For many decades, comic book characters have captured the imagination of countless children. In recent years, there has been an explosion in comic book related things...tv shows, cartoons, video games, clothing, etc etc.
Back when comic first started out, they were seen as trivial. In the 30s and 40s, no one gave so much as a second thought in regards to the financial worth of comics. But in the 80s, there was a sudden nostalgia boom and the comics that were worth less than the paper they were printed on in the eyes of the public....now found themselves worth thousands upon thousands of dollars.
When they first started out, to my knowledge there were no non-white super hero characters or comic books. You might wonder why that is, the answer is simple...racism. You have to understand that when comics were in their infancy, segregation was still in power in a white controlled America.
Oh sure, many non-white super heroes and whatnot came around decades down the line, but that still doesn't change the fact America was willing to accept a white humanoid alien before they'd accept a non-white super hero.
So in recent years, many people in the entertainment industry feel that the only way to rectify this is to change a white comic book character into someone who isn't white. Is this a good thing to do? Before anyone starts with the racist slandering, allow me to explain.
Doing a handwave and saying it's an another universe is entirely fine, so you can have a super hero team be a bunch of zoo animals for all we care and it'd still be fine. With that being said, is it racist to change a super hero's race because you want to change that character to be based more on a real life non-white actor? Nope, why? Because it's another universe and you can't really do anything or say anything about it. It's not the mainstream universe for your comic publisher, so you can't argue anything about that universe with them.
An African-American Nick Fury for example, isn't a bad idea all things considered. Now in regards, some people are wondering why Nick Fury in the live action Marvel movies isn't white? In the set of Ultimate comics, the Nick Fury of that universe isn't white. And no one really has a problem with that, but when you make a Norse god in the live action movies African American....suddenly cries of racism on both side flood the internet.
People who say making a norse god African American is racist, and then there are the people who respond to those people, by saying that they are racist for saying that the change is racist. So...is it really racist for them to have done that? Again, this is another universe so one must also ask does it ultimately matter in the grand scheme of things?
Yes and no, yes because it might offend some people and no because the Thor comics and related characters while based on the Norse Religion, are only loosely based on it. Thor is generally perceived to be a very tall bearded red haired guy, Marvel's Thor is an average height clean shaven blonde haired guy with long hair.
So who might it offend? Those who believe in the modern revival of the ancient Norse religion, whether they are called Odinist....Asatru...or some other name/form of it. Remember, these are their gods and goddesses being portrayed in manner many of them don't approve of. Let's also not forget a rather obvious fact, that quite a few of the characters in the Thor comics aren't in the Norse religion at all...
Imagine there was a movie based on a comic book series that had Jesus as it's main character, and in a live action movie he was played by a Tibetan actor, or a movie where Muhammad was played by red haired Scottish actor. You know people would cry foul if any movie maker did that, so why do people say it's racist to say it's racist to have an African-American actor playing comic book character based on a Norse god?
I haven't the answer to that question, I can guess though...but the guesses are mere speculation. It could be any of a thousand or more reasons why it is that way to begin with, I'd suggest asking Marvel or the people who actually made the movie what they think/feel on the subject if someone hasn't already.
Back when comic first started out, they were seen as trivial. In the 30s and 40s, no one gave so much as a second thought in regards to the financial worth of comics. But in the 80s, there was a sudden nostalgia boom and the comics that were worth less than the paper they were printed on in the eyes of the public....now found themselves worth thousands upon thousands of dollars.
When they first started out, to my knowledge there were no non-white super hero characters or comic books. You might wonder why that is, the answer is simple...racism. You have to understand that when comics were in their infancy, segregation was still in power in a white controlled America.
Oh sure, many non-white super heroes and whatnot came around decades down the line, but that still doesn't change the fact America was willing to accept a white humanoid alien before they'd accept a non-white super hero.
So in recent years, many people in the entertainment industry feel that the only way to rectify this is to change a white comic book character into someone who isn't white. Is this a good thing to do? Before anyone starts with the racist slandering, allow me to explain.
Doing a handwave and saying it's an another universe is entirely fine, so you can have a super hero team be a bunch of zoo animals for all we care and it'd still be fine. With that being said, is it racist to change a super hero's race because you want to change that character to be based more on a real life non-white actor? Nope, why? Because it's another universe and you can't really do anything or say anything about it. It's not the mainstream universe for your comic publisher, so you can't argue anything about that universe with them.
An African-American Nick Fury for example, isn't a bad idea all things considered. Now in regards, some people are wondering why Nick Fury in the live action Marvel movies isn't white? In the set of Ultimate comics, the Nick Fury of that universe isn't white. And no one really has a problem with that, but when you make a Norse god in the live action movies African American....suddenly cries of racism on both side flood the internet.
People who say making a norse god African American is racist, and then there are the people who respond to those people, by saying that they are racist for saying that the change is racist. So...is it really racist for them to have done that? Again, this is another universe so one must also ask does it ultimately matter in the grand scheme of things?
Yes and no, yes because it might offend some people and no because the Thor comics and related characters while based on the Norse Religion, are only loosely based on it. Thor is generally perceived to be a very tall bearded red haired guy, Marvel's Thor is an average height clean shaven blonde haired guy with long hair.
So who might it offend? Those who believe in the modern revival of the ancient Norse religion, whether they are called Odinist....Asatru...or some other name/form of it. Remember, these are their gods and goddesses being portrayed in manner many of them don't approve of. Let's also not forget a rather obvious fact, that quite a few of the characters in the Thor comics aren't in the Norse religion at all...
Imagine there was a movie based on a comic book series that had Jesus as it's main character, and in a live action movie he was played by a Tibetan actor, or a movie where Muhammad was played by red haired Scottish actor. You know people would cry foul if any movie maker did that, so why do people say it's racist to say it's racist to have an African-American actor playing comic book character based on a Norse god?
I haven't the answer to that question, I can guess though...but the guesses are mere speculation. It could be any of a thousand or more reasons why it is that way to begin with, I'd suggest asking Marvel or the people who actually made the movie what they think/feel on the subject if someone hasn't already.
No comments:
Post a Comment