Minorities In Comics and Related Media

[JaggedFel]

Yeah John spun wool into gold so to speak.

They spent all the time making Rey great and Finn got nothing. Your right it wouldnt takeaway from Rey but they were afraid of it hence he doesnt get s*** and I suppose I would be to lol plenty already consider him more likeable so making him better might very well deflated Rey. Not that I agree because plenty love Finn because he is weak and no threat so making him that good reduces their interest.

[skyvolt2000]

http://comicbook.com/2015/12/24/star...ot-control-st/

Well this is not going to end well...

Hot Toys has revealed a new Star Wars: The Force Awakens collectible figure based on the character of Finn, played by John Boyega.

The highly-accurate collectible figure is specially crafted based on the image of Boyega as Finn in the film, featuring a newly developed head sculpt, finely tailored outfit, LED light-up lightsaber, detailed weapons, and a hexagonal figure stand with the Resistance’s emblem.

One of Finn's biggest moments in the movie was his duel with a baton-wielding First Order Riot Control Stormtrooper. Fans can recapture that moment with collector's set that includes the Finn figure, and a figure based on the First Order Riot Control Stormtrooper.

And is it wrong I still want that figure?

[robreedwrites]

It just hit me that the Stormtrooper that gets to beat on Finn is called the Riot Control Stormtrooper. Riot control.

[Robotman]

so this happened in Cyborg #6

Attachment 30394

it's revealed that Vic now has the ability to look like a normal human again.

[ed2962]

Negative. I gave you my example. Again, if Rey was treated that way it would have been talked about just like Widow and in mainstream media. You are low key excuse making. Please miss me with all of that. We clearly don't see eye to eye so there is no reason for debate, with how dismissive you have been this entire time. Peace.

First of all, please let me apologize because I don't mean to come off as dismissive. That's not my intent. I actually think this subject is very worthy to discuss. I think the Finn situation is emblematic of how mainstream Hollywood typically marginalizes women and minorities in general and black men in particular. My point has mostly been that while it's good to call them out on the bait and switch and the idea that Finn is really just a glorified sidekick, it's probably a little extreme to call him a racist caricature. ( The Finn/Rey/Poe shipping stuff I just think is funny)


Having said that, I haven't made an excuse for anything. While I don't think it's racist, I think the Star Wars franchise is problematic when it comes to black men in general.

Black Widow having a cool role in Winter Soldier is not an example of how if Rey was treated like Finn people would be up in arms. It's an example of an active part for a woman in a different franchise. But there's generations of movies where women are reduced to either eye candy or damsels in distress. And Hollywood continues to make movies like that. That was my point when I said no one would blink an eye. If BW was reduced to a chick who had to be saved by Cap, some people would complain and a lot of others would have been fine with it and Hollywood would barely notice as long as it made money.


That leads to other point...the idea that somehow Finn had to be diminished in order for Rey to look good. The problem with Finn has to do with Hollywood's problem with race not their problem with BM/WF relationships. Let's look at it this way, if Rey had been a man or if movie was focused on the Finn/Poe relationship, do you think Finn's character would have been written any better?

[ed2962]

Black Widow, Katniss and Salt would beg to differ.

They are all great. And I could add Pam Greer, Michelle Yoeh, and Cynthia Rothrock and others but many in Hollywood still likes to confine women to support roles.

Look at it this way, many of us grew up Will Smith, Wes Snipes, and maybe Michael Jae White, who were all successful, but it's still a struggle to get black led features made. It's not peaches and cream for the rest of us just cuz Will made it to the top. We still more often get sidekick role as this Finn situation illustrates.

[4sake Baned]

Quoted for truth.





The disdainful and somewhat chilly respose that som so-called Black geeks had towards Will Smith's After Earth really had me baffled for the simple fact that it was a response that did nothing more than to reinforce the belief (amongst some) that there can never be enough reasons for most to turn their noses up at something original that features them looking good on the big screen as opposed to throwing their hard earned cash at product that denigrates us.

Critics of AE kept on going on and on about Will Smith's supposed "nepotism" for including his son in the movie long before the movie dropped, whilst wilfully ignoring the fact that the film was a wholly original concept with an interesting backstory to it that would have been great to observe growing into a trilogy in much the same way that Vin Diesel's Riddick movies did.

And speaking of Vin Diesel, doesn't it strike anyone as being somewhat telling that some film critics were equally dismissive of his Riddick movieverse.

It's almost as if originality on the part of creators not tied into the furtherance of the "white saviour" narrative prevalent in Hollywood, is frowned upon and in many cases, actively resisted through the dissemination of character assassination within the industry to ensure that certain products don't get off the ground.


I for one, will continue to support creators who put out product that isn't dependent on stereotypical characterization and frankly racist tropes regardless of whether black geekdom approves or not because at the end of the day, charity begins at home.




Real talk.

Can't be better said my brother...

[Carabas]

Yeah but if they black they come back with cybernetic enhancements because black people cant unleash power from within they need machines or something.

Luke Skywalker is a cyborg...
And so far, Finn isn't.

[4sake Baned]

Boyega is a superb actor. I've only seen him in two movies (Attack the Block and SW:TFA). The characters he portrays in both are light years from one another (pun intended). Moses and Finn are nothing alike. That takes real skill imo.

Oh how great Finn would've been if he was anything like Moses....

[ed2962]

Katniss...dont forget Furosa, Ripley and Sarah Connor.

And just because Women get sidelined in movies doesnt mean Rey needs to climb over the Black Man to get respect.

My point was not that there are no female action roles, but that they are outnumbered by the stereotype roles

[ed2962]

I disagree. IF John Boyega was Rey and Daisy Ridley was Finn then there would now be a global, mainstream uproar about the depiction of women. Finn's role would easily be heralded as the worst sort of damsel in distress. She would be called clueless and tantamount to a dumb blonde. Please no way would the response be equivalent to the way it is now where a few (most likely) Black men take issue with the depiction Finn. Women and men of all races would be criticizing a Finn-Ridley portrayal.

I don't agree. The damsel in distress might get portrayed slightly differently than say a generation ago but it still gets used. And while there are people who criticize it, there's not a "global uproar". This is a little like when white fans complain about race swapping and say, "If they changed a minority character to white there'd be riots!" The fact is, whitewashing happens in Hollywood all the time. Again, I think people think I'm trying to defend the Finn character and I'm not. I'm just saying maybe we should keep a little perspective.

[Victor Freeman]

It just hit me that the Stormtrooper that gets to beat on Finn is called the Riot Control Stormtrooper. Riot control.

I been noticed that b, from the start. Imagery means something. But you can't tell that to people who want to make excuses for the sort of sub-text, that is pretty blunt to me.

[ed2962]

so this happened in Cyborg #6

Attachment 30394

it's revealed that Vic now has the ability to look like a normal human again.

I bought this morning but I haven't read it yet.

[JaggedFel]

I been noticed that b, from the start. Imagery means something. But you can't tell that to people who want to make excuses for the sort of sub-text, that is pretty blunt to me.

Meh much like when I say Rey reads as a Mary Sue to me its not about one or two things that are problematic that I might chalk up to an accident or not updating the script when a black actor was cast but really a confluence of factors that all add up to a problem.

[Mr MajestiK]

That is a dual imposition finger point at the black fan. What if I just don't think Big Wille is that cool of a guy anymore, or I think his kid is a whack actor? Should I support it primarily cause America's favorite black dude stars in it? Is that a position I'm not allowed to have? How many black created fantasy type projects am I on the hook for over the last 20+ years until I get the nod from other so called Black geeks? Like the farmer said to Babe, 'That'll do bruh, that'll do.

You're allowed to hold whatever position you choose to for the simple fact that you're an individual with tastes that are specific to you, built up over the length of your cognitive life to date.

What I was speaking to, is the choice on the part of some (not all) to denigrate anything created by people who look like them just on the say so of someone who doesn't.

There are already complaints about Will Smith as Deadshot in the Suicide Squad movie coming out next year which indicates that some just choose to have a problem with the actor as a matter of course, regardless of whatever project he's attached to and that's the point I was making in the first place as regards media/critic led hatchet jobs on specific actors or individuals.

That movie was just not that good, Shyamalan has made a couple of good movies almost 20 years ago but overall a recently they have all been flat out bad. I'm not crazy about Smith's Scientology ideals either ( OT I mean are their any poor Scientologists?). Smith has taken several gigs away from other actors and he's not even broken a sweat for most of them cause he does the Fresh Prince so well. Don't get it completely twisted, I love the movie Ali, he was wonderful in that, then too I'm a huge Michael Mann guy as well but if you put Denzel into the AE role and get John Boyega to play his son and another director you'd have your trilogy.

I had zero problem with After Earth as a movie because it contained most of the ingredients I require from a sci-fi movie to hold my attention and keep me intrigued as regards the technology and underlying mythology within the movie. I was drawn to the strong father/son relationship expressed within the movie as well as the ecological realities of an Earth that had become unhabital for humans due to our own mistakes.

I'm not sure what Smith's possible Scientologist leanings have to do with what he brings to the acting table (same with Tom Cruise) but suffice it to say that I have ZERO problems with the guys acting acumen and will continue to watch anything he acts in that I find interesting enough to check out.

Maybe there are more fans who are waiting out projects than some cats people give credit to. It's not an absolute that I didn't support AE but waited in line to see TFA as many times as I could. Sure that's some but you can't paint all of us with the same brush on supremacist washing connotation alone. That's like saying and more aptly mind you, that i.e. your average cat in the barber shop views any and every corner of this entire CBR board a giant waste of time. We know better cause this is what we're into and it's much more difficult to find some kind of conscious relateable shit right?

I don't see how anything I posted indicates that I painted anyone with a brush. I merely pointed out that some of us have no problem throwing good money after bad just off of the chance that a mainstream movie just might portray a black character properly, but be quick to question a POC's credentials and go over same with a fine tooth comb before (even then) reluctantly checking out the product.

I find more than enough creative product to check out from a variety of sources and actually put my money where my mouth is when it comes to supporting creators who are not hooked up to the homogenized mainstream matrix.

You know what else has a quasi original concept and also directed by a brotha- Ride Along 2 and I doubt a single mention has been made about it here because that looks like a lame ass movie. This is coming from a Cube and a Kevin Hart fan too. I can't really speak fully to the Riddick-verse but what I have saw bored me to tears. He is what he is but Morgan Freeman he ain't.

Riddick is a fictional character whereas Morgan Freeman is not.

I fail to see the correlation.

Additionally what does Ride Along 2 have to do with anything?

I'm talking about sci-fi/fantasy/horror movies created by non-white creators as opposed to run of the mill comedy.

I haven't seen TFA but I'm not a real Star Wars guy so going strictly by what I've read in this thread about Finn at the very least I think all agree there was an okie-doke pertaining to the marketing in this first installment so that's enough for me to pass on it.

I just think sometime we outta ease back some when berating the perceived actions of 'us' within the larger 'us', knowhatimsayin'.

Tell that to the Two Brandons and their podcast.