Daredevil and Kingpin (click for source)
By Jacob H Baxter
Lately I have been noticing more and more that purism seems to be going away in almost all areas of entertainment, especially film and comics. What was old is thrown out in favour of something new. The things that we knew go away and are replaced by things that look similar and we somewhat recognize, but they just aren't the same.
Before I go any further, I'd like to throw out a disclaimer. I am in no way trying to hamper the furthering of diversity within comics. I, in fact, support it. But, my problem here is purism instead of changes.
Lately I have been noticing more and more that purism seems to be going away in almost all areas of entertainment, especially film and comics. What was old is thrown out in favour of something new. The things that we knew go away and are replaced by things that look similar and we somewhat recognize, but they just aren't the same.
Before I go any further, I'd like to throw out a disclaimer. I am in no way trying to hamper the furthering of diversity within comics. I, in fact, support it. But, my problem here is purism instead of changes.
Bishop (click for source)
The first major time I noticed that someone had been changed was in the Daredevil movie. Michael Clarke Duncan was an amazing actor. As such, his portrayal of the Kingpin, as far as his essence and character, were top notch. But, Wilson Fisk is not black. I'm assuming that they cast him to add some colour and diversity to the movie. That's all well and good. But, why couldn't they have written in a point man on the street that was black and given him a substantial role? Or, hell, give a black woman the gig. Why change the Kingpin just for the sake of diversity? It doesn't make sense to me.
Now, as a flip side to the earlier statement, I would have been just as upset in the X-Men books if Bishop or Storm were changed to white or any other colour. Why? Because, that would make them different than the characters that I grew to love. I find Ororro Munroe and Lucas Bishop to be fascinating characters and very important to the woven tapestry that is the Marvel Universe. But, by changing colour or gender, they just aren't the same.
Now, as a flip side to the earlier statement, I would have been just as upset in the X-Men books if Bishop or Storm were changed to white or any other colour. Why? Because, that would make them different than the characters that I grew to love. I find Ororro Munroe and Lucas Bishop to be fascinating characters and very important to the woven tapestry that is the Marvel Universe. But, by changing colour or gender, they just aren't the same.
Thor (click for source)
A lot of people are upset over the current storyline in the Thor comics. Most fan boys got their panties in a wad over Thor being made into a woman. Well, not actually. She was a woman granted the power of Thor after the actual prince of Asgard was stripped of his powers. I'm on the fence with this one. Do I have a problem with a woman wielding the power of Thor? Not at all. After all, he did once get changed into a frog. So, a woman sounds much more feasible. However, the name is the bigger problem to me. She isn't Thor. Thor is Thor. Now, if they wanted to give her a title of her own and subtitle it with the power of Thor or something of that nature, I'd be okay with that. But, this thing is confusing to me.
I really do like to see diversity in the books. A lily white sausage fest gets old quick. So, it's not the diversity in itself that is a problem to me. It is the manner in which they are implementing it. I mean, you don't have to change existing characters. Why not create all new and captivating characters for us to grow to love? That would do the job without skewing the status quo. Or, you have groups like the Green Lantern Corp and SHIELD. Showcase some of their members of varying demographics.
I was especially pleased with the retconned story of the black super soldier experiments in Captain America. I'm still not liking someone other than Steve Rogers being Captain America. But, if anybody other than him is worthy of toting the mantle, it's Sam Wilson. But I still think changing his name to something like American Falcon and keeping the new kick ass costume would have been much cooler than taking the Captain America name while Steve Rogers is out of action.
Hopefully I didn't upset too many people with this article. That was not my aim to be sure. I was simply trying to point out that the goal of diversity can be achieved without compromising the characters that we have come to love. What innovations would you like to see in comics to make them more diverse?
Love female Thor? Prefer Sam Wilson to Captain America? Or do you think it's high time for some new, diverse characters in comics? Whatever your thoughts, let us know below!
I really do like to see diversity in the books. A lily white sausage fest gets old quick. So, it's not the diversity in itself that is a problem to me. It is the manner in which they are implementing it. I mean, you don't have to change existing characters. Why not create all new and captivating characters for us to grow to love? That would do the job without skewing the status quo. Or, you have groups like the Green Lantern Corp and SHIELD. Showcase some of their members of varying demographics.
I was especially pleased with the retconned story of the black super soldier experiments in Captain America. I'm still not liking someone other than Steve Rogers being Captain America. But, if anybody other than him is worthy of toting the mantle, it's Sam Wilson. But I still think changing his name to something like American Falcon and keeping the new kick ass costume would have been much cooler than taking the Captain America name while Steve Rogers is out of action.
Hopefully I didn't upset too many people with this article. That was not my aim to be sure. I was simply trying to point out that the goal of diversity can be achieved without compromising the characters that we have come to love. What innovations would you like to see in comics to make them more diverse?
Love female Thor? Prefer Sam Wilson to Captain America? Or do you think it's high time for some new, diverse characters in comics? Whatever your thoughts, let us know below!
RSS Feed
