Magneto is the “Malcolm X” of the Marvel mutant community. (As Professor X is the Martin Luther King.) They’re both white guys because in 1963 metaphor was the safest way to handle racism issues in comic books.
It’s been my experience that far too many writers equate “being progressive” with “introducing a random character so that I can tick off a box on a checklist”. []A good character will be well-written and well-developed regardless of what demographic they’re a part of. These characters can stand on their own, and are usually done so well that it shouldn’t matter how many times the writing team is changed over the course of the series.[]But for these “progressive” characters, the development largely stopped at “they’re a member of such-and-such group”. The original writer will put so much effort into making it clear that they’re _____ that they either won’t develop the character much further out beyond this point (thus potentially setting up a situation in which the character becomes a caricature) or will try too hard to make the character seem “awesome” that the character will end up as a “Mary Sue”. []This situation is particularly pronounced among some of the “strong female characters” of the last two decades, as many of them wound up becoming male wish fulfillment vehicles instead of actual “strong” characters.
Sorry – was typing to fast in my last response.[]The series lead for Tomb Raider is a female adventurer named Lara Croft.[]When her character model was being designed, one of the programmers goofed when entering in the numbers for her body dimensions. This resulted in her being several cup sizes larger than she was originally meant to be. For reasons unknown, however, the game developer allowed the mistake to stand.[]Ever since then, most of the focus the character has received – not only in the game but also in various spin-off media like comic books – has been on her chest. Her achievements, education, and skills have all taken a back seat to her physical dimensions, with even official artwork of her being little more than cheesecake. []Not exactly a good example for women, is it?
SKJAM! Premium Member almost 10 years ago
Magneto is the “Malcolm X” of the Marvel mutant community. (As Professor X is the Martin Luther King.) They’re both white guys because in 1963 metaphor was the safest way to handle racism issues in comic books.
Ironhold almost 10 years ago
It’s been my experience that far too many writers equate “being progressive” with “introducing a random character so that I can tick off a box on a checklist”. []A good character will be well-written and well-developed regardless of what demographic they’re a part of. These characters can stand on their own, and are usually done so well that it shouldn’t matter how many times the writing team is changed over the course of the series.[]But for these “progressive” characters, the development largely stopped at “they’re a member of such-and-such group”. The original writer will put so much effort into making it clear that they’re _____ that they either won’t develop the character much further out beyond this point (thus potentially setting up a situation in which the character becomes a caricature) or will try too hard to make the character seem “awesome” that the character will end up as a “Mary Sue”. []This situation is particularly pronounced among some of the “strong female characters” of the last two decades, as many of them wound up becoming male wish fulfillment vehicles instead of actual “strong” characters.
Ironhold almost 10 years ago
Sorry – was typing to fast in my last response.[]The series lead for Tomb Raider is a female adventurer named Lara Croft.[]When her character model was being designed, one of the programmers goofed when entering in the numbers for her body dimensions. This resulted in her being several cup sizes larger than she was originally meant to be. For reasons unknown, however, the game developer allowed the mistake to stand.[]Ever since then, most of the focus the character has received – not only in the game but also in various spin-off media like comic books – has been on her chest. Her achievements, education, and skills have all taken a back seat to her physical dimensions, with even official artwork of her being little more than cheesecake. []Not exactly a good example for women, is it?