Earlier this week, we were discussing how the Daily Mail had noticed a series of things, namely, that the movie Kick-Ass exists, and that its screenplay has been co-written by Jonathan Ross' wife, Jane Goldman.

Naturally, this perfect storm of events sent the Daily Mail into overdrive, as out came the headline "Jonathan Ross's wife Jane Goldman causes outrage with film featuring a foul-mouthed 11-year-old assassin", and an article of oddities followed. There are links to everything at the bottom of this piece if you want to play catch-up.

However, what's this? On our Internet travels, we found an article talking about the production of Kick-Ass that includes the following passages specifically referring to Hit-Girl. The article gave a reasonable and rounded breakdown of the character:

"[Aaron] Johnson's co-star is a smashing 11-year old, Chloe Moretz, from Los Angeles via Atlanta, Georgia. She plays mild-mannered schoolgirl Mindy Macready, a.k.a. the deadly Hit Girl.

You don't mess with Hit Girl. Hidden away in her outfit are guns and knives, and she knows how to use them. I saw Chloe rehearse some stunts and she's wicked with a blade  -  a fact which may upset some people when they see the movie  -  plus, she's an ace gymnast.

‘When people see the movie they'll realise that Hit Girl is just a girl who goes after the bad guys. She's just a little girl and this is just a movie. No one is going to seriously think that's what I do in my spare time,' the super-smart Ms Moretz explained to me. "

That last paragraph in particular is a measured take on the character. And there's more...

"The movie's not a documentary and it's not real life"

"The running joke in the film is that Hit Girl, at half the size of Kick-Ass, is all action and not scared of running right into danger. And it's the gender politics of the piece that add a frisson"

Where did we find such reasonable writing? The Daily Mail of course, specifically in this article by Baz Bamigboye on 2nd January 2009: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1103988/BAZ-BAMIGBOYE-Im-slumming-loving-it.html. You need to scroll about half-way down to get to the Kick-Ass stuff.

Now let's contrast this with what the Mail was saying this week about the character of Hit-Girl:

"Miss Goldman has caused outrage with a film she has written featuring a foul-mouthed girl assassin aged only 11"

"I wonder if he and Angelina Jolie would want their own young children to hear kids cussing in Kick-Ass"

"The language is offensive and the values inappropriate - without the saving grace of the bloodless victory of traditional superheroes"

Bamigboye's article, meanwhile, simply notes that "the violence in it could present a bit of a ratings challenge for our film censors".

And he's right. We've said it before and we'll say it again: there's a debate to be had here, but it's one that needs to be had with grown-ups, not reactive newspapers with a clear and present agenda. And woe betide anyone joining in that debate if they're related to Jonathan Ross in any way. That'd tip everyone over the edge, clearly.

Here's the link to the Daily Mail piece this week, and you can find our reports from earlier in the week here and here.