August 2012
20 posts
it's that time of the day when I make white people uncomfortable. oh haaaay.
Yesterday, I managed to catch this episode of Phineas and Ferb. “On the Savannah”, where the boys go to Africa. Where in Africa? I don’t know, because they never tell you.
This is a thing I’ve noticed in media: everyone wants to avoid acknowledging that Africa is not monolithic, so whenever they *include* African characters, their country of origin is rarely ever specified, or when they have their white American characters travel to Africa, exactly WHERE they go is never specified. Because that would mean picking a country (of the 50 on the continent) and actually getting the cultural setting right—which is just too much for the poor little Hollywood producers who have unfathomable budgets and resources at their fingertips. (have you ever noticed that you don’t know where Cady from Mean Girls is from? She’s just “from Africa”. All 50 countries of Africa. All at once.)
This particular episode of Phineas and Ferb really bugged me because you could tell they were trying so hard to be ~progressive~. There’s a scene where they meet the ~African~ who’s going to be their tour guide, and this conversation happens:
Candace: Please tell me you have cell phone reception
Mr. Flynn: Well, of course, they do. Africa isn’t as primitive as you’d think.
Dialog like this is problematic because it’s trying so hard when the setting is just a massive fail. It makes it seem like they’re so ahead of the game when, really, they’re just perpetuating the same stereotypes you’ve been taught about Africa.
I mean, they go on A SAFARI. BECAUSE THAT’S ALL THERE IS TO DO IN ~AFRICA~. GO ON A SAFARI. How groundbreaking and progressive and informative. That’s actually just some bullshit.
Then, there’s a musical number where Candace (who has been stressing about her boyfriend, Jeremy, not being able to reach her) sings about leaving behind things like “a house, a car, cell phone, stress” so that she can ~live at peace in Africa~. Let me repeat that: this was a very recent episode of a kids’ television show where a white girl talked about how leaving America for ~Africa~ literally meant leaving civilization.
Tell me that’s not supposed to piss me off.
OH, AND THEN to add insult to injury, Phineas comments, “wow, looks like Candace is really embracing Africa” when he sees her wearing a cheetah-print Flinstones-esque dress. Then, he asks how they’re going to get back to their campsite, and Candace yodel-calls an elephant. Because now that she’s bonded with Africa, she can now speak to animals. The episode ends with Baljeet (the token Indian kid) telling us the moral of the story: “I guess living in the wild isn’t as hard as we thought”. Because that’s what Africa is. “The wild”. *my rage*
I love Phineas and Ferb—which is why this episode left me furious. Like, blood-boiling, seeing-red furious. Because a lot of kids watch this show. And there was just so much fail in this episode.
I’m tired of this. I’m tired of being misrepresented in American media. Protip: if you’re too lazy to do your research on ~Africa~ (hint: you can start by not treating it like it’s all one country), then don’t write t.v.shows/movies on it.
Also, I don’t appreciate the female representation on this show. Candace has only one friend, who she only talks to about Jeremy. Her entire life revolves around the guy she wants to be her boyfriend, and busting her brothers. And it seems like the only way they could justify Isabella’s presence is by giving her a crush on Phineas, even though she’s a pretty kick-ass, determined character on her own. Thanks, Disney.
I’m so tired of all of this.
-foodieamazon
Rapists, Beware: Detroit Prosecutor IDs 21 Attackers in ‘Rape Kit’ Investigation →
thedailybeast.com
Kym Worthy has identified 21 serial rapists so far in a sweeping investigation that could have national implications.
I’ve been in a little in love with Kym Worthy since she took down Kwame Kilpatrick and did what little she could to try to get some justice for Tamara Greene.
What she’s doing is attempting to work through the shameful backlog of eleven thousand rape kits in Detroit alone that have never been tested. Other cities across the country each have their thousands of untested rape kits as well. She cites a case of a serial rapist and murderer who has killed five women. But they had his DNA in a rape kit before he killed those five women, from an earlier rape. If it had been tested, five women who are dead now could have been alive today.
The Dragon's Bones: When “Nice Guys” Aren’t: The Sexism of the ‘Friend Zone’ →
dragonsbones.tumblr.com
BY AUGUSTA CHRISTENSEN ON AUGUST 12, 2012 AT 8:00 AM
As a feminist blogger, I am privy to all sorts of phenomena that most people notice but don’t necessarily have a name for. There’s misogynist bingo, slut-shaming, the madonna-whore dichotomy, and a…
The Apathy and the Apoplexy: If you want to know why lawmakers are so bad at understanding rape, go back to when it was first codified as a crime →
eris-said.tumblr.com
When we first started punishing the crime of rape, the main purpose wasn’t to seek retribution for the trauma inflicted on the female victim by her attacker. It wasn’t about putting a stop to someone who was ruining the lives of women in the community.
It was more like equal parts property crime…
girl who looks"latina"and says she knows everything about being a POC because she got a tan,my friend is a mix of europian backgrounds one of which is italian and she happens to be a very dark skinned italian and she actually looks kinda native american and people have come up to her when we are together and said things like"get back to the reserve"(not even joking) but she's white and she understands she's white and has privalige and doesnt use her darker skin as an excuss to be rasicist
WOWs Feminist General Assembly
WOWs Feminist General Assembly
August 18, 2-4 PM
Harlem Meer, Central Park @ 110th Street
Women Occupying Wall Street (WOWs) invites you to the 4th Feminist General Assembly (FemGA) on Saturday, August 18th at Harlem Meer from 2 - 4 pm. This month our conversation will focus on the struggles particularly important to people of color. We hope to begin the work of planning actions focused on racial, gender, and economic justice. We are committed to addressing the issues that affect us all, and we are eager to work in affinity with other groups towards common goals.
We plan to have discussions about:
Living wage
Domestic work
Immigration
Educational system
Reproductive rights
Incarceration
Queer Issues
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Solidarity,
WOWs (Women Occupy Wall Street)
https://www.facebook.com/events/480585061952927/
The rain date is Sunday, August 19th from 4 to 6 pm.
Directions to Harlem Meer: 2/3 train to the Central Park North - 110th St. Harlem Meer entrance directly across the street
Not disagreeing with you about white-washing of DKR being bad, but if Bane was a PoC, don't you think it would be more problematic in a way? Batman is already about the supremacy of a rich white dude, don't you think it would be worse if the bad guy was a PoC? (I think the most ideal thing to do would have been to have Joseph Gordon-Levitt's role played by a PoC)
That’s a really good point.
I think the thing is that if Bane had been cast as a PoC, he is such a [relatively] complex villain that his race wouldn’t have been so problematic. I’m not saying that PoC always have to be the good guys, but they never get cast as multi-faceted villains, and that’s what bothers me—your basic drug dealers/random “thugs”? they’re going to be PoC. but, when the villains are “complex”? they have to be white guys (I am looking dead at you, Savages)
... You are actually just the most annoying person. Selina Kyle is a WHITE character just like pretty much everyone else. There are many black characters and no one has a problem with that and if they do than they're pathetic but seriously? Because they don't cast a black person for a white characters role makes them sexist? That's just idiotic. Selina Kyle is quite clearly... White.
[continued from same anon]: Also seriously. I’m white; in the sun for an hour and I will look Spanish from how dark I get. People don’t mistake me for being Latino or anything like that. Your arguments are just stupid
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Hey Anon,
your response is actually pretty typical. There are so many things wrong with your argument that I’m not actually sure where to begin. If Bane can go from Latino wrestler to white guy in the movie, then Selina Kyle doesn’t have to be a white character. Like I said before, Selina, and variations thereof, are popular enough Spanish names that it’s not ridiculous to suggest that a Latina woman could have played Catwoman. Oh, and just in case you missed it, I (and Sardonicsasquatch) also invalidated your whole “everyone else is white” argument (it seems you haven’t been paying attention to what we’ve posted)
Where are these “many black characters” of whom you speak? Oh, right—those few were paid to stay out of the Batman movies.
in response to “Because they don’t cast a black person for a white character’s role makes them sexist”: first of all, just…no. to that entire statement. I’m not annoyed because Selina Kyle wasn’t Black—I’m annoyed that she was white when she could have been Latina…or, really, anything else but white. I’m tired of white being the default. sorry I’m not sorry.
Spanish people come in all different shades—but I didn’t expect you to have realized that Latina doesn’t always equal Spanish. I bet I just blew your mind a little bit there—am I mocking you? only a little ;)
Also, I promise you that you are the only person who thinks you “look Spanish” just because you’ve gotten a tan—though, that is the sort of basic, simplistic, idiotic “logic” I would expect from someone who sends me a message like this.
—The most annoying person (because, apparently, criticizing the lack of racial representation in media makes you “just the most annoying person…I guessed you were white before you even told me.)
In the 1989 Batman movie, Harvey Dent was actually black, played by Billy Dee Williams. He took the minor role in the movie because he wanted to play Two Face a sequel he was given a pay or pay contract to guarantee this. But his character got deleted in the sequel Batman Returns and then they actually paid him the penalty fee so they could cast Tommy Lee Jones as Two Face in Batman Forever.
They originally considered Marlon Wayans play a black Robin in Batman Returns but his character was cut out along with Williams. He was formerly signed to play the Riddler in Batman Forever but they then later decided to pay him out so they could recast the roll. He actually still gets royalties from the film he was not even in.
They would actually rather pay black actors not be in the movies rather than let a character be black. Racist casting is unfortunately nothing new to the batman franchise.
Catwoman was also once played by Eartha Kitt
You’re right! and Halle Berry (I know it was crappy and campy, but when I was younger I was so excited that she was black I didn’t even care that it was a crappy and campy movie XD)
Don't forget Two Face who was whitewashed in Batman Forever after Harvey Dent was originally black. And in the Animated series Dent wasn't white either, but in the Nolan movies obviously white was the only option.
Holy cow, you’re right! I didn’t even know that about Dent.
the unspoken Hollywood rule: you’re only allowed to cast minorities as villains when those characters are simplistic and easily stereotyped.
Catwoman is not necessarily white
This is Catwoman in animated moviein 2011 Batman: Year One
She was white in the original comics from the 1940’s. However we shouldn’t really use that as a basis. Here in 2011 we see a racially ambiguous Catwoman and indeed, there isn’t really anything to see she couldn’t be black. Unfortunately when you have a character that is racially ambiguous, Hollywood is going to make them white 95% of the time, unless it is a really minor role at which point they might toss it too a minority actor so people don’t think they are being racist.
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^
foodieamazon addendum: (who WASN’T white in the original comics from the 40’s ;D )
Also, the name Selina (and variations thereof) has been a popular enough Latina girl name that it’s not unreasonable to assume that a character named “Selina Kyle” wouldn’t just be white.
You are right to say that POC should be represented fairly in the Batman films but they are based on comics and Catwoman is definitely white in the original comics.
and Bane was definitely Latino, so…*kanyeshrug*
I know the title of this blog is feminist media but you guys just do such a good job i was wondering if you'd willing to talk some POC problems? Namely how Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy (of which i am a fan) of critical acclaim and commercial success has received apparently no controversy over the fact that it white washed Ra's al Ghul, Talia al Ghul and Bane. As a POC person myself it was very disappointing to see all three of these roles be filled by white actors (who i really like).
YES. I AGREE. I was just ranting to a friend about this the other day (WoC seeking media representation as something other than maid or generic “other”). Also, I feel like Catwoman was whitewashed (I mean—really, the character’s name is SELINA and he casts a white girl?! *sigh* of course, he does…) Sometimes I don’t like to talk about this stuff because a little part of me dies every time I realize that Hollywood insists on leaving out people who may vaguely resemble me or my friends.
Comic book Bane is a latino wrestler. “But, this is a movie—Nolan didn’t have to stick to the comic book interpretations of the characters” You might say, but let’s pretend for a moment that the Joker and Scarecrow didn’t stay pretty true to the physical appearances of their comic book characters. You’re still going to have to explain to me how in the hell a man who spent a significant part of his life in the Middle East comes out of a pit (where like none of the guys speak English) with a Western dialect and English accent. Same for Talia, even though I know some people are going to argue that she was raised somewhere else and blahblahblah. In that case, I would very much like to hear more of her back story. How, exactly, did a Middle Eastern woman grow up to be an English sophisticate with no apparent cultural ties to ~anything~? um, okay, Nolan. It’s sad because I love all of the actors in DKR (though, on a vaguely unrelated note, I think Anne Hathaway and Marion Cotillard should have switched roles).
A certain part of me doesn’t always want to talk about these things because it breaks me. It breaks me because I’m not the only one to bring it up, and you and I weren’t the only ones to notice the whitewashing in DKR—other people have presented lengthier and more eloquent dissertations of the problematic ways Hollywood treats race. People with more leverage have brought this to the public eye. Hollywood just doesn’t give a damn.
Right now, as a PoC, I just see Hollywood movies as white boys and girls playing dress up.
http://www.movieinsider.com/movies/-/2013/ <—some upcoming movies, aka White People Doing Shit, with the token Tyler Perry release :/
foodieamazon (always here to discuss when race and gender intersect)
