moriarty@uw-june.UUCP (04/26/84)
I was watching Bill Moyer's "Walk Through the 20th Century" last night, with Ozzie Davis and Ruby Dee on, and thought it was an excellent (and, as far as I could tell, accurate). But it brought up something that I think Franklin Reynolds, and others, have missed. Mr. Reynolds, if I understand correctly, feels that comics do not represent ethnic minorities properly, that they gloss over cultural differences and generally fail to make characters of different racial backgrounds indistinguishable, characterization-wise (apologies to Mr. Fairmont, err, Claremont). This seemed a very valid complaint to me at first; but after watching the aforementioned program, I considered that Marvel was avoiding another problem, that of stereotyping ethnic groups with certain characteristics. I know Marvel has gotten complaints before about the Falcon & Luke Cage and their accents (one is reminded of the stupid Mr. T-like ad to buy Power Man & Iron Fist... "Do it or I'm comin' for you, sucka!" or something to that effect). These are probably more the result of poor representations than anything, but consider this. Suppose Marvel makes it's Jewish characters (maybe 70% of them) much more culturally accurate; will this not bring down the (perhaps justified) wrath of various groups saying that "Marvel shows all Jews in their comics being this way"? The government and various civil rights groups seem to have worked, over the last two decades, to eliminate stereotyping as much as possible in many walks of life. Also, we should remember that many members of ethnic groups HAVE assimilated, for the most part, into the broad American culture of their neighbors. I know I have several Jewish and Black friends who are indistinguishable from our peer group, except, of course, from their personal individuality (which is the cause I happen to REALLY champion). I am in no way suggesting that one's culture should be denied one or repressed or discriminated against by others (it's difficult for me to relate to this, as I'm white, agnostic, and whatever German heritage ran in my family was lost long ago in the Iowa farm culture; however, I've got personal eccentricities that stretch from here to Long Island). I'm just pointing out how difficult it is to know how much cultural background into a character. It looks to me like Marvel (and other comics companies) are walking the tightrope between two distinct problems, neither easily resolved. Rather than introduce censorship into comics (a thought which I abhor), I think we must continue to let the writers and artists make this decision. They're only human, but I have noticed that comics people seem to love and care about the work they do very much (in general); it's not a 5 to 9 job for them. I think that anyone who feels this way is going to try to represent characters as accurately as possible, and try to avoid both cultural stereotyping AND cultural whitewashing to the best of their ability. Letters to the editors and artists, I'm sure, help them to judge this more accurately, and should continue to be encouraged. 'Nuff said. As I mentioned before, when it comes to ethnic culture, I'm not qualified to do a lot of judging. Any comments? "DANGER is my BUSINESS"| Currently residing in | UUCP: MORIARTY | {ihnp4,decvax,tektronix}!uw-beaver!uw-june!moriarty | ARPANET: AKA -jwm- | moriarty@washington
kechkayl@ecn-ee.UUCP (04/27/84)
#R:inmet:18200008:ecn-ee:24800004:000:342
ecn-ee!kechkayl Apr 27 02:35:00 1984
>Efforts to raise the consciousness of the media should be encouraged.
Why, pray tell, does the media have to have its 'consciousness'
raised? If you read these things expecting enlightenment of any
sort, I feel sorry for you! Otherwise, comic books are for
entertainment, not 'conciousness raising'.
Tom Ruschak
pur-ee!kechkayl