What to do when you're not the hero any more

[LWolf]

From Star Wars to Mad Max, a new, more diverse kind of storytelling went mainstream this year - and the backlash shows how much it matters.

The way we tell stories is changing. The change is creeping slow and political as hell. Just look at the diverse stories we’ve had this year, none of them perfect, all of them groundbreaking in the simplest and most shocking of ways. It’s Jessica Jones and Kimmy Schmidt. It's Steven Universe. It’s Orange Is The New Black and How To Get Away With Murder. It’s Black Hermione and female Ghostbusters. It’s Transparent and Welcome To Night Vale. It’s Gamergate and the Hugo Awards. It’s Mad Max. It’s Star Wars. Diversity shouldn't be exciting by now, but it is.

And of course, the backlash is on.

People who are quite happy to suspend disbelief in superpowers, summoning spells, dragons, aliens, planet-destroying starbases and Mark Hamill's acting abilities somehow find the idea of, for example, a black Hermione a bit too much and react with death threats and hate-mobs. This week, when the internet learned that a black woman had been cast in a new play billed as the ‘next instalment’ in the Harry Potter series, author J K Rowling reacted perfectly, reminding fans: "Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified. Rowling loves black Hermione".

http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/film/2015/12/what-do-when-youre-not-hero-any-more

The rest is well worth reading.

Personally, I still think Campbell's "Hero's Journey" work has merit. I disagree with his statement about women, or with attempts to limit who can be a hero; maybe the quote offered in this article has been misinterpreted, maybe not. That's a whole separate conversation.

What this article has to say about stories, and their importance to us, is a must-read.

[el_bryanto]

1. It's an interesting problem

In comic book culture this debate has been raging for at least 5-6 years. Basically you have the people who are long term fans and want to read comic books that are kind of the same as when they were kids, and the editors / writers many of whom feel the same way. These are fans who don't have anything against minorities or women, but just want the heroes to be like they were in the 60s (when, other than a few tokens, heroes were white and male and heterosexual).

Against that you have the fact that the fan base for "classic" comics is continually shrinking, and the desperate need to bring in new comic fans, who don't necessarily have the same bias towards concepts and ideas created in the 60s/70s. You also have a younger generation of writers who want to write a more diverse cast of characters, and who aren't content doing a greatest hits style tour forever.

For superhero comics I think the answer is to cater to everybody as much as you can and quietly ignore people complaining that Thor is a woman or that Captain America is black. Give the new creators free reign to do as they like, while letting the old guys quietly continue catering to your existing fan base). Obviously there is a lot more room for non-superhero comics these days as well. Image has been putting out some great stuff, for example.

Bryant

[LWolf]

6. I haven't really thought about comics.

I've never really read them, unless you count Peanuts and Calvin, and those are comic strips more than books (although I had Peanuts strips collected into a book when I was 5 years old, lol.)

It doesn't surprise me, though, that this debate may have actually STARTED with comics, since they have generations of people following a whole pantheon of heroes.

[el_bryanto]

7. Female fans and creators have been been suffering some pretty nasty treatment

for years now. I hope that's changing a bit (certainly there do seem to be more female led comics and comics with people of color) but it's hard to say. The Digital Comics change is helping in some ways I guess, in that you can get what you want through Comixology without having to put up with going into a store where woman aren't necessarily welcome.

Bryant

[NV Whino]

2. Seems to me the solution is to create new heros

Rather than remake old heros.

I'd rather see a gay/black/Hispanic/whatever Superman type rather than remaking Superman himself.

[LWolf]

4. Yes.

Actually, I'm good with either, or both.

I'm fine with a black Hermoine. It's a valuable thing for people to recognize that it's the character, not the character's physical characteristics, that matter, in our stories and in our culture.

It's even better, though, to see a whole pantheon of new heroes rise, who are, from the beginning, not straight, white, and male.

[hifiguy]

8. Speaking as a long-time comics geek

I agree. Established characters - particularly those depicted in comics - come with a certain set of canon expectations in the minds of fans after knowing those characters for years, even decades. New characters can be whatever embodies the creator's ideas.

[Iggo]

3. Enthusiastically recommended!

[Facility Inspector]

5. We don't need another hero

we don't need to know the way home.