Race and Fandom
Contents |
Problems in Canon
Race and ethnicity has been an issue in the canons of fannish source texts for almost as long as fandom has been around. Because most entertainment is created and produced by white males, particularly in Hollywood, it tends to reflect the mindset and experiences of the majority of its creators.
Black man dies first
Even though the black man dying first in films is a recognized problem, and even derided,[1] it still seems as if black characters (and Asian, and native, and characters otherwise not coded as white) are killed off or written out in proportionately higher numbers than their white counterparts.[2]. When Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which had been an almost frighteningly white show up till then) added a beautiful professional black man in 7th season, an LJ community called deadbrowalking: the people of color deathwatch[3] started up almost immediately. Although Principal Robin Wood inexplicably did make it to the finale of Buffy, the community still actively "awaits the inevitable" in other shows.
Stereotypes
When not killed off, characters from marginalized groups can be written in stereotyped ways. Need a drug dealer? Black man. Need a lawyer? Hey, this isn't an ethnic part. And don't even try to be the protagonist. The character Charles Gunn's gang background was stereotypical, and when, later in the series, he became a lawyer, it was not through the traditional avenue of study, but rather due to magical intervention.
Shows set in "white world"
Many shows, perhaps due to being filmed in areas they are not set in, whitewash the setting. Roswell, for example, seemed to be one of the whitest towns in the Southwest, and Angel's L.A. seemed to be almost entirely devoid of people of colour, outside the occasional (often demonic) gang.
Appropriation
Another problem is appropriation. Firefly came under quite a bit of criticism for its use of Chinese culture and language without including hardly any visibly Chinese characters, eventually even leading to protest vids being created about the issue: Secret Asian Man [4] and How Much Is That Geisha In the Window? [5].
Some sources take a more metaphorical approach to race, which is not without its pitfalls. Harry Potter seems to be a homily against racism, but it also seems to advocate racial segregation. The Stargate Universe often uses actors who do not read as white to play the aliens.
The Magical Negro
Another frequent misuse of race in fannish sources is "the magical negro" [6] . The magical negro serves as a plot device to help the protagonist get out of trouble, typically through helping the white character recognize his own faults and overcome them. Although he has magical powers, his magic is ostensibly directed toward helping and enlightening a white, usually male, character. The shows Lost, and Heroes (especially 3rd season) are among many that have been criticized for this trope.
Media Fandom
Most participants in media fandom are women with some higher education, disposable income, and leisure time. Fandom also tends to perceive itself as primarily white, and fans of color[7] can be marginalized.
Many source texts focus on young, attractive, able-bodied white characters, and even when a canon includes characters of color, those characters often receive less fannish attention.[8] Some white fans have described themselves as frightened of writing characters of color in case they make mistakes that might offend fans of color. While this may be a legitimate fear, the result is the same: fewer fanworks with characters of color.
Sometimes, when fans do write about characters of color, they write about them in offensive ways[9]. They may also use offensive language to describe white characters or theoretically race-neutral situations.[10]
Other times when fans write about characters of color, they uncritically amplify mistakes the fannish source is making in regards to race (discussed above), rather than confronting and challenging them.
Discussions of portrayals of characters of colour are often heated and divisive, and make fans of colour feel less welcome in fandom. One of the reasons fans of colour feel less welcome after these discussions is rather than having their issues addressed, instead it immediately goes meta, and they are accused of having an offensive, aggressive, or oversensitive tone.
zvi termed this the "tone" argument and has written extensively about it.[11][12] "Tone," of course, also references "skintone," making "I don't like your tone," an even more problematic statement.
Media cons, Slash cons
Conversations about race and fandom have happened in person as well. Escapade has had panels on Race in fandom; most notably, "The Absence of Color in Black and White Fanfiction" run by LadyJax and Coniraya, two fans of color, in 2006, "Identity Politics in Fandom" run by Kass and Nyssa23 (one white fan and one fan of color) in 2008 and "Becoming Better Allies: Consciousness-Raising for White Fans" run by arallara and smallbeer in 2009.
Science Fiction Fandom
Science fiction fandom, while skewing more male, is likewise a very white endeavor. Recent debates in the SF community, e.g. "RaceFail '09", have focused on a lack of published writers of color and offensive appropriation of African, Asian, Indigenous Australian, Latin American, and Native American cultures or histories as settings for stories.
The issue of race in science fiction fandom often has to do with which racial groups make it to the future and what historical landscapes serve as the templates for fantasy worlds. K. Tempest Bradford has written on how editors can and should elicit additional material about people of color or written by authors of color. The feminist science-fiction convention WisCon has had an ongoing discussion about appropriation since 2006.
Historical Overview
High (by which I probably mean low) points here. IBARW began on July 17, 2006.[13]
External links
- Racialicious -- the intersection of race and pop culture
- Aang Ain't White -- fan campaign to protest the all-white lead casting for the Avatar: The Last Airbender live action movie
References
- ↑ Black Dude Dies First, TV Tropes, (accessed 24 October 2008)
- ↑ See treatment of Rainbow Sun Frank's character Aiden Ford in Stargate Atlantis, for example.
- ↑ deadbrowalking: the people of color deathwatch
- ↑ '"Huh," I said to myself. "I wonder how you would do a vid about the lack of a character. It would be kind of hard to find shots of them. Kind of."' Shati, new vid - Firefly Secret Asian Man, posted 9 October 2008. (accessed 24 October 2008)
- ↑ Vid: How Much Is that Geisha in the Window? by Lierdumoa, posted 22 August 2008. (Accessed 24 October 2008)
- ↑ An Idiot’s Guide to the Magical Negro
- ↑ Link to FOCcing cabal goes here
- ↑ "When you add this issue -- so common that my fellow fans-of-color *all* have the same horror story to tell about one fandom or another -- to the undeniable fact that, in any given fandom *with* characters of color there will be *objectively* fewer fan-fiction stories written about them full stop..." Te, My *Other* Problem with Recent DCU Events Livejournal post, 20 September, 2006. (Accessed 18 October 2008)
- ↑ "The reason we feel this is important and such a sensitive issue is that all these hair jokes unintentionally propagate racism.…Chad is gorgeous and his hair is big and curly and beautiful, and we don’t need be people who would tell him otherwise. If you love him the way I do – or the way Ryan does – please don’t include petty hair insults in your stories." elvensorceress, A VERY IMPORTANT Note from the Mods, livejournal post to the idontdance community, 9 November 2007, (Accessed 20 October 2008)
- ↑ Dog Whistles and Insults zvi, Livejournal Post, last edit 31 July 2007, (accessed 20 October 2008)
- ↑ zvi, Tone: Let's approach this from the other direction, 31 January 2008. Accessed 24 October 2008.
- ↑ zvi, What I learned about tone, 8 February 2008. Accessed 24 October 2008.
- ↑ International Blog Against Racism Week Link Roundup, rilina, Livejournal Post, 7/17/2006, accessed 20 October 2008
