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[pewtercity-citizen]

So You Wanna Punch Nazis? Here’s a 3-Step Guide

Let’s all be realistic with how the world is doing: It sucks. Sure, we are getting our advancements here and there, and some progress in other areas. But, telling by the fact the world “Nazi” has been thrown into this article within the first five words, the chances are that there’s a good— and depressing— reason for that.

       Recently, there’s a video going around of an unknown man absolutely clocking the shit out of Neo-Nazi Richard Spencer. If that sounds funny to you, it gets better, because you can see it for yourself right here. But wait, there’s more! As if the insatiable fist of justice wasn’t sated enough, Neo-Nazi Spencer was then punched a second time. Pretty soon, the man is going to have to wear a motorcycle helmet and a mouth guard just to mow his lawn.

           And so, the “Punch a Nazi” movement has been given the highest honor of recognition: memes.

           To be fair, punching a Nazi feels pretty damn good. I’ve never done it, but it must if everyone wants to do it. After all, they’re Nazis. But now, I’m gonna bring up that guide I mentioned in the title. I’m sorry to say that it’s not a “how-to” guide on how to punch a Nazi. If you want that guide, here’s the video again. No, this is a guide to the preparation of the action, namely, the mental preparation. Yes, you have to mentally prepare yourself to assault someone— anyone— even if they’re a Nazi. “Are you saying Nazis deserve sympathy?!” No, it just bring me to my first point…

 1. Make Sure They’re Really a Nazi

Neo-Nazi Richard Spencer has truly spoiled us. A real-life Nazi! Wowzers! Right out in the open just waiting for the ol’ one-two! For those of you quick to defend Neo-Nazi Spencer, here’s a few helpful documents and videos where he declares his stances. Now, here’s the video of him getting punched again. And here’s a direct quote in jpeg format:

Neo-Nazi Richard Spencer is one of the most clear-cut examples of a modern Nazi. Sure, he’s not a “throw the Jews in camps,” Nazi, but that’s because he’s a Nazi of the modern era. God damn it, he’s the best there is when it comes to a true-to-life bag of garbage. And that’s a big problem.

We can’t expect every person we wanna punch to be on the same wavelength of bigotry as Spencer. And yet, that’s exactly what happens. We look at examples like this, and somewhere else, someone does the same thing to someone less deserving, and it hurts everyone. For example, let’s talk about social justice. In just seeing those two words on the screen, you did one of two things: You smiled happily, or you cringed. “Social Justice” is a big-name term, and that’s a good thing. People in the United States can now have topics like transgender rights, women’s rights, police brutality statistics, and cultural appropriation. All of these are great topics, that are now able to be talked about in the modern age, because people have fought (sometimes died) to put these topics on the table. And now, people want to be a part of that movement of change. However, they do this in ways that are almost laughable terrible.

One example is the University of Ottawa, which had a yoga class cancelled due to “cultural appropriation.” Not even a plea to be cancelled, it was actually, completely banned from the university. While cultural appropriation is an actual problem around the world, banning yoga is akin to also banning karate, aikido, acupuncture, incense, meditation, tarot cards, tea, and then the fork, which is a Chinese invention. When you ban enough things, saying that only a certain culture or person of color can utilize that thing, you then have something else on your hands: segregation. Cultural appropriation is useful to tell your friend Mike that his sombrero and fake mustache he bought for Halloween makes him look like a racist tool, or for telling an entire football team that their name is one, big racist dick move. Even if your intention is good, you need to make sure your target is deserving of it.

Now apply this to violence.

Violence adds another layer to this process, being that it comes from anger. Quickly— how many of you have ever gone into a blind rage and never regretted it? I’m guessing very few of you. Anger is a dark room, and every shadow is an enemy to us. Not everyone wants to deal with it either, because hell, even scientist know that anger feels good. But feeling good doesn’t mean it’s right, and not enough people want to work past their anger enough to make a thoughtful decision. So, while you may hear someone on the street say, “I don’t get this whole, ‘Black Lives Matter,’ thing,” you’ve got a few options to analyze the situation and come to a few possible conclusions. Or, you could just call them a Nazi, and scratch that face-punch itch, despite the fact that it could lead to something worse. “How,” you ask?

2. Understand Your Actions May Have Consequences

           “But, I’m just punchin’ Nazis!” You say. “What could be bad about that?!” You’d be shocked.

           There’s a lot of ways things can go when your fist connects to anyone in the name of freedom. First, understand that your punch can lead to a Nazi punching someone else in retaliation. Not your fault? Doesn’t matter. The moment you justify violence for a purpose you deem “right,” another person somewhere is going to apply the logic to a different situation. Hell, this is how war works. Do you think that anyone we’ve ever been to war with has thought, “Man, I’m gonna get those freedom-loving American sissies! I love being a villain!” No, they’re just another army doing exactly what they’re told just like our army does. We’re so good at justifying our own violence that we’ll make movies about how slaughtering troops from other nations made our troops sad.

           But, that still makes Nazis wrong. Just because they don’t see themselves as doing anything wrong doesn’t mean they’re not. Is that confusing? You bet your ass it is, and I’m bringing it up because it’s a piece of knowledge you need to have once you see major Nazi-fueled acts of violence because of actions like the ones against Richard Spencer. And in this case, Nazis aren’t your only problems. The people on your side are going to drive you up the fucking wall.

           You know how I mentioned that you need to make sure you’re target it in the wrong before you attack them? Well, coupled now with this point, and you have the four individuals who tortured a kid on Facebook Live. It was the actions of four African-American teens (whose names I omit because I’ll always omit the names of actual fucking monsters), who tortured a disabled white teen (whose name I will also omit because he’s probably sick of hear about himself), all while screaming things like, “Fuck Donald Drumpf,” and “Fuck white people!” We look at those things, and we say “That’s not our movement, they’re outliers,” or, “That doesn’t count.” Understanding that people like this exist counts for a lot. People all across the United States have been on the Fuck Donald Drumpf Express, and I will continue to ride that train into the sunset. And then, we have tension between white people and people of color, which is also reasonably justified. But now you’ve taking on two justifiable causes, and someone dumber than you saw that and said, “yeah, I’ll just find some white kid and torture him, that’s the same thing.”

           It bears repeating that still doesn’t mean you shouldn’t throw that punch. It just means that, when you do, know the possibility of what it could lead to. It makes that punch worth a whole lot more, and that reminds me…

 3. Take Responsibility

           I am not telling you to out yourself. I am honestly hoping that the two individuals who decked Richard Spencer stay in the wind, just so a horde of Nazis doesn’t come barging down their front door with burning crosses in tow.

           So, what does it mean to take responsibility? To put it short, it means you have to own your actions. What does that mean? It means don’t be a wuss, you wuss. When you make the active effort to punch a person in their face, especially in the current political climate, you need to be ready to take on what that means for you. If you punch someone— a Nazi or otherwise— they could find you. You might not because to hide yourself as well as Richard Spencer’s assailants, and that means getting caught. You could go to jail, and if you’re either gay or a person of color, that means it’s going to suck a lot more for you than it would normally.

           We all like to think that it doesn’t end that way. It’s fun to think about winding ‘em up and clobbering Nazis until this bad time blows over. But, your story could end with you behind bars, only hearing about the good fight from the inside of a cell, and worst of all? You’ve only gotten to punch one measly Nazi.

               And you know what? It’s not all bad. People go to jail for worse, and the willingness to do something criminal doesn’t make you a bad person. You know who else has been to jail?

               That’s Martin Luther King Jr. Yes, that Martin Luther King Jr. Labelled as a criminal by the people of his time, and he helped usher a new wave of tolerance and understanding to future generations. The man would stand on a podium and talk about the future he saw, and how he would never lose sight of that. That’s called responsibility. The man knew full and well that his life was in danger everywhere he went, and that violence was waiting around the corner for him. He knew this, and fought anyway. And you know what happened? He died for it.

               No, you don’t have to be the next Martin Luther King Jr. Hell, you really shouldn’t want that for your own life. You don’t have to be in the same spotlight— looking around corner and watching your own back in the grocery store— but you do have to take responsibility for what your actions may bring. You know who else was incarcerated at some point in time? Georgia Congressman John Lewis.

               He’s still alive. He’s even on Twitter, tweeting about it! So you could die, you could get tossed in jail, or you could become Georgia’s next congressman. Either way, fighting for freedom has a price to pay, and you’d better be willing to pay it with a smile on your face.

               To summarize: Do you think any target you disagree with on any and all moral levels is a Nazi, or is probably a Nazi? If so, you’re not ready to start punching people. Do you think nothing bad will happen if you punch anybody, even a Nazi? If so, you’re not ready to start punching people. Do you think there’s no actual consequence or responsibility that comes with fighting for a cause? If so, you’re not ready to start punching people.

               But! Are you ready to accept that while you may disagree with someone, that doesn’t make them a Nazi, or even a racist, and that a punch isn’t a solution to everything? Do you know that there may be consequences to your actions, even if you’ve done nothing wrong? Do you accept the responsibility that comes with your actions, whether it’s jail time, assault towards you, and continue to speak up and speak out against intolerance and, yes, Nazis? If you answered yes to all of these, congratulations: You’re ready to punch yourself some goddamn Nazis.

               Here’s that video again for reference. Be safe!

(Brad Kincaide, 2017)

[pewtercity-citizen]

A HUMBLE REBUTTAL:

1. I don’t disagree with you here. The age thing is a little weird, and I’m personally not into HUGE age gaps (yeah, the Oro and T’Challa thing was a little messed). BUT WHAT I WILL SAY, is that it’s not so big that people won’t look beyond it. Yes there’s a 3-4 year difference, but if it was Gwen and Wolverine or Miles and Captain Marvel, it’d be a lot more problematic (Remember when Batman and Batgirl boned in the new Killing Joke movie? Shit was fucked up). So yeah, it’s weird, but not unacceptable, at least in the world of comic books.

2. Romance stories (normally) piss me off. I hate watching an otherwise decent/interesting film only to have it ruined by a romance that had no business being there. It’s what ruined movies like The Hobbit, Deathly Hallows Part 1, and The Space Between Us, and the lack of a romance helped make movies stronger like Pacific Rim, The Force Awakens, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Kingsmen. But the difference is how the romance is laid out. Some romances are done beautifully, especially in comics, and amidst Civil War II, it could be an interesting side story to look too when things are too heated or grim on the other side.

3. I’m sorry, but I absolutely hate, //HATE//, this argument. Like, nothing in the world upsets me more (which is totally untrue, but roll with me). I don’t like the stigma that POC should only be with POC, and that anything outside of that is problematic. Black and white relations are not the only form of interracial relationships, but black and white relations open a LOT of doors for discussion. There is a LOT that going into an interracial relationship (As a black man with a white woman I’ve got plenty of stories to tell), and I hate when people say that we can’t have love stories between black and white characters, ESPECIALLY when there is so few in comic canon (only Cloak and Dagger come to mind, but I know I’m overlooking some). I love black and white relationships, because it does represent a demographic (MY demographic), and it’s important to see healthy relationships form out of it especially due to all the stigmas and misinformation about interracial relationships. This all coming from someone who wanted Miles and Kamala together, mind you. Even with that, I’m so stoked to see Miles and Gwen.

I don’t know, I think it can totally work, but the last point bothered me because I see it brought up EVERYWHERE. Like, everywhere. I really wanna read this story and see where it goes.

im pissed off

(https://twitter.com/DaveMarquez/status/816708088287920131)

honestly why the fuck.

i have a few problems with this.

1. this isn’t confirmed but as far as we know, miles is 15-16 and gwen is 19-20. which is pretty gross, but marvel isn’t the best when it comes to age differences (ex. oro was 12 when she first lost her virginity to t’challa when he was 16-17). but it’s 2017???? do better.

2. after the events of civil war II and all the stress miles was put under, do you really think this is a good idea? like, i feel like…….. there are other things to focus on rather than implement a romance to the series. i’m really tired of authors throwing romances at their audience once they can’t figure out another story line for their character. its tiring. it’s old. and i’m sick of it.

3. i’m a little put off but black and white relationships in marvel because it seems to be the only ships they can come up with? i’m. tired of it actually. I can think of a number of other people who are poc to ship miles with. black and white relations are not the only form of interracial relationships.

honestly this isn’t confirmed as far as i know but i really just, hope. this isn’t….. real. i’m tired.

[pewtercity-citizen]

Why Donald Trump Was Fucking Inevitable

               Across the spans of the internet and in our actual, physical lives, news of Donald Trump’s victory has successfully, and understandably, sent people into a frenzy of fear. There has never been an election result which has sparked more posts about not committing suicide, how to flee the country, and how I’m not the only one who had to call out of work because being with family is more important today. The last time it was so necessary to be with my family during what is being equated to a national tragedy, the World Trade Center had just been hit. Needless to say, everyone is scared shitless, and those who aren’t are making people even more scared.

               You will no doubt see a million posts from here on out about the president’s power, and what they can and can’t do, just to appease the fear. You will also see a lot of posts about how things will be okay, and how we’ll be getting through this, which is okay as well. The spreading of positivity and good-willed thoughts is never going to be an issue, but I personally know people who suffer though everyday turmoil—like depression— who hear the phrase, “the sun will rise,” and counter it with a well-timed, “fuck off.” Which is nothing less than unfortunate, because its in a time where positivity and hope is needed and necessary, and while there is people who need it, some can’t feel it beyond the fear. Because as the fear itself and the utter bullhockey that has run rampant across social media, the amount of people who have reached out admist the ocean of chaos has given be the positivity I need to write whatever it is this is. I guess I’m not writing to directly appease fear, but to express a perspective that may hopefully do just that while also getting the point across. I’ve, hopefully, made it abundantly clear that I didn’t vote to but this squinty-eyed nacho man in the position of power that he’s in. So what’s with the title of this article?

               Contrary to extremely popular belief, the world has been getting better, and— prior to November 7, 2016— it’s been the best time to be alive. To that, there is a lot someone might have to say. “What about police brutality? Incarceration? Court judges? Male contraception being halted?” To all of that, I will say, well, yeah. Those things are terrible, and as a tri-racial man, a lot of those affect me and make me terrified all the time. 

               But, if you honestly think about the world as a whole, it’s moved forward. Go back a few decades and I would have been jailed or beaten for dating ANYBODY I’ve ever been with, and if I have to trade shitty movies about the wacky antics of interracial couples, I’ll take it.

               Around the same time, I would have been drinking from a different water fountain just for having more melanin in my system than others. If that’s too far back, let’s go back to the good old 80s, where HIV was thought to be a gay-only virus. Because as we know, science can’t trump the age-old itch to persecute anyone different from us. Let’s visit the 90s now, where Miami officials kinda sorta didn’t honor the visit Nelson Mandela— Yes, that Nelson Mandela— into the city. That, and that other time that a string of arson-related crimes in 1995 destroyed 36 Africian-American homes and churches in the deep south. If I kept going, I could find events in every decade similar to this that would lead all the way to the electing of a hate-breathing keratin hoarder.

               Back to that thing about the world getting better. While police brutality still makes me terrified of driving every day, it’s an issue on the table now. People are talking, and being heard rather than being exclusively silenced. It’s an uphill battle, and the hill looks so steep it’s more like a wall, but it is uphill. Furthermore, regarding that whole thing about the gays cooking up AIDS, we now have marriage equality in the United States. While some states fight this like the body fighting the plague, it’s nationally recognized. You can take your gay self, and your gay partner, to any gay state (even though 14 states are in a sort of limbo with this law), and get married and have yourself some gay kids. That shit would have been unheard of in the 1990s.

You know what else would be unheard of? Anything beyond just being gay. Today, there are gay people, lesbians, bisexuals, and many, many more sexualities to note that there are now safe spaces for. Another topic that would have been called witchcraft just a couple of decades ago is transgender rights. There are still people to day— MANY, many people— who scoff at these ideals, all while transgender individuals are getting their own safe spaces, public restrooms, and yes, rights. This is also an uphill battle, but holy shit it’s an actual battle now. The world is changing, and changing quickly, because there came a point where enough people decided that the rights of individuals should be protected regardless of race, gender, sexuality, or religious preference. Those people decided, and the world moved forward even against the people who would prefer it to stay the same. All in all, the truth is in what we see every day: Inclusion and civil rights are at our doorstep, and the people spoke and acted, and things changed for the better.

               Now let’s finally talk about Donald Trump.

               Actually, before Trump, I almost forgot that I mainly use this blog for nerdy articles, so let me open up this conversation with something else first. Remember Captain America: Civil War? If you’ve never seen it, please correct that people, it was phenomenal and it’ll help understand this point. For the other 95% of you, think back to the main arguments of the movie. Sure, there was the whole thing about how they kill innocent people by accident trying to save the world from aliens and robots, but think back to the topic of indirectly challenging others. The argument was that, despite how good the Avengers may be, their actions bring challengers. If they save the world from weird aliens, weirder and stronger aliens want to take a bite next.

               This basic idea translates to the real world. During any protest, or any civil change, has it ever remained 100% unchallenged? When people want change, the people who don’t fight back. Namely, they challenge it. When the change happens anyway, it doesn’t stop. They rally forces, they call for big names, and they get endorsements. At this point, I think people know what I’m getting at.

               The world is getting so good that it took a real-life Batman villain like Donald Trump to challenge it. Seriously, it could have only been him, because the world’s gotten to the point where he’s the only one cartoonishly insane enough to challenge it. Now, the better half of the nation is fearing that all that change I talked about, and more, is about to be undone by the minuscule hands of one man. Additionally, you can also say, “You say we NEED a man like him, but we don’t! He’s not worth all this!” And you’d be right. The actual fact of the matter is, while we don’t need or want him, he was always inevitable. We needed to see how terrible he is too see how great we’ve been doing. It’s terrible that he had to go and win too, but it doesn’t change the progress we’ve made and the passion that the people of this country have now because of it.

               Nothing’s changed from anything I’ve said. The world has gotten good, and the country made that happen. We fought the opposition who wanted to keep our rights suppressed, and we’ve won on more fronts than we ever have in the nation’s entire history. Half of the country wants to keep this cheeto sack full of feral field mice (I promise, that’s the last one) in office for as long as possible, because so long as he’s there, there’s the belief that things won’t have to change like they have been, and that things can go back to the way they were. You know, less of those rights I talked about, being persecuted or attacked for being a different race, or having safe spaces taken away. You know, when America was great again.

               People changed this country because it’s a country full of fighters. We figuratively tore this country from the hands of Europe, and we’ve fought in the present to make sure that rights are still preserved, and holy shit we’ve fought hard. If we have fought millions— LITERALLY MILLIONS— of people to have the same rights as anyone else, then we can fight one man. He’s the president, and boy howdy is that horrific, but he’s just a reminder of how far the country’s gotten, and how desperate people were to prevent that from happening, to the point where they elected a bronze-faced hambeast (okay, I lied) to secure it. I’m telling you, it’s not secure. Everyone has to keep fighting, and fight hard. Everyone has to vote from now on, and for those who didn’t let this be your Negligence Tax so you don’t do it again. Remain relentless, because it’s how we’ve gotten so far. Don’t give up, America. Take this country by the reigns.

(Brad Kincaide, 2016)

[pewtercity-citizen]

3 Superhero Movies (That Can Be Made the Same as All the Others)

  If you’re a fan of Batman, Iron Man, Superman, or even The Hulk, you’re able to march into in the streets and proclaim your victory over your other fellow nerds. The reason? Those guys have movies.

                Yes, the big names get the big movies, while other obscure movies are left to the wind. For those of you more obscure fans, I can see why you’d be upset with this current trend of movies. Let’s face it: Hawkeye probably isn’t going to see his own movie any time soon, and neither will Nightwing or Martian Manhunter. The most you can hope for at this point is for those type of characters to follow the same road that more obscure characters like Falcon and Black Widow have taken and hope that they shine in their cameo appearances alongside more popular heroes.

That includes this guy.

                Before you wait for too long only to see your favorite heroes be cinematically cock-blocked by their respective comic industries, consider the fact that nearly all of today’s superhero movies have a basic outline that tells you how the movie will go. This goes for DC Comics and Marvel, by the way. Don’t believe me? The basic idea is this: Superhero fights the better version of themselves in a big city and end up racking up property damages in one or more parts of the city. Here are some examples:

Iron Man: Tony Stark’s suit goes up against Jeff Bridges’ bigger suit. They blow up a reactor at the end.

Batman (Dark Knight Rises): Batman fights someone stronger than him whose origins (also) date back to the League of Shadows. There’s a massive police v. criminal fight and a bomb nearly desolates the city.

Hulk: Hulk has to fight a bigger Hulk (The Abomination) and they, as Bruce Banner recollects, “broke Harlem.”

Superman: Supes fights the (other) last Kryptonian, in a fight that winds up desolates—quite literally—the whole fucking city.

Captain America: Super Soldier fights the FIRST Super Soldier (Red Face Skull Scary Guy). They don’t destroy a city, but Cap does crash a fucking nuke-loaded jet into the arctic tundra.

‘Merica.

And it goes on. I’m not saying that this is a bad format, but, it’s extremely easy to replicate with almost any action flick, especially when you tie-in the comics that have already set up the backstory for you. It’s anyone’s guess as to why comic industries wouldn’t just apply this to everything like they already do and collect their paycheck at the end of the week. If Sony can afford 5 more X-Men movies [See the section for actress Fan Bingbing], or DC’s lineup of 7 movies between 2016-2018, we can wiggle in one of these guys.

Wonder Woman

One of the most fearsome heroes in the DC Universe to ever wear tights (that’s saying something when that’s nearly all of DC’s characters). Despite being created by a man with a crippling bondage fetish, Wonder-Woman has kicked more ass than a piranha-breathing Mike Tyson. Let’s not forget that she’s not only a great role-model for women since her creation, but also gives simple instructions to little girls on how to combat/stab her tormentors.

The Outline:

We have to ask ourselves: Who the hell thought it’d be a good idea to have eight live-action movies starring Batman punching people in the face, and make nine live-action movies about Superman having the same powers and same phobia of green rocks, while only one TV series and no movie about Wonder Woman has been made. The reason that this is baffling (other than an alien with every power ever having nine movies) is that Wonder Woman’s movie could exactly follow the outline listed above. For this, let’s look at a DC Villain known as Devastation.

Who is this? No one special, just the one being in the universe made with the sole purpose of killing Wonder Woman. That sounds like an impressive job description already, but there’s also more to the story:

“Similar to Diana, Cronus formed the image of a child out of Themyscirian clay. He breathed life into it and called her Deva. He then had his dark children each bless the new creation with evil gifts. Thus Devastation possessed each of Wonder Woman's abilities, but with a dark twist to them.”

So let’s get this straight: The god Cronus created a being entirely made to combat Wonder Woman as his chosen champion, got this new girl an evil blessing from more gods, made her have every one of Wonder Woman’s powers, and THEN he said “Yeah, I think I’ll stop there now.” Think of two super-powered heroines punching (and sword-fighting) each other through buildings. This is completely set up for an action flick on its own, outline or not, so what’s been holding up the boys at DC from making this Wonder Woman movie happen?

We’re assuming the “Woman” part.

Just a guess.

Critics also suggest that having a character having to adjust to modern times may make part of the movie boring, or that her mythological background may go over the heads of some of the viewers who aren’t familiar with her backstory. To which Marvel Studios has replied: Been there, done that. Peter Parker literally fought a giant lizard who wanted to make the entire city into (you guessed it) more lizards, and the only thing going through our heads at the theatre was “huh, I wonder how this is gonna end.” Fear not though, for a Wonder Woman movie is part of DC’s movie lineup. All we have to do now is hope that this doesn’t end up like DC’s other attempt at a film with a female lead role. That, and the fact that their last suggestion for the role of Wonder Woman was Megan fucking Fox. So we’re just going to really, reeeeaaally hope for the quality of that movie from here on out.

  Ultimate Spider-Man (Miles Morales)

There’s two kinds of people in the world. One type hears the name “Miles Morales,” and generally begins smiling and babbling uncontrollably over how well-done his comic series was (that may just be me). If that is not you, then you must be the second type, currently asking “who the fuck is Miles Morales and why do I care?”

Miles Morales is also known by a familiar handle: Spider-Man. “But wait! I thought that was Peter Parker? You just talked about him fighting a lizard two minutes ago.” Well a second Spider-Man is what tends to happen when the first one goes and dies.

In comes Miles and his fellow writers, who could give a damn about what people thought. As stated, Miles is a 13-year-old who gets bitten by a spider made by the same company that gave Peter his powers. He becomes Spider-Man after Peter’s death, with a nifty palette of new abilities. Miles can still stick to walls like the Spidey before him, as well as enter a camouflage state that renders him nearly invisible, and a venomous touch that paralyzes opponents. On top of a fresh set of new abilities, his family is layered with personality, ranging from a former-con father to a current-con uncle. Now that you’re caught up, how about that movie pitch?

The outline:

In comes Prowler.

I know what you’re thinking: This looks nothing like Spider-Man. In fact, this looks a lot more like Deadpool with a color palette switch. Why is he here? Well, remember that current-con uncle? Yep. Meet Uncle Aaron.

“While stealing technology from Osborn Industries under orders from Roxxon, a spider genetically enhanced with the OZ formula crawled into his bag and later bit Miles Morales, granting his nephew powers and turning him into the new Spider-Man.”

                If you follow this, you’re reading that Aaron’s uncle is the reason why Miles is currently coating the city’s buildings with web fluid. Before I try to rewrite that entire sentence, let me explain the outline a bit.

                No, he’s not “better Spider-Man,” but, Prowler often blackmails Miles into helping him out with crimes at the risk of revealing his secret. When the deal goes sour, Aaron proclaims “I made you,” and the two duke it out in the streets. Villain? Check. Fight in the streets? Check. Just no destruction— Oh wait, I forgot, the fight ends with a massive explosion that kills Miles’ uncle.

You can guess that this didn't end well. 

                This would be an interesting movie, solely because it can bring diversity to a media that really needs it, while using the same cookie-cutter outline with sprinkles of complexity and character development that the entire comic-to-film industry could use from time to time. What’s the problem? The last time there was a suggestion for a movie starring an African American Spider-Man, the internet did what the internet collectively does and freaked the fuck out. When Donald Glover made a joke on Twitter about playing the role of a black Spider-Man, he received a whirlwind of negative and racist feedback that he still recollects to this day. He even mentions it in his 2011 comedy special, Weirdo. 

                Ah, the sweet smell of progression. It smells pretty shitty, actually.

Deadpool

                I don’t even have to say it. I really, really don’t.

                How in the world does Wade Wilson not have a movie of his own by now? Between the multiple comics he’s recently headlined, the comics he’s made cameos in, and now having his own video game, you have to ask yourself why this guy hasn’t had his own movie. Anyone would watch it. Anybody. Even if it was just to see what all the hype was about, people would see the movie because Deadpool has such a dedicated following that the box office would have to put itself back together after the opening night.

Imagine THIS surrounding the theatres. 

                Okay, for the lost ones: Who is Deadpool? A mercenary, for one. Second, immortal. He has a healing factor (The same as Wolverine’s) that lets him heal even if he gets shot in the head. Which happens a lot. Along with that he’s also a trained swordsman and marksman, and one of the genuinely funny characters that Marvel has to offer. Their first cinematic test run with DP was in the loud and explosive shart that was the X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie, which has been proven to be all 99 of Jay-Z’s problems (and the fans’). So, about that new movie deal.

                The Outline:

                There’s a great advantage to a Deadpool film: He’s an assassin. You could not get any luckier with a character in an action movie than that. There are hundreds of characters like that which could easily start as the antagonist to the Merc’ with a Mouth. On a broader aspect, the entire Weapon X program has been on Deadpool’s hit-list for a while, so starting there would narrow down the search. A fan favorite to co-star in a movie with Wade Wilson is Taskmaster, another Marvel villain who is another— you guessed it— gun for hire. Throw in an old warehouse, guns and grenades, explosions, boom; superhero movie. If not, you can always have Abraham Lincoln be the villain. I’m serious.

This is a real fight that really happened.

                I’ve spent all this time talking about why should be making a Deadpool movie, and yet, as I talk about it, no movie. Why? He has the fans, support, merchandise, and profits to make this dream a reality for fans. So, why not? Allegedly, to start out, it’s partially because Marvel is afraid to mess up what they have. Because of Deadpool’s massive fandom, the top guns behind the movie are afraid to release a movie that could undo all of the fame that the name “Deadpool” has acquired over the years. And it makes sense: how much would it suck if the Deadpool movie ended up being a flop? You have to risk that with any movie you make, but with a handle like this, treading carefully is what the filmmakers have decided to do.

                Additionally, they want to the script to have an “R” rating, which is off the grid of what they normally do with their PG-13 releases. Whenever they decide to do a Deadpool movie, there is some comfort that they are trying to do it right by any means necessary, and it’s impossible to impress or satisfy everyone. They can, however, just do everything in their power to stop this from ever being in a movie ever again.

That’d be a good start.

(Brad Kincaide, 2013)

(*NOTE FROM 2017 BRAD: Not my best article. Not really super proud of this one. But hey! I’m two for three!)

[pewtercity-citizen]

Fake Gamer Girls (Defending Against an Imaginary Force)

            We’ve all been there, right? You’re walking down the street, maybe playing some Pokemon, maybe reading a comic, and lo’ and behold, there is a lady walking towards you. But not just any average lady, oh no, this one is wearing a Batman shirt. You take your opportunity, and do the unimaginable. You approach her. Upon introducing yourself in a manner that could stand to be more suave, you inquire about her shirt, and try to start up a conversation about Batman comics. You zone out and go on and on about City of Owls, Son of Batman, and what they were doing when they were designing Starfire’s outfit in Red Hood and the Outlaws. Well, my dear protagonist, she has no idea what you’re blabbering about. She instead explains that she likes the movies more than the comics, and after watching her Passion of the Christ (For her, it was The Dark Knight Rises), she bought the shirt. What do you do now? Right! Pulling the brim of your fedora right to your brow line, you march away mid-conversation, drive home, get online, and tell the world about the horrors and lies that scourges your world. The scourge you know now as:

Fake Gamer Girls.

            If that scenario was too realistic for you, I’m sorry, and I hope I didn’t uproot any unpleasant memories. If you peruse the internet on a regular basis, then you’ll notice that we’ve all heard stories of “fake gamer girls” or “fake nerd girls” somewhere before. The definition of this internet-generated mythical being is anybody with two X-Chromosomes disguising themselves as comic book or video game enthusiasts by cloaking themselves in merchandise from said media. And boy howdy, this force must have done something wrong, because those with Y-Chromosomes have taken to the internet to tell their terrifying encounters.

Horrifying.

            I have no doubt in my mind that you have now developed a new phobia, and are currently shutting all of your blinds and locking every door and window to make absolutely sure that these fake gamer girls don’t barge in to pretend to like your stuff. How do you defend yourself, you may ask? How do you ward yourself against this threat, and how to you eradicate it from the world? Don’t worry, son, that’s why I’m here. You could do the only reasonable thing and write about how it makes you angry online, but there is a more practical approach. Do you have a sword in your home? Don’t lie to me. We both know you do. Go get it. Got it? Good. Now it’s time to practice. Run outside, and find yourself a goddamn dragon. Don’t come back until you slay it, and then you’ll be ready for this new threat. Go get ‘em, sport! Tell me about your travels when you return!

            Okay, now that he’s gone, I’m going to talk to the rest of you. I’m going to let in you on a secret, all right? Fake gamer girls? Fake geek girls? They’re imaginary. If you’re still here and not currently running through traffic-congested roads whilst waving a sword looking for that dragon I made up, then you already know that. Fake gamer girls are probably the most popular internet-made myth since Slenderman, and people have been scared into thinking that they’re actually real. Recall the scenario at the beginning of the article, about our antagonist in the Batman shirt. Though she does not read Batman comics, she partakes in the movie-based media of the Batman franchise, and she has gone so far as to purchase Batman merchandise. In this way, this girl has gone out of her way to indulge into something Batman-related, making her a Batman fan. It seems like math to some of you, but it’s really that easy.

            All right, some of you are still stuck on the fact that I told that guy to go chase a dragon. Why did I do that? Because in all actuality, fake gamer girls are about as real as dragons are in this day and age, and trying to metaphorically slay a “fake” geek would make you look about as childish as trying to slay a dragon in a suburban town. There is another reason for dragons: To the online communities that try to expel this imaginary evil from the world, it’s like they see themselves as a legion of disgruntled dwarves trying to reclaim their gold-filled mountain from a fearsome dragon that took it from them. This analogy applies here as well. Trying to tell a fake gamer girl that she is indeed fake is an odd attempt to reclaim something that someone seems to think that they have lost. In reality, what is being lost when a girl participates in nerd-based culture? Why do so many men work tirelessly to evaluate every girl who speaks up about something they love like they’re the TSA of the internet?

            It’s simple, and starts from the moment we’re born. We’re all actually born without genitalia (a common overlooked fact), and the doctor hands us two things: an Xbox 360 controller, and a Barbie doll. If you pick the controller, boy parts pop up. The Barbie doll? Girl parts. It seems silly to you, but this is what some people really believe. The belief (without the sarcasm) is that games and comic books are for boys, and dresses and dollies are for girls. This is why if you were a little boy on the playground and kids started demeaning you by saying that you wear dresses at home, you’d cry. No? Just my childhood? Okay. Anyways, crossing these gender lines creates a needless conflict, and makes others act as enforcers to get girls back over the gender border. It’s very strange if you think about it. People actually go out of their way to try and convince girls to not like the things they’re into, or to say why they’re love for it is no match for their male love for the media. Why? Why pry yourself away from someone, especially members of the opposite sex, and say that they can’t like the same things as you? It’s actually a pride issue.

            It’s a popular analogy, but here it goes. Let’s say that there is an ice cream truck. There is a line for ice cream, and everyone is stoked. A boy goes, gets his ice cream, and scampers off. Then the girl comes up, but before she gets her ice cream, a boy cuts in line and gets it instead. Now it’s her turn, but it happened again. And it just keeps happening. Finally she says “No, fuck that, I’m getting ice cream,” and she cuts in front of the boy who cut in front of her. The boy is shocked, as are the other boys, and they cry. Because really, how dare that girl take their ice cream away from them.

            Men predominantly rule the world, and it’s unfortunate, because men are assholes sometimes. Not all, but enough men to make it hard for women to progress, even in something as simple as nerd culture. Some men take this male-dominated world as an advantage to mount their high horse and try to tell women where they belong, because they think that it’s their cultural right. That pride issue? It proves that there are some things more important to men than talking to a girl with similar (sometimes identical) interests, more important than making a cool friend even. They have their mantle to defend. If a (gasp) woman were to sit next to them on social acceptance and standings, that would make them lower somehow. Thus, they toss romantic pursuit and friendly bonding aside out of the ridiculous need to upkeep the male title in society. And it’s not just the males in nerd culture either, it’s nerd culture itself that does it’s fair share of damage.

            Let’s look at the extreme levels first. Let’s look at fighting games. You don’t even have to know video games at all to play a fighting game (I’m going to wait for the hate mail on that one). You hit a button, and bam! Punch to the face. Guys and girls can come together to play these games, regardless of skill or background, and enjoy this simple game genre. But, look at the character selection.

            See a difference? The men are hulked-out dudes who look ready to kick ass, with biceps the size of footballs and jawlines more chiseled than the Statue of David. And then the girls, with little to no muscle, and clothing to match. There’s been defense for character designs like this, from “The outfits can be empowering to women too,” and “The female characters play just as well as the male ones!” There’s flaws with this. For one, why does the female character have to be empowering with a slim figure and clothes made of cut-away fabric, while the male empowerment of the games is saturated with muscles and explosions? Why can’t the female characters look like body-builders too? And there lies the reason: Men don’t want to look at women who look like body-builders. If they ever play as a girl, they want to play as the hot girl, and if they play as a guy, they want the beefcake. The game panders towards men’s desires, and not to the desires of women. Same with the clothing. Men wear fighter-style clothes, and women get… whatever that is. Men like looking at near-naked women. It seems demeaning, and yeah, it is. It’s obviously a marketing scheme, that works like you wouldn’t believe.

            Other than fighting games, we have the damsel in distress. Ah, the damsel in distress. The best. It starts as early as Super Mario for the NES, where you save Princess Peach from the evil lizard overlord known as Bowser (again, more hate mail I’m guessing). Then even into one of my favorite video game franchises, The Legend of Zelda. In the story, Link has to save Hyrule from a number of threats and curses, as well as occasionally saving Princess Zelda. Then we get into other games. Let’s just stay on the Nintendo track and talk about Metroid. Metroid is a game about the protagonist Samus Aran, and her adventures in killing space pirates with more missiles and railguns than Pacific Rim. And yes, “her” adventures. At the end of the first Metroid game, you find out that the ass-kicking gun-slinger you’ve been playing as pulled a “Mulan” on you, and she was a woman the entire time.

            Yeah. They probably could have found a better way to tell you.

            Let’s not talk about how they tell us, just what happened after that revelation. Now realizing that Samus Aran was a woman, game developers had two options. Cater to the male demographic of the gaming community and make her gorgeous, fair-skinned, and slim/slender in the upcoming inevitable reboots, or take a direction to give her battle scars, a dead look in the eyes, and an expression that says “I’ve seen Hell, and you don’t fucking scare me.”

            God damn it.

            Well, they dropped the ball on that one too. I would write about how the character of Samus changed in later games, but I would need another entire article for that. The point is that video games are pandered towards men on a majority scale, and the same goes for comics. An example is how Young Justice, a television show about the sidekicks of the DC Universe gone superhero, was cancelled due in part to its female demographic. I’ll repeat that. Young Justice was cancelled partially because it had too many female fans. You can expect that I freaked out at this like the little anger-filled dork I am.

            But wait, isn’t the world male-dominated? How can something in nerd-culture have something that has a female fanbase as the primary consumer? That goes against everything! Not really. Because along with the fact that there is no such thing as a fake gamer girl, or fake comic book girl, or what have you, there is also not a large shortage in nerdy girls. They’re everywhere, all around us. Your sister could be one. Your girlfriend could be one. And the chances are that they are, yes, a nerd like you. The reason for this likelihood goes beyond the reaches of the comic book world and video game display screen to the cinema.

            This isn’t a list of nerdy movies that have done well. This is a list of the best-selling box office hits. Like, ever. One and two go to Titanic and Avatar, but go down the list. The Avengers, Harry Potter, Iron Man, Transformers, Lord of the Rings, and The Dark Knight Rises are all on the list of the ten most successful movies ever released. If there was a civil war for nerds to earn their right to openly express their love for nerd culture, they didn’t just win. They won, ripped the arms off of their enemies, and beat them to death with them. Nerd culture is a giant pool of mixed media, from movies, to comics, to games, and TV shows, and partaking in one makes you just one specialized type of nerd. The girl from the beginning of the article focused on seeing the movies, and buying merchandise. Others watch TV shows like Young Justice or Doctor Who, and others read comic books.

            Nerd culture isn’t limited to the base media used. For example, a love for Batman can be found outside the comics he originated from, and into the movies and TV shows that spread his angst-ridden influence. Love for Final Fantasy can be found outside the games, and into the movie and cosplay, wherein you find out about the games through other means, because really, Final Fantasy games take about as long to finish as they take to make. Because the influence of nerd culture stems into so many branches of media, it’s impossible to expect every one of those branches of media to have a predominantly male demographic. That’s rarely the case, and it’s pretty mixed. It’s hard to see that from time to time, because it’s not that there aren’t a lot of nerdy females immersed in nerd culture, but it’s that they come under so much fire from the male fans who try to think that nerd culture is still gender-exclusive.

            Take a moment to think about one more analogy. The gaming and comic book industry are like archeologists who only excavate in one part of the world. They like this area, it’s a fruitful area, and they’ve hit a lot of skeletons so far. But, somewhere in the distance, they know that they can find bones in other places. They don’t exactly have to stop digging where they are, but they can venture and branch out to explore other possible areas too. But, why do that? This area is already giving results, so it would seem foolish to move. Do both. Cutting the analogy short, it means that companies can appeal to men like they have been, which is more or less unfortunate, but, they can also tap into the archeological site that is the female demographic. When people think of that, it’s not like it’d be a bunch of greased up guys staring in the hit RPG “Slippery Man Fantasy 2K15,” but an actual game that can pander towards both men and women. Seriously, there is an entire demographic that, despite popular belief, is alive and well, and is looking for new media.

            So next time someone calls you a fake gamer girl, don’t yell at them. Don’t walk away. Just smile sweetly. Smile sweetly and insult his Nike shoes and accuse him of never even playing basketball, and how he probably can’t even name all of the Miami Heat players from 1997 to 1998. Because to be honest, that’d be equally fun to watch. 

(Brad Kincaide, 2013)

[pewtercity-citizen]

"Character representation"... you are so right. This kind of thing needs to be said.

Thank you so much, that means a lot to hear. You're awesome man. :D

[pewtercity-citizen]

Character Representation (And How the Internet is Ruining It For All of Us).

    It’s nowhere close to a secret that the issue of character representation is addressed heavily on the internet. Occasionally, large companies will hear this online outcry and respond to it positively, like in Marvel’s case. Can we stop pretending that the comic book industry isn’t sort of terrible at not making an ass of themselves when it comes to representation (I’m looking right at you Vibe and 1970s Green Lantern)? Well, Marvel is making progress with Kamala Khan. For those of you healthy readers who don’t invest your heart and soul into comic book characters only to have them forcibly ripped out and danced upon by their writers, Kamala Khan is a character created by Sana Amanat, and is the first Muslim comic book superhero to headline a Marvel comic. On top of that, she’s a shape-shifting Pakistani-American from Jersey. I’m going to be throwing my money at this comic when it’s out next month.

            So we can see that representation isn’t a dying star in the far reaches of space. Right? The role beside Oliver Queen in CW’s new Arrow series is an African-American war veteran named John Diggle (David Ramsey). Another CW show called Supernatural (don’t sit there and act like you’ve never heard of it), an Asian-American character named Kevin Tran (played by Osric Chau) has been part of the main cast for the last two seasons.

            I’ve done a lot of talking so far, so don’t fret, because I’m getting to the meat of this article now. What does it all mean? First off, it means that character representation in modern media is a slow but progressive battle. We’re not losing, we’re just progressively advancing. Here’s where the angry alcoholic of a stepfather named The Internet kicks down the door to ruin everyone’s day.

            Let’s all hold hands, take deep breaths, and say the following in unison: Internet, you are wrong sometimes. But see? Some people just stopped holding hands and aren’t taking deep breaths at all! They’re running to their computers and— what’re you— great. Now they’re on Tumblr. You see, when the internet forms one collective entity with one collective opinion, it’s either great or a goddamn train wreck. Many people go out of their way to say that movies, comics, games, shows, ect.,  are indeed racist if they do not feature minority characters. If a lead character is white, The Internet stumbles from his deep slumber to unleash hell to online communities. If you don’t believe me, make a Tumblr account. Now enjoy it for around… six months? Come back to this article and tell me the details of your journey. The chances are that you’ll find a number of posts and comments where there is an outcry in whites taking leads. This goes for white characters who do not even have faces. Maybe you’ve caught on as to who I mean by that, but for those who haven’t, I’m referring to Cecil Baldwin. Cecil is a character/narrator of the massively popular podcast, Welcome to Nightvale. Cecil is a host of a radio talk show that broadcasts throughout the supernatural desert town of Nightvale, where anything does/will happen. It’s a pretty great listen, so go listen to it if you haven’t. It’s fantastic.

            Recall that I said “podcast.” Podcast means that there is audio only, so you have no idea who anyone looks like, including Cecil (who is purposefully never described). But, this hasn’t stopped some people. I had an interaction months ago with Tumblr user Twinkmayne, who was angry at fanart of Cecil depicting him as white with a third eye on his forehead. The third eye part of this was because a third eye is a religious symbol in some cultures, and it could offend others to just throw it on artwork because it looks cool. That I understand, and I can see someone getting reasonably upset over that. But that’s not all it says. It says “white” third eye Cecil. So naturally, she got responses for that, and it came down to her saying that you can’t be racist towards white people. I’m not paraphrasing.

            So now I sent a question to her ask box. Twinkmayne responded with what I can describe as the most in-depth and eloquently-phrased response to a question I’ve ever received.

            So that was that.

            Why did I bring this up and what does this have to do with representation? It’s easy. While there’re entire communities online who are progressive, responsive, and factual who also perpetuate movements that bring us characters like Kamala Khan and Kevin Tran, there are also other movements that just scream. Scream, cry, and toss up their middle fingers in a fence board fashion to white people because they think it’s the right thing to do. Here’s a fun trick: Go to google. Type in “Fuck white people tumblr” into the search and watch what comes up. You’ll see blogs made to hate white people, like: 

http://lestercorncrakes.tumblr.com/whitepeople

http://thisiswhiteculture.tumblr.com/

http://stupid-white-people.tumblr.com/  

http://f-ckwhitepeople.tumblr.com/ 

And the list does not stop. We live in a time where the internet is a breeding ground for culture, and as such, many of us are subjected to a culture where you can’t be for the advance of one race unless you hate another. You can’t allow yourself to like white characters because they need to be hated to make way for black characters, and that’s not only seen on the internet, but encouraged.

            As you saw in that ask, you can maybe gather what I look like cosmetically. I’m a man, I’m African-American, and Puerto-Rican, and white. There’s a lot in that “white,” but let’s leave it at that for now. I’ve grown up in California, arguably one of the most diverse states in the United States. That’s not just a guess, by the way.

            I haven’t just lived in one area either. I had this habit of moving every year with my financially unstable family, and I’ve lived in urban areas, rich neighborhoods, forested towns, and large cities. If there’s a type of town in California, the chances are that I’ve lived in one. As a kid I was just as “nerdy” as I am today (shocker). When I first got into comic books and video games in the 1990s, I did have a period where I thought that it was odd that there were not a lot of black characters. But, it never bothered me really. It did for a while, but I found refuge in one guy. You might know him.

            His name was Peter Parker.

            Spider-Man comics were what got me through a more-or-less rough childhood. I read Batman, Iron Man, X-Men, and Spider-Man mostly, and the last one is the one I kept up with for years. Now, just because I’m mixed, does not make me any less of a minority. Any person with mixed diversity will tell you that if you are half-black, you are black to society, so that whole minority aspect kind of takes over. Anyways, this means that I’ve identified with being a minority. Peter Parker wasn’t a minority, so why did he impact my childhood? Why not John Stewart, the black Green Lantern from the Justice League cartoon I watched as a kid, or Storm from my X-Men comics? It’s easy. It’s the main reason why I get so angry with bloggers and online commenters who go on tirades about race war, when Peter Parker had the one thing that no other character had at the time. Peter was poor and nerdy like me.

            Look at Batman. I love Batman these days (any of my friends are witnesses), but as a kid, he was able to be a hero because he was richer than Bill Gates and J.K. fucking Rowling combined. He was rich as balls. I liked Wolverine, but he got to live in a giant mansion with a bunch of mutants just like him, and his biggest problem in the 90s was how much he loved beer and when he was going to shave next. Peter was just like me, way more than any other character. He had to work completely crappy jobs to put eggs in his fridge, had no game when it came to women, and didn’t have many friends. And yet, he put on his blue and red leotard, left his bedroom window, and kicked ass. Not only that, but he was a great person too. He was not the typical “good” you think of in a superhero, because his moral standing came from who he was as a person, not as Spider-Man. I’m referring to him as Peter in this article because that’s who I saw beneath his mask. Bruce Wayne has to become Batman, but the only difference in Peter Parker and Spider-Man is that one wears a mask. I knew black people could be heroes, and maybe a lot of them just weren’t, but someone poor being a hero? That was achievable for me.

            People miss that about representation. They miss that looking at JUST the color of someone’s skin to decide if they’re a good character is exactly what racism is about. And just because the character is a minority, does not mean they are a good character. Is the industry of nerd media oversaturated with white protagonists? Of course, no one is denying that. Could it use sprinkles of brown here and there? Totally. But to say that all of the characters we have now are no good because they’re white is not only untrue, but (wait for it, some of you won’t be prepared to read this) racist.

            Characters are more than their skin, and they’re worth more than how they look. I’m excited for Kamala Khan being Ms. Marvel because I’m excited for the advance of minority representation, and I’m going to support it by reading it and subsequently lose friends and sleep over how amazing I think the story will be. But, I will still read Spider-Man because he connected with me, and showed me I can be anybody. I can be Kamala Khan, a minority who made it as a hero, and I can also be Peter, a broke kid from the ghetto of New York City. I’m not the only one who feels this way, because kids get it too. This post is courtesy of Tumblr user Flyawaytomarz, who shined a light on something that people, like I said, miss.

[x]

            For those of you with better things to do than click this lonely link, it’s a photoset of little girls dressed as Disney Princesses. They’re dressed as any princess they want to be. There are white girls dressed as Tiana from Princess and the Frog, an Asian kids dressed as Belle and Ariel, black girls dressed like Cinderella, and so on. The user says it best: “Look at all of the fucks these kids didn’t give about race.” Underneath everything, like with my experience with Peter Parker, you love the characters who touch your heart, not your skin. I may someday have a small African-American girl who says that she wants to be Sleeping Beauty for Halloween, and the first thing I’m doing is taking her to Amazon and finding her the best size. If I have a white son who says that he wants to be General Shang from Mulan, he’s getting his General Shang outfit. Because those are the characters that make these kids happy and touch their hearts.

            Character representation is more than skin deep, and people are really quick to forget that. It actually takes a chunk out of my soul for someone to say that Peter Parker is no good because he’s white, because this guy literally saved fourth grade for me when I was being bullied at school. He’s my hero, so don’t tell me he’s not good enough because he’s not black like me. You can mix and match, because people are more than their skin color. If you hate a character, hate them because they’re poorly or offensively written. Try hating them as characters and not because of the hue they came in.

            So, a short message to people who hate white people because, in some parallel universe, it’s okay to be racist: Stop. It’s just a simple message. Stop it. I’m not going to yell at you, I’m not going to call you names, or get in your face, but please stop. Because when you hate, it’s hurting more than one movement. Hating white people and white characters for being white creates a tension between races that does not need to be there, because blaming a race has been historically a bad idea. Don’t hate white people for being racists, just hate racists. Don’t hate white people for slavery, hate slave traders and slave owners. Stop associating the color with the action because it never has anything to do with it.

            Representation matters. Minorities can connect with other minorities, but that’s not all we’ll connect to. We’ll connect to their characters more than anything, because just like real people, who they are as people matters more than the color of their skin.

(Brad Kincaide, 2013)