It seems the pendulum has swung back in the opposite direction with Xochitl Gomez’s casting as American Chavez in the upcoming Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness movie.
No longer is it okay to race swap comic book characters, according to a number of Marvel fans who have taken issue with the casting choice. They’ve gone so far as to say that both Marvel and Gomez are guilty of colorism, or in other words bigotry based on the shade of someone's skin color. Light-washing might be another term.
Does this sound familiar at all, as if it’s happened a few times before in both comics and their movie adaptations already? Usually it’s celebrated. Why? Because it’s okay for white characters to be race swapped. But not when it’s a black character. It would seem there is a clear double standard here.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly against race swapping and gender swapping already established comic book characters. My opinion hasn’t changed on that. But those who did support it, only seem to take that stance when it suits them.
Now that the shoe is on the other foot, it’s not okay. Or maybe it’s just because we’re now dealing with an African American comic book character who has been cast as a different race, with a slightly lighter skin tone. The same mechanism is at play, the very mechanism they have championed into the modern era of comics, along with their movie adaptations.
But in this instance, race swapping has clashed with their virtuous ideals. There is a conflict in their ideology. For them, race swapping was fine up until it trumped it’s initial intention. Now we’re witnessing a ‘snake eating its own tail’ scenario that could potentially cause them to abandon the idea of race swapping altogether.
This level of hypocrisy has been exhibited many times before within the woke side of marvel fandom. They attempt to reinvent the wheel, redefine the old with new, flawed takes that simply don’t work out in the long run.
That’s what happens when emotions and feelings weigh into what should be practical decisions made for the long term success of these characters.
Will this encourage a positive shift in the perspective of woke Marvel fans? Probably not. It’s not often the woke, SJW corner of the entertainment industry recognizes their own faults.
In fact, as far as they’re concerned, it’s their way or the highway, regardless of whether or not their ideologies make any sense at all. There are indeed times, for them, where what’s good for the goose, is not good for the gander.
So what’s the conclusion here?
It’s only okay to race swap white characters, but not black characters? This shouldn’t even be a question when it comes to comics. After all, characters of all races and genders have long played their part in comics, movies and pop culture as a whole. And it was less about race back then than it is now. Some might argue, all this debate over race simply causes more conflict and separation between different ethnicities, resulting in a more racist undertone in comics than ever before.
You see the more you focus on race, balancing out the odds between white characters and minorities, the more of an issue it becomes. The more you shine a spotlight on the fact that being a person of color in comics isn’t normal. Because if it was, it wouldn’t be noticed… it’d be normal.
How insulting it must be for minorities, to constantly see such commonplace tokenism being used to sell entertainment and political ideals.
That aside, in the case of American Chavez’s casting choice in the new Doctor Strange movie, woke Marvel Fans are now getting a taste of their own medicine.
And personally, I agree with them. Cast comic book characters as their original race - gender, and sexual orientation for that matter. Not just when it suits you, and not just with particular races whom you're judging to be either higher or lower than one or the other. Make it a blanket rule, and start focusing on the telling of a good, solid story - rather than how hard you can virtue signal on the back of minorities.
What are your thoughts on this topic? Is it okay to race swap comic book characters, to even the playing field? Or does it do a disservice to their fans, and the minorities who are used to fuel tokenism. Let me know in the comments below.
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See you next time,
-Clayton