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McFarlane Toys- DC Multiverse: The Joker (Batman: White Knight)
Welp, let's talk about guns. I can?t recall if I?ve discussed them before, but as of this review the gun debate has once again hit a fever pitch due to yet another school shooting, this time in Texas, and I have thoughts as they relate to toys.
First thing is first: I?m Canadian and have no attachment to the USA 2nd amendment protecting the right to bear arms. As far as I know, Canada has some fairly strict gun control laws and given that we don?t seem to have a mass shooting every month, It seems to be working ok. Yes, there is still gun violence within our cities (one innocent mother was recently shot and killed in the crossfire of a road rage incident in Calgary last month), but on the whole we don?t have the same issues and fetishization with guns as our cousins to the south do.
Secondly: I don?t own any real guns. I don?t live on a ranch, my parents never had them and nor do I plan on chaining that. I?m a white, middle class guy who lives in Calgary that has as much use for a gun as I do a Boat. I don?t hunt, I don?t shoot for sport and my money is spent on other hobbies including toys and photography. I should also qualify that I?ve never been in a situation where I feel in danger or where a gun wouldn?t just make things so much worse.
Thirdly: I honestly think guns are really cool, but not in a ?look I?m Rambo? kind of way, but in a historical tool of war kind of way; like fighter jets or a tank. Guns are technologic marvels that have helped shape the world as we know it. I mean, I?m a kid of the 80?s and grew up with this romantic idea that guns are important in the fight between bad and good. Name a popular series or movie and I?ll show you a badass gun that was used to save the day. As a society we?ve started to move away from this trope, but we will never fully drop it; it?s just too ingrained in our storytelling; guns are still in most media including games, shows and blockbuster movies and in turn a big part of the overall design of action figures.
Which brings me to this point: Lots of people, including me, grew up with guns, gun imagery and were the target demographic for the big gun push of the 80 & 90s and will never touch a gun in their lifetime. I play games with guns, I watch movies with guns and I would really like it if my action figures based on the media I consume had guns. Hell, if you want to really do something that will make an actual difference, then feel free to ban actual guns as DC?s move to take them out of the plastic hands of our toys based on pretend characters will do precisely dick all. In fact, can we talk about how fucked up it is for DC and WB to produce a movie like Suicide Squad that glamorizes guns at the same time producing toys for that same movie and not including guns for safety sake? I?d like to be a fly on the wall at that board meeting.
Anyways, long story short, I?ve basically stopped buying DC multiverse figures because of the ridiculous decision to ban guns from their figures. I?ll still pick up a few characters if guns are not part of their schtick (like Red Robin), but for the most part I cannot support that level of hypocrisy.
Pros: I know very little about the White Knight story outside of what I recall from the research I did for Batman, but I do know The Joker is kind of the good guy in this iteration. Overall the sculpt is great and captures the style of the book very well, I love that he still comes with a gun (regardless of how impractical it likely is, and appreciate the alternative head sculpts, which is something McFarlane rarely does.
Cons: I got nothing, this figure is fantastic.
