Street Level Heroes

This is more about TV.

I'm writing this Friday night around 11pm; the house is quiet, the kids are asleep, the wife's out of town. I plan on putting on a little Netflix (Jessica Jones) and catching an episode or two, but I wanted to blog a couple things while I'm thinking about it...even though I don't plan on posting this for a couple days.

I received a notification from Netflix that the new season of Daredevil is coming out March 18th. Readers of this blog know how much I dig the man in the red suit. The main question, of course, is will the second season be as good as the first? Well, it's going to introduce Elektra, and the first episode (per IMDB) has Daredevil facing off against Frank Castle (AKA the Punisher) so comic fans should be prepared to totally geek out. For me, I have to say that the highlight of watching the trailer was actually seeing Murdoch and Foggy interact...as I blogged before, Elden Henson is a breath of fresh air; I forgot how good the chemistry between these actors is, and I found myself (emotionally) moved in just a few second clip. Rosario Dawson again makes an appearance, based on the series trailer, and Deborah Woll (Karen Page) gets 2nd billing in every episode, so I assume she remains prominent, despite the introduction of ex-flame Elektra.

Not Greek.

Elektra appears to retain her Greek-ish heritage (last name "Natchios") but will be played by Elodie Yung, a French woman of mixed French and Cambodian ancestry. Which I find fascinating for all sorts of reasons. It won't be the first time a non-Greek person will have played the popular anti-hero (see Jennifer Garner), but I wonder about the insistence of keeping a character's ethnic identity. I suppose I'm just being picky.

Or am I? There's been quite a brouhaha over the casting of Finn Jones to play Danny Rand in the upcoming Iron Fist series...appears more than a few people were hoping that Marvel and Netflix would take a step outside comic book cannon and cast an Asian-American in the role (you can do your own Google search for "Iron Fist controversy"...you'll find several articles). I mean, he IS a martial arts master, right?

Oh, boy.

Not Asian.

I can understand why Iron Fist is a troublesome character. He's got the whole "cultural appropriation" thing going on, plus you know, the "white guy reigns supreme" thing (kicking the ass of Asian martial artists as he takes on the championship mantle from the mystical Asian kingdom dimension). Of course, even making him Asian is problematic because, well, then you get the whole stereotype of "all Asians know karate" thing. Look, I grew up in Seattle and had a lot of friends of Asian ancestry...not a single one did martial arts, and many of them (especially my Filipino buddies) absolutely HATED that stereotype.

Come to think of it, in all the years I practiced martial arts (about a decade of tae kwon do and hwa rang do plus a single, abbreviated foray into chung moo do) all the practitioners I knew were caucasian. Hell, I only ever met one instructor that was Korean, and she'd only started practicing because she was married to her (caucasian) husband who was an instructor and had met her in Korea.

[I did work with a man of mixed Hawaiian and Japanese ancestry who taught aikido, but all the folks I knew who studied aikido...four guys and a girl...were white]

But that's the Seattle experience, and we have a legacy left from Bruce Lee who lived there and ran a school for a number of years before going to Hong Kong to make movies.

Not even American.

So Iron Fist is a problematic figure. The thing is (*sigh*) I LOVE Iron Fist. I've been waiting with bated breath for his series since it was announced years ago. When I was a kid playing Marvel Superheroes, my character was based on Iron Fist (his look, not his powers). The recent series for the character, the "Living Weapon" stuff, is great. I really dug the whole Daredevil-Iron Fist switcheroo (which made perfect sense when you think about it). I love his relationship with Luke Cage...the black-white buddy thing. I love his off-again-on-again relationship with Misty Knight (probably my second favorite female superhero after Batgirl...it's the cyborg thing). I love that he's stupid about a lot of things. I love that he's smart about things that are truly important. I love that he got rid of his wealth rather than sitting on it (like Bruce Wayne or Oliver Queen). I love that he runs a tiny dojo for inner city kids. He is a very urban superhero (like Cage, like Misty)...he reminds me of real people I've known...good people who are involved with their community and who don't allow themselves to be stereotyped by what they do, regardless of the color of their skin.

For me, the problem isn't that Iron Fist is a white dude. The problem is there's an under-representation of Asian and Asian-American superheroes. Well, male ones anyway...there've been several prominent females, and even some re-skins (if you'll pardon the pun), like the Wasp in Marvel's Ultimate imprint. But male heroes? In Marvel (with which I'm more familiar) you've got Sunfire and Shang-Chi and in DC you've got...what? Samurai from the Super-Friends?

As far as I know, Shang-Chi is the only one who ever had his own title: Master of Kung-Fu. Now there's a walking Asian stereotype for you! Shang-Chi was first published in 1973 (before Iron Fist) and his series ran into the mid-1980s. I mean, if folks really want to see an Asian martial artist superhero, that's the guy you want to bring to the screen...but no one wants to see that. We've got plenty of Hong Kong action films with Asian actors doing martial arts already.

Black Panther?

How about if we make Black Panther Malaysian instead of African? As I wrote before, in a cursory study of diversity in the Marvel universe (among prominent superheroes), black males are over-represented considering their percentage of the American population. And having a black dude named "Black Panther" is right on the same level as having a Chinese guy known as "the Master of Kung-Fu." Black panthers (the animal) are common in the equatorial rain forests of Malaysia (per Ye Old Wikipedia) as well as southwestern China and Nepal. I know Marvel plans on coming out with a Black Panther film...why not cast it with Malaysian actor Zahiril Adzim (the kick-boxer in the critically acclaimed drama Bunohan)? Wouldn't that be a better choice than the (often sad-sack) karate-dude Iron Fist?

[haha. Just joking...I know they've already cast Chadwick Boseman who was great as Jackie Robinson in 42]

The point is, there are a lot of better options for re-imagining characters as non-white heroes than the guy with the dragon tattoo on his chest. Dr. Strange would have been a fine choice (a third generation Asian-American who travels to Tibet and faces culture shock?). Daniel Dae Kim would have made a great Hawkeye (leader of the West Coast Avengers). Probably not Tony Stark (looking at his origin story), but certainly Rhodey/War Machine. Ghost Rider. Any of the X-Men when you think about it (maybe not Thunder Bird). Ant-Man (though I really did enjoy Paul Rudd as Scott Lang). Any of the Fantastic Four could have been east Asian (though having orange rocky skin kind of renders the whole ethnicity thing moot). Spider-Man (isn't he due for a new reboot anyway?).

Yes, I know I'm irritating people on both sides. The point is, it ain't the 1960s. Filmmakers aren't making real CANNON stories anyway...people are driving Teslas and using cell phones and the internet. You don't need to go with "cannon" for race if the rest of the story is getting a facelift. But Iron Fist is a poor choice for a re-skin, in my not-so-humble opinion. Have him get his ass kicked by Asian martial artists if the cultural appropriation thing is too galling for you, and then have his bacon saved by Luke and Misty and Colleen. Heck, that's always been the real strength of his character: his friends and teammates.

[by the way, why does Wolverine get a pass on the cultural appropriation thing?]

*glug*glug*glug*

Ugh, still haven't talked about Jessica Jones. She really deserves her own post, but I really just want to go watch an episode. Okay, let me just (briefly) say this: Jessica Jones is a good show. It is a HARD show to watch...there's quite a bit of button-pushing that goes on in it: issues like racism and severe abuse and substance dependency and mental illness and other unsavories. It's quite a bit more intense than watching Daredevil beat up human traffickers, and it brings up all sorts of "icky" feelings. But it's well done, and the cast is terrific, especially the leads (Krysten Ritter and Mike Colter as Luke Cage). Ritter especially...she's just so unapologetic as a train wreck of a superhero that you can't help but root for her. And David Tennant as the Purple Man is really slimy...unlike Donofrio's Kingpin, there is absolutely no sympathy for this particular psychopath.

Yeah, Jessica Jones really needs its own post.

Alcoholics really shouldn't date bar owners.

I will say that, with regard to issues of strength, Ms. Jones seems to be right on par with my calculations. In doing my research into superheroes' weights the other day, I came across this article taking Marvel to task for making women who were too skinny for their height and build (kind of a "Barbie doll" syndrome for comics). I haven't researched that, as most of the characters the author cites are superhero women who don't possess "superhuman strength" (the subject of my research), but after reading it, I was wondering how Jones would hold up.

Turns out pretty well. Her official stats have her listed as 5'7", 124# which isn't all that far off from the measurements of the actor who plays the character (5'9", 127#). By my calcs, a super-strong character of 124# with "good" (13-15) physical strength has a Carry/Throw of 3.2 tons. Marvel doesn't list an official limit to Jessica's strength, though it notes that she is able to throw a two-ton police car with ease. Looks about right to me.

[plus, her full strength punch is enough to kill a normal human (oops! spoiler!). That's the same whether you can bench six tons or sixty, folks]

Okay, that's enough superhero talk for one night. Later, folks.

Diversity

Not as profound a post as the title might indicate.

SO...just something I was working on a bit the other day, and wanted to get it up prior to losing it in all other sorts of mumbo jumbo. I was considering the subject of diversity (*ahem*) with relation to the comic book/superhero genre and...perhaps...a better way of modeling the same.

This idea first began percolating (I think) because my son and I were watching The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes animated cartoon series (available on Netflix). Great, great show, and very true to the comics I know (the stuff from the 70s and 80s) while still updating material for the 21st century. Wholesome (non-cynical) fare that still kicks ass.

[as an aside...I personally tried to watch that Justice League series, previewing them for the boy given our interest in DC heroes these days, and found them pretty terrible. I'm sorry, but after three episodes (a three-part War of the Worlds/Invasion of the Body Snatchers bunch of weirdness) I've got back to favoring Marvel over DC...at least as far as things like "story" and "character" are concerned. What a bunch of (*barf*). Still think that Batman: Brave and the Bold is pretty good, however]

Anyway, in one episode a bunch of the Avengers are sitting around a table playing poker without their masks and they're all, like, blonde haired white guys. Which is, sure, true to the original look of the (comic) characters' secret identities but...well, come on now. It is the Avengers in 2010, after all.

One of my superhero RPGs (Wild Talents or DC Adventures, I think, but I don't remember at the moment) had a fairly good section regarding demographics and ways to "seed" superheroes based on real world stats. You know, things like: If the world is full of super-beings and one-fifth the human population is Chinese than 20% of all such beings should, likewise, make their homes in east Asia." The chapter also looks at things like historic populations and whatnot...just good stuff to think about.

I, of course, am not interested in running a supers game set in ancient Rome or Victoria's British Empire any more than I'm interested in running a Beijing Avengers campaign. But it would be nice to have a traditional American-flavored setting that reflects the demographic diversity of its own country. So I spent a few hours pulling census data from the government and compiling stats. For kicks.

'Cause, you see, it's not enough to just go by the percentages of our rainbow folks as listed in wikipedia. For one thing, there's a lot of old white people...and really, how many elderly superheroes are out tottering the streets, fighting crime? So we've got to look at a decent age range for our demographics. I looked at two ranges: 20 to 54 (because...well, 50s not that old if you stay in shape and have a genetically enhanced metabolism...and keep your super-menace battling to a handful of incidents per year, preferably with a team of youngsters to back you), and 15 to 49 (even though those teenagers should really be staying in school and not off fighting alien invasions). If the total number of superheroes in the United States was numbered at 100, here's how they'd break down in terms of visible diversity:

Age 20 to 54:

White Male: 31
Hispanic (White*) Male: 8
Black Male: 6
American Indian Male: 1
Asian-Pacific Islander Male: 3
Male, 2+ Races (self-identified): 1
White Female: 31
Hispanic (White*) Female: 7
Black Female: 7
American Indian Female: 1
Asian-Pacific Islander Female: 3
Female, 2+ Races (self-identified): 1

[*People who identified as being of both Hispanic Ancestry and one of the "non-white" categories numbered less than 0.5% in each category and thus were included with the racial category with which they identified, increasing that respective number. The issue of "Hispanic ancestry" in the USA is problematic one; many American Latinos trace their ancestry to roots within the bordering country of Mexico, but when forced to choose a race feel they have no good alternative as "Mexican" is not a race. Technically, most Mexicans are "Mestizo:" a mix of Spanish immigrant and native Mesoamerican; however, as Mestizo is so dominant (more than 60% of the population) and the exact percentage of Spanish-Native in individuals so skewed, the term has fallen out of general use...especially considering a derogatory (2nd class citizen) origin. As such, most simply identify themselves as "Mexican" and contrast themselves sharply from people of "indigenous" background (what the USA would call "American Indians"). My wife is a non-white Mexican (now Naturalized U.S. citizen) and she marks herself as "white" on census surveys. I have (brown-skinned) Latino friends from both California and Texas whose families have been American since the US "acquired" their states from Mexico, and they likewise identify their race as "Mexican" and use "white, Hispanic" or "other" with regard to surveys. As such, the category "white Hispanic" should be taken with a grain of salt]

[why an American monopoly on super-beings? call it a combination of microwave ovens, food additives, and that somewhat overbearing American arrogance. And it's easier for an American like me to run it]

Finding a list of 100 superheroes in a shared universe (in this case Marvel) is tougher than it sounds...at least if I'm looking for "classic" superheroes (i.e. ones with which I'm familiar, that have been around 25+ years). That's heroes, mind you, not villains who've had brief stints in heroic roles (like Baron Zemo and Norman Osborne, for example). It's not a bad exercise, and the comparison with the demographics is...well, interesting.

For example, while white male heroes are over-represented (and certainly in the role of "headliners"), they're not completely dominant...my count was 43, possibly 44 depending on how you count Nightcrawler (there are German "people of color," of course, and who knows how a purplish mutant self-identifies). But if white dudes are over-represented by 38%, black guys are more over-represented by 50% (nine instead of six, though I'm counting both the new Nick Fury and Sunspot, who seems to have gotten lighter and lighter skinned over the years). People of American Indian ancestry are over-represented in both sexes (not hard, given a demographic number of "1"), and both white and API women are right on the money (31 and 3, respectively)...even if most of these are "2nd string" heroes. Many of these B-listers have risen to prominence in recent years (at least as members of hero teams if not headlining their own series), which is good.

[I should note that I'm classifying inhuman-looking folks by their original identity...She-Hulk and Tigra might not be "white" anymore, but they were prior to becoming "powered"]

Why not be from Atlanta?

Even so, women as a whole are under-represented: 40 female heroes to 60 male heroes, when it should be 50-50 based on the demographics. Most of these are lost from the black and "hispanic white" categories. There really aren't any Latina superheroes prior to 1990 (the exception being the little known "Firebird," who appeared in a few West Coast Avengers issues), and only three black women of real prominence: Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau), Misty Knight, and Storm. Certainly Storm is one of the heavy hitters of the Marvel universe, having led the X-Men and been featured in a number of story lines...though interestingly, she's not an American native, but rather an import from Kenya. Considering she was introduced in 1975 (before the great influx of African immigrants towards the end of the 20th century) that's kind of sad. I mean, really sad.

Anyway...sorry, I was going to list the demographics for the younger scope, but it's pretty much the same except you reduce the white folks by one from each sex, and bump up black males and Latinos by one apiece. When I started doing this, I was going to list likely candidates to dump from one ethnicity to another...to bring the "classic" Marvel universe more in-line with real demographics...but now, well...I'm not in the comic book industry. And comic books are certainly featuring more diversity these days then they did in the hay-day of my youth. But...well, I'm done. Like I said, it was something I was researching, but it's not terribly pertinent to what I'm working on at the moment. I just put these numbers here in case anyone's interested.

Later, folks.

Checking My Privilege

I’ve been thinking a lot about diversity and inclusiveness lately (as in, the last 12-13 months or so), mainly with regard to game design. My rant the other day had an element of this and…well, I’m on a plane heading for Chicago at the moment with shit-for-TV playing instead of Guardians of the Galaxy, so I might as well pound out a blog post on the subject.

[creating games with “adequate diversity” (and with attention to including all sorts of folks) is something of a hot-button topic these days, so I’ll probably take shit from both sides for my reflections on the subject. I’m cool with that]

Gosh, where even to start? I feel challenged to even address the subject of diversity when I come from a place as privileged as I do. I’m white, male, straight, American, non-trans-anything. I’m married with a couple kids. I’m Roman Catholic and even though Catholics sometimes take some heat for their religion, it’s tough to feel marginalized when you’re part of the single largest religion on the planet (at least, if you’re including the “lapsed” and “non-practicing” Cat-Lickers).

I’m about as white-bread normal as they come. I’m a drinker, but a functioning one. I eat meat, but know it’s bad for my cholesterol.  I’m not a porn watcher, but I want it to be accessible (except for my kids). I watch a lot of football. I drive a car and have a bank account. There’s nothing “oppressed” about my life, and (for the most part) the society I live in is one set-up and designed to support me. I may bitch-and-moan when Americans stupidly vote Tea Party Republicans into office, but that’s just a principle thing. I and my family benefit from having a Republican controlled Congress. Paying less taxes just means I’m getting richer…my health care and retirement and whatnot is already paid for, and I live in a nice enough neighborhood of Seattle that if my kids end up going to public school they’ll be in one of the best.

It’s a disgusting abundance of privilege that I have.

[sorry…had to break to eat my cheese blintzes, fresh fruit, and sausage. Oh, and order another complimentary Bloody Mary. Business class, ya’ know?]

I’m not in the top 1% of Americans, probably not even the top 10%, but I’m well above “median income,” and I’ve never really suffered; and hell, there’s no real suffering in sight. I own a nice house, I’ve got no crushing debt (car and student loans were paid off long ago), and while two kids can mean a financial burden, I’m still able to get to a few Seahawks games. Whether or not people of the same sex can marry has no effect on my life; what does matters is if my cable and high speed internet are up-and-running. Regardless of whether or not I “support the troops,” the troops are certainly supporting me and my lifestyle. The fact that I have time and energy to complain about WotC or lack of diversity in films or the weather in Paraguay should tell you that truthfully, I really have no complaints at all.

Thus it’s a challenge for me to have any kind of “cred” when it comes to talking about changing game (design) culture.  I can’t talk from a background of being oppressed or underrepresented or misrepresented because, hey, I belong to the ruling class. And it’s not like I got this through hard work or metaphysical visualization-manifestation. I just happen to be born into the right place at the right time with the “right” gender-color-orientation. Dig?

So why bother? When the best you can be considered is an “ally to the cause” and the worst is some misguided dude with “white knight syndrome,” why the F even bother? Why not just continue to design shit without any secondary agenda? “For my children?” They’re already set on a course for being as privileged as myself (if not more so). Because of my “white guilt?” No: it’s hard to feel guilty about “writing what you know,” even if what you know isn’t incredibly diverse. Because it’s “different” or “novel?” Well, novel ideas are a better way to get on the market than recycled hash, but that’s hardly a reason to make the effort when the hash sells fine.

No. There are a couple-three reasons at work here (for me, anyway):

• There’s a problem in gaming and I don’t want to be part of the problem. The problem is, there’s a lot of white-male (sometimes juvenile) designers designing games for a white-male (sometimes juvenile) audience…not necessarily on a conscious level, mind, just because that’s what they know. And there are more people out there who game…or who might enjoy games…than just white males of a juvenile persuasion.
• Growing the hobby (i.e. creating more audience) is something I’m all about. It seems only logical (to me) that making games more inclusive (with inclusive language, concepts, art) are going to make some folks (who might otherwise have been “turned off”) more interested in exploring the hobby. Maybe not, but I don’t need to cater to the die-hard, grognardy, fans. There’s already people (designers/publishers) doing that and keeping those folks involved in the hobby.
• It’s the Goddamn “right thing to do.” That is to say, it’s not right to be exclusive when it comes to design…not when we live in a world where different cultures and backgrounds are afforded the same opportunity (and thus access) to the same games. If they’re there, why leave them out, or make them feel marginalized?

My wife is originally from Mexico (she’s lived steadily in the US since 1997). In years past, when I asked her to state her race (for example, on a census report) she said “Mexican.” Nowadays, she identifies as a “Latina” but that’s not really a race, either. Technically she is a mestizo, as are the vast majority of native Mexicans: a person of mixed (white) European ancestry and native Mesoamericans (“Indians”). Because nearly all of Mexico is “mestizo” they’ve stopped using the term, thus my wife’s lack of a term for herself. (she has absolutely zero identification with “Native Americans”). My wife is NOT white. Our children are white with dishwater blond hair and green eyes (like their papa), and they’re different enough that my wife has remarked she might be identified as “the help” when she’s out with them.

I asked my wife her opinion about the diversity (or rather, lack of diversity) in film-thang (she doesn’t care about games). She states that it doesn’t bother her and that she doesn’t care. She says she’s always considered it silly that people complain about underrepresentation in film because she “goes to movies to see other people anyway” (whether they’re white, or black, or blue-skinned). It doesn’t matter to her what ethnicity is cast in a film, unless it’s a piece about a particular culture or time period.

What IS of concern to her, and what IS important is the lack of strong female characters in film. Star Wars (for example) has white folks and non-white folks and alien folks…but why are they so over-whelmingly male? A couple bit parts aside, the only female character in the prequel trilogy is Padme, and what purpose does she really serve besides acting as a goal/objective for the (male) protagonists in the first couple films before being relegated to mere “set decoration” in Episode III?

Weak Sauce

So, my (non-white) wife would say lack of diversity/inclusion bothers her more when it’s gender inequality that’s on display. If she were a gamer, I’d imagine the same standard would apply: if she’s pretending to be a wizard or cyber-hacker it doesn’t matter whether she’s white or black or “troll-colored.” The equal representation of male and female (and active, protagonist female) is more important.

All right, this is getting long….maybe I’ll get back to this subject in a "Part 2," but right now I’m getting to land. Later, Gators.

[posted from Chicago O’Hare]