The Broad, Inclusive Canvas of Comics

So I spent 2 minutes finishing reading Ta-Nehisi Coates's article "The broad, inclusive canvas of comics". This duration of 2 minutes is relatively long compared to a normal 2 minutes in my daily life. By saying that I mean I do think a lot during the 2 minutes. Coates' article led me to think about the racial diversity and gender inequality in the comical world which I have never thought about before. 

Coates's central argument of this article is that he loves reading comic books more than watching comic books based movies because it's relatively more racial diverse and sexual equal. It's interesting but revealing to know that there is such a huge gap about the racial and sexual inequality between comics and movies. One example that Coates uses in his article is Pepper Potts and in Ironman. Potts's less power and her secretary position has been compared to Iron man, Tony Stark's powerful and dominant role. It again, reminds me of the Avengers that I mentioned in my last entry(I am not a fan of Marvels so the its produced movies I have seen are really limited). I haven't seen any comics books of Marvels so I'll just say what I see from the movie. The women roles in Avengers are, not surprisingly, again more like followers. The Black Widow has been shaped as a female character who always seduce other male characters. She was once with Hawkeye and later they broke up and then she started to play with Captain American. In Avengers 2, she somehow began a relationship with Hulk but at the end of movie, they still weren't together. In speaking of her power, the Black Widow is more easily to get hurt than any other male characters. As more of a assistant, she has never been the first to go against their enemies. To me, such a female role in a blockbuster would more or less influence audiences' perception of women. 

As for the racial problem, well, have you ever seen an Asian hero in a superhero movie? No. Asian characters have always been the minority in Hollywood, let alone being main characters like heroes. So I would say I believe comic book movies will be as diverse or inclusive as the books someday but it's still hard to just be like books for now. Also, I'd say children would be definitely influenced by superheroes always being white. Just like me, they could be potentially brain washed by these blockbusters and would admit the white supremacy one day without even noticing it. When I was little, the Marvels movies have already been universally popular in my home country. We had little our own superheroes movies at that time so the only superheroes I have seen are always white. However, I don't even realize it's unequal for other races until today. I feel like I am desensitized now because of the setting. So will the other children especially they are in an e-age. Though I say I'm kind of desensitized, my friends and I were still excited to see Cho Chang in Harry Potter when we were little because she's the only Asian character in that movie series. But now I think even the only Asian character has been misreiprensted by racial stereotypes. Just as expected, Cho Chang is a top student who is good at study and likes reading books. Not all Asians are "A-straighters". How would those audience who're not good at study reflect themselves on stereotypical image like this? Hope we will see the movie characters be more diverse and sexual equal one day. 

2 broke girls

So I watched the 22nd episode of 2 broke girls, called the disappointing unit of season 4. I think this episode definitely passed the Bechdel Test, event the whole series of this TV show have passed the Bechdel Test since the starring of 2 broke girls are two female actors.

Let's get back to talk about the 22nd episode of 2 broke girls, season 4. This episode talks about Max and Caroline, who are the main characters of the show, are going to attend their friends, Sophie and Oleg's wedding. So for the criteria of the Bechdel Test, this episode of 2 broke girls has met the first criteria---A show/movie must have two or more named characters. Max, Caroline and Sophie are all female characters who appear in this episode and have their names. Actually these three female characters are well-known for their names and personalities in the show. Also, Max and Caroline of course talks to each other in it because their settings in the show are best friends, sweet roommates and even business partners. And for the last criteria of the Bechdel test, I would say this episode almost did not pass it. Max and Caroline talks about man all the time during this episode, in fact throughout the whole series of the show. However, it finally has passed the test since there are still so many things other than man that Max and Caroline talk about in this episode. For instance, they discussed a lot about how could they make their cupcake business thrive. And max is always pessimistic about their business while Caroline tends to be more optimistic. But Max also inspires and encourages Caroline in a unintentional way. Like in 22nd episode, she said "We have our own business. The High isn't our failure. We already have our very own failure, called Max's Homemade Cupcakes. And if we stay here, we're building someone else's dreams, not ours." So I would say it does not only pass the Bechdel test, but also it is very inspirational for people, especially those women who start up their own business just like Max and Caroline.

Bechdel test criteria are important for understanding how women are represented in a show because the criteria require the respect, certain playing roles and intelligence(so they are not only talking about man all the time) of female characters in a show/movie. And as I said above, 22nd episode of 2 broke girls is a good representation of women since it shows the struggle, independence and ambition of women. Like I found it is quite inspirational since it proves that women still can do their own business successfully thought it's sometimes rather difficult.