Oh… Oh jeez, dude, you are late to the party. I’ve been so busy with work I haven’t done that is AGES. But I can see this means a lot to you, so you know who is just OBVIOUSLY trans?
She-Hulk’s whole schtick is a transformation narrative brought about by the miracles of science (specifically, changing her blood chemistry). She changes from a self-loathing, meek person who wants to please others because she doesn’t feel much self-worth, to a strong, vivacious, and happy woman. Unlike the He-Hulk’s “woe is me” narrative, Jennifer’s transformation is a blessing (especially once she learns to control the mood swings that come early in the transition) that makes her happier even if it doesn’t solve all her problems, and at times even causes new ones. Later on in the series she even rejects her old life entirely and loses the ability to transform back into her meek form, in much the same way most trans people eventually reach a point in transition when they can’t look back. Later narratives examined how She-Hulk herself has problems finding work while her hated old identity is still considered very hireable, and eventually She-Hulk is forced to run her own business on a shoestring budget and depends heavily on specialty work from friends. If those aren’t metaphors for a post-transition working life, I don’t know what is.
But I’m not saying She-Hulk is a metaphorical trans woman. I’m saying Shulkie is a literal trans woman. If you go back to her earliest issues (and I have), Jennifer Walters is weedy and tomboyish with sharp features. She and her father love each other very much, but have a strained relationship because of how “everything changed” after her mother died. Jen has very few friends, and none who seem to have known her longer than a few years—it was hard to get permission to transition back in 1980 unless you cut out your old life and hid most of your past. She-Hulk’s go-to color for her costumes is purple, the queer-coded color; more significantly, across her many (many) costume changes, she always comes back to purple with a white accent, and what is purple if not pink and blue? Now, I’m not saying She-Hulk literally wears a trans pride flag, but…
“It literally makes 0 difference, that is why I’m spending so much time and energy being angry and bothering you about it.”
I was wondering how many webcomics there were out there with black protagonists (for my own reference). Then I figured plenty of other folks would love to see a list. So heeeeere we go! (Please reblog and add more!)
http://www.prettyheartbouquet.com/ Pretty Heart Bouquet by E Heterick Jackson has a black magical girl (who is trans) as the main character!! it’s very cute and sweet and good!!!
In my screenwriting class this week, my instructor explained that if you do not signify a race or ethnicity, your character will be assumed to be white. There will be no clarification, no one will ask you to explain, the director and casting agent will create a whites-only casting call for auditions.
This obviously isn’t news. We know that the default for Hollywood is white even though mathematically, according to the demographics of California and the entire world, this is laughably illogical.
I asked him how you signify that you want open casting in your script for any race or ethnicity because you want the best actor for the character.
He didn’t understand and started talking about words like “eurasian” in the descriptive lines following your character’s introduction.
I explained that I wasn’t asking about how to denote racial ambiguity (which is another favorite of Hollywood), rather an actual open casting call that wasn’t limited to white and white passing people.
He said he had never come across this.
Never, in his entire decade+ career, had he ever come across an open casting call.
So when people say shit like, “oh well maybe they just got the best actor for the role!”, they deserve to have their faces slammed into the nearest available surface.
I got pushback in my screenwriting classes when I specifically noted each major and supporting character’s race – ‘why are you mentioning this? is it really important?’ – and the above is what I told them.
This is from three different screenwriting professors – all white men.
“Colorblind” screenwriting really just translates into whites-only stories – unless your characters have a “reason” to be a different race (another thing I was told).
I’m a product of the same program. So, I’ve had to code my characters as their races/ethnicities to the point where casting anyone not of that background would just seem silly. it’s ridiculous what you have to go through just to see POC represented on the page and subsequently the screen in a humanized, fully realized manner. and the people educating us don’t always know why it’s important, which is incredibly frustrating.
can we talk about how amazing cartoon network is and how amazing they feature diversity (race, lgbtq+, and body positivity) in their new shows
Don’t credit Cartoon Network, credit the creators of the shows.
No, do credit CN, they’re the ones allowing it. Plenty of creators have tried to get stuff like this through, only to be met with “can we make it more… white? and less gay?”
The Gravity Falls team tried to sneak in little old lady lesbians, no kissing, not even talking, on-screen for two seconds, but Disney didn’t allow it. It’s absolutely amazing that a network aimed at children is giving its creators elbow room to make their shows inclusive.
Do credit CN. They’re doing what all the other networks should’ve been doing a long time ago.
And thats why when I major in animation I hope to get a job at Cartoon Network
