Do Racism and Comic Books Go Hand in Hand?
- Thread starter Logan Westbrook
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Ehh honestly you can go through the history of just about anything and find racism,so why should comics be any different? besides I find it more alarming that there are no truly epic black villians in comics. Anybody else notice that?
Marvel has been doing better, but Black Panther, Storm, and Luke Cage are still not exactly well-known characters. Luke Cage (and I'll admit to loving him with the burning passion of a thousand suns) doesn't even rank a solo series.Kiutu said:
The X-Men, or at least the main team, I'd like to point out, are supposedly diverse but are mainly made up of White Americans. What's the line up people remember? Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Nightcrawler, Gambit, Storm, Rogue, Wolverine, and maybe Jubilee if you're lucky. Out of those nine, three are non-American, and two are persons of color-- with only Storm overlapping in those categories. Don't tell me X-Men is exactly a bastion of racial diversity. Later teams got a bit better, but really not by much.
First of all, people here seem to think that preferring whites automatically means it's black people that are the most neglected. But I can't think of a single Asian-American superhero who doesn't use martial arts. (Feel free to tell me if I'm wrong, though. I hope I am.)
Secondly, it's not only Marvel comics, or comic books in general, that are doing this. As far as I know, the majority of movies and novels are about white people. That's at least 51% white people, and 49& every race in the world except for white people.
Secondly, it's not only Marvel comics, or comic books in general, that are doing this. As far as I know, the majority of movies and novels are about white people. That's at least 51% white people, and 49& every race in the world except for white people.
Hooper: For years in this industry, whenever an African American character, hero or villain, was introduced - usually by *white* artists and writers - they got slapped with racist names that singled them out as Negroes. Now, my book, "White-Hatin' Coon," don't have none of that bullshit. The hero's name is Maleekwa, and he's a descendant from the black tribe that established the first society on the planet, while all you European motherfuckers were still hiding in caves and shit, all terrified of the sun. He's a strong role model that a young black reader can look up to. 'Cause I'm here to tell you, the chickens is coming home to roost, y'all. The black man's no longer gonna play the minstrel in the medium of comics and sci-fi fantasy. We keepin' it real, and we gonna get respect by any means necessary.
Holden: Ah, come on, that's a bunch of horse shit! Lando Calrissian was a black guy. You know. He got to fly the Millennium Falcon, what's the matter with you?
Hooper: Who said that?
Holden: I did! Lando Calrissian is a positive role-model in the realm of science fiction/fantasy.
Hooper: Fuck Lando Calrissian! Uncle-Tom ******!
God bless Kevin Smith's unabashed nerdiness and great sequence in "Chasing Amy"
Holden: Ah, come on, that's a bunch of horse shit! Lando Calrissian was a black guy. You know. He got to fly the Millennium Falcon, what's the matter with you?
Hooper: Who said that?
Holden: I did! Lando Calrissian is a positive role-model in the realm of science fiction/fantasy.
Hooper: Fuck Lando Calrissian! Uncle-Tom ******!
God bless Kevin Smith's unabashed nerdiness and great sequence in "Chasing Amy"
Well, to begin with the X-Men are portrayed as an American-based team. Their headquarters is on the east coast, their founder is an American, etc. Despite this, a full third of their main line-up (as presented by you) is made up of people of foreign origin... That's actually quite a few people.ryuutchi said:
As for the persons of color... WikiPedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States) states that the ethnic breakdown of the U.S. is about 74% white. Your lineup is just under 78% white. Given the extremely low level of precision in a team this small (11% increments), your lineup is literally as close to matching the US demographics (at least in terms of white/non-white) as is possible. And that's "not exactly a bastion of racial diversity?"
Uhm, why is this a damning statement? Because the lead characters in the comics are mostly white, more white people read them? That's not racist, it's COMMON SENSE. It would be racist if all the white lead characters wore white hoods and hit people with burning crosses. Do we have to mandatorily make comics with black or hispanic main characters just because we don't have many right now? That's just stupid. This is dumber than the "OMG RE5 IS RACIST!" thing.nilcypher said:Do Racism and Comic Books Go Hand in Hand?
Are comic books institutionally racist? Well, according to one Marvel editor, the answer is yes.
Marvel editor Tom Brevoort had some unpleasant things to say about comic books and their audiences when he was asked about selling titles with non-American leads, saying that it was difficult to make any title with lead character that is anything other than a white, American male.
"Because we're an American company whose primary distribution is centered around America, the great majority of our existing audience seems to be white American males ... whenever your leads are white American males, you've got a better chance of reaching more people overall. "
It's a pretty damning statement, and one that most comic books fans will likely refute, but it goes quite a way to explaining the prevalence of white, male American superheroes. However, Disney's talent for marketing may change the landscape of comics; we'll just have to wait and see.
Source: io9 [http://io9.com/5349421/are-american-comics-institutionally-racist ]
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This is such a non-story it's unbelievable. Please, give me a break.
Centering comic books, or any kind of entertainment, around people of the race that represents the majority isn't racist, it's the way entertainment works. People want to be able to identify with the fictional heroes they're reading about. That isn't to say a person can't identify with someone of a different race, but the fact of the matter is, most people just don't think that progressively quite yet.
It's not limited to "white American males", either. Pick up any given Bollywood hit film and, wonder of wonders, it's cast almost entirely with people from India. That's because in Bollywood, people from India represent the majority, and are therefore easiest for the locals to relate to.
Now, that brings up a whole 'nother discussion; Are "white American males" really the majority in America? Back in the 30's and 40's, when most of these comic book characters were created, they were. That's obviously not the case any more. Now, more than ever, America represents a melting pot of cultures and races, and modern comics need to change to reflect that.
Some progress has been made towards representing the real American experience, but a lot of what has been done has been really ham-fisted; Black Panther, Black Lighting, Black Vulcan, Egg-Fu, The Mandarian and Bat-Hombre come to mind. There's still room to grow.
I wouldn't call it racist; it's not done out of hatred for other races. It's just outdated.
It's not limited to "white American males", either. Pick up any given Bollywood hit film and, wonder of wonders, it's cast almost entirely with people from India. That's because in Bollywood, people from India represent the majority, and are therefore easiest for the locals to relate to.
Now, that brings up a whole 'nother discussion; Are "white American males" really the majority in America? Back in the 30's and 40's, when most of these comic book characters were created, they were. That's obviously not the case any more. Now, more than ever, America represents a melting pot of cultures and races, and modern comics need to change to reflect that.
Some progress has been made towards representing the real American experience, but a lot of what has been done has been really ham-fisted; Black Panther, Black Lighting, Black Vulcan, Egg-Fu, The Mandarian and Bat-Hombre come to mind. There's still room to grow.
I wouldn't call it racist; it's not done out of hatred for other races. It's just outdated.
Shame on Mr. Brevoort - one of Marvel's most beloved characters is Canadian.nilcypher said:
Yeah there's a lot of white people in comics. So what? There's also lots of other colors too. Maybe not as the main hero very often, but simply revamping beloved characters to make a more politically correct industry image is just stupid. Alternate universes are a paper towel over a fresh, steamy turd, and comic readers know it. I don't care whether my heroes are black or white - I care that they fight for what's right, and they maintain my interest by being deeper than a racial overtone in spandex.
It's the majority of their target demo. Until black/hispanic/asian/whatever guys start buying comics, the main characters will continue to be white. The population of the country doesn't matter, it's the population that actually buys the things that matters. And that's not racist, either, just good marketing.Space Spoons said:
Kid's. what he is saying is a load of crap. It is not called "Racism" it is called "Marketing". Selling to the consumer what sells best is not, and never will be racist, it's called an intelligent decision. They put white leads, why? So said reader can easier connect to said character. The more a character resembles the reader, the more they can connect, meaning the more they will be engrossed, and accepted the storyline, meaning the higher chance they will be a return costumer.
Dear god, knowing disney, they are going to smear political correctness all over marvel! Captain America, a symbol of American heroism, will no longer be while, he will be all the colors of the rainbow!UsefulPlayer 1 said: