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Kickstarter Spotlight: The Beauty Curse

By | February 12th, 2013
Posted in Columns | % Comments

The Beauty Curse is a new graphic novel by Eric Pape that uses the story of a young girl named Marina to draw focus to a broader problem in modern day Cambodia. You can learn more about Marina’s sad tale by watching the video linked above or by visiting Pape’s Kickstarter page, but the basics are as follows: after becoming a promising young starlet, Marina was forced into becoming a wealthy businessman’s “lover,” and was eventually subjected to an acid attack from the man’s jealous wife, an attack that forever marred Marina’s face. It sounds like the sort of crazy story that only happens once, but since Marina’s tragedy, over one hundred of these attacks have happened. Eric Pape doesn’t want the rest of the world to continue living life thinking these are the sort of stories that only happened in the past, and you shouldn’t either.

This is one of those truly tragic circumstances where the “solution” — and, even, the blame — is not clear-cut. At the most elementary level, Marina’s attacker was the one who wronged her. While many of us know firsthand that infidelity is highly distressing and harmful to the one who is cheated on, splashing acid in someone’s face is clearly a terrible thing to do to another human being. Of course, that’s merely ignoring the other factors. While Marina’s assault would have been horrifying and atrocious even if she had seduced an otherwise faithful man away, she was not the instigator in any way, shape, or form. Rather, the true criminal, here, who set these events in motion, was the unnamed business man, who was able to use the privilege given to him by being wealthy and being male to turn Marina into just another possession of his.

How can we stop this? What hope is there? Unlike mainstream media, which blows up non-issues and turns them into highly politicized, one-way-or-the-other matters, Pape is doing the sort of thing that journalists should aim for: drawing attention to a complex, murky matter that can’t just be “fixed” by choosing a side. We are all, I would hope, anti-rape, anti-acid splashing — that’s not the problem here — but being “anti” anything doesn’t mean it isn’t going to stop. Something must be done, but nothing can be done until people are aware of the problem.

While there have been more than a few graphic journalism projects on Kickstarter since this column featured Human Trafficking in Nepal, few of these projects have made any sort of indication of their validity. True, a fictional story based on real world problems can be just as helpful when it comes to spreading awareness, if not facts, but when words such as “research” or “fact-checking” are totally absent from the project’s page, one is right to worry about what they’re funding. I would never suggest that any of these projects are the work of opportunists trying to pad their pockets, but the fact that these kinds of people exist (have you seen those Livestrong knock-offs?) can make one understandably hesitant to lend their voice and their dollar to a movement they are not entirely certain about. Eric Pape, however, has the endorsement of the Human Rights Watch, and the first non-printing expense he lists is that of fact-checking. This is a matter that Pape has been passionate about for years, and one that he has written extensively on. While I can understand the hesitance to risk once more being duped into giving your money to a selfish opportunist when you thought you were doing something good, The Beauty Curse appears safe, and, if successful, will help raise awareness of a very important topic.

As mentioned above, this book has an ambitious budget, so there are some pretty high-priced pledge incentives, but the project still has a fairly manageable $25 donation to get the printed paperback. $50 isn’t bad at all for the paperback with a t-shirt, and for $75 you can get both of those plus a choice of two documentaries on Cambodia. If you like the project but only have a little bit to lay down right now, that’s fine, too — one Abraham Lincoln gets you access to a behind-the-scenes look at the progress of the project (available at other pledging rewards, of course). The pricier incentives don’t exactly stand out as anything unique (original art, sketches, a portrait by one of the artists), but the fact that all of the rewards stack — as opposed to some projects, where only certain nice ones do — is certainly a plus.

Marina’s story is one that may be hard for some to believe, but is a legitimate concern for many in Cambodia. Pape has taken on a daunting challenge that will probably anger some rather powerful people, but some things just need to be heard. Even if he is trying to also portray other, more pleasant aspects of Cambodia, rather than solely depicting it as a land where the rich and powerful prey on the beautiful, The Beauty Curse is likely to be a graphic novel that will be uncomfortable for some people. Sadly, that is often the burden of knowledge.


//TAGS | Kickstarter Spotlight

Walt Richardson

Walt is a former editor for Multiversity Comics and current podcaster/ne'er-do-well. Follow him on Twitter @goodbyetoashoe... if you dare!

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