#black coding

[the-rodent-gentleman]

So…I just found out there’s been actual talk at Disney about a Talespin reboot. Involving Seth Rogen.

Huh.

Well, since we seem to be in that timeline, I would just like to state something potentially controversial.

They should make Baloo black-coded.

Hear me out.

I find it interesting how the original Talespin gave him German ancestry (what with his last name having “von” not to mention that one castle he temporarily inherited in "The Balooest of the Blue Bloods" that gave serious Neuschwanstein vibes) while still keeping his Indian roots with his first name. Which fits since Germany and India do share a surprising amount of history.

Lately, however, my rewatching of the original Talespin (in all its 90s glory) has convinced me that Baloo has some black bear in him. And by "some" I mean a lot.

Racial/queer stealth pun aside, Baloo (the Jungle Book version included) has a lot about him that I feel a black audience - and maybe nonwhite audiences in general - could vibe with, something possible due in large part to the lack of sufficient backstory for him.

His financial and educational struggles for one (like how he never finished grade school for instance even though we're never given an explanation why), as well as his constant struggles to regain his property (the Sea Duck) and by extension his financial autonomy.

Plus, Baloo has so many mannerisms and leanings that just do not make him feel “white” to me the same way Rebecca does.

Now one could still argue that Baloo’s just country - which yeah he definitely is judging by the Southern accent Ed Gilbert used for him - but we also see him scatting, listening to jazz, and doing a lot of improv singing. Not to mention we see him do a lot of dance moves - in Talespin as well as Jungle Book and Jungle Cubs - that strongly resemble those of black performers like Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington.

And can we talk about how blatantly anti-authoritarian he is? Say what you will about his moral compass, but Baloo clearly radiates "f**k the police" energy (and rightfully so). To say nothing of how ready this bear is to throw hands whenever anyone or anything he cares about is being messed with.

Throw in his German and Indian ancestries for the added struggles of hailing from an immigrant family and you got a prime recipe for a nuanced character right there!

I'm just saying: multiracial/cultural Baloo for the win.

As a side note, I stand by my conviction that, if this reboot gets greenlit and goes into production, James Monroe Iglehart should voice Baloo.

I mean c'mon, the man even openly admitted in an interview that if The Jungle Book were to ever be adapted into a Broadway show he'd love to be Baloo, who he even mentioned was his favorite as a kid in another!

Besides, Baloo deserves to sing. LET HIM SING, DISNEY!

[thenixkat]

... So did everyone who doesn't think hork-bajir are Blackcoded just missed the book that directly paralleled the free hork-bajir to Black freedmen/escaped slaves down to the parallel story having a Toby humansona who was a well spoken and 'unnervingly intelligent' Black man?

That's book 47.

(But also how the examples of hork-bajir supposedly being unintelligent being shit like they speak broken English, they have a tradition of oral history and story telling, some shit that literally just Indigenous coding (granted the 3 separate racist things in the books about Indigenous groups I'm not surprised), them not knowing shit cause no one explains shit to them, etc.)

But yes, the hork-bajir are Black-coded. And I think it's wild that thus far I've only personally encountered like two other Black tumblr users insisting that they aren't. I don't know why, the Animorphs book series is just kinda racist towards a bunch of groups and the writers aren't very good and tend to be pretty obvious about the parallels and metaphors and shit they're using even if they're bad ideas to do.

[fandomlife-confessions]

[colombinna]

I changed my thesis theme from "robots as a racialized/black figure on SFF" to "cataloguing racial coding in media" bc i thought there wasnt gonna be enough references for me to work with in the "robots as black" theme but here i am, looking at the ninjago tag and everybody decided like a hivemind consesus that the robot characters, who arer not designed to look black in the official material, are a black guy and a black girl. I need to know where that consensus comes from because it happens with nearly every single robot character you can think of.

[strawberrycherrybaby]

[frenchiefieart]

Prepare for trouble >:)c 💙💖💜

[enthyrea]

doomsday reunions!

[honetii]

I'm like super normal and not unhinged in the slightest (I spent 3 days formatting, printing, and binding a niche internet story about sci fi football into a 280 page physical book)

[moonlightbae333]

[anewp0tat0]

that episode finally came so I wanted to try harder. plus the rest of this month will be awful so this may be the last cool thing I can do for a while, maybe.

[adorethesmiths]

i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school i cant go to school

[livgrl22]

Me n who??

[mydairpercabeth]

finding out this is ONE of MANY hairstyles Annabeth will have in season 2??? oh someone cooked here

[slvtinterrupted]

[kechiwrites]

wake up; reader getting fucked from below by neighbour!Simon who keeps your hands pinned behind your back while he bullies the thickness of his cock inside you, just a little too deep. All too happy to let you drool on his shoulder as he drives into you again and again, watching the reflection of your ass bouncing heavy and fast over his lap on the black screen of your television. Scarred and tattooed arms sinking into your sides, anchoring you to him, implacable, insatiable. He was only supposed to pick-up a package mistakenly delivered to your front door, too heavy for you to bring it over yourself. Only supposed to have 'a cuppa, if you have it, pet.' Only supposed to take a kiss, soft, fleeting. Only supposed to 'touch it, over yer clothes, promise.' Only supposed to rub against the outside, slotting his ruddy, leaking tip between the already soaked lips of your pussy. Only supposed to pull out, come against the curve of your ass.

But Ghost can be neighbourly, he can go above and beyond. If it's for you.

[444prilsbae]

wanna drop you in boiling water, drink you like chamomile tea 🫖ྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀ