This essay is brilliant.
Thanks. That was really good.
That was a really interesting read, which kinda tugs at my usual pooh-poohing of artistic psychoanalysis. Can it really be that simple sometimes?
I do give comic writers a pretty big free pass on the abundance of white men routinely saving the world. The big comic names are reticent to make new marque names, because they've already got armies of recognizable franchises that don't need a publicity drive to get sales. It so happens that most of those recognizable characters date from the earlier ages of comics, when non-whiteboy characters barely need mention. I think it's a credit to a writer to take a homogeneous stable of characters and make a story engaging enough that you don't think about demographic inclusiveness.
In a way, his take on the sudden abundance of white-dominated stories and awards kinda reflects that. The optimist could say that the entertainment industry was laboring under a devotion to diversity that wasn't really necessary - most of the American population is white, and a large majority of comic readers are white males. It stands to reason that society will produce more white entertainers et al, and that most entertainment (including comics) will be aimed towards their most dependable audience, even if the aiming isn't intentional. A decreasingly-diverse field could mean a practical recognition of the actual audience, and a lack of fear of demand for diversity for diversity's own sake.
Mind you, I don't hold that opinion myself, I'm just saying it's there to be made. The "Messiah" and Asgard things are pretty troubling to read about. But as weird and worrying as the reality of the Obama/Cheney dynamic is, it was really enjoyable to read, in comparison to the comic book stories above it. You can cast almost any story in such a light, with massive characters waging personal battles that shake the world, that any story can start sounding like Greek mythology. And I for one would love to see a comic about a non-super-superhero who actually respects the law, or for that matter, an over-the-top retelling of the War on Terror in superhero form.
So yeah, reading that made me happy, thanks for the link.
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Topic: [MILK] There were 12 eggs here what did you do with them? (Happy thread?!) (Read 16279179 times)