Bill Maher Is The Latest To Cop It Over Insensitive Remarks About Stan Lee

Bill Maher

Comedian and talk show host Bill Maher basically lives to upset people, so I guess you could say he’s achieved his ultimate aim today with a blog post about Stan Lee, questioning the late comic book creator’s legacy and implicating him in the rise of Donald Trump.

Stan Lee passed away in Los Angeles this week at the age of 95, and was farewelled on Friday in a private funeral with family members. Maher’s post was published the following morning, although it wasn’t exactly much of a eulogy. He wrote:

“The guy who created Spider-Man and the Hulk has died, and America is in mourning. Deep, deep mourning for a man who inspired millions to, I don’t know, watch a movie, I guess. Someone on Reddit posted, “I’m so incredibly grateful I lived in a world that included Stan Lee.” Personally, I’m grateful I lived in a world that included oxygen and trees, but to each his own.”

The assumption that someone can only be grateful for one thing and not any others is classic Facebook comment section logic, on par “with how can you care so much about [x] when [y] is also happening in the world?”, but I’m getting away from the main point here.

Bill Maher then went on to say that the increased presence of comics in popular culture and their acceptance as an art form for adults has led to a dumbing-down of society. He wrote:

“The assumption [used to be] that comics were for kids, and when you grew up you moved on to big-boy books without the pictures. But then twenty years or so ago, something happened – adults decided they didn’t have to give up kid stuff. And so they pretended comic books were actually sophisticated literature.”

Objectively speaking, yeah, you could definitely make an argument that our love of all things nostalgic and childlike is a sign that we’re regressing in some way as a culture. Pinning all of that on Stan Lee the day after his funeral is just kind of a dick move, though, and Maher probably could have waited a week or two to explore this point.

The kicker came at the end of the piece, when the late night host wrote that we’re wasting our intellect on “stupid stuff”, adding: “I don’t think it’s a huge stretch to suggest that Donald Trump could only get elected in a country that thinks comic books are important.”

The broad implication that Stan Lee’s legacy fueled the rise of Trump angered many, and his comments section quickly and predictably filled up with people demanding that he apologise, and accusing him of cynically trying to stir up controversy while his show is on a break.

A number of writers on Twitter joined in the criticism:

Others pointed out the absurdity at being mad at Bill Maher over this when there are so many other reasons to be mad at him:

If nothing else, I guess this takes the heat off Armie Hammer, who has been copping it all week for his own insensitive take on Stan Lee’s passing.

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