#a respectable doll that solely makes you want to laugh at her or cuddle a doll version of her

[sleepynegress]

The Interesting Phenomenon of Shuri’s Popularity in White Fandom

Browsing the Shuri tag on tumblr is the most fascinating thing for me, because  I have watched virtually all of the black female characters I love either be ignored or despised. So, watching the rare rise of a character like Shuri and seeing how fandom interacts and imagines a black girl it actually deems “lovable”? 

 ...It is as fascinating as it is revealing.  The righteous anger at even the smallest hints that she could experience love or desire.  I even read a post from someone who claimed to be triggered at the possibility that Shuri could be crass or cuss. Checking that tag provides a nice little window into how society interrogates and limits a young black girl even when deemed acceptable/beloved as originally presented in-character.  ...And it’s nothing new. Some background on where my head on this is... Back in the 1980′s there were two popular young black characters on TV whose popularity among white audiences and the qualities they zeroed in on, remind me a lot of how white fandom tends to package it’s “love and protection” of Shuri.  Those characters are Arnold and Webster on the TV shows Different Strokes and Webster.

In those shows, the black characters’ main traits were sassiness, cleverness, cuteness, and quippiness.  They had catchphrases that white audiences loved, they were intelligent and often they put white characters in their place or taught them something, but in the end, they were ultimately under the care and control of white families and certain boundaries were never crossed. 

It always safe.

This “safety” was embodied by the neutering of the breadth and depth of emotion and experiences these characters got to have on their shows. Everything was limited to a child-like context.  It was a method of whiteness protecting itself from these characters, but framed as protecting these black kids (sound familiar?).  It’s a stellar example of the often passive-aggressive “polite” racism of whiteness, a common thread made so by their need to avoid getting that racist label; to keep that veneer of benevolence, even from acknowledgement within their own selves.  It was such an important factor in these characters’ popularity, whether subconsciously or with that intent, that two actors with dwarfism portrayed these characters.  Thus, these characters never aged. They were forever dolls under the subordinate care of whiteness.  Limited to funny quips, sweet hugs, a forever cute exterior, and safe sass. These shows never had to deal with the full complexities wrapped up in inevitable growth and maturity.  There was no puberty, no real anger nor desire, just faux anger, canned audience laughter reactions, and childlike crushes. “What you talkin’ bout, Willis?” was the “WHAT ARE THOSE?!” of that day and age. In a nutshell, they never had to deal with these characters’ growth into full  experiences humanity has to offer. So, I’m saying that the condition of white fandom’s rare love and embrace of a black girl is to not be fully human.   So many posts and comments about Shuri reflect a strange preemptive insistence that anything that strains beyond a child-like view of her somehow diminishes her.   When it actuality that child-like view just provides a safe context for them to envision her. Shuri is most popularly seen as a giddy, clever teen, who smiles a lot and roasts her brother. ...But she’s more than that.  She’s next in line for the throne and thus has been trained to rule the most advanced country on the planet(!). She is responsible for the design of the entire technological infrastructure of Wakanda. Do not mistake a fun-loving personality or being a typical sibling for a lack of maturity or responsibility, when the situation calls for it. Mind you, all of this was demonstrated in Black Panther.  She guided Ross to shoot down weapons carriers (with people inside, driving them) while on the battlefield herself, fighting for her life. She had enough presence of mind to take the other suit for her own use, since she believed her brother dead. I do believe this character being portrayed by actress who is small-framed, styled semi-androgynously out-of-character, and dark-skinned, are qualities that I believe make it easier for fandom to keep her “safe” in their eyes. ...Keep her childlike and emotionally neutered.  Since all of these qualities in the same person, have been rare to non-existent representation-wise in mainstream pop culture up to now. The conditions for their love, which will turn sour on a dime (I’m already seeing signs of that in the tag) is that she remains that meme they fell in love with. Remain the wide-eyed innocent doll they perceive with jokey/assist/~*friend*~ interactions with the rest of the MCU.  They want to see her talk to Tony, Bruce, and Peter, but don’t be too mean or too smart!  ~*They are equals. :))))*~ 

This passive-aggressive preciousness with which especially white female fandom handles Shuri, the insistent eye-twitchy flinch of her being “A CHILD!” is not “love”, it’s protecting themselves from the emotional distance they would feel, if she were a woman.

I can predict how fandom’s “love” will shift as the character of Shuri evolves and grows over time, given Wanda who also started as a teen in her first appearance in the MCU, and it won’t be pretty. ...But I hope that with some active self-interrogation, perhaps more people will question the real place their so-called protective limits come from.