Bill Maher Trashes Stan Lee; Blames Him for Trump

Maher really is on his way out. He is so out of touch and has become a punch line it’s not even funny.

Definitely Team Stan.

I agree with him.

He's right.

Team Maher.

Agree with Maher.

While I don't agree with Maher that the fault lies with Stan Lee, there's absolutely some truth in the assertion that the centrality of superheroes within popular culture is a sign of an deeply infantilised and deeply troubled society.

I disagree with Maher. I would have picked Seacrest for unleashing the Kardashians and Andy Cohen for the Real Housewives reality shit.

Why not blame, say, Michael Bay and his mindless summer blockbusters? Ideal douchebag movies Deplorables love.

Well Superhero movies and blockbuster dumb sparkly action packed entertainment shouldn't make people informationally illiterate. It's a lot of other things, and also schools need to do a better job because most parents are helpless.

Educators need to be smarter and they need more tools and time to teach kids to survive this onslaught. Better education programs and higher pay? I don't know.

The world of superhero comics is very diverse and inclusive, which runs counter to the world of Trump and his followers.

Who asked adults to read comic books or watch superhero films?

Why not blame GWB's No Child Left Behind education policy? Or does that one make a conspiracy theorist (claiming that the government deliberately dumbed down children)?

I like Maher. Last night was his last show. He'll be on hiatus for two months.. then return January 18. I'll miss his show... go through withdrawals.. lol.

Haven't watched him since he was on the Comedy channel. Boring troll.

Please comics are still a limited market. If what Bill is saying is true that would mean a much bigger part of our population would be reading them.

Also, what r12 said.

[quote]Last night was his last show. He'll be on hiatus for two months.. then return January 18

So I guess he had to keep himself in the news cycle a bit longer by coming out with this statement now?

fuck this racist

He has always railed against these stupid superhero blockbusters.

A comedian as thought police. Can’t Maher see he’s part of the problem.

I’m really sick of douchebags profiting off the collapse of Democracy.

Comic books have their place. I'm sick of every big movie being superhero crap but i's not Stan Lee's fault that we've become infantilized. And Lee is barely cold in his grave...

How are people not burned out by comic book movies by now? I used to enjoy them but now they release one almost every week. And worse, all of them are trying to be Marvel now and look like CGI cartoons.

Figures that he wouldn't go after someone like Levin's TMZ.

Fabulous! He's going to piss off a lot of people with that one, but someone had to say it. An occasional comic book movie would be fine, but there's no good reason why children's comic books have completely taken over the industry. I was so detached from all of that, I had no idea who Stan Lee was until he died.

Maher is wrong to single out Stan Lee. The globalization of Hollywood’s big-budget movies has pressured studios to “dumb down” all films for the international market in order to bypass language and cultural barriers, meeting the lowest common denominator.

Some of Stan Lee’s work (as juvenile as it is) has more nuance and subtext than many of the insipid “dramas” and rom-coms churned out today. Maher himself - full of generizations and bufoonery - is a shining example of the dumbed-down American society he complains about.

Not to mention that this debate over comic books has been going on for nearly a century, and he has just “discovered” it. Wow.

Comic book movies appeal to youth who still overwhelmingly vote Democratic. Baby boomers are responsible for Trump and baby boomers like Maher will never admit this.

Comic books are not the reason Trump was elected, I prefer to blame the media, and NBC in particular, for enabling him.

Superhero crap is for immature losers, he should have singled out all of marvel and dc too. DC started the superhero crap afterall.

Oh yeah, because reading those make you want to elect a comic book villain as a president.

Well, should he be blamed for Clinton and Obama? He was creating comics for decades, why only Trump?

I would guess that the majority reading comics, watching capshit, and dressing up like superheroes are Dems. Maher just needed something to rant about.

Adults who voted for serious men such as Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy used to go to the movies to watch Mickey Mouse and bugs bunny

He's not wrong. Adults do not want to grow up nowadays. Grown men in Superman tshirts and Spiderman hats.

Bill Maher will get dragged for this. You self-hating joyless queens who like to look down on comic geeks can talk shit if you want but that was the one damn tribe to piss off. Not only that, but his comments are just downright disrespectful to the recently deceased Stan Lee. I can't wait to see Bill Maher's career go down the toilet and he just disappears.

The blame lies in reality TV and celebrity worship. Without that, Trump would have been more known for his business failures and privileged life. Instead he became known as some great businessman who decides who gets fired and who gets hired, stupid people ate that stupid show up with a spoon.

I see the infantilization of society not as a Republican/Democrat issue. If anything, Democrats can be more guilty as seen in the SJW types, but Republicans are just as capable of acting like special snowflakes with all their whining and liberal outrage.

Too soon, Bill.

Anyway, I think there's a degree of snobbery behind these comments. My dad has worked his way up from a very deprived background. Shockingly enough, the complete works of Voltaire were not present in his household as he was growing up on a council estate. But he did love Marvel comics. Now, in his 60s, he still goes to see the new Marvel films at the cinema. He's an intelligent man with decent values and political awareness. Meanwhile, here in the UK, our country is being fucked over by a bunch of old Etonians who have absolutely no idea what they're doing.

Reality TV is to blame as well as the dumbing down of a mainstream news media with its increasing focus on celebrities.

The Apprentice had a lot to do with him being viewed as a viable candidate for President. Add to that a pathetic news media that thought he made great entertainment and continually gave him pass after pass for everything he said or did, and this is how we got here.

Rather, Murrow, Brinkley and Cronkite never would have stood for half of this. But integrity is sorely missing today.

Stan Lee and comic book films had NOTHING to do with it. This must have been a rather lame attempt at humor otherwise Maher is a pretty dim bulb.

The guy who said "fuck this racist" had this to say about Ezra Miller:

[Quote] The fact that this freak gets good work in the business but so many great gay actors cannot is just a perfect example of Jewish privilege.

So long, serial killer!

In his own comic book fantasy, Maher thinks he’s Gore Vidal. In reality, he’s the bastard love child of Merv Griffin and Andrew Dice Clay.

Maher gives a platform to Milo and Bannon. HE’S THE PROBLEM.

Okay, if super hero movies are so bad what about stupid rom com movies that give an unrealistic portrayal of romance.

Way to punch down Bill.

The early Disney cartoons were popular with adults. Animation was still a novelty. Cinema has always been about escapism - this isn't a new thing.

I'm watching John Candy & Meg Ryan in "Armed & Dangerous" so I'm not in a position to judge anyone else's choice of escapist trash.

Comics are for high-IQ people quite suitable, they tend to be much more intelligent than a lot of the other movies and TV shows, much more intelligent people involved in comics than in the other movies and TV shows, having less importance on actors also makes things much more intelligent, so the animated cartoons tend to be much more intelligent than the real live movies and TV shows, I'd say. And they deal with science, global affairs et al, especially science is very hard and complex; comics are more useful for children, of course, but still, they often aren't dumb.

Was Quinn Martin responsible for Nixon? were Dallas and Dynasty responsible for Reagan and Bush?

Popular culture reflects the spirit of the time it’s created, not the other way around. But twisting ideas into pretzels is Maher’s stock in trade.

R42 Doesn’t approve of comic book villains; has Milo and Bannon as guests. Maher’s superhero name should be The Black Kettle.

Anyone who equated comic books with superhero stories is a great deal dumber than any comic book reader.

While the fault doesn’t lie with Stan Lee who was just out to make a buck, he was right about comics being for tards and Refucklicans.

I’ve never noticed anything partisan about comic book enjoyment

[quote] he was right about comics being for tards and Refucklicans.

Yeah...right.

It's not comic books, it's reality TV, getting to vote for American Idol and any such nonsense, the seething cruelty if Simon Cowell and the Survivor contestants. Trump is just the ultimate manifestation.

Adult Hide and Seek!

I won't grow up! I don't wanna go to school! Just to learn to be a parrot, and recite a silly rule!

Stan Lee was a racist lowlife who supported Trump? Well let the devil fuck him in hell.

It's a little ironic that Maher complains about Trump but Maher has just shown a lack of decency similar to Trump.

I think there are far too many comic book films and I don't read comic books myself but I truly doubt that most adults who read comic books or collect them view them as a substitute for the Washington Post. People read them for fun, just like they read western novels or play silly board games.

In any case, Maher voicing this complaint right now after Lee's death just shows how a lack of common decency doesn't have any political label anymore.

I disagree. I blame reality TV for the stupification of our society.

[quote] Stan Lee was a racist lowlife who supported Trump? Well let the devil fuck him in hell.

Where did you come up with that nonsense?

I'm googling what he thought of Trump and found this quote "Donald, look, your OK, but tone it down a bit," Lee claimed he told the candidate.

He's ok but just a little overbearing? Suggests Lee could've been a Repug to me. Is there any proof he wasn't?

Maher couldn't have been more wrong about this. Most of those I know who read and collect comic books are more intelligent than the average person. The same way that Star Trek has always attracted a smarter crowd.

Your quote is from 2015, r60. You might try googling Stan Lee on racism.

R60 You mean Jewish Democrat who created Black Panther? He must have been in deep cover.

I get what he's saying. Most of us know that the Kardashians, Andy Cohen, Real Housewives are scourges on society - even if we enjoy them guiltily. But Marvel Comics are seen as legit. I don't blame Stan Lee. Comics certainly have their place. And he was amazing at creating them. I blame the infantilization of a seemingly entire group of, in particular, men well into their 40s. I'm sure we can find many, many reasons for this. Not growing out of comic books is just one of those.

Bill Maher looks like he was born from his mothers asshole.

Pretending comedians are journalists has done far more damage

Agree r64. There’s also a strong libertarian aspect to comics as well. The lone rich guy fixing things that the “corrupt gubmint” can’t. I like comics but hate the way they’ve highjacked all movies. There are almost no movies being made for adults anymore.

on another topic, I can't believe I spent $1500 plus tax on the Stan Lee Taschen book. It's sold out now. There were only 1K made. (Dear Lord, how long did it take Stan to sign over 1K copies!)

I'm hoping it actually comes and they didn't overbook on orders. I read through the display copy at my local Taschen store.

It's beautiful, manageable, and displays nicely.

[quote] There are almost no movies being made for adults anymore.

This is so patently untrue its not even worth acknowledging.

Look, I am a comic geek----and Stan Lee is NO hero.. He was the Editor at Marvel and made it MANDATORY for creators to add his name to THEIR creations (or they wouldn't get published). Steve Ditko created Spider-Man and died broke---same thing with Jack Kirby and Fantastic Four. .....Odd how Stan Lee "CO-created" everything and couldn't even draw. Stan Lee also had ALOT of business lawsuits. Stan Lee was the Donald Trump of comic---a snake oil salesman. I feel sorry for the artists who died penniless.

I'm sorry he feels comic books and comic book films don't rise to the standard of his masterpiece, DC Cab.

Stan Lee: ‘America Never Had Someone Like Donald Trump, He’s The Best President Of The United States, I Don’t Think That America Will Again Have A Leader Like Him.”Do You Support Him?

Is this a real quote? Or is it a stupid joke, "He's the best president of the US" because he's the only one. Of course we couldn't ask the childish dick to be serious about anything...

Steve Ditko did NOT die penniless. And he refused payments for his co-creations. Everything you say, r70, is a lie.

This from the douche who starred in CANNIBAL WOMEN IN THE AVAOCADO JUNGLE OF DEATH.

Progressives need to take an honest look at themselves and stop pretending you are the party of inclusion.

You exclude people for being male, and label all things masculine as toxic.

You exclude people for being white. You think the phrase, "It's OK to be white" is hate speech.

You exclude people for belonging to the "wrong" religion, although you cower over people who belong to religions you are afraid to criticize.

You are a party that loves to label people by type. You love to spy and monitor and surveil. You love to censor and block and ban.

You hate freedom, you hate honesty' and you hate facts that don't jump through your hoops of political correctness. You are a pack of tedious and hateful hypocrites. Now watch you prove my point by banning me for expressing Thought Crime.

What the fuck does anything you just said have to do with the topic of this thread, r75?

You better not mock his guest appearance on "Murder, She Wrote" or I'll murder you all and frame one of my friends!

All of Hollywood is ripping Maher a new one. He’s not going to last much longer.

R73 Actually YOU are wrong. Ditko died a broke hermit----and it wasn't because he "refused" payments on HIS work. That doesn't even make sense. Not only did Marvel Comics almost go bankrupt---but Stan Lee Media filed for bankruptcy. (Look it up)...Stan Lee was a snake oil salesman).

ZERO = The number of "co-creators" (or their families) who have offered condolences at Stan Lees passing...Guess RIPPING OFF other people's work doesn't' muster much sympathy..By the way---EVERYONE in the comic industry knows what Stan Lee did. The condolences rolling in are from movie studios and uninformed fans and actors.

Stop, r73. You are embarrassing yourself.

[quote] turned down having the Amazing Fantasy #15 art returned to him, which would be worth an eight-figure sum

[quote] And while Ditko may never have pursued financial benefits from Marvel or DC Comics that others thought might have been his, it may be different for his family and his estate now that he has passed.

[quote] The condolences rolling in are from movie studios and uninformed fans and actors.

Utter bullshit.

But wait...there's more...

R69 makes me fantasize about a giant swamp monster shoving a botulism raddled chainsaw up his ass. If it was so not worth commenting, why’d you comment you STUPID FUCK? Do humanity a favour and die in grease fire with a rusty chainsaw shoved up your prolapsed rectum.

Yeah...you regret the lack of movies for mature adults like yourself, r84.

[QUOTE]How are people not burned out by comic book movies by now? I used to enjoy them but now they release one almost every week.

List them. "one almost every week" means you should be able to name, let's say, forty comic book movies released this year. To make things easier, you can include films released in November and December 2017.

I don't think rom com films are healthy in that they show an unrealistic expectation of romance.

Oh, HOW will Katherine Heigl and Jennifer Aniston EVER find the right guy???

Even Love, Simon; PLEASE. but I was glad it gave gay teens something nice to look at.

Yes, the approval and blessing of a total stranger on an anonymous board mean everything to me r85. Die in a large, uncontrollable grease fire.

R84 - who has already blocked you and that great thinker among men, r69.

Maher's comment doesn't pass the logic sniff test. Whatever long-term trends he believes drives or has been driven by the growth in popularity of comics books must also be responsible for making him popular as well. He did not rise to stardom or celebrity in a vacuum.

While one could argue that his celebrity is actually some form of counter-response to the ignorance and stupidity that comics drove, it's still responsible for his success - there would be no need for a response or counter-balance, otherwise.

More pointedly, one has to delve much deeper into WHY comics and such escapism has become so popular. Why are people so enamored of clearly delineated heroes and villains, good and evil, right and wrong. How are the relatively simple notions of comics (even the so-called re-imagined dark ones) a response to the need people have in a complex world.

Maher is mildly entertaining and often has compelling ideas. But, in the end, he provides pablum no more at fault for cheetollini than comics. In many ways, he's more directly responsible for cheetollini since he regularly creates controversy that energizes that base through antagonism, rather than truly educating them.

R47 incels/aspies aren't intelligent. A myth that they are. Most IT people fail at life in general.

[quote] incels/aspies aren't intelligent

Yeah, all the people reading comics, all the people going to movies based on comics, are "incels/aspies." That's GOT to be true.

I blame (in part) the corporations who took over the networks. Like Disney and ABC.

Good Morning America spends 2-3 minutes on the news, then the rest is celebrities, dating, Dancing with the (non) Stars, and more celebrities.

No wonder he was elected.

You are making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Maybe. But this could have waited.

Manners are as dead as the Republic.

R84 has secretly replaced DL's 'shut in' with 'housebound'. Let's see if they noticed..

WW, btw 84

'Housebound' Datalounge Crystals Comment

R93 really means "mountain grown"

Making mountain grown out of a mole hill R93

R91 wake up and smell the mountain grown coffee!

[Quote]Stan Lee, who was as famous for his liberal politics as he was for co-creating the beloved Marvel Comic’s heroes and anti-heroes, considered Mr. Trump a bigot and a plague on the world, which he depicted through the character MODAAK.

Bill Maher sure didn’t mind taking that check to appear in Iron Man 3 tho 🤔

r54 why is it everyone else's responsibility that the culture is stupid? Why not start with the people who consume it, and the people who raise them?

If the money psychos didn't see a market for it, it wouldn't be produced. Plus, there are things out there that are just fun. There's nothing wrong with mindless fun in the culture, either.

This isn’t the first time Bill has danced on someone’s casket for attention. For instance, when he dressed like Steve Irwin for Halloween, with a bloody stingray jutting out of his chest a mere ONE MONTH after Irwin died.

Maher conflates common decency with political correctness. His only sincere “ideology” is his constant need for attention. He certainly has a fetish for causing uproar by doing his mocking-a-dead-person-too-soon-schtick.

It’s no surprise, R101, that he’s a complete hypocrite as well.

'Since I was such a "visionary" you would think I wouldn't need CO-creators----and yet I did. It was right before I almost bankrupted Marvel Comics. Around the time I bankrupted Stan Lee Media. Here is a photo of me and 2 straight friends. You're welcome"

R102 Networks pushed reality TV because for the most part, it was inexpensive to produce and saved them money.

It's a two way street in this instance.

Tell us all about how Stan Lee bankrupted Marvel.

Then tell us how he was to blame for Stan Lee Media.

Then tell us what that has to do with co-creating all the Marvel intellectual properties (other than Captain America).

r105 they can push all they want, but if there's no market, more of it isn't produced. And all the social media success is not from the networks. That's from the "reality stars" themselves and their people (Like PMK for the Kardashians).

Pure stunt queen move

R106 = First - You have to read (that one might be rough for you)----start with Comic Wars..Second , When the company that bares your name, Stan Lee Media, goes bankrupt and leaves angry investors behind---that sounds like a Trump move. Third---as I said before, NO "co-creators" or their family are singing Stan Lees praises for a reason--they were ripped off----also Stan Lee went on to create yet ANOTHER company, POW Entertainment that was promptly sued for 5 billion dollars by his previous company Stan Lee Media. (Look it up)..

Wow, the incels lose their shit over comic books. If someone DARES to criticize one of their creepy patron saints they're THE THOUGHT POLICE. Because literally expressing an opposing idea to an incel is DANGEROUS TO THEIR MINDS.

Meanwhile, every fucking mouth breather sitting in the audience of the lastest Marvel cash cow is A NOBEL PRIZE LAUREATE! If there should ever be a fire in one of those theaters, the world would revert to the Stone Age, as all technology would cease to exist in the absence of human kind's greatest minds!

Plus Comic-con! DEAR GOD, WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO COMIC CON!! LIFE ISN'T WORTH LIVING WITHOUT IT!

And so forth. Seriously, that's what you idiots sound like.

Bill Maher comments on current events. It's his job. Stan Lee's death is a current event. He was asked about it. But no, he's a "STUNT QUEEN" DESPERATE FOR PUBLICITY. Blah blah blah.

You would think the most dangerous in the world is coming between an incel and his porn. But before they got porn, they got comic books. So I guess this is the same thing.

Now generally, incels are more concerned with raping women, but every once in a while they load themselves up with guns and shoot a bunch of random people--how many times a week now? I mean, if you're an incel with a worthless penis, you have to have a gun. 'Cause you're making the world a better place with your penis substitute. Just like Iron Man with his suit.

Take a nap, Bill

Could someone please link to proof that comic book geeks tend to be liberals? Because I've always heard the opposite. When I belonged to my college gay group, they told us to boycott the downtown comic book store, because it's denizens always stood outside and jeered our gay parade. And it's not the only time I've heard they tend to be homophobic.

He’s not wrong

R112, look at this article.

R109,

Tell us all about how Stan Lee bankrupted Marvel. (You skipped that.)

Then tell us how he was to blame for Stan Lee Media. (You really didn't address how that was his fault.)

Then tell us what that has to do with co-creating all the Marvel intellectual properties (other than Captain America). (You skipped this entirely.)

Personally, Stan Lee means nothing to me. I may have read a comic written by him once. But your irrational hatred and USE OF CAPITAL LETTERS doesn't really make your case.

[quote] the company that bares your name

Bears. You might know that if you read comics and learned English a bit better,

I too agree with Maher. Wasn’t Stan Lee a jerk in real life ?

As with Hefner’s death, somebody more circumstantial needs to die immediately because I don’t want to hear the lionization of this guy.

[quote]Wow, the incels lose their shit over comic books.

Incels? You’re as thick as Maher.

[quote] When I belonged to my college gay group

In 1963...

Bill Maher Says Outrage Over His Stan Lee Comments "Proves My Point":

Its disturbing to see someone like Maher given Carte Blanche to say whatever he wants. Why do all these supposedly liberal celebrities kiss the ass of a guy that says the n word and treats black women like they’re disposable. If he were conservative he’d have been put down ages ago.

Maher is just out of touch. He has no clue about anything. He's literally a punch line. He was one of the biggest jokes at the Emmys last year. Colbert let him have it. Supporting the likes of Ingraham and Bannon and Milo put him on the permanent shitlist. He doesn't get that he's a hypocrite. He calls liberals to act like conservatives, to give them a taste of their own medicine, but then freaks out when liberals boycott Ingraham because HE was boycotted. Um, the First Amendment asshole. We live in a capitalist country. You don't get to say whatever the fuck you want and people don't get to respond. People have the right to boycott. He reeks of white privilege. It's always all about him. He is exactly like Trump and Roseanne. A walking narcissistic asshole.

And don't think for a second that HBO won't soon announce that they're parting ways. It happened to Roseanne, it'll happen to Maher. His show is becoming more and more irrelevant with each season. Nobody is going on his show. He's having to make more and more outrageous statements to get attention, and people are just sick of him.

He's bringing conservatives and liberals together in just giving him the finger. Don't think he has an audience that'll stand up for him like Roseanne.

I totally get what he's saying. Stan Lee's cool enough. But lionizing him for the Hulk and Spiderman is silly.

Usually, I'm a fan of Bill's but when he starts off 'I didn't read comics' or whatever the exact quote was he's lost me.

I liked comics as a kid; they were a refuge from the bullies and pressures at school and troubled family life. I've got some action figures in storage, some Marvel Masterworks, and a few Bowen figures today.

Not sure how that has ruined me or made me a bad person.

‘Hollywood’ was churning out pap long before superhero movies. They started focussing on kids rather than adults after ET and Star Wars. Then reality tv allowed people to make hit shows at very little cost and it really was downhill from there. All the way to the Whitehouse.

In fact, rather than Stan Lee maybe he should blame Big Jobs for the iPhone and Schmuckerberg for FB.

Comics have a lengthy history of taking on the KKK, fascists, Nazis, racists, bigots of all stripes, etc. The dumbed-down versions of comics that you see in big budget movies are escapist fare, nothing else.

There is absolutely no connection between the elevation of a criminal fascist like Trump and comics books or superhero movies. None. Superman (1977) didn't normalize Lex Luthor types; neither did "Batman" in 1966 or Batman in 1989 or The Dark Knight Rises in 2012.

What a stupid thing for him to say.

Bill Maher spouting Islamophobic talking points for years has done far more to help Trump than any comic book

And I've been blaming social media all along.

I am routinely shocked by my time on Reddit. Grown-ass people spending most of their time/money on video games. It's just weird.

Eh R131 I both play a lot of videogames and read a lot. People who see me gaming on the commuter rail usually disapprove while no one thinks the reading is bad. But I don't see a difference. Its just a way to spend spare time in a fictional setting.

R132, I'm talking more about thousands and thousands of dollars spent on "battle stations" that take up entire rooms of houses. And all the cosplay and geek cons and Marvel Universe crap. The stuff of childhood.

I've been know to wastefully play stupid games now and again, I think most of us do that. But this is a whole new era of adults being children.

To each their own. I'm just talking about my experience as an adult, and one that teaches at a major university. A lot of the kids seem woefully unequipped to step into adulthood.

Maher's correct on principle, but I don't blame Stan Lee or comic books. In fact, comics helped kids with reading.

What I blame is our society's insistence on helicopter parenting & this new attitude of extending childhood into the twenties, which is absolutely absurd. Also, there seems to be this resistance to taking responsibility for ANYTHING nowadays; every problem in the world is everyone else's fault & unfortunately the rise of social media has encouraged this. One of the main features of outrage culture is to constantly point fingers instead of inward reflection. And people wonder why there's a lack of civility & decorum in the public discourse. Everyone's too busy blaming & shaming each other.

I grew up with Stan Lee's Marvel comics since 1965 and I know he was a tireless self promoter and showboat but I feel he did what he had to do to promote and keep Marvel comics popular so I forgive him if he was not always entirely fair in taking credit where he shouldn't have. I feel with Stan, the good he did far outweighs the bad. He made millions of people's lives better by giving them entertainment they could relate to and enjoy. He was larger than life. It goes with the job. As for Maher...he is an utter douchebag who loves nothing more than trashing everything and everybody who he dislikes. He has a gigantic mean streak ten miles wide. He's deliberately vicious, like a sadist. He enjoys it. And to make matters worse, rarely have I ever seen anyone as full of himself and smug as Bill Maher. Sure, I like that he ridicules Trump but he makes me queasy in the way he does it. What it amounts to is, simply, he lowers himself to the deplorables' level....and that is never a winning strategy. Maher is an asshole, plain and simple. And painfully NOT funny.

I get what he’s saying ...it’s like how adults now dress up for Halloween, when that used to be a holiday just for the kiddos. Another sign of 50 years who never want to grow up (and think they’re still hot).

Scary thread

Anyone with a brain is anti Muslim. Not the people. The flawed rhetoric. Ditto Christian nonsense. Ditto the Torah. I'll give Sikhs a pass. But I'm so anti-religion.Eh, and the end of the day, I don't really care. Just don't care me or my sister.

KILL not care. F-ing autocorrect... Though not caring oddly works too.

enough with all the god damned superhero movies!

I wish we had a culture that demanded basic logic of pundits, including stand-up-comic pundits, requiring them to demonstrate causality, line their conclusions up with their premises, etc., and not just spout every thought that seems plausible at the moment.

Can we get a here, here for R141. Well said.

Boy...I miss Mort Sahl! (91 and still performing!)

Bill Maher just seems to get meaner and more bitter every day, I doubt if even the people who agree with him actually like him.

Comics can have negative effects on some people...see the attached example.

All you idiots who are on "Team Maher" was stupid as shit. Yeah, Trump won the election because people like comic books! Anybody who would buy that would have to be dumb as a rock. As for Maher, he's pathetic. He was never good enough to smell the late Stan Lee's shit. What a detestable prick he is.

Maher says that "I don't know very much about Stan Lee and it certainly wasn't a swipe at Stan Lee." It wasn't? Then why did he specifically bring up Stan Lee in the context of his rant about how "dumb" people are for reading comic books? He implied that Stan Lee had something to with that. He says he's never read comic books and doesn't know anything about Stan Lee, yet he lambasts people for liking Lee and comic books. Criticizing a subject you know nothing about...that's pretty damn ignorant. But then that's Bill Maher. He THINKS he's this intellectual genius, but he's frequently as dumb as...well, as dumb as Donald Trump.

I'm no fan of S. Lee (Team Jack Kirby) but at least Stan didn't have a talk show which elevated Trumpy to higher levels.

Maher had Trump on his Politically Incorrect show at least once in the 90's.

Bill is more responsible than Stan Lee (?) for Trump's rise.

Maher needs to apologize for his own Trump enabling then sit back down & shut his pie hole.

Bill maher is an idiot and the ugliest person in the history of TV(yes that includes buscemi on boardwalk). Comic books give more of an education than watching this albino camel faced bastard and his pompous ass guests ramble on about shit and failed attempts to be smart and funny for an hour.

Maher is so right.

Actually no, it's hard to imagine how Maher could be more wrong.

Stan Lee wrote stories that celebrated diversity, that told the stories of minorities, that treated people as equals. Stan Lee fans did NOT vote for Trump. And no, stupid people do not get into comic books or comic book movies.

Maher may be right about a lot of things, but he's very, very wrong about others... this being one of them. And anyone who thinks he's right about this is a fucking idiot.