Usually it would be just me in the basement sprawled on the floor surrounded by snacks, Legos and books to read during the commercials. If he was off shift, sometimes Dad would come down and join me in his leather recliner by the stairs. Every once in a while Mom called down from the kitchen Are you letting her watch those weird things? And we'd lie in unison, No. If she came down to check for herself, Dad would get in trouble.
Dad had his own names for the movies.
What's this? 'Escape to a White Planet?
It's called 'When Worlds Collide.' I'm sure I sounded indignant.
'Mars Kills the White People.' I love this one.
Daaaaad. It says it right there. 'War of the Worlds'. I know I sighed heavily, but was careful to turn back to the tv before rolling my eyes.
Once he asked me which was more real, the movie or the skits between. I didn't get it, and told him that they were both stories, so they were both fake. He didn't bring it up again until a skit came on. I can't remember if it was a 'Soulman' skit or one of the caveman gags (the cavemen were multicultural -" basic white, Polish, Italian, and black). But I remember Dad saying, how come you never see anybody like that in the stories you like? And I remember answering, maybe they didn't have black people back then. He said there's always been black people. I said but black people can't be wizards and space people and they can't fight evil, so they can't be in the story. When he didn't say anything back I turned around. He was in full recline mode in his chair and he was very still, looking at me. He didn't say anything else.
SF author Pam Noles' essay entitled Shame, a memoir on Earthsea and the bastardization that was the Sci-Fi channel "Legend of Earthsea" miniseries.
WARNING:The rest of this entry contains spoilers on Star Wars. Though I feel the statute of limitations has passed for this, you probably shouldn't read any further if you don't want to be spoiled.
Right before Revenge of the Sith came out in theaters, my workplace was trying to arrange a trip so the whole company could see it, so they went around asking people if they wanted to go. "I'm seeing it opening night", "I'm seeing it with my kids", "George Lucas bastardized my childhood", etc. But the reply that stuck with me the most was the one from one of the animators at our company.
"The Empire Strikes Back ruined Star Wars for me". My curiousity was piqued -- people seemed to like that one the best, not the least, so I asked him why.
"I probably saw Star Wars 20 times at the theater when it came out. I loved it. Here was Darth Vader, man in black, being voiced by James Earl Jones, blowing up planets and terrorizing the all-white Rebels. I thought, 'Finally, a universe where the black man is in charge!' Seeing Empire was quite a shock -- you see Vader kneeling before a wrinkled old white man and you find out that he's the father of blonde-haired blue-eyed Luke which meant that Vader was white too. I felt betrayed. Not only that, but the movie introduces Lando, a shady coward who wears silk and a cape. It kinda felt like Lucas said "Vader's too cool for you black kids, here's Lando instead."
Thankfully, the prequel universe is a little more multiethnic -- non-whites are still sidelined to bit roles, and the first of the prequels is the most offensive to several ethnic groups -- notably the Asians for the Japanese sounding Trade Federation, the Jewish for Watto, and Jar Jar and the Gungans offends everyone.
But I think Episode I illustrates a problem that resides in science fiction -- people are so used to having an all-white universe that when different ethnicities are brought in, they are made to stand out -- to seem different, rather than just being 'normal'. And the thing that bugs me is they are always special because they are that ethnicity. Blacks have made some inroads into this -- they now get to play 'normal' people (in addition to playing 'special people'). Asians still have a way to go in this field -- in Enterprise, the sole Asian actress on the show is a lingusitical genius. At least in Voyager Harry Kim was just a rookie (although he too falls into the racial stereotype of being a graduate at the top of his class).
I'm just thankful they don't have have to use phony accents anymore.
Cool link. Pam's a (very casual) acquaintance of mine from random interaction at the Comic Con.
She gave me a hug two years ago for having bought and read the one comic story she published.
...and I tend to agree with her essay.
i went to an "asian americans in entertainment" panel discussion once, and i'm curious, what's your take on asians playing roles outside of their own ethnicity? do you think it helps or hurts the perception of asians?