| Posted: 02 August 2011 at 5:12pm | IP Logged | 12
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But like I said, no reasonable person should feel slighted.
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Why not?
Let's look at Star Trek, a TV series that since its inception in the 1960's has put race and gender equality at the forefront of what humanity can achieve in the future.
When the original Trek aired, Uhura and Kirk broke barriers by being part of the first interracial kiss on TV. Sulu was one of the first Asian characters not to be played for stereotypical laughs.
When the Next Generation started, they put a new cast in new roles, they didn't recast old parts with new players. LeVar Burton's Geordi LaForge will thus always be his own Engineering man, not just a recast "black Scotty" in place of James Doohan. Beverly Crusher isn't a female 'Bones' McCoy the way Starbuck became female in the modern Battlestar Galactica. The gender and race roles were expanded even further than the original series, and that continued even further with Ben Sisko in DS9 and Janeway in Voyager. Many prominent roles were given to women and visible minorities, and there was no big USA Today story about it because they didn't do it as a stunt, they did it because that's how they wanted the future to be - equal.
Think of minority or female characters that aren't derivative of a white male counterpart. There aren't nearly as many of them as there are of derivatives. My problem with taking Spider-Man and making him black is, it's not original. I'm a white heterosexual guy. I've got Spider-Man, 3/4 of the FF, the Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Batman, Superman, all the Flashes, Cyclops, Wolverine, Colossus, Iceman, Adam Strange, Hugo Strange, Dr. Strange, Dr. Doom, Dr. Fate, Dr. Octopus, Dr. Light, Lightray, The Ray, Ray Palmer (The Atom), Captain Atom, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Green Goblin, Red Ghost, Yellowjacket, Jack of Hearts, Jack o' Lantern, Green Lantern (4/5 Earth ones anyway), and I can't count how many characters that are relatable TO ME.
Most of the time, what do minorities get? Well, if Ted Kord dies, they can have a Blue Beetle costume. And if Ultimate Spider-Man dies, they can take his duds too. Ray Palmer goes missing? Step on up, Asian replacement! Plus, sometimes we'll let a girl or woman borrow Super, Bat, Spider-, Hawk, or some other word to put in front of their preferred feminine noun.
Why not just make a new character? With new powers, a new name, a story and history of their own that isn't attached to some white guy legacy? Let's pretend I'm a lesbian. Who do I have to identify with in comics? The Question and Batwoman. Thanks, white hetero men, for the permission to use your identities. What if I'm hispanic? Gee, I get a third (or is it fourth?) hand Blue Beetle suit, a second hand Spider-Man costume, and...?
It just feels wrong to me. Maybe I'm some nutty ultra-Liberal white-guilt kinda guy, but I think it's odd that basically people are applauding Marvel and DC for diversifying their lines by giving table scraps instead of making entire meals fresh from the oven. Am I therefore not a reasonable person because I feel slighted at the double-standard?
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