Im going to be honest. The appearance of another thread about the casting choice of Michael B Jordan and recasting roles seemingly for the sake of racial diversity dismayed and disheartened me. In its 20 something posts and few minute lifespan, some of the same questions and comments that have been made before. Yes, Johnny Storm/ the Human Torch was created as a white male character, as were Sue, Reed, and Ben, who we later were told is ethnically Jewish. Yes, these and every other character who were heroes (with very few exceptions) were created at a time when conceiving such characters as white was the norm because white rules, attitudes, and social constructs were the dominant narrative. Who knows if Lee and Kirby would have made the Fantastic Four all white if theyd been created 20 years later. On one hand its pure speculation. Perhaps they would have made one character a person of color, if we consider their mutants as outsider metaphor instilled in the X-Men. While they were both successful with their creativite endeavours, it isnt difficult to imagine at some point(s) in their lives encountered some bigotry in the form of anti Semitism, however benign it may or may not have been. I like to think theyd each have some empathy regarding the lives and experiences of other minorities. In any case, they both understood at the time they created the Fantastic Four that characters (who were heroes) had to be white. Characters then were not created for racial diversity, they were created for racial uniformity. Subtly complicit uniformity but uniformity nonetheless. African American characters exisited as protagonists largely in comic strips bought by newspapers either owned by or marketed to African Americans and to my admitted limited knowledge not a single one of those characters were superheroes in the sense we know superheroes. And yes, it would be great too if comics publishers and movie studios would create new, exciting, and viable characters with different racial and ethnic identities. I think were seeing that to some degree with the current version of Ms Marvel. Also, please insert commentary here on how often these characters fail in the market (also, for various reasons which is another topic). I dont take issue with recasting white characters with actors of a different race or reimagining them as another race in comics. In my mind its leveling the playing field, its an acceptance and embrace that comics should appeal to and reflect as well as speak to all aspects of humanity. If a person either doesnt understand the importance of diverse racial/ethnic representation or worse, doesnt think it should happen at all (which I dont think anyone has shown to my recollection) then I dont know what to say other than perhaps this group is not the place to bring it up because from this point forward I will shut down the discussion as soon as it comes to my attention. I have no ill feelings toward anyone and anyone can disagree with me on a one to one or personal basis regarding my unilateral decision to shut down any non productive threads on this topic.
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 15:54:25 +0000
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