Looking at a cast of characters and asking "Which one can we make Black?" turns being Black into nothing more than skin color. There is no consideration of the very different experiences Black people have in this country, and, indeed, in the World.

If we took a story written by a Black African, set in Africa, about Africans, and arbitrarily turned one of the characters White, there would be (justifiable) outrage. The valid point would be made that we cannot simply "whitewash" a Black character and end up with the same person, the same dynamic, the same presence in the story.

How is it any different to take a White character and paint him/her Black? Nick Fury, to cite but one example, had to turn into a different character when he was painted Black. Why not MAKE him a different character? Give him is own identity, instead of one handed down from on high by White folk? Make him Gabe Jones, or Gabe Jones Jr, or Gabe Jones III, if you want to tie into existing continuity. As the "Everything That's Wrong With..." site so aptly points out, Fury in the Marvel Movies has no depth at all. He is defined entirely by the eyepatch.

And Samuel L. Jackson is okay with this?

(As I have said before, I do not understand why Mr. Jackson did not sue Marvel when they used his likeness, without permission, as the "Ultimate" Nick Fury. His likeness is his brand. Does he feel no need to protect it? Can I make him a character in one of my STAR TREK photonovels and expect no letters from his lawyers? And if I got such a letter, could I not point to the Fury character, and his subsequent endorsement of it, and say "That ship has sailed!")

Comics are viewed with disdain, and comic FANS are viewed with disdain. (And given the kind of public representation we get, this is no small wonder.) Thus, if a fan speaks out against the excesses of Hollywood, said fan is immediately identifying himself as a feeble minded loser.

But what's worse is when so-called fans themselves take this position, drinking the Hollywood Kool-Aid and making excuses for the transgressions. Magpies, I call them. As long as what's up on the screen is bright and shiny, anything is acceptable. (Oh, and if you can arrange for Wolverine to say "fuck," then you are a GENIUS!!)

Of course, this is where the weird part comes in. Hollywood will tell us that if every comic fan in America boycotted their latest effort, it would have almost zero effect on the Box Office -- and yet they pander to those fans. But they do it in a halfassed way. So they'll throw in some "clever" reference that will get the fanboys swooning, while demolishing acres of property next door. "Hey, look! Juggernaut said 'Im the Juggernaut, bitch!' That's so cool? What? They got Kitty's powers wrong and the actor doesn't really look like Juggernaut (or Kitty)? So what! He said 'Im the Juggernaut, bitch!'"

And civilians, of course, care not.