Minorities in Comics and Other Media, etc

[Besouro]

We already had a black Johnny Storm and when the movie came out, the general audience weren't bothered by that. They were bothered with how boring the film was.

An *explanation was given in the film* as to why Johnny was black....he was adopted (or was it Alba?). Adoption was involved.

What explanation was given for black Idris Elba being an Asgardian a EUROPEAN WHITE GOD???

U seem to willfully ignore the mass reaction to a white cast playing asian characters in the hideously terrible Dragonball and Avatar last Airbender live action movies?....and these are just entertainment characters not beings who where religiously worshipped, exalted by people for centuries like mythological figures....their gods....to whom they and their ancestors cried to, prayed to them, begged forgiveness and guidance, asked for strength, sang and danced praises and made sacrifices, etc, etc.

If Marvel was soooo desperate for diversity in Thor movies, they should have had Idris play Beta Ray Bill instead....they character is wholly work of Marvel fiction who does NOT exist in Norse mythology. That would have been fine.

[J. D. Guy]

The official Power Rangers Twitter has revealed the names and faces of the Red, Pink and Blue Rangers for Dino Fury.

https://twitter.com/PowerRangers/sta...61657137979392

Red - Russel Curry

Pink - Hunter Deno

Blue - Kai Moya

Pink and Blue share their names with Hunter from Ninja Storm and Kai from Lost Galaxy. Not the first time they've had Rangers with names from previous Rangers but this is the first time they've had a Ranger with the same name as an old one with the same color.

For clarity, based on how the tweets refer to them, these appear to be the actors'/actress's real names. We still don't know their characters' names.

[ed2962]

An *explanation was given in the film* as to why Johnny was black....he was adopted (or was it Alba?). Adoption was involved.

What explanation was given for black Idris Elba being an Asgardian a EUROPEAN WHITE GOD???

U seem to willfully ignore the mass reaction to a white cast playing asian characters in the hideously terrible Dragonball and Avatar last Airbender live action movies?....and these are just entertainment characters not beings who where religiously worshipped, exalted by people for centuries like mythological figures....their gods....to whom they and their ancestors cried to, prayed to them, begged forgiveness and guidance, asked for strength, sang and danced praises and made sacrifices, etc, etc.

If Marvel was soooo desperate for diversity in Thor movies, they should have had Idris play Beta Ray Bill instead....they character is wholly work of Marvel fiction who does NOT exist in Norse mythology. That would have been fine.

So, if in the movie the space Vikings said that they found Hemidall as a baby and raised him as one of their own or if he had a black mother you would have been fine with that?

[Adam Allen]

Asgaedians are, have been and will ALWAYS BE European gods...claiming they are not in any way matter or form is the REAL HYPERBOLE here.

If Milestone had an African Orisha god pantheon in the comics the cast Donnie Yen or Tom Cruise to play one of these African gods in the live action.....will that excuse that YOU as spouting fly? ...where someone can say "These are aliens than happen to be called Orishas and oh wait....happen to be 99% black except for whatever African god Donnie Yen or Cruise is playing."

Will blacks accept that?

We ALL know the answer which is NO....It will be a mass riot.....so why not *equally* give the same respect of authenticity to other people's literal cultural and mythological figures? Or does equality only go one way to "blacks only"?

If an explanation in the Marvel Thor movies was given as to happen a black guy BECAME an Asgardian(a non-mythological figure not part of Norse mythology...an original character)...it would have been respectful but nope they handle it with the politeness of smashing an anvil on a egg.

By disrespecting other people's culture you are degrading, debasing and belittling them which is how I equate it (racebending) to black face.

Now Aldis Hodge has been cast to play the traditionally and perpetually portrayed White (or possibly Arab given Egyptian origins) character Hawkman......wtf....y?

Same with Kang.

Imagine a native American or asian is cast to play Static or Miles Morales or Vixen or Rocket or John Stewart or Cyborg.....would u accept that ????....blacks will blow up in rage.

Contradicting hypocrisy at it's purest!!!

Racebending does not help us.

Honestly, I'm not the hugest fan of racebending characters myself, and in general I agree with you that it's better in the long run to create a new character than just racebend an existing one. Like you said, better that we got Miles Morales rather than just somehow racebending Peter Parker ... and honestly, I'm probably the only comics fan in the world who cares that the old version of Nick Fury was totally retired to make room for the more popular updated version. So really, when you say you're not a fan of the practice, I'm mostly on your side.

That said, I can't agree when you suggest that racebending one of the zillions of white characters to try and create a more inclusive version of an established work is the same thing as changing non-white characters into white versions when moving to the big screen. Suggesting this ignores the very real context of race and racism as they have played out in the US and in the rest of the world.

And if you're saying it's the same thing for a white fan to be upset to see Heimdall or Johnny Storm race-swapped in a single version of the character as it would be for a POC fan be upset to see one of the few fictional characters who look like them get whitewashed ... nah, it isn't.

The white fan might think it's the same, but it's only lack of awareness of their white privilege that makes them think that. The very important difference is that there have been and continue to be many white characters for them to relate to. Characters who look like them remain the default ... so much so that entire casts of movies that should not be continue to get whitewashed, with the expectation everybody should be okay with it. While on the other hand, it remains notable if individual well-rounded characters happen to be POC, let alone an entire cast. So yeah, when some of those comparatively rare POC characters get whitewashed (like in New Mutants recently) fans have every right to be offended. (For as much good as it does.)

[G. Boney]

Asgaedians are, have been and will ALWAYS BE European gods...claiming they are not in any way matter or form is the REAL HYPERBOLE here.

Nope. That's like saying Ultron is, has been, and ALWAYS WILL BE the creation of Hank Pym. In the mcu Stark & Banner created him. It's fine not to like it, but that's the route they decided to go. Same thing with Asgardians. Superhero movies have always made changes from the source material, and the mcu movies are no exception.

[Samm]

For clarity, based on how the tweets refer to them, these appear to be the actors'/actress's real names. We still don't know their characters' names.

Red is Zayto, Blue is Ollie and Pink is Amelia. Wonder why they didn’t announce Green and Black yet? We already know Alexandra Nuñez and Chance Perez were cast as them

[Tofali]

Racebending white characters does not benefit blacks....it just makes us equally wrong as those white who did blackface and racebend Asian characters to be played by white people.

I had the same feelings about racebending characters in the past because there hasn't been that many race bent casting that i have actually enjoyed but since not that many cared about Roberto da Costa racebending my perspective has changed in all this. Henceforth i won't care one iota how it perceived or how it is used to market some movie or tv shows so i will just enjoy whatever i find interesting.

[Username taken]

The people complaining about racebending characters into white are strangely silent about the total fiasco that is the New Mutants movie.

I wonder why?

[Killerbee911]

- What is the Latino equivalent of Superman or Batman, The same thing for Asian characters the sheer fact that DC and Marvel don't one real impact character to push today tells you how bad they have been at creating and pushing impact minority characters. For Black characters there is at least Storm and Black Panther who are in the convo. Racebending is an impact character issue. We don't have enough impact character because industry revolves around pushing nostalgia until a gun is put their head to be different.

- Characters get racebent because comic fans love their nostalgia and companies are too afraid to experiment with other characters. If Green Lantern jumps to John Stewart or Batman skip everyone and does Signal then fans will cry and complain.The only time you hear those fans asking for minority characters is when characters are talk about race bent. You mention Black Superman all of sudden fans remember Icon and Blue Marvel, You mention Black Batman and see everyone remembering Batwing,Nighthawk or even Black Lighting.The Greatest tool for making traditionalist comic fans forget tradition is the threat of racebending.

If Hawkman was created today do you think that Egyptian based character would be white? If Kang was created today the same thing do think he would be white? Heck if the show Friends was being casted today do you think they would have an all white cast? Does any comic team today launch with with an all white roster? Why would we let tradition stand in the way of progress forward. Movies are going to be diverse because they aren't trying to appeal to limited audience like comic books so they have two choice both of which fan hate

1. Don't use traditional popular white character and use either legacy or newer character aka John Stewart over Hal Jordan or Cyborg over MM
2. Racebend a traditional popular white character to tell the nostalgia based story the fans want to see and prove story.

I don't care about race bending because trust me they will cry anyway, Just go and read a Miles Morales spiderman game post on social media, Spiderman has gazillion games at this point they make one game that focus on Miles and people still complain about it. But you know what would have stop them from complaining about it and ask for Miles, A Black Peter Parker.

[Agent Z]

An *explanation was given in the film* as to why Johnny was black....he was adopted (or was it Alba?). Adoption was involved.

What explanation was given for black Idris Elba being an Asgardian a EUROPEAN WHITE GOD???

U seem to willfully ignore the mass reaction to a white cast playing asian characters in the hideously terrible Dragonball and Avatar last Airbender live action movies?....and these are just entertainment characters not beings who where religiously worshipped, exalted by people for centuries like mythological figures....their gods....to whom they and their ancestors cried to, prayed to them, begged forgiveness and guidance, asked for strength, sang and danced praises and made sacrifices, etc, etc.

If Marvel was soooo desperate for diversity in Thor movies, they should have had Idris play Beta Ray Bill instead....they character is wholly work of Marvel fiction who does NOT exist in Norse mythology. That would have been fine.

The Asgardians of the MCU are neither gods nor European. They are aliens from another planet. That's the explanation for Heimdall being black.

And Heimdall being black is not the most disrespectful thing about Marvel's Asgardians. The company has always taken liberties with the myths such as Thor being blonde instead of a redhead, Gaia being his biological mother, Sif being a warrior goddess with black hair instead of an agricultural goddess with blonde hair, Loki being Odin's adopted son etc.

[Starter Set]

The people complaining about racebending characters into white are strangely silent about the total fiasco that is the New Mutants movie.

I wonder why?

Cause no one watched that movie, seems pretty obvious to me.

[4sake Baned]

The people complaining about racebending characters into white are strangely silent about the total fiasco that is the New Mutants movie.

I wonder why?

Lol we all know why my brother.

- What is the Latino equivalent of Superman or Batman, The same thing for Asian characters the sheer fact that DC and Marvel don't one real impact character to push today tells you how bad they have been at creating and pushing impact minority characters. For Black characters there is at least Storm and Black Panther who are in the convo. Racebending is an impact character issue. We don't have enough impact character because industry revolves around pushing nostalgia until a gun is put their head to be different.

- Characters get racebent because comic fans love their nostalgia and companies are too afraid to experiment with other characters. If Green Lantern jumps to John Stewart or Batman skip everyone and does Signal then fans will cry and complain.The only time you hear those fans asking for minority characters is when characters are talk about race bent. You mention Black Superman all of sudden fans remember Icon and Blue Marvel, You mention Black Batman and see everyone remembering Batwing,Nighthawk or even Black Lighting.The Greatest tool for making traditionalist comic fans forget tradition is the threat of racebending.

If Hawkman was created today do you think that Egyptian based character would be white? If Kang was created today the same thing do think he would be white? Heck if the show Friends was being casted today do you think they would have an all white cast? Does any comic team today launch with with an all white roster? Why would we let tradition stand in the way of progress forward. Movies are going to be diverse because they aren't trying to appeal to limited audience like comic books so they have two choice both of which fan hate

1. Don't use traditional popular white character and use either legacy or newer character aka John Stewart over Hal Jordan or Cyborg over MM
2. Racebend a traditional popular white character to tell the nostalgia based story the fans want to see and prove story.

I don't care about race bending because trust me they will cry anyway, Just go and read a Miles Morales spiderman game post on social media, Spiderman has gazillion games at this point they make one game that focus on Miles and people still complain about it. But you know what would have stop them from complaining about it and ask for Miles, A Black Peter Parker.

Can’t be better said. to even compare racebending white character to nonwhite to racebending poc into white or saying it’s the Equivalent of whitewashing is ignorant and disingenuous at best, but we all know why folks likes to play those games.
It’s a insults to true intelligences that Hawkman, the main version of Dr.Fate, a version of Hawkwoman, Iron Fist, Kang & so many characters are white/created white in 1st that’s why it’s for the most part rectified in other media

[CliffHanger2]

The people complaining about racebending characters into white are strangely silent about the total fiasco that is the New Mutants movie.

I wonder why?

Gods of Egypt anybody? Plus like 1,000 other movies. Yeah this stuff is only a problem for them when it's them. But "Don't call me bigot! I'm not racist!" Forced inequality is not a problem only attempts to level the playing field. Cuz it's about "merit".

[skyvolt2000]

An *explanation was given in the film* as to why Johnny was black....he was adopted (or was it Alba?). Adoption was involved.

What explanation was given for black Idris Elba being an Asgardian a EUROPEAN WHITE GOD???.

Odin was bored one day and took dark clay and made a baby he named Heimdall. Worked for Wonder Woman.

Asgardians took a black boy home by accident and kept him. Worked for Howard the Duck.

Black family gets lost and somehow finds their to EUROPE and baby gets orphaned and later found by natives. He grows up with them.

And BEFORE you say no-lets see how that has worked in the past.

Tarzan, Sheena, Phantom & Jungle Girl say HI. How many white kids get orphaned in Africa and get raised by Africans????

DC Comics had 2 comic book series featuring a WHITE guy taken by Indians. One was called Scalp Hunter and the other??? JONAH HEX.

Dc also had ANOTHER comic about GODS taking Earth children and raising them. His name is Miser Miracle.

Milestone had a series about an alien who came to Earth during slavery and got adopted by black folks. It was called ICON.

Marvel had a comic book with a black lead and his ADOPTIVE brother was WHITE. This book later became a BILLION DOLLAR hit and 3 Oscar winner and it's lead just died. Yes Black Panther has a WHITE brother.

Arjay Smith's most famous role is playing an alien left on Earth and taken in by HUMANS.

NOW if all these examples and I can come up with 50 more-did not cause folks to go nuts. Why should a black Greek God be an issue????????

The people complaining about racebending characters into white are strangely silent about the total fiasco that is the New Mutants movie.

I wonder why?

Because no one cares when it's NOT a black person being cast.

Dragonball, Airbender & Prince of Persia saw backlash. As did Gods of Egypt and a few others. Some when reviews came out actually focused on the script and so on.

However the backlash they got PALED in comparison to the backlash BLACK FOLKS GOT.

Any attempt to do something with a black person and they come RUNNING out of the wood work.

I don't care about race bending because trust me they will cry anyway, Just go and read a Miles Morales spiderman game post on social media, Spiderman has gazillion games at this point they make one game that focus on Miles and people still complain about it.

Why stop there? Lets give the greatest example of all.

FINN in Star Wars. The agent of white genocide according to many. At least 3 other black guys held light sabres before him. Yet Finn set off trolls everywhere.

An original created character.

[MindofShadow]

By disrespecting other people's culture you are degrading, debasing and belittling them which is how I equate it (racebending) to black face.

I must of missed those mass protests in the nordic countries about Heimdell.

None of MCU asgard fits with the mythology. MCU asgard is an adaptation of comic Asgard which is an adaptation of the myths.

Also, this, copy and pasted for funsies:

One of the excuses the racists used to excuse their racism was that Heimdall was described as "the whitest of them all," suggesting he may have been an albino. The problem with that is that the descriptor comes from Thrymskvitha in the Poetic Eddas, which is a story about Thor getting his hammer stolen. All the gods gather to discuss what to do, and they're all given brief descriptions. Heimdall's is "hvítastr ása," which could mean "whitest god," but could just as easily "brightest" god; it could mean he had the shiniest armor, was the most virtuous or beautiful (since the Norse equated light with goodness) or even the most clever. He is the one who came up with the idea for how to get the hammer back, after all.

MCU asgard was simply more diverse place. The elves had a black dude. One of the warrior three was Asian.

It is just an adaptation. Just like God of War is an adaptation of the greek and now norse myths.