Recently on Random Fandom, Host Drew Taylor and I discussed dreamcasting. As in if you were making a comic book movie, who would be your dream cast.
Suffice to say I had plenty to discuss on the matter.
You can download the episode here or listen below.
Cross-posted:
If you’re unfamiliar with the Bechdel Test, let me give you a short overview.
The test was popularized in Alison Bechdel’s comic Dykes to Watch Out For (“The Rule,” 1985), when one of the characters says that she will only go to movies that meet three simple criteria. The movie must have:
You’ll be amazed at how shockingly few movies meet these tiny requirements. Go here for a video plus links on just how rarely movies pass the test. The only movies I recall seeing recently that pass the test are Hoodwinked and Alien.
Now that the stark reality of Hollywood sexism has got you good and depressed, let’s cheer up by turning our eye to Hollywood racism.
If there is a POC version of the Bechdel Test, what would be the requirements, and what would we call it?
My initial thoughts are that to pass the [Test], a movie must have:
What do you think? What would be your test? Which movies would pass? Which ones would not?
BTW, feel free to make your own test for sexuality, disability, and other marginalities as well.
NOTE TO HOLLYWOOD: LISTEN THE HELL UP!!!
This blog says it so I don’t have to.
As many of you have heard, Elisabeth Sladen has passed away.
It was only a few days ago that I penned a tribute post to both Elisabeth Sladen and the iconic heroine she portrayed, Sarah Jane Smith.
And don’t think the eerie timing hasn’t been fucking with me.
First Perry Moore, then Dwayne McDuffie, now Elisabeth Sladen. I have no words.
It goes without saying but my thoughts and prayers are with Ms. Sladen’s family and loved ones.
Below is the tribute post I wrote this weekend.
And to Ms. Sladen, thank you…..for everything. And take a bow.
Cross-posted from Prism Comics.
“I know what special abilities you have. I can see the enhancements. I can detect the increased electrical activity in your brain. I know what moves you’re preparing to make. I’ve fought our fight already, in my head, in a million different ways. I can hit you without you even seeing me. I’m what soldiers dream of growing into. I’m what children see when they first imagine what death is like. I’m the Midnighter.”
Confession time. I was late to the party discovering many of the wonderful gems that Wildstorm has to offer. When it comes to comics, I’ve traditionally remained with the mainstream superhero genre and even with that I’m highly selective.
The Authority was repeatedly recommended to me in passing but I didn’t give it much thought. One night online however, I was having a discussion on an internet forum about the dearth of gay superheroes in comics and in the media in general. I voiced how we desperately need more Capt. Jack Harknesses, Willow Rosenbergs, Lafayette Reynolds, and Satsus, each of whom are awesome personified. Another forum member suggested I check out Midnighter because they felt he would be right up my alley.
Over at Border House, Alis Dee really, really wants you to play Dragon Age 2.
Which is, hey, good for her. She drops a bizarre statement,1 but okay, whatever. Reading down the article, though, gave me pause.
[1]: “homosexuality is neither a taboo nor a fetishised “virtue” (a la the pederastic social structures of, say, Ancient Greece/Feudal Japan, or the woeful modern Magical Queer trope).” Yeah I didn’t know those cultures were defined by pederasty either. Learn something new every day, eh?
Ultimately, the main “problem” with DA2′s narrative is that it really does have Social Justice 101 and Feminist Media Deconstruction 201 as prerequisite courses; almost all of the game’s point is lost if you don’t read it from that angle (and, for gods’ sakes, one of the main characters is called “Justice”, just in case everything else was too subtle a hint for you). Even people who do will find it highly contentious — maybe even more-so — purely because the game does try and doesn’t hit 100% of all targets at all times; SJers are used to writing off non-starters, but they’re absolutely brutal with anything that tries and doesn’t make perfection.
The criticisms of DA2′s portrayal of mental illness and its whitewashing are valid, but I think they’re also almost threatening to drown out the ways in which DA2 does work.
See, this is why sometimes criticism and fannishness should be kept apart. It’s like Harry Potter fans who refuse to hear anything about Rowling’s dubious handling of sexual politics and problematic racial discourse. You defend your object of fannishness to the death. You laud it for virtues it may or may not have, and ignore anything you realize isn’t quite right with it. All that is still more or less inoffensive, if daft and myopic, but when your fannishness edges into shutting other people down, it’s no longer okay.
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You would think that with the economic climate being what it is, that the entertainment industry (which hasn’t been immune to the recession) would be all too eager to jump on the opportunity gain revenue.
But as people of color know all too well, many racist whites (both fans and industry shot-callers alike) would sooner cut their nose (or in this case burn their wallets), just to spite their face.
When cis straight white fans demand certain things in media: be it movies, television or comics—storylines or better characters or what have you—they’re lauded and praised as being outspoken, passionate and devoted fans. Yet when marginalized audiences, specifically POCs, simply ask for better representation (or any representation for that matter) and to have our stories explored, suddenly we’re being entitled, uppity, unreasonable and too sensitive.
Yet the racist white PTB have been left to their own devices: be it the erasure and whitewashing of POCs from the media, inundating the media with the white caucasian power fantasies, etc. and yet, they are still suffering economically.
And while they continue to hemorrhage financially, they still refuse to acknowledge that POCs can make an impact—even though we’ve proven it time and time and time again—and will make the flimsiest excuses to justify why POCs shouldn’t be visible in the media and why our dollars don’t count.
Excuses I’m about to debunk and with this post.
