Minorities in Comics and Other Media, etc

[Adam Allen]

So, there's a movie coming out called "Karen", which is, as you might have guessed by the name, about a racist white woman terrorizing her black neighbors.


This has gotten a less-than-positive reaction from people, particularly black movie goers who see it as a poor man's version of Get Out.



https://www.themarysue.com/karen-movie-is-testing-me/

Yeah, it's just bizarre that they would think anybody would want to watch that.

I guess ... maybe they're thinking, it's kind of like Single White Female or Fatal Attraction? Where everyday life becomes nightmarish, due to just coming across a severely unhinged person?

But yeah, the crucial distinction their concept is missing would be that the antagonists in those movies were just lone, scary individuals, which is pretty different from the threat posed by this neighboring Karen. A person who seems normal at first but ends up homicidally threatening has a whole scary thriller vibe ... while a hateful racist who wants to weaponize the whole racist structure of society against you ... is a whole different thing.

[CosmiComic]

It seems to be conflating different forms of racism into one, without making appropriate distinctions

[Adam Allen]

It seems to be conflating different forms of racism into one, without making appropriate distinctions

And like the article said, lacking in any kind of nuance! The just outright, openly known and self-aware racist who hates black people is almost a caricature, and if anything, more depressing than scary! I can come up with a better concept for blending the "stalkerish, menacing individual" type thriller with race stuff, off the top of my head:

Instead of "Karen", make it "Stan" -- this is a guy who loves hip-hop and claims to love black culture and black people. When the couple moves in, he immediately wants to be their best friend, and if anything is over welcoming. Just wants to spend way too much time with them, talks about the other white people in the neighborhood like he isn't one, claims to see racism everywhere (even where it is not) and like Rachel Dolezal, confesses that he really feels like he is black. This would be a guy who is really racist as hell and doesn't realize it, because he fetishizes black people -- sees black identity as a costume he is entitled to, is completely immune to understanding institutional racism and his own privilege within it. He will feel like he is owed the adoration of his neighbors because he does not burn a cross on their porch, but will also feel angrily offended when told he can't say the n-word, and turn murderously hostile at being rejected by the only black people who have ever been unlucky enough to get anywhere close to him.

Not even saying I'd want to watch that movie, mind you -- just saying, it's less completely tone deaf to the experience of racism in modern society, than this Karen movie.

[Overhazard]

And like the article said, lacking in any kind of nuance! The just outright, openly known and self-aware racist who hates black people is almost a caricature, and if anything, more depressing than scary! I can come up with a better concept for blending the "stalkerish, menacing individual" type thriller with race stuff, off the top of my head:

Instead of "Karen", make it "Stan" -- this is a guy who loves hip-hop and claims to love black culture and black people. When the couple moves in, he immediately wants to be their best friend, and if anything is over welcoming. Just wants to spend way too much time with them, talks about the other white people in the neighborhood like he isn't one, claims to see racism everywhere (even where it is not) and like Rachel Dolezal, confesses that he really feels like he is black. This would be a guy who is really racist as hell and doesn't realize it, because he fetishizes black people -- sees black identity as a costume he is entitled to, is completely immune to understanding institutional racism and his own privilege within it. He will feel like he is owed the adoration of his neighbors because he does not burn a cross on their porch, but will also feel angrily offended when told he can't say the n-word, and turn murderously hostile at being rejected by the only black people who have ever been unlucky enough to get anywhere close to him.

Not even saying I'd want to watch that movie, mind you -- just saying, it's less completely tone deaf to the experience of racism in modern society, than this Karen movie.

Adopting being black as a consumer identity is an interesting premise. I went to school with a white latino who thought that because he got an A in an african american studies class, that made him an honorary black. He dated a black girl and went to black events on campus. I wanted to scream when he said that.

[CosmiComic]

Idk exactly who the filmmakers are, but maybe the point of this is to be a parody.

[Dragonick]

Netflix dropped a trailer for a cowboy movie with an all black cast that looks pretty interesting called The Harder They Fall

[Surf]

Netflix dropped a trailer for a cowboy movie with an all black cast that looks pretty interesting called The Harder They Fall

I do like Western's.

Thomasine & Bushrod, Posse, Gang of Roses (1 and 2), a couple others. This one looks pretty dope.

[CosmiComic]

A lot of Westerns tended to be White power fantasies romanticizing American aggression, despite how there were many Black cowboys

[Ragged Maw]

A lot of Westerns tended to be White power fantasies romanticizing American aggression, despite how there were many Black cowboys

Well then, nice to see such bullet hole-strewn fantasies gaining broader appeal then. “Share the love” as one would say.

[CosmiComic]

Well then, nice to see such bullet hole-strewn fantasies gaining broader appeal then. “Share the love” as one would say.

I suppose, so long as it doesn't continue to ignore the problematic violent nature of American expansion

[Ragged Maw]

I suppose, so long as it doesn't continue to ignore the problematic violent nature of American expansion

Most of the westerns I’ve grown close to were more “gunslingers vs other gunslingers” instead of “gunslingers vs. native Americans”. Less “The Searchers” and more “Once Upon A Time In The West”.....On the other hand, yes, the older John Wayne westerns that involved natives as the badguys still have strong followings (give or take those who are more enamored by the technical aspects and the acting prowess than the worldview it directly advocates) The actor in particular wasn’t much of an empath towards them in real life as well, and, for all I know, quite a few fans today may actually find that appealing.

[Surf]

Most of the westerns I’ve grown close to were more “gunslingers vs other gunslingers” instead of “gunslingers vs. native Americans”. Less “The Searchers” and more “Once Upon A Time In The West”.

This, which is the majority of them. Even more so on the television side. The movies closer to the early 60's often depict the Native Americans getting their shots in. I'm always a cheerleader for those scenes of crooked soldiers, or otherwise, taking 2 or three arrows and falling over in attack.

Even before Flavor Flav said '**** 'em' on the record I've never been into John Wayne though (or Roy Rogers or Hopalong, none of that goofy way back ****), that disdain came from my Dad.

[Dragonick]

According to the synopsis this is very much an Outlaw vs Outlaw movie

“When outlaw Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) discovers that his enemy Rufus Buck (Idris Elba) is being released from prison he rounds up his gang to track Rufus down and seek revenge. Those riding with him in this assured, righteously new school Western include his former love Stagecoach Mary (Zazie Beetz), his right and left hand men — hot-tempered Bill Pickett (Edi Gathegi) and fast drawing Jim Beckwourth (R.J. Cyler)—and a surprising adversary-turned-ally. Rufus Buck has his own fearsome crew, including “Treacherous” Trudy Smith (Regina King) and Cherokee Bill (LaKeith Stanfield), and they are not a group that knows how to lose.”

[CosmiComic]

According to the synopsis this is very much an Outlaw vs Outlaw movie

That synopsis almost sounds like a parody!

[Vic Vega]

This, which is the majority of them. Even more so on the television side. The movies closer to the early 60's often depict the Native Americans getting their shots in. I'm always a cheerleader for those scenes of crooked soldiers, or otherwise, taking 2 or three arrows and falling over in attack.

Even before Flavor Flav said '**** 'em' on the record I've never been into John Wayne though (or Roy Rogers or Hopalong, none of that goofy way back ****), that disdain came from my Dad.

By the 70's the Western had mostly stopped making the Natives out to be the bad guys and even had them as heroes.

The main issue with THOSE movies as I remember it, was the casting.

When you have movies that cast people like Chuck Conners (from TV's The Rifleman) Charles Bronson and Burt Reynolds as revenge seeing Native heroes ( I swear I'm not joking; look up Geronimo, Chato's Land and Navajo Joe. For extra laffs, look up White Commanche starting William Shatner. In a double role(!!!) it kinda defeats the purpose of setting up the Native character as a protagonist.

Notice I said "look up" not "see". I have every reason to believe that all these movies are terrible.