A thread for discussing representation and diversity in all kinds of media. This covers creators and casting decisions as well as characters and in-universe discussions.
Historical works and decisions are in-scope as well, not just recent news.
Please put any spoilers behind tags and clearly state which work(s) they apply to.
This week, producer Ross Putnam started a Twitter account called "femscriptintros
", where he puts up examples of how women are introduced in the screenplays he's read. And nearly all of sound like terrible porn or are too concerned with emphasizing said lady is beautiful despite whatever traits she may have. Here's a Take Two podcast made today where he talks about it.
(Edited April 19 2024 to add mod pinned post)
Edited by Mrph1 on Apr 19th 2024 at 11:45:51 AM
In the name of being honest
Hergé got better from The Blue Lotus onwards, though he never really dropped his habit of portraying South American natives as the Wacky Wayside Tribe. Apparently when word got out that he was going to set the story in China, a priest who was acting as a chaplain for Chinese students in Belgium wrote to him asking to tone down the whole racism and colonial apologia thing, and subsequently introduced him to one of his Chinese students, which helped him start to see things from the other side and put more emphasis on his research.
The album's portrayal of the Japanese isn't very flattering at all, but then again, it was the thirties.
Echoing hymn of my fellow passerine | Art blog (under construction)
Superhero landing!
In the name of being honest
An animated series and a live-action movie? Nice.
Also, on the subject of non-American westerns, my sister just got me into Golden Kamuy, which is set on the Hokkaido frontier in the aftermath of the Russo-Japanese War. It's got a lot of standard western tropes - gold rush, boom towns, grizzled war veterans and bear attacks - but the biggest draw is probably the fact that it puts Ainu people, language and culture up front, as well as their ordeals under the Imperial government.
I'm not sure whether the anime's production involves actual Ainu people (most of whom would be using Japanese names nowadays), but it's a pretty interesting take on the legacy of colonialism in non-English-language media either way.
Echoing hymn of my fellow passerine | Art blog (under construction)
The Canadian Western exists, but I think you wanted places like Asia and Europe where the connection is less obvious.
I'm Sad Frogerson.
According to the article, the film is being described to be similar to The Devil Wears Prada...
Yeah, no. I'm on the side of the Mary Sue on this one. Not only is it way too goddamn soon to make a movie about this, the official statement about the film seems to be a bit tone deaf regarding the subject matter. I've seen The Devil Wears Prada and let me tell you, it is not a heavy and dramatic look into how bosses exploit their employees. The ramifications regarding Weinstein's outing as a sexual predator are still being felt today. Hell, his trial is still ongoing IIRC.
I generally don't feel comfortable with films being based on real life events so soon after they happen. And when it's about a sensitive and serious subject matter such as this, I just have good reason to be wary about these types of projects...
The Devil Wears Prada is largely about the struggle of young people to get a foot down in the professional world, but on a more meta level, you can read it as a very successful woman who managed to climb to the top over the backs of everyone else to eventually opening another talented woman the opportunity to pick the career of her choosing without having to walk the same path.
In short, it is actually very sympathetic towards "the devil" so to speak.
Lurker turned Troper
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
What?! ... I am well aware that Hollywood is in love with itself to an almost narcissistic degree (the Academy Awards are nothing more than a recursive glorification routine at this point), but this idea is like a parody straight out of the Onion.
...That is going to get cancelled? isnt?. because there is no way in hell someone is going to watch that except for bile fasination.
"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Bile Fascination is a powerful thing, see my reads of short but intense edgy gore mangas. Thought I've never see anything about something recent, even the edgy dramatization of crimes are from something that happened ten years in the past.
Yeah, bad idea overall
Watch me destroying my country
Character breakdowns for Netflix’s live action Cowboy Bebop series[1]. Spike and Faye will be Asian while Jet will be Black.
Was there any indication of their nationality or ethnicity in the anime?
Spike was probably Jewish, everyone else was more ambiguous.
I recall reading Spike was based on a specific Japanese actor, though the name currently escapes me.
Edited by Tuckerscreator on Dec 14th 2018 at 7:02:56 AM
Faye's family came from Singapore and Spike's ethnicity never came up to my knowledge but he's based on the character Shunsaku Kudo, at least when it comes to his character. I remember reading somewhere that he might be part Jewish but can't find anything else to back that up. I always thought that Jet was supposed to be either Asian or white.
Edited by ComicFan on Dec 14th 2018 at 7:07:00 AM
With Spike it is his last name Spiegel (a common German/Jewish name), the fuzzy Jewfro and his gun being an Israeli model that all kind of adds up. Also a hurdle with Mukokuseki characters is that there are more "obviously" Asian characters in the setting. Other than the Yakuza-esque background for Spike, the series as a whole favors more American, European, middle eastern and African atmospheres.
Jet being black is the bigger deal, as he marks off a stereotypically Russian appearance. The likes of Ron Perlman or Josh Brolin would be the more obvious casting choices. Faye and Ed, with their bright purple and red hair, are harder to narrow down, as such saying Faye is Asian doesn't seem too off.
An article about the finale of Voltron and the quarantining of queer content. Spoilers, obviously.
Transcender of Gender
I've been seeing a lot of criticism flung Voltron's way for how the finale handled its characters of colour: namely that the sole black woman is killed, apparently to 'redeem' a person who committed genocide (?), which in turn breaks the heart of the sole Latino character and leads him to live a miserable, traumatised life as a farmer.
they/them || "Forgive me, regent of queer amphibians" - Lt.BGob
The Unknown Unknown
What a mess.
A cruel, sick joke is still a joke, and sometimes all you can do is laugh.
Well, being Jewish and looking Asian aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, but with a Germanic name that's more unlikely. So a bit of a strange choice there.
…So broadcasters are afraid of poor reception if they include queer characters, yet are aware that including them will get them a ton of positive publicity…? There's a bit of a contradiction there…
Edited by Lyendith on Dec 15th 2018 at 6:26:30 PM
The press will give you a lot of positive publicity. The average citizen, especially geeks and the like with legacy characters, let's just say they aren't nearly as welcoming.
Spike Spiegel was heavily inspired by Yusaku Matsuda, so casting him with an Asian actor doesn't seem that out of place.
What can I say, I agree? I only mentionned Lucky Luke because it is a major one. Likewise I am not a big fan of Tintin.