>Superheroes are not good at representing diversity. The genre has for decades been dominated by mostly to white male heroes — and, in fact, is actually tilted specifically towards rich white male superheroes. So while some show runners and producers have tried to move towards greater diversity recently, the sheer ubiquity of these narratives in our pop culture landscape means that even the best exceptions are swamped by a tidal wave of status quo white men saving the world. When superheroes dominate film and television as thoroughly as they do today, the genre’s limitations become that more obvious, and that more frustrating for fans eager for truly diverse storytelling.
>It took 17 years of our current superhero explosion before we got that Wonder Woman film. And we still, inexplicably, don't have a Black Widow movie, even though the character has been portrayed in multiple ensemble movies by Scarlett Johansson, probably the single most bankable actors in Hollywood. Films like “Thor: Ragnarok,” “Guardians of the Galaxy 2” and “Justice League” certainly included non-white guys as supporting actors, but white guys were in their usual position at center stage.
>Superhero narratives struggle with diversity, even when they strive for it, for a few reasons. The first is that the entire superhero genre was built on characters and stories that are 40, 50 and, in some cases, almost 80 years old. Most of the major properties at that time were created by white men for an audience of mostly white men and boys, at a time during which white men were (even more than now) seen as the heroic default.
Superhero narratives striving for diversity are drowned out by the status quo
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>have a fanbase
>stop catering to your fanbase
>oh gee why doesn't our fanbase like us anymore
really makes you think huh
>As a result, fan pressure, nostalgia, and simple laziness push the superhero genre towards white guy heroes. Fans begged Marvel to cast an Asian-American actor as Iron Fist, which would have addressed the stereotypical (and racist) white-guy-goes-East-and-gets-super-powers narrative in the character's origin. But Marvel decided to do what they usually do, and cast the bafflingly uncharismatic white guy Finn Jones instead.
>Similarly, fans were hoping that the new “Spider-Man: Homecoming” might feature Miles Morales, a popular black comic-book character who has worn the webbed-costume for years in the comics. But, again, nostalgia won out and white actor Tom Holland was cast as the white Peter Parker version of the character in the latest movie version.
>Another barrier to superhero diversity is the fact that the genre is built around stories of defending the status quo. Superheroes stop bank robbers and thwart the violent overthrow of the government, expectations that lead to narratives embracing the perspective of the powerful: rich people, white people and men. Billionaire Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), for instance, ends up at the center of “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” sidelining (at least to some degree) the working class title hero. Billionaire Bruce Wayne/Batman (Ben Affleck) ends up at the center of “Justice League,” sidelining women heroes and heroes of color.
>It's possible that the superhero genre will improve. “Black Panther” looks very promising, and the success of “Wonder Woman” means that Gal Gadot is going to be more central to the DC Extended Universe from now on. Superheroes are so dominant in film and television, though, that small steps forward, or even large steps forward, seem insufficient. Science-fiction, for example, certainly has its own problems, but old war horses like “Star Wars” and “Star Trek,” and newer entries like “Dark Matter,” “Okja” and even the Power Rangers have had an easier time reworking their formula to give top billing to characters who aren't white men.
>Activists and fans should of course keep pushing superhero studios and writers to do better. The pressure has been helpful in the past, and is a big part of the reason why we have “The Runaways,” “Wonder Woman” and the forthcoming “Black Panther.” But as long as superheroes take up so much space in the universe of entertainment options, progress is going to be limited by the shadow of Stark Tower and Wayne Manor. If we want more diversity on screen, we probably are ultimately going to need not just different superheroes, but fewer of them.
This was on NBC NEWS's fucking site.
this guy's hideous, it's really putting me off
>>
>Most of the major properties at that time were created by white men for an audience of mostly white men and boys, at a time during which white men were (even more than now) seen as the heroic default.
Weird how authors/creators write characters that look like them for audiences that look like them.
It's time for some new think pieces. Let me start.
>When will Bollywood put more African leads in their films? They can dance and sing as well as any Indian.
>When will Chinese historical dramas start putting Aboriginal people in lead roles? Aboriginal people came from around that area, surely some Chinese people looked like them, during some Dynasty era?
>Why don't the Japanese put Arabs in their cyberpunk anime films? Aren't Arabs just as tech savvy as the Japanese?
Once I start seeing these think pieces alongside the "why doesn't western white culture put more poc in their films?" pieces, the authors can kindly shut the fuck up.
he's the writer.
>"do better"=not casting white men
nobody fucking cares, people understand they're based on the funny haha books from the 20th century and they enjoy the movies for what they are. Most people aren't racists and don't think purely in terms of race
yeah i know, it's making me wonder whether i should listen to a single thing he says
There's something a little jewish in him, but I can't point my finger on it.
Oh, wait, is fucking everything.
Also
>Scarlett Johansson, probably the single most bankable actors in Hollywood
I get that he has to stick to the shitty narrative he's trying so hard to push, but that's plain retarded.
You have to understand normal people don't think like this at all, your average person never grapples with the whole cultural "SJW v anti-SJW" thing or whatever the fuck it is. """"SJW""""s (shitty term since they obviously take it literally to serve their own perceptions) are racists and sociopaths who project their shortcomings into others and champion against them to try and seperate themselves into the 'good guy' category they try to convince themselves exists and makes them righteous but instead they just dump sludge all over EVERYTHING
but you see, audiences cannot connect at all with a character unless the character is the same race, sex, and sexual preference as them. that's why ive never seen any foreign films or watched any space or fantasy movies, because the protagonists don't look anything like me, they have pointy ears or some shit.
Who the fuck were these """(((fans)))""" who wanted asian Iron Fist and nigger Spiderman?
the fans who've never read Iron Fist or Miles' Spider-Man, they're called virtue signalers, they hang out on twitter, there's like 10s of thousands of them.
the ironic thing to me is how inherently worldly and international and thus inclusive a place like Sup Forums is and always has been where we have no skin color or sexual characteristics attached to our views
clearly we must be eliminated
This guy seems to spend the entirety of his days logged into twitter bitching about right wingers and white people.
>jew complaining about white males
color me surprised
Exactly this.
this is true, but it still generates enough ad revenue for those sites to keep publishing this dreck.
those are hate clicks
this
bump
it's a type
one more reason to never have a twitter account
...