I don't get it...
Am I the only one confused by some people responding negatively to the new Ultimate Spider-Man thing?
I mean, okay, I kind of get why some people are unhappy about Laurence Fishburne as Perry White. Since we are talking about a character that's been established for countless decades as a white man of a certain temperament, that's not really Fishburne's general style. Some people aren't comfortable with seeing big changes to the characters they're used too. (Heck, remember the Fantastic Four movies? Poor Jessica Alba was stuck with that terrible ill-suited dye job, and STILL got flack for not "looking right")
It's still pretty dumb to draw conclusions about how a character will change until we see it though. I didn't initially care for Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, but now he's the highlight of every Marvel movie. (And the shot in the post-Cap Avengers promo? With him inside what I assume is the helicarrier? I might have squeaked in joy.) You'd think folk could at least wait for a promo to bitch. :-P
But I can at least somewhat comprehend where that point of view is coming from. But why the heck would anyone have a problem with Miles Morales?
Now granted, I don't read the Ultimate Universe, but as far as I know, Peter Parker is still an annoying white guy. Considering the superhero snuff film Ultimate's been over the last few years, I'm guessing he's not alive anymore. But it's not like he isn't crawling all over the main universe, as white and irritating as ever. Miles Morales seems to be, at least as far as I can tell, a new character who happens to be half-black and half-hispanic and wearing the Spider-mask in Marvel's most prominent alternate universe.
So where is the controversy coming from? It's not like he's the first non-white character to inherit a white character's legacy? It's like thirty years too late for THAT to be news. And it doesn't seem like there's been enough of the character to dislike him for any other reason, yet. (This IS Ultimate Universe after all.)
I really don't understand people sometimes.
(edited to clarify/word choice.)
I mean, okay, I kind of get why some people are unhappy about Laurence Fishburne as Perry White. Since we are talking about a character that's been established for countless decades as a white man of a certain temperament, that's not really Fishburne's general style. Some people aren't comfortable with seeing big changes to the characters they're used too. (Heck, remember the Fantastic Four movies? Poor Jessica Alba was stuck with that terrible ill-suited dye job, and STILL got flack for not "looking right")
It's still pretty dumb to draw conclusions about how a character will change until we see it though. I didn't initially care for Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, but now he's the highlight of every Marvel movie. (And the shot in the post-Cap Avengers promo? With him inside what I assume is the helicarrier? I might have squeaked in joy.) You'd think folk could at least wait for a promo to bitch. :-P
But I can at least somewhat comprehend where that point of view is coming from. But why the heck would anyone have a problem with Miles Morales?
Now granted, I don't read the Ultimate Universe, but as far as I know, Peter Parker is still an annoying white guy. Considering the superhero snuff film Ultimate's been over the last few years, I'm guessing he's not alive anymore. But it's not like he isn't crawling all over the main universe, as white and irritating as ever. Miles Morales seems to be, at least as far as I can tell, a new character who happens to be half-black and half-hispanic and wearing the Spider-mask in Marvel's most prominent alternate universe.
So where is the controversy coming from? It's not like he's the first non-white character to inherit a white character's legacy? It's like thirty years too late for THAT to be news. And it doesn't seem like there's been enough of the character to dislike him for any other reason, yet. (This IS Ultimate Universe after all.)
I really don't understand people sometimes.
(edited to clarify/word choice.)
posted by kalinara @ 10:50 PM
10 Comments:
At August 05, 2011 12:17 AM,
Marshall Ryan Maresca said…
There's outrage over Miles Morales?
Sigh.
At August 05, 2011 12:32 AM,
kalinara said…
I think most of the responses I've seen were fairly positive.
It's just that the negative comments are so WTF that they're the most noteworthy.
At August 05, 2011 4:20 AM,
Diabolu Frank said…
People in the world are actually concerned about Perry White? So he's not white like Frank Black, but black like Barry White is? It's not like he's a Norse god embraced by a very small number of white supremacists and/or pagans. Perry White is one of the less consistently characterized and most inessential of Superman's supporting cast, and Laurence Fishburne is a great enough actor to play any variation. Plus, maybe people still picture him as Morpheus, but these days the dude is old, fat, gray, and relatively mellow. Sounds like Perry White to me.
As far as I can tell, a lot of the pushback is based on an ignorant public thinking Peter Parker is dead in the "real" universe. Also, they think Morales is gay because of the echo effect following a recontextualized quote from a right wing British tabloid. It's yet another bludgeon for the Tea Party to use against Obama, as moronic as that seems. Racism + homophobia = talking points.
Finally, I never got into Sam Jackson as Nick Fury. I don't actually think about it anymore, though. I just think of Sam Jackson working with the Avengers, since he's playing Sam Jackson dressed like Sam Jackson's Shaft with an eye patch. Now HE would be a problematic Perry White. "Mister Kent, does the Daily Planet look like a %$^&$? Then why you trying to %^&$ it like a $%^$&? Who do you think you're fooling with those glasses, Mr. Kent-Superman-mother-%^&*%#$?" Ooo-ooo! Ving Rhames! That would be an insane Perry White! Make that happen!
At August 05, 2011 11:47 AM,
kiragecko said…
My only problem is that Ultimate Peter is dead. He was adorable. Miles will probably be awesome, but I've been enjoying Peter for a while and wanted him to actually be happy. I can't just read 616 Peter 'cause what I like are his friendships with Kitty, Gwen, stupid Bobby, etc.
At August 05, 2011 11:55 AM,
Jeff R. said…
Trolls gotta troll. Really, that's all it is.
At August 05, 2011 7:18 PM,
notintheface said…
It's Spidey Derangement Syndrome.
http://stars-and-garters.blogspot.com/2011/08/spidey-derangement-syndrome.html
At August 05, 2011 10:55 PM,
Seangreyson said…
Now obviously the people complaining about this haven't actually read the comic involved. Hell at this point the guy's name hasn't even been introduced. It's pretty much the same crap that went on with Idris Elba as Heimdell in the Thor movie.
On the other hand the Death of Spiderman story arc was actually pretty awesome. Not so much for Peter dying (he did it well but we all know he'll be back at some point), but because it kind of emphasized that Peter and his immediate friends (Iceman, Human Torch, Shadowcat) are the only actual superHEROES in the Ultimate Universe. Everyone else is one kind of super soldier at best (and pointless thug at worst).
When it takes a teenaged Spiderman's death to remind Captain America what a hero is supposed to do, it's kind of a nice twist on the normal relationship.
At August 06, 2011 11:39 PM,
Ununnilium said…
First, I haven't actually seen anyone being concerned about Perry White. Mostly, it's 'man, Laurence Fishburne is great and I haven't seen him in anything since The Matrix, cool'.
Second, Miles Morales... now, I can understand one reason why. It's a short-sighted and ignorant reason, but it's not racism. It's thinking back to all the flash-in-the-pan let's-kill-off-an-old-character-and-replace-them-with-a-more-diverse-version legacy characters of the '90s. The only idea behind many of these characters' creation was "Man, X character is way too old-fashioned for our young modern audience. Let's replace them with someone more hip!"
Now, obviously, this isn't an example of that - but I can feel the kneejerk.
At August 07, 2011 3:02 PM,
notintheface said…
My one reservation on Fishburn was how young he was - a young-looking 50. But Sue at DCWKA pointing out that Diane Lane (Ma Kent) is 46 erased that.
At August 07, 2011 4:54 PM,
Anonymous said…
Who's Miles Morales?
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