The Big Picture: The New Green
- Thread starter MovieBob
- Start date
If I may interject on something a little non-sequitur... Am I the only one who really hates the term "LGBT"? I mean if you spell it out it sounds atrocious and cumbersome ("algae-beaty"), and if you try to physically pronounce it you sound like a drooling invalid. Just a pet peeve...
Whenever you try and pop in these attempts at sounding like you're sincerely behind the idea of everything being equal...
You just come off sounding guilty of prejudice. It's part of the problem with changing heroes genders/sexualities/races/etc. When you alter something because you think a group of people you can't relate to (usually of a different sex/gender/race) dislike the way it is, you're simply trying to appease your white guilt.
These communities don't neccesarily want us to change established things to include them. As that would just perpetuate the cycle of inequality (you don't restore balance by turning every superhero black for instance.)
They want genuine attempts at new icons that are more deverse. Not one dimensional stereotypes like we have now.
I really think for all the good Bob tries to do with these equality pieces in comics/games/movies, his position will never come off right. Truth is, what would he know about inequality or prejudice?
You just come off sounding guilty of prejudice. It's part of the problem with changing heroes genders/sexualities/races/etc. When you alter something because you think a group of people you can't relate to (usually of a different sex/gender/race) dislike the way it is, you're simply trying to appease your white guilt.
These communities don't neccesarily want us to change established things to include them. As that would just perpetuate the cycle of inequality (you don't restore balance by turning every superhero black for instance.)
They want genuine attempts at new icons that are more deverse. Not one dimensional stereotypes like we have now.
I really think for all the good Bob tries to do with these equality pieces in comics/games/movies, his position will never come off right. Truth is, what would he know about inequality or prejudice?
RatRace123 said:
Dammit, you said what I was going to say. I feel that an older Allen Scott having that level of character development would make for an excellent story.
Part of me wonders if this was DC's response to Marvel's recent attempt to show acceptance for homosexuality. There is often a lot of imitation from one studio when the other does something. This sort of one up man-ship makes me wonder how much of this was a legitimate decision.
Okay, cool so the Green Lantern is gay. Does it really matter? No. Unless they start churning out comics where his homosexuality is important to the story, I don't see how this change is really going to be important.
It does make sense though that a male character had to be the choice rather than a female character. Personally though the schtick that every man is obsessed with lesbians is rather absurd in my opinion.
To people that aren't for homosexuality I offer you this token of advice: Are you really getting upset over a fictional character in a fictional universe? (A slightly obscure version of a character in a slightly obscure universe even?) If you aren't for homosexuality at least console yourself that it wasn't a more recent and iconic hero.
And yes we all get that Aquaman would have been an insult to the LGBT community.
I will say this though, the amount of attention that homosexuality has been getting in media though is a bit off-putting. Yes we understand that it is a growing concern and issue that needs to be addressed but there is no reason that it needs to be shoved into every facet of media and life. Especially in places where sexuality was never necessary to begin with.
Okay, cool so the Green Lantern is gay. Does it really matter? No. Unless they start churning out comics where his homosexuality is important to the story, I don't see how this change is really going to be important.
It does make sense though that a male character had to be the choice rather than a female character. Personally though the schtick that every man is obsessed with lesbians is rather absurd in my opinion.
To people that aren't for homosexuality I offer you this token of advice: Are you really getting upset over a fictional character in a fictional universe? (A slightly obscure version of a character in a slightly obscure universe even?) If you aren't for homosexuality at least console yourself that it wasn't a more recent and iconic hero.
And yes we all get that Aquaman would have been an insult to the LGBT community.
I will say this though, the amount of attention that homosexuality has been getting in media though is a bit off-putting. Yes we understand that it is a growing concern and issue that needs to be addressed but there is no reason that it needs to be shoved into every facet of media and life. Especially in places where sexuality was never necessary to begin with.
Damn it, Bob. This would have been the perfect time to trot out a new modulated voiceover that would have actually been funny/edgy. "COMICS ARE GAY!"
And while it's not all that big a step, it's nice to see that prominent gay superheroes are no longer consigned solely to the pages of slash fanfiction.
And while it's not all that big a step, it's nice to see that prominent gay superheroes are no longer consigned solely to the pages of slash fanfiction.
I've been an Allen Scott fan ever sense the JSA reboot a while back (right before Kingdom Come I think). While the age drop bothers I'm glad they are doing something with his character. In Earth-2 he's pretty much the classic super hero, and assuming the age drop was planned all along he would of been terribly uninteresting as a character.
First thought when seeing the headlines.Fwee said:
I really like this idea. I think it would hit home for a lot of people in the LGBT community.RatRace123 said:
OT: I'm kind've ambivalent about the whole thing. Yeah, they chose a less popular character, but I'm okay with baby steps. As Bob said "they're steps in the right direction". Being gay shouldn't be the character's sole defining trait, so it really doesn't matter who you make gay, they'll be the same dude who also just happens to like other dudes.
And not a single mention of the fact that this was all planned to compete with the first superhero-gay-marriage by Marvel.
I don't understand your train of logic. Under that idea, no white person can support equality because it's going to be brushed off as "guilt" on the sole basis of his or her race. Is that not inequal or prejudiced in itself?Sovereignty said:
Also, Alan Scott is not a one-dimensional stereotype. From what I've seen, it looks like they did a pretty respectful job, and there are plenty of minorities in comics that are not stereotypes. I'm unsure what you're referring to specifically.
eh ....
hard pressed to care about any green lantern, let alone this guy.
I'm just glad DC didn't go the easy rout with Aquaman (since no one seems to like him) or Wonder Woman (cause, she's got a rather strong case for it)
hard pressed to care about any green lantern, let alone this guy.
I'm just glad DC didn't go the easy rout with Aquaman (since no one seems to like him) or Wonder Woman (cause, she's got a rather strong case for it)
Good episode.
More or less my same thoughts on the matter.
Though I have to ask. LGBT..... Q? The hell is "Q"? Quadsexual? Quasarsexual?
More or less my same thoughts on the matter.
Though I have to ask. LGBT..... Q? The hell is "Q"? Quadsexual? Quasarsexual?
You know I always found it funny when people used the Planeteers to represent forced diversity. Honestly they were one of the few multiracial groups that made sense to me. Gaea was the spirit of the world and chose children from all across the world to represent her. They all had different backgrounds which would allow them greater potential to negotiate and reason with the humans in the countries they traveled to. Yeah it would have been weird if they were all hanging out at the juice bar in Angel Grove, but they all met for the first time when they met Gaea.
This move would probably be a lot more positive if it wasn't a largely unknown character (see also Mr Terrific) and the character shared a name with another, better known hero who'd recently had a film adaptation that Bob described as "Steel bad." So there was already a bad smell hanging around the name and now the character is gay? Well, whoop-dee-skip.
*sigh*
On the one hand, I totally sympathize with those who do enjoy super heroes but also feel excluded a bit based on arbitrary distinctions, like ethnicity, gender, sexuality, etc.
But on the other hand, it seems more like the publishers are just throwing a bone in converting their less popular characters. Were it me, I don't think I would be too happy about it. Who really gives a crap about Mr Terrific, much less the Earth-2 Green Lantern? Old people, maybe, since they were both from the 40's. I would rather see new, interesting, original characters made for the various so-called minorities groups. Then again, DC Comics almost made the Black Bomber their first black super hero. Google it with the word "Hembeck" because you will not believe me if I tell you about it here. Not all original characters are that embarrassing or clueless. The problem with new characters is that new characters don't always catch on. But then if it's a new version of a largely forgotten character or an alternate version of a character that just had their movie bomb at the box office, what's the difference?
*sigh*
On the one hand, I totally sympathize with those who do enjoy super heroes but also feel excluded a bit based on arbitrary distinctions, like ethnicity, gender, sexuality, etc.
But on the other hand, it seems more like the publishers are just throwing a bone in converting their less popular characters. Were it me, I don't think I would be too happy about it. Who really gives a crap about Mr Terrific, much less the Earth-2 Green Lantern? Old people, maybe, since they were both from the 40's. I would rather see new, interesting, original characters made for the various so-called minorities groups. Then again, DC Comics almost made the Black Bomber their first black super hero. Google it with the word "Hembeck" because you will not believe me if I tell you about it here. Not all original characters are that embarrassing or clueless. The problem with new characters is that new characters don't always catch on. But then if it's a new version of a largely forgotten character or an alternate version of a character that just had their movie bomb at the box office, what's the difference?
But wasn't there a big plotline revolving around Scott (who was conservative) having to come to terms with his son being gay? That's the funny thing. That would actually be A CULTURALLY RELEVANT STORY ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY IN SOCIETY. You know, the type of story where the authors actually have the balls to confront an issue confronting a certain demographic. And then they do away with this storyline and just have a nonchalantly gay character?Lizardon said:
That's actually kinda what I was asking. What's the point of making it earth 2? I know a lot of the events that took place over the decades still apparently happened, but that doesn't mean they're gonna re-do Crisis on Infinite Earths. Why not just make it the same as the other characters' universe?Nate Corran said:
To say the least, the reboot feels more like it's going to get un-done soon, like somehow this is another-another Earth, Earth 2 is really Earth 2.00001 but they rounded the number, or we'll get some kind of reverse Flashpoint.