

HAH curses! I had to turn that back on. I had it off while I was a mod as you would get a follow every time a new account was made, now I can actually see who follows me!

@ReVamp said:

@.Mistress Redhead. said:

@ReVamp: OH OH Look I am not following you.. now I am.. even bigger present!

Too bad, I saw that you were following me before I saw the comment. Ding Ding. :P

HAH curses! I had to turn that back on. I had it off while I was a mod as you would get a follow every time a new account was made, now I can actually see who follows me!

@ReVamp said:

@.Mistress Redhead. said:

@ReVamp said:

@.Mistress Redhead. said:

@ReVamp: OH OH Look I am not following you.. now I am.. even bigger present!

Too bad, I saw that you were following me before I saw the comment. Ding Ding. :P

HAH curses! I had to turn that back on. I had it off while I was a mod as you would get a follow every time a new account was made, now I can actually see who follows me!

Yeah, I can imagine that, it must suck really hard. First thing I did when I created my account was to unfollow everyone except Tony and Babs, the latter of which I eventually unfollowed too.

You unfollowed Babs?

You know with how the Oan Guardians are acting... Nazi might not be too far off for them soon(I just Godwin'd the Guardians! Come at me bro)

@ReVamp said:

@.Mistress Redhead. said:

@ReVamp said:

@.Mistress Redhead. said:

@ReVamp: OH OH Look I am not following you.. now I am.. even bigger present!

Too bad, I saw that you were following me before I saw the comment. Ding Ding. :P

HAH curses! I had to turn that back on. I had it off while I was a mod as you would get a follow every time a new account was made, now I can actually see who follows me!

Yeah, I can imagine that, it must suck really hard. First thing I did when I created my account was to unfollow everyone except Tony and Babs, the latter of which I eventually unfollowed too.

You unfollowed Babs?

@ReVamp: Makes sense... and on that note we should stop derailing the thread :P

@darth_brendroid: I did not know the VW car was HItlers project. Hmm. You learn something new everyday I guess.

@lykopis said:

@Stuka69 said:

@RazzaTazz: If the story does not have aryan supermen taking care of jews (or doing mass gymnastics) it is not offensive or inappropriate at all. "Triumph of the will" is widely used english phrase. Duh. Are you really thinking that this comic book is some kind of homage to the frigging nazis? I sense too much misplaced political correctness here...

It's called google. Then read. And learn. :) It's a great thing to do.

I did. But still nothing about Green Lanterns and Nazis together. And I´ll say this again since you had hard time to understand it the first time; if there are no straight references to the Third Reich, or if they are very vague (such as hints of totalitarianism regarding Sinestro) there is nothing inappropriate of the usage of phrase "Triumph of the will". And again, do you find any kind of pro-nazism in this comic book? If not, then it is not inappropriate in it.

And hey, maybe you should google words "inappropriate", "not the best title ever", "priming" and "usage of larger themes in storytelling", it is great thing, and a learning experience, to actually know what you are really talking about instead just thinking that you do. :)

 "Triumph of the will" might be a propaganda flick but the title itself is an allusion to Nietzsches "Willen zur Macht/ Will to power" concept.  
Many movies were influenced by it. Among them Star Wars, Lord of the Ring and Citizien Kane.
But I guess if you want to be offended you will always find something.

Triumph of the Will is an amazing piece of cinema. While the subject matter may be hard to stomach. The film itself is amazing to watch. It was shot amazingly well.

Thanks Documentary 101 class at Columbia College Chicago!

@inferiorego said:

Triumph of the Will is an amazing piece of cinema. While the subject matter may be hard to stomach. The film itself is amazing to watch. It was shot amazingly well.

Thanks Documentary 101 class at Columbia College Chicago!

I am assuming it was amazing amazing amazing?

@.Mistress Redhead. said:

@inferiorego said:

Triumph of the Will is an amazing piece of cinema. While the subject matter may be hard to stomach. The film itself is amazing to watch. It was shot amazingly well.

Thanks Documentary 101 class at Columbia College Chicago!

I am assuming it was amazing amazing amazing?

It was ok.

I only know one adjective... amazing.

but it is undoubtedly a propaganda film, and some words or phrases are somewhat charged when it comes to the issue.  Look at the word appeasement ... it has a very specific meaning and nothing which is offensive,(...) Appeasement thus is a word with a lot of negative associations.  I am not saying that the phrase cannot be rehabilitated as languages evolve over time, but I don't think the rehabilitation will come as from being a throwaway title of a comic book that even a lot of comic fans won't read.  

Serious note:
 
I think RazzaTazz means it's poor writing just to use the title for shock value not that it's wrong to use it at all. But it ought to be someone related to the term.

This we can agree on.