There was a bunch of shit about Scarlet Johansson playing the main character in Ghost in the Shell and now there's shit about Michael B. Jordan being Superman.
If having SJ play Motoko in Ghost in the Shell is "white-washing", how is changing the race of "white" characters not "tanning" them? I think "tanning" sounds better than "coloring", "dying", or "staining" simply because of the negative connotations some people may feel those words imply, though if you've ever seen a nice piece of wood furniture properly stained, you know it's not a bad thing at all. Michael Clarke Duncan as the King Pin in Dare Devil was a fucking epic choice. I would have loved for him to be the main villain of the MCU franchise (RIP).
But that's not really the point. A lot of these characters started out in the 1930's - 60's. What is wrong with having stories of aging or aged super heroes passing down the mantle?
There's multiple Green Lanterns, John Stewart replaces Hal Jordan. Batman passes down the title in Batman Beyond (the character is white but that's not the point). Hank Pym passes the Ant-Man suit to Scott Lang. Doctor Strange is the successor to the previous Sorcerer Supreme. Iron Man is basically just a suit which is how we end up with War Machine. I mean Tony Stark made Peter's suit too. Peter Parker passes the web-shooters to Mile Morales. I read the Wikipedia article on Miles Morales he's got a really cool arc of his own. The way they implemented him in Spider-Man for PS4 was really well done.
So what's wrong with doing that?
Another example is Zendaya's "MJ" in homecoming. People threw a fit. The character of Michelle is no where near Mary-Jane's character type. Mary-Jane is outgoing, independent, opinionated, and passionate. Michelle was quiet, secluded, smart, and quirky. There's nothing wrong with those things but that's not Peter's MJ, or rather it wasn't. I feel like Homecoming's Michelle - MJ switcharoo is the weirdest example of trying to "tan" a character. I might be wrong I don't know if that character exists outside the movie.
I don't care if you introduce new characters or if you "change the race" of a character, but they should still keep the same character.
Michael B. Jordan was fucking excellent as Kill Monger in Black Panther. Could he be Superman? Sure! Could he be Clark Kent's Superman? I honestly don't know? I mean would it make sense that a black kid have the same experience growing up on a farm in middle america as a white kid? (Honest question). Or would you change Clark's story to "fit his race"? If you're going to change his story why would you not just make a new character?
I think it would be super cool to run with the idea that you have a single mother in an urban environment find a Kryptonian child and raise him as her own. Raising the child helps pull her out of some personal problem that was holding her down, and stabilizes her, gives her hope. He grows up as a black kid in an urban environment with all the challenges that entails and then in his teens starts coming into his powers. Only his experience leads him down a different path than Clark's. His detachment from his mother as he ages and comes into his powers causes her to fall back into old problems. That aggravates his situation. As he gets stronger and gains more control his ambitions lead to more attention. Finally Superman notices. Yada-Yada 3rd act. Kal-El has a new rival? Student? Successor?
That's a shit pitch, but it's better than "ok Superman is black now because MBJ stock is going up and diversity". That's no better than adding a token character. I mean if race is so intrinsic to who a character is that you shouldn't "white-wash" a character, then why is it ok to "tan" (for lack of a better term!) a "white" character? What's wrong with creating a whole new character? The only issue I see is money. A character that has no history, that is brand new, has no recognition behind it. It has no established fan base to market to. It's easier to make Superman black and appeal to two demographics. So if it's all about money any way then who the hell cares what color they draw Santa Clause in?
Submitted September 16, 2018 at 04:50AM by not-very-creativ3 https://ift.tt/2xcD0VM
