Friday, 30 June 2017
As June draws to a close, let us never forget the love, hope and efforts surrounding LGBT Pride Month and its importance, all year round. I haven't been reading much this month, due to catching up on a lot of television series and movies (I got two weeks off work), but I can fix that in July! Have a lovely weekend and beyond, you all! :)
LGBT Pride Month - A little of what we can learn
Nothing surprises me anymore. More and more news of people behaving as the worst human beings imaginable to each other, and we are meant to just accept it, that this is normal. That humans are naturally divisive and hate-filled cavemen incapable of listening and reason; that any attempt to educate and better ourselves is useless because we are all merely animals attuned only to our most base instincts, so violence, ignorance, bullying and intimidation are inevitable; that crimes such as murder and attempted murder on both a small and massive scale are the norm now. Especially if the perpetrator is white and male. The most powerful, influential people on earth do morally-reprehensible, nonsensical things simply because they can; politics is supposed to be serious business, not a children's game of us-vs-them, of with-us-or-against-us, black-and-white mentality. It's the 21st bloody century, and people have become so scared of so-called PC culture that the world/mainstream society and culture has switched to reverse and tried to destroy all decades-long, hard-earned human progress. This world - of the lonely, the power-hungry. of entitlement and unchecked privilege - has become a parody of itself, and it's not because it has gone insane - it just stopped giving a shit. Please, please don't let this be the generation that stopped giving a shit. People's lives are at stake here.
With all that said, Happy LGBT Pride Month, as it comes to an end this year. May the next one shine more hope. Although one month of celebrating, respecting, and "caring" about a violently-marginalized community's existence for one month isn't enough when it's a continuous struggle, all year round.
Here's to hope. Have a nice weekend, everyone :)
Monday, 26 June 2017
Graphic Novel Review - 'Wonder Woman, Vol. 1: Gods and Mortals (Wonder Woman II #1)' by George Pérez (Writer), Len Wein, Greg Potter, Bruce Patterson (Artist)
Bloody expensive purchase well spent.
It was only a matter of time before I took a look at George Pérez's rewriting of Wonder Woman's origin story after the 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' event, which was made to reboot and retool the DC Universe in 1985. My collection of the superheroine's comics is growing more and more, and though I feel I already know her inside and out and as intimately as any fangirl can dream of, without worrying about not being considered a "true" fan or some such bollocks - still, essential reading is essential. And after seeing the pleasant surprise that is the 'Wonder Woman' summer blockbuster this year - finally made seventy-five-plus years after her creation - I was pumped to get back into the stories of this phenomenal, original and wondrous superwoman.
'Wonder Woman, Vol. 1: Gods and Mortals' turns out to be really interesting.
Wonder Woman's Amazonian heritage, and the complex history of her fellow sisterhood before arriving on Themyscria and Diana's blessed birth from clay, remains the same as it was originally in the 40s. Only this time the mythos is given more depth and detail. Feminism - or the eighties second-wave feminism - is presented with pride, and issues such as male entitlement, toxic masculinity, and the archaic patriarchal society lingering on as an excuse to hate and fear women, are explored. Ignorance and hatred are clearly shown as bad things, like with the Amazons originally being made by the female Greek gods (idea and leadership by my dear Artemis!) from the souls of women who were killed by men. Misogyny takes on many forms. This social sickness has always been around and it continues even more insidiously in our "enlightened" times, and it cannot be allowed to thrive further and win, for everybody's sake.
Greek mythology is also front and center in this comic; every deity has a purpose and a personality. The characters - the Amazons, the mortals, and the gods, even, as it turns out (thanks to Diana), including the obviously evil Ares - struggle and deal with so much suffering. The reader really gets a feel for them as people, more so than Wondy herself.
I think the only weakness in 'Gods and Mortals' that matters is Diana's characterization. She's kind, caring, thoughtful, and a badass as always; however, I feel that she isn't given quite enough of a presence in her own comic, leaving less of an impact and impression compared to the other, stronger characters. I like that she is mostly in the dark about what is going on in her journey - as is common for a supposed protagonist whom the reader follows - as she leaves her home island to stop Ares from destroying the world via manipulating men and women to launch nuclear weapons. She is learning from each of her experiences (including speaking better English in man's world), being guided by gods and humans alike. But her naivete wears thin after a while. What I found to be most interesting about the warrior princess, aside from how she uses her Lasso of Truth in battles, is her fear of guns, after barely deflecting bullets in her final trial at the Amazon tournament on Themyscira. Maybe this - an inkling of Diana's stance against, and fear of, war and violence? - gets explored further in the later issues.
But it is a hero's journey Wonder Woman takes, with MacGuffins and everything. She does fly - there is no need for an invisible jet! She will not resort to brute force to defeat her enemy, and save the world from nuclear war. Wonder Woman is the name the American press gives her (Superman is mentioned in this!) after she defeats a monster of decay that terrorized the city she is staying in. They already admire and respect her enough to give her her own unique identity, in the public eye, without making her a female version of Superman, an established male superhero. She is love, decency and hope. She is truth.
Steve Trevor is probably at his blandest here. I barely remember what he did; we don't even see Diana take him into hospital for his burning-plane-above-Themyscira injuries, once she is teleported by Hermes to man's world. That is how little Pérez seems to care about him. Steve fights and is framed for murder in his own army base, but that's all that stands out about him. No romance is present in this volume, not properly. Thank Hera. Though I am confused as to how Steve's fate, his destiny, is said to be tied with Diana's - according to a prophecy - when they barely talk to each other! It comes out of nowhere and it makes Steve appear even more superfluous in the story. It's not like the other soldiers are useless.
I love Etta Candy in this version of Wondy's origin. She's a brave, motherly lieutenant and a foil to Diana's view of feminine beauty standards; no wonder, since all her life she has only been around women whose fitness ideal equals tall and skinny. Etta is an equal to the men in her field, is unpretentious, and a Mama Bear: she will do anything to protect her loved ones. Professor Julia Kapatelis, a reluctant mortal guide to Diana, is an actual mother, and a smart and fantastically capable woman - a middle-aged woman at that. Her daughter Vanessa gets infected by the decay monster and is on the brink of death, so the stakes are more personal for her to help Diana on her mission. Julia, whom Diana calls a sister, is another credit to feminism,
The artwork is typical eighties comic books, nothing special. Let's conclude this.
'Wonder Woman, Vol. 1: Gods and Monsters' is a fun and soulful superhero origin story. The mythology, the wide array of truly strong female characters, the political intrigue, and the action are all well-integrated and balanced in their places in the comic. The layering of the divided worlds of the Greek gods and the modern day mortals - and Wonder Woman as the saviour of both - is written excellently, and so is the pacing. While it is not the strongest starting point to getting to know Wonder Woman as a character, nor for new readers to understand why she is so popular, there is enough here about her and her iconography and values that nothing important is missing.
I'm super glad I read it. History is important. The past a vital learning curve and experience.
Final Score: 4/5
It was only a matter of time before I took a look at George Pérez's rewriting of Wonder Woman's origin story after the 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' event, which was made to reboot and retool the DC Universe in 1985. My collection of the superheroine's comics is growing more and more, and though I feel I already know her inside and out and as intimately as any fangirl can dream of, without worrying about not being considered a "true" fan or some such bollocks - still, essential reading is essential. And after seeing the pleasant surprise that is the 'Wonder Woman' summer blockbuster this year - finally made seventy-five-plus years after her creation - I was pumped to get back into the stories of this phenomenal, original and wondrous superwoman.
'Wonder Woman, Vol. 1: Gods and Mortals' turns out to be really interesting.
Wonder Woman's Amazonian heritage, and the complex history of her fellow sisterhood before arriving on Themyscria and Diana's blessed birth from clay, remains the same as it was originally in the 40s. Only this time the mythos is given more depth and detail. Feminism - or the eighties second-wave feminism - is presented with pride, and issues such as male entitlement, toxic masculinity, and the archaic patriarchal society lingering on as an excuse to hate and fear women, are explored. Ignorance and hatred are clearly shown as bad things, like with the Amazons originally being made by the female Greek gods (idea and leadership by my dear Artemis!) from the souls of women who were killed by men. Misogyny takes on many forms. This social sickness has always been around and it continues even more insidiously in our "enlightened" times, and it cannot be allowed to thrive further and win, for everybody's sake.
Greek mythology is also front and center in this comic; every deity has a purpose and a personality. The characters - the Amazons, the mortals, and the gods, even, as it turns out (thanks to Diana), including the obviously evil Ares - struggle and deal with so much suffering. The reader really gets a feel for them as people, more so than Wondy herself.
I think the only weakness in 'Gods and Mortals' that matters is Diana's characterization. She's kind, caring, thoughtful, and a badass as always; however, I feel that she isn't given quite enough of a presence in her own comic, leaving less of an impact and impression compared to the other, stronger characters. I like that she is mostly in the dark about what is going on in her journey - as is common for a supposed protagonist whom the reader follows - as she leaves her home island to stop Ares from destroying the world via manipulating men and women to launch nuclear weapons. She is learning from each of her experiences (including speaking better English in man's world), being guided by gods and humans alike. But her naivete wears thin after a while. What I found to be most interesting about the warrior princess, aside from how she uses her Lasso of Truth in battles, is her fear of guns, after barely deflecting bullets in her final trial at the Amazon tournament on Themyscira. Maybe this - an inkling of Diana's stance against, and fear of, war and violence? - gets explored further in the later issues.
But it is a hero's journey Wonder Woman takes, with MacGuffins and everything. She does fly - there is no need for an invisible jet! She will not resort to brute force to defeat her enemy, and save the world from nuclear war. Wonder Woman is the name the American press gives her (Superman is mentioned in this!) after she defeats a monster of decay that terrorized the city she is staying in. They already admire and respect her enough to give her her own unique identity, in the public eye, without making her a female version of Superman, an established male superhero. She is love, decency and hope. She is truth.
Steve Trevor is probably at his blandest here. I barely remember what he did; we don't even see Diana take him into hospital for his burning-plane-above-Themyscira injuries, once she is teleported by Hermes to man's world. That is how little Pérez seems to care about him. Steve fights and is framed for murder in his own army base, but that's all that stands out about him. No romance is present in this volume, not properly. Thank Hera. Though I am confused as to how Steve's fate, his destiny, is said to be tied with Diana's - according to a prophecy - when they barely talk to each other! It comes out of nowhere and it makes Steve appear even more superfluous in the story. It's not like the other soldiers are useless.
I love Etta Candy in this version of Wondy's origin. She's a brave, motherly lieutenant and a foil to Diana's view of feminine beauty standards; no wonder, since all her life she has only been around women whose fitness ideal equals tall and skinny. Etta is an equal to the men in her field, is unpretentious, and a Mama Bear: she will do anything to protect her loved ones. Professor Julia Kapatelis, a reluctant mortal guide to Diana, is an actual mother, and a smart and fantastically capable woman - a middle-aged woman at that. Her daughter Vanessa gets infected by the decay monster and is on the brink of death, so the stakes are more personal for her to help Diana on her mission. Julia, whom Diana calls a sister, is another credit to feminism,
The artwork is typical eighties comic books, nothing special. Let's conclude this.
'Wonder Woman, Vol. 1: Gods and Monsters' is a fun and soulful superhero origin story. The mythology, the wide array of truly strong female characters, the political intrigue, and the action are all well-integrated and balanced in their places in the comic. The layering of the divided worlds of the Greek gods and the modern day mortals - and Wonder Woman as the saviour of both - is written excellently, and so is the pacing. While it is not the strongest starting point to getting to know Wonder Woman as a character, nor for new readers to understand why she is so popular, there is enough here about her and her iconography and values that nothing important is missing.
I'm super glad I read it. History is important. The past a vital learning curve and experience.
Final Score: 4/5
Wednesday, 21 June 2017
Wednesday, 14 June 2017
Scribble #52
One thing to immediately put me off a book, particularly YA books, is to call a male love interest an "angel". Is there any YA lit where he isn't so damn hot? And love triangles should be banned. Censorship or not, after over ten years of them being in every single YA-and-older book, they need to die already. Nobody likes them. They are not good substitutes for conflict. YA authors, just stop writing them. Please.
Saturday, 10 June 2017
Non-Fiction Book Review - 'Superwomen: Gender, Power, and Representation' by Carolyn Cocca
For someone who loves superheroines and pop culture gender studies, and who believes in the utmost importance of representation and critiquing it, this book was made for me.
A little while ago I wrote a three-part blog post called 'Growing Up Under the Smurfette Principle', and the factors talked about in 'Superwomen: Gender, Power, and Representation', written in 2016, really resonated with me, starved for positive identification representation in the mediums I love as I've always felt.
I'll do chapter-by-chapter analyses on 'Superwomen' for this review, in order to simplify its passionate and well-researched content into bite-size so you might get some idea of why you should perhaps read it. Let's begin:
'Introduction: Representation Matters' - Enough said. Carolyn Cocca talks about the erasure and invisibility of good, non-stereotyped representations of women, POC men, POC women, LBGTQ, and disabled people, who far outnumber white men in the real world but we don't see enough of this wide spectrum of the human experience in our Western media. They are the groups who are reduced to the margins in our collective consciousness. When "different" people are represented they are often persistent stereotypes that erase that group's relevance and humanity in order to highlight the "normal" straight, white, cisgender, non-disabled male as the hero, made default by the patriarchy. Who has the power here? Those in charge and who want to keep seeing themselves as the hero: white men, who are the overwhelming number in the higher-ups of every medium, business, political governing party, and cultural system. Positive change can happen in the droves in the mainstream, not just in the margins, but we need to change the system first.
'"The Sexier the Outfit, the Fewer Questions Asked": Wonder Woman' - All about the history and the numerous incarnations and interpretations of the world's most famous superheroine, depending on the cultural changes - with second or third wave feminism either embraced or used as a backlash against it - of the times she is written. As a sole superheroine cultural icon for over seventy-five years, Diana of Themyscira has A LOT of unfair baggage placed on her in terms of being made to represent all women everywhere. Funny how positive she started out in 1941, compared to the sixties, seventies, and the nineties (aka the "Bad Girl" era of writing hypersexualized women in "dark" and "serious" stories catered exclusively to white men over thirty-years-old). Wonder Woman has had privileges in her European attractiveness, whiteness and non-disabilities (her queerness was not allowed to be expressed until recently), but this hasn't stopped her from constantly being a victim of the Smurfette Principle, a Woman in Refrigerator (depowered for a long time, and who the fuck cares about Steve Trevor's assumed emasculated ego when with a strong woman?), sexualized, made useless, and erased in ways that male superheroes are simply not. Plus I am stunned that she would ever say, "I'm for equal wages too! But I'm not a joiner. I wouldn't fit in with your group. In most cases, I don't even like women." Diana grew up on an island inhabited entirely by women. She loves her fellow Amazons (or she should do); she is the least likely woman to exhibit internalized misogyny! Wonder Woman is powerful not only in her physical strength but in her heart, her values, her conviction to seek the truth, and her compassion and love for all people. Why is she considered a threat to men? What makes her an "inherently political character" in contrast to male heroes of justice? Her strength and gender put together? She is not "tricky", the patriarchy that hates and fears women - complex ones especially - made her so.
'"When You Go Out At Night, You Won't Be Alone": Batgirl(s) and Birds of Prey' - A chapter on my favourite superhero girl! And she has had her own share of problems since her inception. Batgirl/Barbara Gordon, strong and confident characteristics aside, was a Distaff Counterpart, female love interest and feminine weak link from the start. She ran for congress and developed into a better, more nuanced heroine in the seventies and early eighties. Then Alan Moore, and retroactive DC, happened: Barbara's awful treatment in the inexplicably popular Batman comic 'The Killing Joke' - a classic Woman in Refrigerator example, with sexual assault as well as paralyzing, just to further the character arcs of two men, not her. Her time as Oracle has manifested both positive and negative representation of the disabled community, which so rarely receives any representation to begin with. Again her privileges as a white heterosexual are discussed; factoring into her staying power for over fifty years. Since the nineties, Batgirl in both television and comics has been portrayed as small and slim; youthful and childlike, linking to femininity and presumably weakness in comparison to the big, buff male superheroes. The power dynamic here remains in the patriarchy's favour, and the status quo is unchanged even if it looks like it's being challenged. The Birds of Prey team are talked about (I'd like to see the short-lived TV series, it sounds good). Also there is discussion and reference to the mixed reactions to Barbara coming back as a "cured" Batgirl in DC's 2011 New 52 reboot. The chapter also made me rethink a few things about her most recent "Burnside" run, where admittedly she has had the most female companionship (except in her 'Birds of Prey' run, though that was more of her as Oracle instead of Batgirl) than any other time in her creation. But she is made young, and therefore not an adult woman capable of making her own logical and rational choices, and therefore not a threat to the fragile ego of hyper-masculinity culture. I still love this smart, brave tech woman who went through hell and back; other people love and respect her enough too to want DC to treat her better. It really makes me think what Cocca would have to say about 'The Killing Joke' animated movie adaptation if this book came out after that was released.
'"Somebody Has To Save Our Skins!": Star Wars' - Focusing on Princess Leia Organa, Padmé Amidala, and Jaina Solo from the 'Star Wars' films and Expanded Universe. I've never read any 'Star Wars' novels or comics, except for a solo Leia comic, or seen the cartoons. My knowledge comes solely from the films, so I didn't know until now that Leia has a daughter named Jaina, and it was interesting to read about their similar characteristics and stories. The whiteness and heteronormality of 'Star Wars' in general - not to mention the pervasiveness of the Smurfette Principle underlining the whole franchise - is made clear throughout. But Leia and Jaina are represented as tough, assertive leaders in almost all of their incarnations, even as they are made into stand-ins for all women in the male-centered stories starring them. And Padmé sucks. I don't care how "action-oriented" or "political" she is in 'The Phantom Menace' and 'Attack of the Clones'; she's as boring as everyone else, and is a helpless, weak-willed senator who falls into an abusive relationship with Anakin, always defending him in his murdering of children and never standing up for herself. By the time 'Revenge of the Sith' came along, there was no excuse: Padmé does nothing but get pregnant, sit on couches, stand by windows, cry, get strangled by Anakin, and die after childbirth - all the while insisting that Anakin is a good person, before she apparently dies of a broken heart. What dangerous, sexist bullshit representation. Queen/Senator Padmé Amidala just existed to look pretty in elaborate, luxurious dresses and sexy strapless corsets - and to show off her midriff - and give birth to Luke and Leia. This chapter also made me miss Carrie Fisher all over again (seriously, fuck 2016). Briefly analyzed is 'The Force Awakens', and the improvements made in its representation, while there still persists an awful long way to go.
'"No Such Things As Limits": The X-Women' - The women of the phenomenal Marvel superhero team, the X-Men, get their due: Storm, Jean Grey, Rogue, Mystique, Kitty Pryde, and Psylocke. Analyses in terms of gender, race and sexuality in the extensive comics spanning decades, and also in the cartoon adaptations. Medium comparisons to how the superwomen are represented in each is something else this book goes into great detail over. I love that Cocca highlights how crap the women are treated in the 'X-Men' blockbuster movies, which really became just a career vehicle for Hugh Jackman, whose star power Hollywood has depended on for far too long. Bryan Singer has no excuse for wanting Mystique completely naked in the films, so much so that he'd bang tables roaring, "I want her nude!" over and over again. What a manchild. How disgusting. Female cattiness, fanservice, Women in Refrigerators, love triangles, and putting the spotlight and agency on men in women's stories are perpetuated in each of the 'X-Men' films - just few of the many, many examples of superhero comics and other properties being seen as a boys' club made exclusively for white boys and men. So much for the "mutant metaphor", then. Indeed there should be no such things as limits.
'"Slayers, Every One of Us": Buffy the Vampire Slayer' - About the cultural impact and strengths and weaknesses of the hit cult TV series and subsequent comics. 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' - the first thing that most people turn to whenever "feminist" TV is brought up. I'm surprised that Cocca barely touches on the 1992 movie which is the precursor to the show. She discusses how Buffy both challenges and conforms to cultural images and expectations of women. Again, what does "strength" mean in a woman? Does it challenge much if she's still white, young, pretty, heterosexual and upper-middle class? And with all of Cocca's talk about the lack of racial diversity, and about gender fluidity, she doesn't address the show's bisexual erasure, not really - not even when referencing fans' reactions to Buffy sleeping with a female Asian-American Slayer in the comics, for no reason other than "experimenting". Bisexuality is never considered in these posts - a fixed straight-or-gay line is present in the 'Buffy' fandom as well as in the franchise itself - and Cocca doesn't comment on this, other than there being an insistence on binary gender and sexuality views. Additionally, this quote from one of the 'Buffy' producers, Fran Rubel, "You can educate your daughters to be Slayers, but you have to educate your sons to be Xanders", is terrifying. Anyone who knows how much I loathe Xander will understand. I don't know, maybe this is where Cocca gets the least thorough and objective in her gender and representation studies, letting her love for something either blind her or cause her to be more forgiving of major flaws.
'"Part of Something Bigger": Captain Marvel(s) and Ms. Marvel(s)' - Oh yeah! A chapter all about Carol Danvers - from her various terrible treatments at the beginning and middle of her career as Ms. Marvel, to her recent awesomeness as the new Captain Marvel. Thanks to Kelly Sue DeConnick, she has become a landmark staple in the Marvel universe and a pop culture feminist icon, to the point where it is confirmed she will be getting her solo blockbuster feature. Given the success of the 'Wonder Woman' movie in theaters, female-led superhero movies will be making big bucks for the very first time. Hell, successful female-led movies period are not "a fluke"; get over yourselves, white male Hollywood execs, and stop ignoring us, as you have been doing for decades. Anyway, Captain Marvel is brash and confident, saving galaxies and forever reaching for the stars, and she has a diverse group of female friends. The importance of the popularity and positive reception of the Pakistani-American, Muslim teen girl Kamala Khan as Ms. Marvel is discussed at the end. She and Captain Marvel both represent pop culture and social media changes - interactions between fans and creators, digital printing in the new age, and the uselessness of the backlash against "social justice warriors". Misogynists and racists are desperately pointing fingers and accusing major companies of "pandering to SJWs", who are "ruining everything" with their "PC culture", and making traditional masculine male heroes "weak" as a result. This is all nonsense. Straight white males have been "pandered to" and catered to their entire lives - they just wish to silence others who they view as a threat to their entertainment and manhood. A threat to their privilege. The way they're behaving, you'd consider them to be the ones who are "oversensitive" and "overreacting" and "hysterical", wouldn't you? Times have changed, attitudes have changed, and our culture needs to reflect that. If straight white males are uncomfortable and fear acknowledging that not everyone else in the world is a straight white male, then that's their problem, not the "social justice warriors" (how is this an insult, again?). Deal with it. Women and people of colour are still small in numbers in representation statistics anyhow; women of colour are even smaller. Our popular and social culture is still overwhelmingly white and male - the privilege holders.
Diversity and representation help everyone. Not just the marginalized. EVERYONE.
'Conclusion: Gender, Power, and Representation' - Well that's that. Flawed in a few areas, but overall a rewarding and vital read in our modern era. Superwomen rock and rule, if only we'd give them a chance; a chance to be themselves and be awesome in their own light. Just like how (white) supermen are encouraged to be all the time, and they are not called political for doing what they do as white men, because whiteness and maleness are seen as "normal" and the default, and therefore naturally heroic. They are made heroes by default.
Well, fuck that. Anybody can be a hero. We can't be what we don't see, however. Mirrors have power. That is why representation and identifying with certain fictional characters is important. Fiction shapes us, shapes our culture, no matter what any detractor says.
'Superwomen: Gender, Power, and Representation' by Carolyn Cocca - A fun and educational read on female superheroes and iconic cinematic and television heroines. Super recommended.
Final Score: 4/5
A little while ago I wrote a three-part blog post called 'Growing Up Under the Smurfette Principle', and the factors talked about in 'Superwomen: Gender, Power, and Representation', written in 2016, really resonated with me, starved for positive identification representation in the mediums I love as I've always felt.
I'll do chapter-by-chapter analyses on 'Superwomen' for this review, in order to simplify its passionate and well-researched content into bite-size so you might get some idea of why you should perhaps read it. Let's begin:
'Introduction: Representation Matters' - Enough said. Carolyn Cocca talks about the erasure and invisibility of good, non-stereotyped representations of women, POC men, POC women, LBGTQ, and disabled people, who far outnumber white men in the real world but we don't see enough of this wide spectrum of the human experience in our Western media. They are the groups who are reduced to the margins in our collective consciousness. When "different" people are represented they are often persistent stereotypes that erase that group's relevance and humanity in order to highlight the "normal" straight, white, cisgender, non-disabled male as the hero, made default by the patriarchy. Who has the power here? Those in charge and who want to keep seeing themselves as the hero: white men, who are the overwhelming number in the higher-ups of every medium, business, political governing party, and cultural system. Positive change can happen in the droves in the mainstream, not just in the margins, but we need to change the system first.
'"The Sexier the Outfit, the Fewer Questions Asked": Wonder Woman' - All about the history and the numerous incarnations and interpretations of the world's most famous superheroine, depending on the cultural changes - with second or third wave feminism either embraced or used as a backlash against it - of the times she is written. As a sole superheroine cultural icon for over seventy-five years, Diana of Themyscira has A LOT of unfair baggage placed on her in terms of being made to represent all women everywhere. Funny how positive she started out in 1941, compared to the sixties, seventies, and the nineties (aka the "Bad Girl" era of writing hypersexualized women in "dark" and "serious" stories catered exclusively to white men over thirty-years-old). Wonder Woman has had privileges in her European attractiveness, whiteness and non-disabilities (her queerness was not allowed to be expressed until recently), but this hasn't stopped her from constantly being a victim of the Smurfette Principle, a Woman in Refrigerator (depowered for a long time, and who the fuck cares about Steve Trevor's assumed emasculated ego when with a strong woman?), sexualized, made useless, and erased in ways that male superheroes are simply not. Plus I am stunned that she would ever say, "I'm for equal wages too! But I'm not a joiner. I wouldn't fit in with your group. In most cases, I don't even like women." Diana grew up on an island inhabited entirely by women. She loves her fellow Amazons (or she should do); she is the least likely woman to exhibit internalized misogyny! Wonder Woman is powerful not only in her physical strength but in her heart, her values, her conviction to seek the truth, and her compassion and love for all people. Why is she considered a threat to men? What makes her an "inherently political character" in contrast to male heroes of justice? Her strength and gender put together? She is not "tricky", the patriarchy that hates and fears women - complex ones especially - made her so.
'"When You Go Out At Night, You Won't Be Alone": Batgirl(s) and Birds of Prey' - A chapter on my favourite superhero girl! And she has had her own share of problems since her inception. Batgirl/Barbara Gordon, strong and confident characteristics aside, was a Distaff Counterpart, female love interest and feminine weak link from the start. She ran for congress and developed into a better, more nuanced heroine in the seventies and early eighties. Then Alan Moore, and retroactive DC, happened: Barbara's awful treatment in the inexplicably popular Batman comic 'The Killing Joke' - a classic Woman in Refrigerator example, with sexual assault as well as paralyzing, just to further the character arcs of two men, not her. Her time as Oracle has manifested both positive and negative representation of the disabled community, which so rarely receives any representation to begin with. Again her privileges as a white heterosexual are discussed; factoring into her staying power for over fifty years. Since the nineties, Batgirl in both television and comics has been portrayed as small and slim; youthful and childlike, linking to femininity and presumably weakness in comparison to the big, buff male superheroes. The power dynamic here remains in the patriarchy's favour, and the status quo is unchanged even if it looks like it's being challenged. The Birds of Prey team are talked about (I'd like to see the short-lived TV series, it sounds good). Also there is discussion and reference to the mixed reactions to Barbara coming back as a "cured" Batgirl in DC's 2011 New 52 reboot. The chapter also made me rethink a few things about her most recent "Burnside" run, where admittedly she has had the most female companionship (except in her 'Birds of Prey' run, though that was more of her as Oracle instead of Batgirl) than any other time in her creation. But she is made young, and therefore not an adult woman capable of making her own logical and rational choices, and therefore not a threat to the fragile ego of hyper-masculinity culture. I still love this smart, brave tech woman who went through hell and back; other people love and respect her enough too to want DC to treat her better. It really makes me think what Cocca would have to say about 'The Killing Joke' animated movie adaptation if this book came out after that was released.
'"Somebody Has To Save Our Skins!": Star Wars' - Focusing on Princess Leia Organa, Padmé Amidala, and Jaina Solo from the 'Star Wars' films and Expanded Universe. I've never read any 'Star Wars' novels or comics, except for a solo Leia comic, or seen the cartoons. My knowledge comes solely from the films, so I didn't know until now that Leia has a daughter named Jaina, and it was interesting to read about their similar characteristics and stories. The whiteness and heteronormality of 'Star Wars' in general - not to mention the pervasiveness of the Smurfette Principle underlining the whole franchise - is made clear throughout. But Leia and Jaina are represented as tough, assertive leaders in almost all of their incarnations, even as they are made into stand-ins for all women in the male-centered stories starring them. And Padmé sucks. I don't care how "action-oriented" or "political" she is in 'The Phantom Menace' and 'Attack of the Clones'; she's as boring as everyone else, and is a helpless, weak-willed senator who falls into an abusive relationship with Anakin, always defending him in his murdering of children and never standing up for herself. By the time 'Revenge of the Sith' came along, there was no excuse: Padmé does nothing but get pregnant, sit on couches, stand by windows, cry, get strangled by Anakin, and die after childbirth - all the while insisting that Anakin is a good person, before she apparently dies of a broken heart. What dangerous, sexist bullshit representation. Queen/Senator Padmé Amidala just existed to look pretty in elaborate, luxurious dresses and sexy strapless corsets - and to show off her midriff - and give birth to Luke and Leia. This chapter also made me miss Carrie Fisher all over again (seriously, fuck 2016). Briefly analyzed is 'The Force Awakens', and the improvements made in its representation, while there still persists an awful long way to go.
'"No Such Things As Limits": The X-Women' - The women of the phenomenal Marvel superhero team, the X-Men, get their due: Storm, Jean Grey, Rogue, Mystique, Kitty Pryde, and Psylocke. Analyses in terms of gender, race and sexuality in the extensive comics spanning decades, and also in the cartoon adaptations. Medium comparisons to how the superwomen are represented in each is something else this book goes into great detail over. I love that Cocca highlights how crap the women are treated in the 'X-Men' blockbuster movies, which really became just a career vehicle for Hugh Jackman, whose star power Hollywood has depended on for far too long. Bryan Singer has no excuse for wanting Mystique completely naked in the films, so much so that he'd bang tables roaring, "I want her nude!" over and over again. What a manchild. How disgusting. Female cattiness, fanservice, Women in Refrigerators, love triangles, and putting the spotlight and agency on men in women's stories are perpetuated in each of the 'X-Men' films - just few of the many, many examples of superhero comics and other properties being seen as a boys' club made exclusively for white boys and men. So much for the "mutant metaphor", then. Indeed there should be no such things as limits.
'"Slayers, Every One of Us": Buffy the Vampire Slayer' - About the cultural impact and strengths and weaknesses of the hit cult TV series and subsequent comics. 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' - the first thing that most people turn to whenever "feminist" TV is brought up. I'm surprised that Cocca barely touches on the 1992 movie which is the precursor to the show. She discusses how Buffy both challenges and conforms to cultural images and expectations of women. Again, what does "strength" mean in a woman? Does it challenge much if she's still white, young, pretty, heterosexual and upper-middle class? And with all of Cocca's talk about the lack of racial diversity, and about gender fluidity, she doesn't address the show's bisexual erasure, not really - not even when referencing fans' reactions to Buffy sleeping with a female Asian-American Slayer in the comics, for no reason other than "experimenting". Bisexuality is never considered in these posts - a fixed straight-or-gay line is present in the 'Buffy' fandom as well as in the franchise itself - and Cocca doesn't comment on this, other than there being an insistence on binary gender and sexuality views. Additionally, this quote from one of the 'Buffy' producers, Fran Rubel, "You can educate your daughters to be Slayers, but you have to educate your sons to be Xanders", is terrifying. Anyone who knows how much I loathe Xander will understand. I don't know, maybe this is where Cocca gets the least thorough and objective in her gender and representation studies, letting her love for something either blind her or cause her to be more forgiving of major flaws.
'"Part of Something Bigger": Captain Marvel(s) and Ms. Marvel(s)' - Oh yeah! A chapter all about Carol Danvers - from her various terrible treatments at the beginning and middle of her career as Ms. Marvel, to her recent awesomeness as the new Captain Marvel. Thanks to Kelly Sue DeConnick, she has become a landmark staple in the Marvel universe and a pop culture feminist icon, to the point where it is confirmed she will be getting her solo blockbuster feature. Given the success of the 'Wonder Woman' movie in theaters, female-led superhero movies will be making big bucks for the very first time. Hell, successful female-led movies period are not "a fluke"; get over yourselves, white male Hollywood execs, and stop ignoring us, as you have been doing for decades. Anyway, Captain Marvel is brash and confident, saving galaxies and forever reaching for the stars, and she has a diverse group of female friends. The importance of the popularity and positive reception of the Pakistani-American, Muslim teen girl Kamala Khan as Ms. Marvel is discussed at the end. She and Captain Marvel both represent pop culture and social media changes - interactions between fans and creators, digital printing in the new age, and the uselessness of the backlash against "social justice warriors". Misogynists and racists are desperately pointing fingers and accusing major companies of "pandering to SJWs", who are "ruining everything" with their "PC culture", and making traditional masculine male heroes "weak" as a result. This is all nonsense. Straight white males have been "pandered to" and catered to their entire lives - they just wish to silence others who they view as a threat to their entertainment and manhood. A threat to their privilege. The way they're behaving, you'd consider them to be the ones who are "oversensitive" and "overreacting" and "hysterical", wouldn't you? Times have changed, attitudes have changed, and our culture needs to reflect that. If straight white males are uncomfortable and fear acknowledging that not everyone else in the world is a straight white male, then that's their problem, not the "social justice warriors" (how is this an insult, again?). Deal with it. Women and people of colour are still small in numbers in representation statistics anyhow; women of colour are even smaller. Our popular and social culture is still overwhelmingly white and male - the privilege holders.
Diversity and representation help everyone. Not just the marginalized. EVERYONE.
'Conclusion: Gender, Power, and Representation' - Well that's that. Flawed in a few areas, but overall a rewarding and vital read in our modern era. Superwomen rock and rule, if only we'd give them a chance; a chance to be themselves and be awesome in their own light. Just like how (white) supermen are encouraged to be all the time, and they are not called political for doing what they do as white men, because whiteness and maleness are seen as "normal" and the default, and therefore naturally heroic. They are made heroes by default.
Well, fuck that. Anybody can be a hero. We can't be what we don't see, however. Mirrors have power. That is why representation and identifying with certain fictional characters is important. Fiction shapes us, shapes our culture, no matter what any detractor says.
'Superwomen: Gender, Power, and Representation' by Carolyn Cocca - A fun and educational read on female superheroes and iconic cinematic and television heroines. Super recommended.
Final Score: 4/5
Graphic Novel Review - 'Scary Godmother: Omnibus' by Jill Thompson
2023 EDIT:
Reread: Perhaps I'm too old for this. It is a very kiddie book.
It keeps switching on and off between being poetry and not, which makes the whole thing look messy, inconsistent and amateurish. There's less prose and more comic as it progresses, as it were, with each story, which benefits it in my book (heh).
Needed more of the Scary Godmother herself, too.
Final Score: 3/5
Original Review:
Boo.
Yeah, 'Scary Godmother' is cute. No, more than that. This Halloween comic for kids is freaking adorable.
I wanted to read more of Jill Thompson's stuff after the triumphant 'Wonder Woman: The True Amazon', and her 'Scary Godmother' stories fit wonderfully with her watercoloured art - it's surreal yet loopy and sweet all at once. There are surprisingly subtle little touches throughout in terms of story and characters.
It's a comic collection for children so it's not really scary, but there is the message about not fearing - not judging - anything or anyone just because you don't understand them. Scary Godmother even says, in her first story, "Monsters? HA HA! Why, some of my best friends are monsters!" Up close and personal you might find they can be fun and friendly. Those who are perceived as monsters can be as human as you, and that is an important thing for children to take away from this. "Freaks" are not wrong or abnormal, judging and bullying are. Also don't give in to peer pressure.
The Scary Godmother is like the Santa Claus of Halloween - a green-skinned, frizzy-haired witch just ripe for cosplay (and really, who wouldn't want healthy green skin?), it is she who makes Halloween into what it is every year with her magic and travels from her monster world of the Fright Side. She conducts and prepares all creatures for their scares, sets haunted houses and spooky forests up like on a stage, and vacuums the arches in Halloween cats! Like Miss Frizzle from 'The Magic School Bus' and Mary Poppins, children can easily latch onto this eccentric adult female character.
The little girl protagonist, Hannah Marie, is the main instigator to the book's adorableness. She is a scared trick-or-treater who turns brave, resourceful and responsible in later stories - she even rides Scary Godmother's broomstick! I could identify with the chubby-cheeked, big-eyed Hannah through a young version of myself and not only in looks. Her baby sister Ellie is also a sweetie, for the few panels she appears in.
The stories are fun, creative, and contain good messages - except that following your crush and sneaking around as a secret admirer? Yeah, kids, there is a word for that: Stalking, and it's wrong. Don't do it! Even Scary Godmother thinks it's creepy! She gets that it's scary, and not in a good way! 'Scary Godmother' also has bits of prose written on every page as well as word balloons for its graphic novel format, and on-and-off again it goes into rhyme. One of the stories is all in rhyme. It's not that I mind much - it works well and the rhyming scheme is clever when it shows up - it's just inconsistent. Speaking of inconsistency, at the beginning Hannah's mother tells her not to be afraid to go out tick-or-treating because the Scary Godmother will protect her. But when Hannah meets the witch, who then introduces herself, Hannah doesn't know what a Scary Godmother is. Even if used for encouragement by a parent, how does the mum know about any Scary Godmother when it appears that nobody else did before?
But what an ooky-spooky book, full of nooks and crannies: pumpkins, candy, shadows, cobwebs, ghosts, a vampire family, skeletons, a pizza-loving werewolf with a human mum, cats, and nice surprises to go with your treat. And all sorts of tricks.
'Scary Godmother' - To be read to kids every Halloween.
Final Score: 4/5
Reread: Perhaps I'm too old for this. It is a very kiddie book.
It keeps switching on and off between being poetry and not, which makes the whole thing look messy, inconsistent and amateurish. There's less prose and more comic as it progresses, as it were, with each story, which benefits it in my book (heh).
Needed more of the Scary Godmother herself, too.
Final Score: 3/5
Original Review:
Boo.
Yeah, 'Scary Godmother' is cute. No, more than that. This Halloween comic for kids is freaking adorable.
I wanted to read more of Jill Thompson's stuff after the triumphant 'Wonder Woman: The True Amazon', and her 'Scary Godmother' stories fit wonderfully with her watercoloured art - it's surreal yet loopy and sweet all at once. There are surprisingly subtle little touches throughout in terms of story and characters.
It's a comic collection for children so it's not really scary, but there is the message about not fearing - not judging - anything or anyone just because you don't understand them. Scary Godmother even says, in her first story, "Monsters? HA HA! Why, some of my best friends are monsters!" Up close and personal you might find they can be fun and friendly. Those who are perceived as monsters can be as human as you, and that is an important thing for children to take away from this. "Freaks" are not wrong or abnormal, judging and bullying are. Also don't give in to peer pressure.
The Scary Godmother is like the Santa Claus of Halloween - a green-skinned, frizzy-haired witch just ripe for cosplay (and really, who wouldn't want healthy green skin?), it is she who makes Halloween into what it is every year with her magic and travels from her monster world of the Fright Side. She conducts and prepares all creatures for their scares, sets haunted houses and spooky forests up like on a stage, and vacuums the arches in Halloween cats! Like Miss Frizzle from 'The Magic School Bus' and Mary Poppins, children can easily latch onto this eccentric adult female character.
The little girl protagonist, Hannah Marie, is the main instigator to the book's adorableness. She is a scared trick-or-treater who turns brave, resourceful and responsible in later stories - she even rides Scary Godmother's broomstick! I could identify with the chubby-cheeked, big-eyed Hannah through a young version of myself and not only in looks. Her baby sister Ellie is also a sweetie, for the few panels she appears in.
The stories are fun, creative, and contain good messages - except that following your crush and sneaking around as a secret admirer? Yeah, kids, there is a word for that: Stalking, and it's wrong. Don't do it! Even Scary Godmother thinks it's creepy! She gets that it's scary, and not in a good way! 'Scary Godmother' also has bits of prose written on every page as well as word balloons for its graphic novel format, and on-and-off again it goes into rhyme. One of the stories is all in rhyme. It's not that I mind much - it works well and the rhyming scheme is clever when it shows up - it's just inconsistent. Speaking of inconsistency, at the beginning Hannah's mother tells her not to be afraid to go out tick-or-treating because the Scary Godmother will protect her. But when Hannah meets the witch, who then introduces herself, Hannah doesn't know what a Scary Godmother is. Even if used for encouragement by a parent, how does the mum know about any Scary Godmother when it appears that nobody else did before?
But what an ooky-spooky book, full of nooks and crannies: pumpkins, candy, shadows, cobwebs, ghosts, a vampire family, skeletons, a pizza-loving werewolf with a human mum, cats, and nice surprises to go with your treat. And all sorts of tricks.
'Scary Godmother' - To be read to kids every Halloween.
Final Score: 4/5
Scribble #51
"Strong female character" - do these words put together make anyone else's eye twitch and trigger a knee-jerk reaction to punch through a wall? Ironic since "strong female character" is just code for "girl who punches", and that's it. Why is that term still being used? Is women doing things still so rare and alien to people? You never, EVER hear the term, "strong male character", so why and how is this acceptable?
Sunday, 4 June 2017
Manga Review - 'Kitchen Princess: Search for the Angel Cake' by Miyuki Kobayashi (Writer), Natsumi Ando (Artist)
Well it's been years since I finished the 'Kitchen Princess' manga series. It's still one of my favourites, but I've put off reading the prose book/light novel, 'Search for the Angel Cake', for ages as it sat on my shelf, collecting dust. I had so many other things to do and read, I guess.
Now in one afternoon of free time, I finally bothered to remember that it exists, and I got into it.
It's good. Not great or as touching and sweet as the manga - Najika can be bizarrely rude sometimes, and Daichi is a jokey smartarse, to name a few out-of-character traits - but it's nice enough. It is told from the point of view of Najika Kazami, a girl who dreams of being the world's best pastry chef. Her quest to find her "flan prince" - the main plot of the manga - is never mentioned, which is for the best since it has nothing to do with this particular story. We are treated to Najika's thoughts and emotions, which can be hugely, sagely optimistic (she's a shoujo heroine, after all) and incredibly sad depending on the situation. Her relationship with her late parents and how she misses them is expanded upon, as well.
There is still plenty of food and dessert porn to relish, with added recipes at the end of each section, themed around the seasons of a year. Yet we never actually see Najika cook her recipes. We don't know the process of how she does it; the cooking itself isn't described, we just cut to the food already made every time. Also, I've never really read a light novel before, but I think that a few manga illustrations occasionally appearing on pages is usual for the format.
There is drama, silly juvenile stuff, romantic touches, and tragedy - a mixture the original manga has. I am a little bothered by how the tragic elements are handled, particularly at the abrupt end.
Spoiler:
Sora, who died in the manga, is only mentioned sparingly, and is used in relation to Najika's grief, not Daichi's, and Sora was his brother!
Spoiler end.
It just seems too contrived to me.
'Kitchen Princess: Search for the Angel Cake' - Starts out and continues to be a simple plot of 150 pages, ending in melancholy - a reflection of life and filling it with food; in the company of those you love. It is sweetly sad - bittersweet, as it were - and hopeful. I liked revisiting Najika and her friends again - including a new one in the form of a classmate: the shy, girly and rich bookworm, Anju. All they seem to do is eat sweets, and they never gain weight. But that's anime and manga for you.
Creamy, puffy, light-hearted love.
Final Score: 3/5
Now in one afternoon of free time, I finally bothered to remember that it exists, and I got into it.
It's good. Not great or as touching and sweet as the manga - Najika can be bizarrely rude sometimes, and Daichi is a jokey smartarse, to name a few out-of-character traits - but it's nice enough. It is told from the point of view of Najika Kazami, a girl who dreams of being the world's best pastry chef. Her quest to find her "flan prince" - the main plot of the manga - is never mentioned, which is for the best since it has nothing to do with this particular story. We are treated to Najika's thoughts and emotions, which can be hugely, sagely optimistic (she's a shoujo heroine, after all) and incredibly sad depending on the situation. Her relationship with her late parents and how she misses them is expanded upon, as well.
There is still plenty of food and dessert porn to relish, with added recipes at the end of each section, themed around the seasons of a year. Yet we never actually see Najika cook her recipes. We don't know the process of how she does it; the cooking itself isn't described, we just cut to the food already made every time. Also, I've never really read a light novel before, but I think that a few manga illustrations occasionally appearing on pages is usual for the format.
There is drama, silly juvenile stuff, romantic touches, and tragedy - a mixture the original manga has. I am a little bothered by how the tragic elements are handled, particularly at the abrupt end.
Spoiler:
Sora, who died in the manga, is only mentioned sparingly, and is used in relation to Najika's grief, not Daichi's, and Sora was his brother!
Spoiler end.
It just seems too contrived to me.
'Kitchen Princess: Search for the Angel Cake' - Starts out and continues to be a simple plot of 150 pages, ending in melancholy - a reflection of life and filling it with food; in the company of those you love. It is sweetly sad - bittersweet, as it were - and hopeful. I liked revisiting Najika and her friends again - including a new one in the form of a classmate: the shy, girly and rich bookworm, Anju. All they seem to do is eat sweets, and they never gain weight. But that's anime and manga for you.
Creamy, puffy, light-hearted love.
Final Score: 3/5
Book Review - 'The Ballad of Mulan' by Song Nan Zhang
A short poem of the ages; a beautiful minute of your time.
I love 'Mulan', the animated Disney adaptation, and it's a treat to read the ancient ballad - roughly translated in English - about the legend of the woman who traveled and fought for China disguised as a man to save her father and brother. And her country.
If Mulan, or another woman like her with a different name, did exist, then women have always been awesome. If she didn't, then women were always recognized to be awesome.
The final verse:
"The he-hare's feet go hop and skip,
The she-hare's eyes are muddled and fuddled.
Two hares running side by side close to the ground,
How can they tell if I am he or she?"
Or another translation:
" They say the male rabbit likes to hop and leap,
while the female rabbit prefers to sit still.
But in times of danger, when the two rabbits scurry by,
who can tell male from female?"
'The Ballad of Mulan' - A simple, wonderful little journey expounding years of war.
Mulan - The warrior woman of hope for China.
Final Score: 4/5
I love 'Mulan', the animated Disney adaptation, and it's a treat to read the ancient ballad - roughly translated in English - about the legend of the woman who traveled and fought for China disguised as a man to save her father and brother. And her country.
If Mulan, or another woman like her with a different name, did exist, then women have always been awesome. If she didn't, then women were always recognized to be awesome.
The final verse:
"The he-hare's feet go hop and skip,
The she-hare's eyes are muddled and fuddled.
Two hares running side by side close to the ground,
How can they tell if I am he or she?"
Or another translation:
" They say the male rabbit likes to hop and leap,
while the female rabbit prefers to sit still.
But in times of danger, when the two rabbits scurry by,
who can tell male from female?"
'The Ballad of Mulan' - A simple, wonderful little journey expounding years of war.
Mulan - The warrior woman of hope for China.
Final Score: 4/5
Saturday, 3 June 2017
I saw 'Wonder Woman' today. Sometimes I'm happy to be proven wrong, and this is one of them. The movie is great. It isn't perfect - nothing is - but in 2017 we finally have a female-led superhero movie that is exceptional; meaning, good. It'll hopefully pull male Hollywood execs' heads out of their arses, and help kickstart many more superheroine films. Gender isn't a risk, or a guarantee of failure - bad writing is.
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