Is Marvel's "Minority"/PC Month trying too hard?

[cyberhubbs]

Of all the things....that's kinda baffling, doncha think?

Nah. People might not realize it, but it's "in" to rail against Big Whatever.

[Mr MajestiK]

This made my afternoon.

I'm happy you approve.

[skyvolt2000]

I don't understand all the anger, myself. In Cap's case, it's even someone that's been part of Steve's history since the 70s. Almost 50 years now.

I just assume that it's the usual knee-jerk internet reaction combined with a distrust in anything even remotely commercialized.

The thing is it's not so much the commercialism but the X factor of FEAR that many are tossing out.

Who would have thought BLADE would have 3 movies? BEFORE Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Thor & Iron Man?

And Blade had an animated show & live action tv show.

We don't know where this might lead to-

See folks assume that this will only open the gates for minorities and females but in reality-it opens the door for everybody.

Falcon as Captain America might not lead to a Falcon ongoing-it might get a Sunfire or Wonder Man series. It might bring back Young Avengers or Shield series. It might make the competition get off it's duff and bring back guys some you like at that company.

We won't know until someone tries.

[skyvolt2000]

It will calm down in time and then the MU will revert to the status quo and Thor and Cap will be back and anther faction will start belly aching.

Folks understand that. Thor, Iron Man & Captain America have been replaced for x number of years and it spawned 3 new guys under different names.

What folks want is to be able to see how it works out no matter how long it lasts.

[ExcelsiorPrime]

You know who else would make a great Captain America down the line or he could be the Bucky to Snaptain America.

[aja_christopher]

That should be her characterization in the movies.

Speaking of which, here's a little reminder of what was going on back when these companies weren't "trying too hard to be PC"...

-------

"Team members [Generation X (film)]

"Although not a factor in the decision to abandon the creation of a series, Jubilation Lee was not portrayed as a character of Asian descent [in the film].

The X-Men comics and animated series have always portrayed her as Chinese American.

It was later revealed that the lead role in the film was intended for the character Dazzler or Boomer, either of whom has virtually the same powers as Jubilee but neither one being of East Asian descent (which would have also gone against the comic adaptation since Dazzler nor Boomer were ever members of Generation X), but the popularity of Jubilee's character from the X-Men animated series prompted the producers to give the lead role to Jubilee..."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X_(film)



(Jubilee's VF skills alone are worth the price of admission... which is free.)

[Username taken]

Speaking of which, here's a little reminder of what was going on back when these companies weren't "trying too hard to be PC"...

-------

"Team members [Generation X (film)]

"Although not a factor in the decision to abandon the creation of a series, Jubilation Lee was not portrayed as a character of Asian descent [in the film].

The X-Men comics and animated series have always portrayed her as Chinese American.

It was later revealed that the lead role in the film was intended for the character Dazzler or Boomer, either of whom has virtually the same powers as Jubilee but neither one being of East Asian descent (which would have also gone against the comic adaptation since Dazzler nor Boomer were ever members of Generation X), but the popularity of Jubilee's character from the X-Men animated series prompted the producers to give the lead role to Jubilee..."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X_(film)



(Jubilee's VF skills alone are worth the price of admission... which is free.)

Wow, the Virtua Fighter reference took me down memory lane.

[cyberhubbs]

1996. God, we are old.

[ExcelsiorPrime]

1996. God, we are old.

Not if you use comic book chronological time. How old is Archie? Peter Parker? Johnny Storm?

[leo619]

I hadn't checked Tom B's formspring page in a while but good lord, what I'm reading there is horrifying.

brevoortformspring.tumblr.com

It's like the bigoted and hateful are out in full force there.

Good God, it's comments like those that makes me hesitate to call myself a comic book fan, because there's no way I want to be associated with that madness.

[pageturner]

Folks understand that. Thor, Iron Man & Captain America have been replaced for x number of years and it spawned 3 new guys under different names.

What folks want is to be able to see how it works out no matter how long it lasts.

some folks yes some folk no some folks meh some folks just like to argue

[Ajala]

Good God, it's comments like those that makes me hesitate to call myself a comic book fan, because there's no way I want to be associated with that madness.

Are you kidding me? Those comments are a gold mine! It's nice to see that level of reactionary ridiculousness, entitlement, and ignorance on full display. Mainly because they're mixed in with the carefully worded, "catch-me-if-you-can", passive-aggressive nonsense that is all too common nowadays, that pass along the same exact sentiment as the over the top racist comments.

[aja_christopher]

Wow, the Virtua Fighter reference took me down memory lane.

That has to be the coolest arcade in history.

Punk rock girl gamers in leopard print and fluorescent lipstick, Max Headroom walking around lighting cigarettes for teenagers and invading video games at will. Seems like he would have chosen the X-Men game in the background if he wanted to find mutants but maybe "Russell" is just a Virtua Fighter fan at heart... and who can blame him for that?

The "Emma Stormfrost" scenes at the beginning and the end are the best -- seems appropriate that she wakes up with her hair perfectly coiffed and already dressed for battle (in her lingerie). Excellent 90s comic book adaptation -- almost 60s Batman camp-level potential. Shades of Winona Ryder from Heathers as an adolescent "mutant" trapped in a strange mall from which she cannot escape, cursed with a video game addiction and sparkle powers that she cannot control.

Anyway, I just posted it to point out even more the hypocrisy of those who make it seem like "racebending" is suddenly a "problem", when historically speaking "whitewashing" -- and before that, "blackface" -- was so common that people didn't even make an issue of it.

Even now people usually only make issue of 'whitewashing' because it often involves nearly the entire main cast ("Airbender", "Dragonball Z", Akira) and not a few individual "background" characters who aren't really central to the plot (Heimdall, Fury, Blink).

Likewise, when shows and movies like the above flop (see also Green Lantern and Ghost Rider), it's never about "race" but if a Miles Morales Spiderman movie came out and did poorly (like, say, a Catwoman movie starring Halle Berry), you'd probably never hear the end of it about the failure of that "black Spiderman" movie, just like -- nearly a decade later -- we still hear about the failure of that "black Catwoman" movie being proof that "female" and/or "black" superhero movies don't "sell" to the public.

Never mind "Blade" though -- he was just an "outlier"... despite paving the way for everyone else at Marvel in the process.

[Vic Vega]

I just want to say for the record that the Ghost Rider film we got was the best possible movie concerning a stunt-cyclist with his head on fire possible.

[Username taken]

That has to be the coolest arcade in history.

Punk rock girl gamers in leopard print and fluorescent lipstick, Max Headroom walking around lighting cigarettes for teenagers and invading video games at will. Seems like he would have chosen the X-Men game in the background if he wanted to find mutants but maybe "Russell" is just a Virtua Fighter fan at heart... and who can blame him for that?

The "Emma Stormfrost" scenes at the beginning and the end are the best -- seems appropriate that she wakes up with her hair perfectly coiffed and already dressed for battle (in her lingerie). Excellent 90s comic book adaptation -- almost 60s Batman camp-level potential. Shades of Winona Ryder from Heathers as an adolescent "mutant" trapped in a strange mall from which she cannot escape, cursed with a video game addiction and sparkle powers that she cannot control.

Anyway, I just posted it to point out even more the hypocrisy of those who make it seem like "racebending" is suddenly a "problem", when historically speaking "whitewashing" -- and before that, "blackface" -- was so common that people didn't even make an issue of it.

Even now people usually only make issue of 'whitewashing' because it often involves nearly the entire main cast ("Airbender", "Dragonball Z", Akira) and not a few individual "background" characters who aren't really central to the plot (Heimdall, Fury, Blink).

Likewise, when shows and movies like the above flop (see also Green Lantern and Ghost Rider), it's never about "race" but if a Miles Morales Spiderman movie came out and did poorly (like, say, a Catwoman movie starring Halle Berry), you'd probably never hear the end of it about the failure of that "black Spiderman" movie, just like -- nearly a decade later -- we still hear about the failure of that "black Catwoman" movie being proof that "female" and/or "black" superhero movies don't "sell" to the public.
Never mind "Blade" though -- he was just an "outlier"... despite paving the way for everyone else at Marvel in the process.

The bolded part is pertinent and I think it's even worse in the comics industry.

If we get another minority led series, people will complain about how Marvel is trying to shove "minority character X" (which sounds like the name of a cool neo-soul band ) down the throats of readers regardless of the fact that LOTS of characters who are non-ethnic get titles that fail but their race is never brought up.

That double standard grinds my gears at times.