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dunmurderinSo, I joined International Blog Against Racism Week (thanks to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
raisedbymoogles for mentioning that it was IBARW time in her LJ) and I did it for a variety of reasons:
1. As the icon says, I try to own my skanky race issues. Like any good white liberal, I try to think that I don't have any skanky race issues but deep down inside, I know better.
2. The discussion of subtextual racism in the Transformers movie hit me where I lived. And the uproar over Daily_Deviant's use of miscegination as a fic prompt pissed me off.
3. Because issues of race and color are yet another area where fandom is a warm and accepting place -- as long as you keep your mouth shut and don't make waves.
4. Because I have cousins who are People of Color and while I can't know what life is like for them, I can hate the fact that people hurt them.
5. Because racism is just plain wrong, damnit. And stupid.
6. Because I'm a shameless attention whore who likes blathering in my journal and having people read it so hey, I can take a stab at writing about something other than how giant robots have sex.
Note: Some spoilers for GI Joe: America's Elite below the cut.
# # #
So, here's a first stab at some race related meta. It's some basic noodling since it's late and I'm still trying to suss out what I want to talk about.
Race in Fics: Self-examination:
Looking over the fics I've written over the last year, People of Color are pretty scarce on the ground. There's a few notable exceptions, mainly from GI Joe:
GI Joe: Sigma 6: -- is one of those typical cartoon ensemble casts where more or less everybody is a representative of a different ethnic group. Rather like the original GI Joe cartoon/comic, except with a much smaller cast of characters.
Explanations -- features Tunnel Rat, a CoC of Asian descent (I use the character's Chinese-Trinidadian background from old school GI Joe: Real American Hero).
Wipe Out -- another Tunnel Rat fic, this time things are a bit more serious. For this one, I did some research on Chinese-Trinidadians and Brooklyn (Tunnel Rat's home town).
Lonely Sigma 6 -- admittedly, this fic is more about Hi-Tech, but Heavy Duty and Tunnel Rat make an appearance.
GI Joe: Real American Hero: -- the cartoon and comic series from the 1980s as well as the restart from Devil's Due Publishing (2001-present) Basically, the first big restart of the GI Joe universe.
A Letter Home -- an Alternate Universe story where instead of Snake-Eyes ending up going home with Storm Shadow after his service in Vietnam, he goes home with Stalker (an African American CoC). Well, more accurately, it's about Stalker writing his mother and asking permission to bring Snake-Eyes home. Like "Lonely Sigma 6" the meat of the story is more about Snake-Eyes than Stalker, since Stalker is telling a story about Snake-Eyes but I like to think (and sincerely hope) that a feeling for the character comes through.
I'm also currently working on a non-AU story featuring Stalker and his wife Lydia that's based on recent events in the GI Joe: America's Elite comic from Devil's Due Publishing. The idea behind the story is that Cobra Commander has managed to find out not only the real names of every member of GI Joe but also their family members. It's a WIP, but here's a snippet:
"Lonzo, what's wrong?" Lydia asked as he stepped through the door.
Stalker looked into her deep brown eyes and considered lying -- or at least not-quite-lying. "Opsec" covered a myriad of sins.
"Lonzo." Lydia used the same motherly emphasis she used when one of the boys was playing the fool with her. "What is wrong?"
He couldn't lie to her now, not and live with himself afterwards. "Boys home?" he asked, not evading the question, just postponing his answer for a moment longer. It'd be easier to explain things to her if they were alone, then they could both figure out how to tell the boys.
"They're at Tyrell's house," Lydia said. "I can call and have Tyrell's mother send them home."
"No, not yet." Stalker reached out and took her by the arm, turning her easily and steering her toward the living room. "I'm going to need your help on this -- we've got a situation."
Lydia inhaled sharply and he felt her tense in his grip. "Are you being deployed?" she asked. "I was watching the news, I didn't see anything that looked suspicious but there isn't always a sign."
Transformers: As far as human CoC go, there's only one example I can really point to: the character Jesse in Bath-Time Pipes is black. The character's race doesn't come up since Pipes and Tailgate are new arrivals on Earth and are still unsteady on the idea of the difference between male and female, let alone the idea of different races.
When it comes to Transformers, race is more a subtext based on my ideas about Transformers and slavery -- which is a post for later on.
raisedbymoogles for mentioning that it was IBARW time in her LJ) and I did it for a variety of reasons:1. As the icon says, I try to own my skanky race issues. Like any good white liberal, I try to think that I don't have any skanky race issues but deep down inside, I know better.
2. The discussion of subtextual racism in the Transformers movie hit me where I lived. And the uproar over Daily_Deviant's use of miscegination as a fic prompt pissed me off.
3. Because issues of race and color are yet another area where fandom is a warm and accepting place -- as long as you keep your mouth shut and don't make waves.
4. Because I have cousins who are People of Color and while I can't know what life is like for them, I can hate the fact that people hurt them.
5. Because racism is just plain wrong, damnit. And stupid.
6. Because I'm a shameless attention whore who likes blathering in my journal and having people read it so hey, I can take a stab at writing about something other than how giant robots have sex.
Note: Some spoilers for GI Joe: America's Elite below the cut.
So, here's a first stab at some race related meta. It's some basic noodling since it's late and I'm still trying to suss out what I want to talk about.
Looking over the fics I've written over the last year, People of Color are pretty scarce on the ground. There's a few notable exceptions, mainly from GI Joe:
GI Joe: Sigma 6: -- is one of those typical cartoon ensemble casts where more or less everybody is a representative of a different ethnic group. Rather like the original GI Joe cartoon/comic, except with a much smaller cast of characters.
Explanations -- features Tunnel Rat, a CoC of Asian descent (I use the character's Chinese-Trinidadian background from old school GI Joe: Real American Hero).
Wipe Out -- another Tunnel Rat fic, this time things are a bit more serious. For this one, I did some research on Chinese-Trinidadians and Brooklyn (Tunnel Rat's home town).
Lonely Sigma 6 -- admittedly, this fic is more about Hi-Tech, but Heavy Duty and Tunnel Rat make an appearance.
GI Joe: Real American Hero: -- the cartoon and comic series from the 1980s as well as the restart from Devil's Due Publishing (2001-present) Basically, the first big restart of the GI Joe universe.
A Letter Home -- an Alternate Universe story where instead of Snake-Eyes ending up going home with Storm Shadow after his service in Vietnam, he goes home with Stalker (an African American CoC). Well, more accurately, it's about Stalker writing his mother and asking permission to bring Snake-Eyes home. Like "Lonely Sigma 6" the meat of the story is more about Snake-Eyes than Stalker, since Stalker is telling a story about Snake-Eyes but I like to think (and sincerely hope) that a feeling for the character comes through.
I'm also currently working on a non-AU story featuring Stalker and his wife Lydia that's based on recent events in the GI Joe: America's Elite comic from Devil's Due Publishing. The idea behind the story is that Cobra Commander has managed to find out not only the real names of every member of GI Joe but also their family members. It's a WIP, but here's a snippet:
"Lonzo, what's wrong?" Lydia asked as he stepped through the door.
Stalker looked into her deep brown eyes and considered lying -- or at least not-quite-lying. "Opsec" covered a myriad of sins.
"Lonzo." Lydia used the same motherly emphasis she used when one of the boys was playing the fool with her. "What is wrong?"
He couldn't lie to her now, not and live with himself afterwards. "Boys home?" he asked, not evading the question, just postponing his answer for a moment longer. It'd be easier to explain things to her if they were alone, then they could both figure out how to tell the boys.
"They're at Tyrell's house," Lydia said. "I can call and have Tyrell's mother send them home."
"No, not yet." Stalker reached out and took her by the arm, turning her easily and steering her toward the living room. "I'm going to need your help on this -- we've got a situation."
Lydia inhaled sharply and he felt her tense in his grip. "Are you being deployed?" she asked. "I was watching the news, I didn't see anything that looked suspicious but there isn't always a sign."
Transformers: As far as human CoC go, there's only one example I can really point to: the character Jesse in Bath-Time Pipes is black. The character's race doesn't come up since Pipes and Tailgate are new arrivals on Earth and are still unsteady on the idea of the difference between male and female, let alone the idea of different races.
When it comes to Transformers, race is more a subtext based on my ideas about Transformers and slavery -- which is a post for later on.
