(The Gordon Lee Case)
Jessica Rupena, Monica Song, John Tierney, Amy Witherby
March 6, 2008
Theater 597
Tues. & Thurs. 1:30-3:18
The Salon is a graphic novel, by Nick Bertozzi, that was inspired by the lives of the Parisian socialites and artists during the early 1900’s. The Salon is a graphic novel, written about a villain that starts decapitating modernist painters around Paris (“The Salon”). Gertrude Stein and her brother Leo realize that they may be next on the hit list. “Along with the help from the likes of: Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Alice B. Toklas, and Erik Satie, they set out to put a stop to the ghastly murders--only to discover that an addictive absinthe that painters around Paris have been using to enter their famous paintings may in fact be responsible for all their troubles (“The Salon”).” The scene in question of being obscene is the one in which Georges Braque first meets Picasso. Picasso, who was known to be an exhibitionist, answered the door naked. The naked drawing of Picasso was deemed explicit, but in all of the arguments against the comic, the woman in the background with her breast exposed is never mentioned.
Gertrude and Leo Stein were Harvard educated jetsetters who had a love for the literary and artistic world (“Gertrude Stein [Wikipedia]”). Gertrude Stein, who was an author, was much more successful than her brother Leo, who was an art critic, journalist, and painter. His work is described as mediocre at best, but he was best known for the art collection he shared with Gertrude (“27 Rue De Fleurus”). They first came into the public eye when they began a private modern art gallery in their home in Paris, at 27 Rue De Fleurus, which they owned and operated from 1904 to 1913 (“Gertrude Stein [Wikipedia]”). The art at the gallery, also called The Salon or the Saturday Salon, became known world wide due to the large collection of paintings “from artists like Picasso, Renoir, and many others…and as a sanctuary for artists and writers (“27 Rue De Fleurus”)”. In 1912 the friendship between Leo and Gertrude started to become strained, rumors were that it was because of romantic relationships (“27 Rue De Fleurus”) or because of Leo’s decreasing support of Picasso (“Gertrude Stein [Wikipedia]”). In 1913 Leo moved out of 27 Rue De Fleurus taking half of the art collection the two had acquired with him (“Leo Stein”). Leo moved back to the United States to become a journalist, but eventually moved to Italy where he married Nina Auzias in 1921 (“Leo Stein”). Gertrude began to get involved with the Second World War effort in France and became politically out spoken. During World War II she even said “I say that Hitler ought to have the peace prize, because he is removing all the elements of contest and of struggle from Germany. By driving out the Jews and the democratic and Left element, he is driving out everything that conduces to activity. That means peace ... By suppressing Jews ... he was ending struggle in Germany” (“Gertrude Stein [Wikipedia]”). Gertrude continued to write and travel with her companion Alice B. Toklas until her death in 1946 (“27 Rue De Fleurus”).
Gertrude and Alice B. Toklas had an interesting relationship. Gertrude was a closet lesbian and in 1903 she wrote one of the first “coming out” stories as she was having trouble understanding her own sexuality and the homosexual lifestyle because she didn’t understand how to advance a relationship until she met Alice (“Gertrude Stein [Wikipedia]”). Gertrude found a life partner in Alice B. Toklas (“27 Rue De Fleurus”). The two met in 1907 when Alice became Gertrude’s “secretary, amanuensis, and lifelong companion” (“Gertrude Stein [Wikipedia]”). Stein called the relationship a marriage, Ernest Hemingway fondly remembers how Alice was Gertrude's “wife” being that Gertrude rarely addressed his Hemingway's wife, and he rarely addressed Alice which left the two “wives” to chat while the “men” did business (“Gertrude Stein [Academy of American Poets]”). Previously undiscovered love letters were made public in the 1970’s which revealed more about their intimate lives than they discussed publicly during Stein's lifetime. Alice was the muse of several of Gertrude’s books, she even wrote Alice’s autobiography (“Gertrude Stein [Academy of American Poets]”).
Gertrude surrounded herself with artistic people that inspired her, so it is no surprise that Gertrude and Pablo Picasso had a friendly relationship and respected each other as artists (“Gertrude Stein [Wikipedia]”). Gertrude was a big supporter of Picasso’s work and collected and displayed many of his paintings at The Salon (“Gertrude Stein [Wikipedia]”). By displaying these paintings Gertrude played a large role in bringing public attention to his work (“27 Rue De Fleurus”). He in turn honored her in a portrait (“Pablo Picasso”). Gertrude ended up writing a book on Picasso and his work describing the inspiration and stories behind his paintings (“Gertrude Stein [Wikipedia]”). The book earned rave reviews within the art community due to the insider information.
Nick Bertozzi, the creator of The Salon, chose Gertrude Stein as the main character because that's exactly what she was in real life. “Without her patronage, buying as many paintings as she did, the modernists simply wouldn't have stayed afloat financially. Also, her Salon, that is the parties that she threw, were a fundamental building block in putting together the people required to build an art movement…” Bertozzi hoped that the comic would be read by the same people who like any historical fiction movie. Bertozzi said “There have been a ton of movies interpreting the life of Van Gogh that are plenty-more risqué than my comic--- I thought I could give a similar treatment to Cubism.” “Cubism was one of the most influential visual art styles of the early twentieth, created by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque...They wanted to emphasize the two-dimensionality of the canvas. They reduced and fractured objects into geometric forms, then realigned these within a shallow space, and used multiple or contrasting vantage points (Rewald).”
Picasso went through many “periods” when making his artwork-as do most artists. The changes in his work paralleled with changes in his personal life. First, Picasso worked through what is known as his “Blue Period.” At the time, he was very depressed and lonely due to the death of a close friend. He had also recently traveled through Spain. It is said that his blue period is very Spanish influenced. During this period, Picasso used a very monochromatic color scheme of blues and blue-greens. Other colors were used as needed, but he generally worked with very cool colors. The subject matter tended to be of “drunks, beggars, and prostitutes” (“Pablo Picasso”).
Picasso’s “Rose Period” followed his “Blue Period.” Since he was much happier and in love at this point in his life, his color scheme changed to pinks and oranges and the figures took the forms of clowns and circus performers. This period “is heavily French influenced” (“Pablo Picasso”).
The “African Influenced Period” came about as “France began to import African artifacts which were often placed in Parisian museums” (“Pablo Picasso”). Picasso found himself extremely interested in these exotic treasures. His newfound interest became very apparent in his work and thus, he created some of his greatest masterpieces like Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.
After his “African Influenced Period,” Picasso began developing cubism with Georges Braque. Because of this intensive collaboration, both artists’ work became very similar. First, they worked on what is known as Analytic Cubism. During this time, they “chose objects, ‘took them apart,’ analyzed the elements of the chosen object, and then reconstructed it into an abstract form” (“Pablo Picasso”). Space, perspective, geometry, and light were extremely important elements for the works as well.
After Analytic Cubism, Braque and Picasso morphed their ideas into “Synthetic Cubism.” During this period, the artists “cut paper, wallpaper, and newspapers to then paste the fragments into compositions. This was the debut of collage in the fine arts” (“Pablo Picasso”).
Bertozzi, who has been a comic cartoonist for about 15 years, generally creates comics that are true to the time period and the lives of the people who become characters in the comics. His choice to include a nude Picasso was functional…to accurately portray how Picasso worked. Picasso was so absorbed in his work that he did not bother to dress. It was not done in a sexual context. Bertozzi said “I like to make comics that show the banalities of life in whatever setting or time-period in which they take place. I think that makes the characters more real to the reader. I did a ton of research into Picasso's life…including his bohemian, often-nude lifestyle, but I had to mash-up the scenes so that I could get all the information across in a dramatic manner.” Bertozzi doesn’t necessary view his comic as graphic, and thinks the case has gone too far, “If you're a person who is terrified of human genitalia than you may find my comic to be "graphic"…there was a "Suggested for Mature Readers" label on the comic,” Bertozzi concludes with “The Gordon Lee case is heartbreaking to me. I understand that some people are scared by the First Amendment, but that's not a good reason to try and destroy a tax-payer's [Gordon Lee] life...When the good people of Georgia find out how much they've spent to prosecute this nonsense I'm confident that they'll put a stop to it.”
The cultural and societal context of the case is displayed in the actions of the townspeople of Rome, Georgia. A staff editorial for the Rome News-Tribune described Rome as the “sexual hang-up capital of the country,” where “elected officials are pursuing consistently trivial ‘family value’ issues” with zeal, showing a “Puritan” prudeness of the community (“Sure Funny Stuff”). It notes that this is contradictory with the unwed pregnancy rates of the town. Also contradictory is the Capitoline Wolf statue outside of Rome’s City Hall, just blocks from the courthouse. It shows two anatomically-correct male infants suckling from a female wolf. This statue is a copy of the original statue in Rome, Italy-the city of which Rome, Georgia is named. It is in full public view in front of City Hall, but because it is considered “art,” they are not prosecuted for subjecting children’s eyes to the statue. It makes one wonder why a penis on a statue is less offensive than a penis in a comic book. In the 1930s, some townspeople did take offense to the statue. As a result, the twins would be diapered during public events. Today the statue is on the city’s visitors bureau website and is considered one of the symbols of Rome. The tax payers of Rome do not seem to be questioning why their money is being spent on prosecuting a comic with the same body parts in it as this statue. Also, The Salon is available at the Rome Barnes & Noble, where it can be bought by anyone, but there is no uproar from the community about this (“Sure Funny Stuff”).
Gordon Lee, who is the owner of Legends comic book store in Rome, Georgia, was arrested for two counts of distributing material depicting nudity or sexual conduct and five misdemeanor charges of distributing obscene material to a minor. On Halloween 2004 Gordon Lee who is the owner of Legends, participated in a free comic book giveaway as part of a Halloween street fair (“Eight Stories for ‘05…”).
Alternative Comics, which was the publisher of the comic sampler distributed by Lee, but not the ultimate publisher of the full-length version of The Salon, stands by Bertozzi and Lee in this case. Jeff Mason, publisher of Alternative Comics, seems fine with how the nudity was presented in the comic. He said “I don’t think anything that was in the book or in the sample was obscene at all (Helfand).”
It is not certain if Lee was aware of that specific comic at the time, but he was soon made fully aware of the situation when he was arrested. According to records, two brothers were given of the issue which shows a drawing of Pablo Picasso’s penis. The boys were 6 and 9 years old and when they showed their mother she was extremely offended and she notified the police (“Gordon Lee: The Road To Trial”).
In most of the articles about this case, Gordon Lee’s defense did most of the talking, while he kept his comments minimal. This is not his first run-in with Rome, Georgia’s authorities, and he gives off an air of long-suffering and confusion at the charges. Lee is contrite in that he has admitted to making a mistake and offered an apology multiple times. Because of this, his actions in distributing the comic do not seem malicious, but rather an accident. He is clear in his gratitude to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, saying “If I did not have their backing, I would have surely been forced to close, as I don’t know how I would have been able to have the resources for the defense” (Helfand).
Mr. Lee has accumulated over $80,000 in legal fees thus far, but Lee has been getting a lot of support and financial help for his legal defense which is being supplied by the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (“Gordon Lee: The Road To Trial”). The CBLDF is entirely funded by donations (“Become A Member Today…”). Nick Bertozzi went so far as to create coffee mugs with a mug shot of Picasso printed on them, which he sold at a benefit to raise defense funds for Lee.
The day before the trial was supposed to begin in 2006, the prosecutors dropped all charges, only to file new charges a few weeks later with a new victim (“Gordon Lee: The Road To Trial”). There was a question of which brother if not both were the victim(s). The new charges have been lowered to misdemeanor charges (“Gordon Lee: The Road To Trial”).
Bertozzi can see the other side of the case as well. He has a 5-year-old daughter, and says that he understands the boys’ mother’s response to the comic. “As a parent, I’d be upset, too,” he said. However, he also added, “…but I don’t think I would drag the state into it without first demanding an apology (Gustines).” While Bertozzi seems to respect wanting to protect a child, he also seems to believe in personal responsibility and common sense. Ultimately, Bertozzi supports Lee and does not agree with the prosecutors, which shows the respect he has as an author and artist for the First Amendment.
This is not the first time that Gordon Lee has used the help of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. In 1993, Lee was convicted of “distributing obscene materials” for selling “Final Tabu” and “Debbie Does Dallas” to customers who turned out to be adults. With the help of the CBLDF, Lee appealed his conviction but it was not overturned. The Georgia Supreme Court declined to hear the case (“Gordon Lee: The Road To Trial”).
Gordon Lee never denied that a mistake was made by accidentally distributing Alternative Comics #2 to a minor. Accidentally handing a comic book that is neither obscene nor harmful to minors under the guidance of the U.S. Supreme Court is not a crime. But does it merit harassment from the Rome, Georgia prosecutors? In May of 2005 the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund filed four motions to dismiss all the counts that Gordon Lee faced (“Gordon Lee: The Road To Trial”). His legal team was lead by Alan Begner and Paul Cadle (“Eight Stories for 05…”). They felt that these charges were unconstitutional. On January, 2, 2006 Judge Salmon dismissed the felony and “John Doe” misdemeanor charges and condensed the rest of the misdemeanor charges from three to two (“Gordon Lee: The Road To Trial”).
CBLDF is a source for comic book writers and store owners in times of trouble, and is therefore a large supporter of First Amendment rights. The people with the strongest and most outspoken opinions about the matter seem to be those at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. They too believe that the book is art, and is not obscene. Alan Begner, said, “One of the most telling things about this case, and often not arguable in a ‘XXX’ movie case or magazine case, is the extraordinary and clear artistic and literary value that exists for The Salon” (Helfand). The money the CBLDF has spent defending Lee, which executive director Charles Brownstein said in an interview, “It’s worth doing, because Gordon is not guilty… and his conviction would be detrimental to him and other retailers (“Everyone Is Sickened…”).” Brownstein added that he is confused as to why the prosecution still thinks the case is worth pursuing. The CBLDF seems to think that this is an overreaction to the comic, and that it calls into question both the law, and the behavior of the prosecutors. “The way the law was applied,” Brownstein said, “if you gave a copy of Newsweek to your neighbor with a Richard Avedon photo shoot with naked protesters, you could get in trouble” (Gustines). Whether or not the CBLDF believes that this is selective prosecuting due to a personal vendetta against Lee is somewhat unclear, as Brownstein would not comment on the prosecutors’ motives. However, it is clear that the CBLDF believes that the prosecution has behaved improperly throughout the trial itself. They have filed multiple motions claiming prosecutorial misconduct due to the many trial delays and changes in charges. All motions filed so far have been denied by the judge. Begner clearly conveys the chagrin felt by the CBDLF at the prosecution after the changing of the charges, saying that he has “never – as a criminal trial lawyer for 30 years – seen a complete changing of the facts like this.” Throughout the year and a half before that trial date, through written statements, the investigation, and the presentation of evidence before the grand jury, as well as the written accusation and indictment, the State had steadfastly asserted that they comic book had been handed to the nine-year-old. The dismissal of the charges today reflects the prosecution’s admission that everything that was presented as evidence before was untrue, and that they had stuck to the false facts through procedure after procedure in the case. How did a year and a half of statements based on one set of facts get changed at the last minute to another set of facts (“Gordon Lee: The Road To Trial”)?”
As far as the prosecution is concerned, one writer commented that they are prone to blowing things out of proportion, citing cases in which they tried to run an adult store out of town…(“Sure Funny Stuff”). They are obviously zealous about cases, as they repeatedly would not accept an apology from Lee, and insisted on continuing with criminal charges. The CBLDF has implied that they behaved improperly, just going short of calling their actions underhanded. Brownstein commented on how a lawyer at the Fund thought the mistrial was brought about on purpose because the prosecution didn’t like the jury, and he agreed that was possible (“Everyone Is Sickened…”). It has been implied by many Lee supporters that he prosecution has a “vendetta” against Lee, committing errors to delay the trial, withholding information until the last minute, and causing the mistrial (“Sure Funny Stuff”). There is a question of whether these events were a case of malice or incompetence. District Attorney Leigh Patterson said that her office has “been honest and above board throughout this case. We forwarded new information to the defense as quickly as we got it” (“Gordon Lee: The Road To Trail”). All of the events do raise some suspicion about the prosecution, but there are more questions than answers.
Gordon Lee’s team of attorneys has come through thus far, but their work is not yet finished. “I can only shake my head at the fact that the case has come this far, and that the prosecution appears ready and willing to sink even more of Rome’s public resources into prosecuting such a merit-less misdemeanor. That said, we intend…to continue our march to prove Mr. Lee’s innocence… (“Gordon Lee: The Road To Trial”).”
While admitting to a mistake in giving the comic to a child, and being apologetic for doing so, Lee also maintains that Bertozzi’s book is not obscene. “This book is no more offensive than viewing the beautiful paintings of the Sistine Chapel,” he said, “or reading one of the best-selling books with stories of sex, lust and nudity known as the Bible” (Gustines).
The issue for this case became “whether or not nudity is obscene and harmful for children.” The mother obviously felt that mere exposure to nudity-even a simple drawing-would cause harm to her young sons. During a personal interview, Dr. Cravens-Brown-a lecturer in the Department of Psychology at The Ohio State University- answered this question.
When asked, “is nudity of any kind-whether it be photographed, drawn, painted, or a real person- harmful to children?” Dr. Cravens-Brown answered by saying, “there is no evidence whatsoever that exposure to nudity is harmful to children.” Literature in the form of books, articles, or case studies on the topic of nudity does not even exist. According to Dr. Cravens-Brown, psychologists only write about influences that are harmful to behavior, mentality, sexual behavior, etc. Since nudity is harmless, they don’t write about it. If there was any proof that nudity has a negative effect on humans, it would be in print.
Dr. Cravens-Brown explained that different families in America have different privacy rules and that boundaries are important when it comes to nudity. The question is, “have the children learned boundaries?” For example, if the bathroom door is closed, will the child respect that boundary? If so, then they are less likely to suffer from sexual problems. If they don’t respect that boundary of a closed door, then they have potential to develop sexual or other behavioral problems. But it is difficult to predict who will actually develop sexual problems.
It is, of course, important to consider countries other than America. “Multiple world cultures deal with nakedness on an everyday basis. There is no evidence to suggest that people from these cultures have mental, sexual, or behavioral problems,” states Dr. Cravens-Brown.
When considering artwork throughout history, another question arises. Would the situation have been handled in the same way if the boys had been given an art history book where most of the figures are nude? On the subject of nudity, there is little difference between this comic book and countless paintings, prints, and sculptures throughout history. This comic book depicts a nude, although angry, male. But there are many sculptures that depict the rape of the Sabine women in Florence, Italy, sexual acts in Rodin’s sculptures, nudes being tortured in Hell in Bosch’s painting Garden of Earthly Delights, or the nude figures of Michelangelo’s David or Sistine Chapel paintings.
Some people consider nudity obscene or even pornographic. So then is pornography harmful? Dr. Cravens-Brown states that “pornography isn’t harmful. ‘Normal’ pornography is not dangerous…it does not effect behavior. However, ‘violent’ pornography does have an effect on adults (and most likely children but it cannot be proven because of ethical issues).” So violence becomes the problem. Therefore, even if some may consider this image “pornographic,” psychologists think that it would not have a negative effect on behavior.
Dr. Cravens-Brown concludes that the mother should have let this become an educational experience. She would have been better off talking to her sons. If you snatch something away from a child and try to hide it or avoid it, as the mother did with the comic book, it brings attention to what perhaps would have gone unnoticed. According to psychologists, parents are supposed to let their children approach them with questions, and answer everything honestly.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
“27 Rue De Fleurus.” The World of Gertrude Stein. N/A. J. Ellen Cotton. 25 Feb 2008
“Become a Member Today and Keep Comics Safe for Tomorrow.” Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. 2008. N/A. 22 Feb 2008. < http://www.cbldf.org/support1.shtml>
Bertozzi, Nick. Email Interview. 10 Feb 2008.
Bertozzi, Nick. Email Interview. 14 Feb 2008.
Cravens-Brown, Lisa (Ph. D.). Personal interview. 20 February 2008.
“Eight Stories for '05 #2 -- The Gordon Lee Case Goes To Trial.” The Comics Reporter. 22 Aug
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< http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/briefings/commentary/2645/>
“Everyone Is Sickened by What Gordon is Facing.” ICv2 News. 7 November 2007. Internal Correspondence version 2. < http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/11593.html>.
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Gustines, George Gene. “When Picasso Went Down to Georgia.” The New York Times. 6 May 2007.
Helfand, Lewis. “Comic Book Store Owner Faces Fine For Handing Adult Comic To Kid.” The Naughty American. 7 August 2007.
“Leo Stein.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 26 Sep 2007. Wikipedia Foundation,
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