Sadly, I think geek culture may be the last hold out for the old "we want our women to look nice in this office" and "he's one of the good ones" and "get back in the closet" white boys' club, since we've had it that way so long in our comics.
Ironically, geek culture is also helping to lead the way out of that boys' club with its current forward momentum on inclusion and showcasing heroes across racial lines and gender spectrums.
Of course, with every step we take forward there's somebody with a sign saying to stop putting our agenda in their comics. First, getting better as people isn't an agenda, it's a society's goal, last time I checked. Second, those are their comics; they belong to all of us who read and watch the things they inspire, and they've been in the hands of those who would resist growth for far too long.
The latest social media hoohaw about the costume change for Faye Valentine really just drove it all home for me. All the creators of the live-action show did was slightly alter her costume to make it work for a real-live woman who is supposed to be a true ass-kicker. But then some of the anime fans lost their shit because either (a) the costume wasn't just like the animated version (I can see your point, but c'mon, don't these costumes need to work in real life if you do a real-life show with real-life actors?) or (b) the costume didn't portray Faye as the dream fantasy wank material that whiny, horny, entitled fans wanted her to remain (to which I say, please grow up and understand that women, even drawn and animated women, were not put her solely for your eye candy). Though, to be fair, even in the new costume for the live-action show, Daniella Pineda is super sexy.
Anyone remember the uproar when Wonder Woman got pants and "fans" went nuts because they believed it was their God-given right to see Wonder Woman's butt in bathing suit armor because the world owed it to them... or some equally asinine reason?
How 'bout when the gawky version of the new Wonder Girl created by John Byrne suddenly became "hot" and blossomed into a model -- because, as we all know, superheroines can't be flat-chested. It's a fantasy! They're supposed to be built like fit porn stars. (Right? And so are the men by the same fantasy argument, but ironically, not for the female readers. Instead, because that's how every American, red-blooded male is trained to see himself since birth, well, all the normal ones anyway.)
I can almost hear -- We are the white, straight men, and we are tired of all you, well, other people who are not white, straight men telling us there are problems with the way we ran the world (and by extension, the entertainment industry). Stop insinuating we were ever doing something wrong. Stop changing things. We want our women to look sexy and appreciate our leering or at least realize that when we stare at their ass or their boobs or their legs, it's really a compliment and they should be thankful we think they are attractive (like they're supposed to be). We want our heroes to be white and musclebound and to have women flock to them in appreciation for being saved. (It matters not that we have now or ever looked like those strapping young shark killers or Nazi smashers on the covers of Men's Adventure magazines.)
We see ourselves as King Conan with the women who adore us at the feet of our throne. Funny how Conan looks so much like our goal rather than a dark-skinned man. I mean, sure, give him a tan from all that walking from ancient land to ancient land, but not too much. He's not Middle-Eastern or African or from the indigenous peoples of South America. We created an ancient land of whiteness just for him. And if we ever need a person from one of those lands, we'll just "Iron Fist" it or "White Goddess" it and put a Caucasian who was orphaned there and grew to become the tribal hero or village leader or chosen one.
We are Luke Skywalker atop the triangle with Leia gripping our leg for safety. Can't we have our one last bastion of male power fantasy where white guys still run the world and women love us, and we can be benevolent leaders to our sidekicks and B-players (where all the "good" multicultural characters are supposed to be?
It's like I'm hearing the same message through all the bumper stickers, op-eds, whiny complaints, conversations on social media, or griping over the comic book store counter.
That message?
"Why are all the major heroes now black or Latinx or gay or women and not being relegated to the sidelines as sidekicks and B-listers like they used to be? Where are all my white guys going? We resent all our white guys suddenly having to take the sideline roles to make way for other folks. And why do the females character have to hate 'real men' so much?"
I haven't done the research on this other than by simply watching TV and movies and reading comics, but I'm pretty sure the truth still is that if you counted heads, the comics and entertainment industry remains predominantly represented by white straight guys in main roles.
In spite of the complaints about women finally getting to lead films without having to be romantic partners, in spite of black actors finally getting to play parts that haven't been traditionally black or characters who "aren't black in the source material," in spite of LGBTQIA+ roles no longer having to be the token gay for comedic distraction or over-the-top flameliness, in spite of all that, the bulk of the entertainment world hasn't really changed. Count the characters and do the math.
But it's Captain American! But it's Superman! But it's... !
They're not supposed to be at the top of the triangle.
There's the rub. Don't take our icons. Our white straight icons. Go create your own. These are my toys.
No, they're not your toys. They never have been. And so what if we finally have a black Superman or a trans Flash or a black Captain America or a female Captain Marvel or a Muslim Ms. Marvel or a bisexual Robin. Do the math. The straight, white guys are still way ahead and still by and large write all the checks.
But that never stops folks from arguing that they're having an agenda "shoved down" their throats. But to be fair, that sounds like a story I've heard before...Back in the days of emancipation, white landowners didn't want the anti-slavery agenda shoved down their throats.
Back in the days of Irish immigration, citizens didn't want the "Irish are citizens too" agenda shoved down their throats (and they were white too!)
Back in the days of suffrage, men didn't want the women's voting agenda shoved down their throats.
Back in the days of desegregation, whites didn't want the black agenda shoved down their throats.
Back in the days of equal rights for women, men didn't want the feminist agenda shoved down their throats.
And now, folks are quick to jump on the train that they are having the LGBTQIA+ agenda shoved down their throats.
They were wrong then, and they are wrong now.
And they never stop to think about the years of having white, straight, patriarchal culture shoved down the throats of others. As if one is "normal" and the other is "other than normal" and needn't be presented as such. But there's another word for that -- default. For far too many, the default culture is the one of the white straight patriarchy and it's perfectly fine to have your little "representation" as long as it doesn't intrude on the "normal" or the default culture.
You see, the thing is that by "agenda being shoved down our throats," what they mean is "we don't want to have to acknowledge your right to representation" and "we don't want to see you showing up on our shows and in our comics" and "we don't want to actually have to see you as people IF it forces us to confront nasty realities we'd rather avoid."
But here's the real, five-dollar deal for you.
If you have a virtual highlighter you might just want to put this in yellow.
Ready?
Just having greater representation in the publishing and entertainment world isn't trying to shove an agenda. It isn't. It's trying to make us a better people, better citizens, more welcoming and loving individuals. It's trying to make our published entertainment look more like the world outside our doors and give all people someone with whom they can identify in the entertainment they see. It's trying to help all people of any race, nationality, gender, spectrum, feel like they belong in America (and by extension, existence). It's trying to help all people feel they matter and are important.
And if you still want to call that an agenda rather than progress up the scale of what it means to be a better human, then I really feel sorry for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment