…But it was the words of “Mallrats” director Kevin Smith that kept things in perspective.

“Somewhere in Afghanistan there is a U.S. soldier getting shrapnel pulled out of his ass going, ‘Yeah, that ‘Clerks’ guy is a ‘defender of democracy,’” Smith said. “So I’m going to rename this award to ‘defender of my own ass.’”

Kevin recieved the “Defender of Democracy” award for utilizing his first amendment rights (and especially his controversial work on Dogma). Kev was introduced by Miramax exec Harvey Weinstien, who praised Kevin for his amazing work and also for introducing the world to Affleck and Damon, who have made Weinstien a pretty wealthy guy. Kevin then came out and renamed the award the “Defender of my own ass award”, stating that he never really defended democracy, but only his work. He then went on to read a piece of hate mail he recieved from Dogma (noting spelling errors and gramatical innaccuracies), and went on to tell a few anecdotes about the whole Dogma experience, including one story of how he, Jen and Bryan Johnson (of Steve-Dave fame) protested the opening of Dogma in Red Bank, NJ, he touched upon this story on the technical commentary of Dogma, but he really went in depth here. Right before leaving the stage, Kevin stated that it was ironic that Weinstien was here to present him an award for defending democracy when Miramax dropped Dogma, “The irony here is not lost on me”. He then went back to his seat and soon after left, leaving my Daredevil #1 book unautographed (but hey, no hard feelings, Kev):) It was overall a great night, Smith of course being the highlight of the evening and just being in the same room with the man is an experience in itself.