Women Don't Sell (Unless they're in bathing suits.)

At the recent Gallifrey One convention in LA, I went to this panel about transforming comics into other media. There was an interesting mix of creators there (6 men and 1 woman), and some guy who sat on the end and basically spent his introduction time telling us about upcoming comic movies we can go pay to see.

One of them was Ant-Man.

I was in the second row and had my hand up pretty much right away, to ask about the total lack of superhero women in comic movies, considering some of the awesome women flying around comics right now (Batwoman, Ms. Marvel, Wonder Woman, just to name a few). I said something about how even Wonder Woman has name recognition that they can play off of. Javier Grillo-Marxuach says she wears a bathing suit. Someone said Black Widow, who as far as we know so far is the coquettish yet deadly/sexy sidekick to Tony in the next Iron Man. My frown was probably fairly evident, and eventually Paul Cornell interrupted his way into the "heh heh Lynda Carter bathing suit puberty" tangent to actually talk about my question.

A little later on in the panel, someone asked why, with the success of the recent Wonder Woman animated film, a live-action WW movie seems so far-fetched. Marv Wolfman answered that the return wouldn't be worth the investment.

Javier Grillo-Marxuach made another joke about Wonder Woman's bathing suit.

Marv Wolfman did a "no, but seriously, not enough interest to generate return," and nobody but me yelled out "Ant-Man?"

Ant-Man

That's right, Hank Pym. Super scientist. That shrinks. Really really small.



Oh, and he beats his wife.

But it's okay, 'cause she's dead now and he took up her superhero name.



Well, at least he didn't kill her himself. There's... that.

How many non-comic fans have heard of Ant-Man? How many people think an Incredible Shrinking Superhero movie sounds fun? How about a Dude that Dresses Like a Bug movie? Sure, Spider-Man dresses like an arachnid, but he's also Spider-Man. He's also smarter and less of a tool.

Ant-Man.

The scientist who has a break down from stress and hits his wife. But it's okay. They make up. And then swap mildly-disturbing sex escapades.

Maybe Ryan Reynolds could play him. That's about the only way I could become less interested in a movie about Hank Pym.



Ant-Man.

Listen, I'm all for obscure, semi-obscure and quasi-obscure comic characters getting their due. But, I don't know, maybe we could, like. Have one of those be a woman? Most women in comics are obscure anyway, and all the best ones (Kate Spencer, Renee Montoya, Jessica Jones-Cage) would probably make even some comic fans stop, check out google, and then get back to you.

The deal is that studios want to sell tickets. So then, there shouldn't be any obscure characters having movies made about them. But if there are going to be, let's let some non-wife-beating-self-pitying characters shine, yeah? Maybe?

Hey, maybe Kathryn Bigelow can direct. She does action movies. And women go to see them. Shocking, yet true.

If anyone needs me, I'll be in random places.

Atlanta right now, and I'm heading to LA on Thursday for the Gallifrey One Convention (that's Doctor Who talk). There are a few comic-specific panels (including one on 70 years of Marvel Comics, with Marv Wolfman) which I plan to live tweet (if I can get a signal in the rooms). Either way, I'll do a write up of what's said.

In the meantime, I finally read last week's comics (Barry's mini-speech to Bart almost made me cry on the plane), and will be missing this week's because they're being pulled for me back home.

Also, there was that whole True Geek Confession thing last week, and I wanted to do it and forgot, so I think I'll get that written up at some point this week.

Just a quick update. Off I go. Am.

Someone bring that dead horse over...

I was actually busy working yesterday, so I missed the whole Captain America #602 kerfluffle. When I finally asked someone, and she told me what it was about, I laughed out loud.

Yeah, I LOLed, that's right.

I think it's no secret that I'm a too-liberal-for-Democrats liberal. Sarah Palin, in her autobiography, calls herself a "common sense Conservative." I consider myself a common sense Liberal, in that if you actually sit down and think about reality, you'd be a fairly liberal person. Or you're more self-interested than human-interested, which is a completely fine way to be. To each their own. Sarah Palin and I actually agree on a lot of things, except that the things she says and the things she does tend not to match up. I'm all about the government not putting their nose in my business, which I think means that I should be allowed to marry whomever I want that my local religious institution (if I have one) will accept. I don't think the government should use tax payer money to bail out large companies. Not because I'm anti-socialism, but because I think we need a total meltdown of our economic system in order to find one that's a little less archaic and better suited for a global economy with, literally, billions of consumers.

But these Tea Partiers. Woo boy. I kind of like them, in the sense that any vocal anti-government group always interests me and I really am a bit of a libertarian from time to time. I'd like them more if they would declare themselves a third party, but they want to latch onto the money and power of the GOP, and that's understandable. (Never mind that if you ask any Democrat in the US, they'd say they hate socialism, too.) They compare our current sitting president to Adolph Hitler, and they don't bat an eyelash. When people compared Bush to Hitler, I disagreed vehemently (despite actual similarities based in fact, not in a fear of socialism), and I will continue to disagree with that. You know who you can compare to Hitler? Hitler.

The kerfluffle I alluded to before was over the fact that Cap doesn't like the militia folk and Falcon doesn't want to mix with them thar angry white folk.

Let's take a look at a picture of an actual Tea Party protest:

Check out the token black guy front and center. Well, at least they all look happy. Except for the guy right next to the token black guy. [Feel free to check out some more from google and let me know what you find out re: the racial make up of Tea Party protests.]

When I read #602, and I actually read it, it reminded me more of a Tim McVeigh type militia than the Tea Party people. Why? Well, they were armed and run by a blonde guy who wanted to blow stuff up. So there's that. Yeah, the signs that Quesada apologized for (sigh), okay. I know it sucks when comics reflect current events instead of outdated things, but there you go.

Speaking of actually reading the issue, did you know that this Captain America isn't Steve Rogers? Most of the people getting up in arms about it don't. It's James Barnes, the kid who was Steve's advanced scout in WW2 (re: little dude that slit peoples' throats) who was brainwashed by the Soviets and became the greatest assassin in the world, before Steve saved him and he (James) took over the mantle of Cap after Steve's death.

Let's take a moment.

Here we have a guy who use to kill people for the American government, then the Soviet government, who now wears the American flag on his body (and, btw, stands up for those 2nd Amendment rights by using a gun where the previous Cap refused to). James has seen communism first hand. James has killed for communism as well as capitalism. James knows way more about socialism than someone who hasn't lived in that kind of society.

And James thinks the protesters in #602 are creepy mofos being led astray by a violent lunatic.

I'm gonna go with Cap on this one.

Oh, also, they're not the supervillains, the mentally unstable (due to an experiment by the American government) ex-Cap is.

And also, every American that is interested in pursuing their own freedoms and/or the freedoms of others and/or a better tomorrow blah blah is a patriotic American. Not just the conservatives.

And also, my liberal bias here is that I read the book, know the context of the characters and the story, and find the obvious non-researched response appalling.

But what's more appalling is that Marvel apologized.

Really? Seriously? You clothe your women in skin-tight, no-way-that-can-protect-you clothing, you let Bobbi Morse get raped and blamed by her husband and then forgive him, you have like two gay characters and only one of them ever actually gets even remotely close to as naked as the straight characters, and you apologize for reprinting actual signs?

Oh, and speaking of signs. There are some awesome ones. I think this might be my favorite (among the signs saying Obama loves baby killing, declaring this a Christian nation - wrong according to the Constitution they supposedly respect so much - and asking for members of Congress to be hanged):


Yup, totally the same. The taxes we pay that fund things like the military, road building, power plants, etc. (along with social programs like education and welfare) are exactly like being taken from your home, shoved into a train, sent to a camp, and then burnt alive.

I can see why Marvel would apologize, and why the gentleman that brought this to everyone's attention thinks that the Tea Party people are being victimized.

No, sorry, that was liberal sarcasm.

Best Books of the Week

Hands down my favorite pull this week was the Blackest Night: The Question tie-in. This was the book I'd been looking forward to when DC announced that they were going to use this month to resurrect (heh heh) dead titles, with original authors, and tie them into the storyline. I was pretty much guaranteed to like the writing, since I haven't met a Greg Rucka story I don't like (I hate to sound like a fangirl, but I am) but the chance to read a Denny O'Neill Question story! With Vic! Awesome.

And I wasn't disappointed. It was a good story, that managed to be one of the least annoying resurrection stories of the entire saga. Also, and here's some more fangirling, I like that Renee is strong-willed enough to become invisible to the Black Lanterns. That's pretty bad ass. (So is her fighting Lady Shiva.)

I also loved the art. I'm not sure when I became a fan of "non-traditional" art in comics. This isn't to say I don't like the more traditional styles. My second favorite book of the week, Red Robin, was very classic looking, action-style, bright-colored superhero fare and was equally as enjoyable. I guess for me, it's about matching the art with the tone. Sometimes hard lines and bright colors work for the Question (I enjoy Cully Hammer's work, even if it's not my favorite) and sometimes distressed, textured watercolory looks work.

And this week's Red Robin, speaking of, was just really great. This is where I wanted Tim to be: still the Red Robin, questioning his own decision to live this type of vigilante life, but relieved by the knowledge that he was right. He's able to be more sarcastic and lighthearted now, and to notice that Tam is hot. Though Tim and Tam... really. Really. Also, his interaction with Conner was amazing and it let me know that Bart survives Blackest Night.

Whew.

Also, I really really like Tim in the Red Robin costume. I like the costume, I like the Tim, I want him to stick around this way.

And I want the new Titans to be Superboy, Red Robin, Kid (blech) Flash, Speedy (if she's, you know, not dead), and Wonder Girl. Can someone get on that? I would also be okay with Bat-Girl being on the team. There are some really awesome young adult superheroes running around right now, someone ought to get them on all on a team together so we're not stuck with the less awesome ones. No offense to, um. Any of the Teen Titans. They can stick around. Let these ex-Teen Titans be Titan Titans. Or have a new name. Or something. Just put 'em on a team and let me read that book, because it will be great.

I'm too serious about race and gender. But especially gender.

A couple of months ago, I posted about my new dog, Ollie, who is a female but who is named after Oliver Queen. I also posted about the Lady!Ollie picture I found on the internets, and some brief thoughts on gender-swapping characters.

Actually, I enjoy the idea of gender swapping characters (or degendering, which is pretty much never done, since heaven forfend we not be either Man or Woman). When done right, it's really really interesting. It's not done right very often. The trick is to maintain the essence of the character while adapting him or her to a different gender, which of course affects the way he or she will interact with society, the kinds of experience s/he has had in his/her life, et cetera et cetera. It's not just about swapping around some parts of anatomy.

There's been this chromatic casting meme floating around. The idea is that you take established comic characters and insert people of color into the roles. But it's not just insertion, of course, because being a person of color changes your experiences and interactions. Just like your gender does. Anyway, it started, I think, on Livejournal and has gone viral. Got picked up, distributed and, as is the way with anything ever, offended some people. Then one of the creators wrote an excellent response.

Last night during the State of the Union Address, President Obama promised to push through an Equal Pay bill so that women earn 100% of what men earn. Not more. Not the same for less. But equal pay for equal work.

This is the year 2010.

My mom, who was one of two women in her medical school class in the late 70s, used to tell me about burning bras in college and marching down 5th Avenue for Women's Rights and having men spit on her. My mom, who used to add epilogues to fairy tales and Disney stories telling myself and my sister that it was okay if after we went off to the castle and lived happily ever after, we wanted to get a job and not just be a stay-at-home parent, as long as we made our own choices, is the first person that comes to mind when I think of a feminist.

I remarked to her via IM that it's sad that it's 2010 and there's not equal pay for equal work.

"I know," she said.

After the State of the Union, Chris Matthew said he forgot that the President was black, sparking off an uproar (and rightly so) about the remark. After all, why can't an intelligent man be black? That's not what Chris Matthews was saying, I think, but he said it stupidly.

But what no one else seems to remember is that he ended his train wreck by saying that men talk about The Godfather. "It's what we do."

Huh?

During the Presidential primaries and election in 2008, a discussion of race and racism was at the forefront of nearly every mention of Barrack Obama. But a discussion of gender was limited to comments on Sarah Palin's clothing or Hilary Clinton crying. In the recent election here in Massachusetts, the female candidate was portrayed as cold by the good ol' boy driving around in his truck. She lost (though that's not the only reason). Men who are portrayed as cold are strong. Women are frigid.

Here's my point: sexism still exists, but we are so convinced in this post-third-wave-feminist era that things are okay that we refuse to admit it. It's even okay to be sexist. Ever watched a commercial for Axe body spray? How about a commercial for Progressive insurance where they mock a man carrying a bag, who insists his wife bought it? How about that, again, it's 2010 and this is arguably the worst TV pilot season for women. Teen girls fawn over strong Edward and Jacob while aspiring to be Bella, who's off wilting in the shadows of her immense love for her stalker vampire.

Everything I'm saying doesn't mean racism doesn't exist. Not at all. And overt racism is definitely worse than overt sexism. But the subversive sexism that permeates our culture is still there, and it seems like something only a handful of people are willing to talk about. And those people are often called oversensitive (at best). Really, read some of the comments in this discussion about Marvel's Deadpool cover trade-in promotion (the one where you rip up DC comics to get a reference to a show that was popular 7 years ago with half-naked women that has nothing to do with the title, Siege).

Have some highlights:

"What I'm trying to get at is that sexism in comics isn't going untreated, and there seems to be a better balance nowadays. So to get all up in arms about this seems alittle [sic] futile and tiring."

So because it's being worked on (the author gives three examples of the umpteen comic creators out there), we shouldn't discuss it. Check.

"That cover is funny. Clearly, some people just don't appreciate humor. I hate living in a PC world, where people can't take a joke. Anyone who would call that cover sexist or racist probably has some personal problems that they need to work through."

No words necessary.

"Sorry I just find it funny people think this is sexist. I mean if you feel like that then go for it, but to say this is sexist considering a lot of comics from the 1940's to now have have naked women on the cover....that means the entire industry has been sexist since day one. "

Uh. Yes. I love the argument that because things were more sexist in the past (or racist), to think they're sexist now is ridiculous. Hey, look, in 1860 black people were slaves. So in 1954 when they were working on the Civil Rights bill to allow black people access to voting, they should have just let it go. And since women used to be the property of their husbands a hundred years ago, we shouldn't worry about equal pay because, hey. We're not property.

Check.

And let's end with how we started:

Well the only thing I can say that, [sic] your [sic] taking this way to seriously.

Okay!

So to wrap this all up, I wonder if the people up in arms over "Chromatic Casting" would have similar issues with Genderswap Casting. Maybe they would. I don't know. I think it's a lot easier to be offended by racism, because racism is still considered a Big Problem, whereas sexism is something that got fixed in the 70s so we should get over it.

2010 - Equal pay for equal work. Keep an eye out.

"Real" Men Can Wear Indigo (AND Violet!)

I'm sitting in Logan Airport, which has no outlets in its international terminal, waiting to board my Virgin Atlantic flight, which has no outlets in its economy cabin, so I thought it'd be a good time for a long-needed blog update. When without the ability to recharge your laptop prior to a 7 1/2 hour flight, clearly you need to write about comics.

Clearly!

So you know what was cool this week? The Deputy Lanterns over in Blackest Night #6. This almost made up for the Black Lanternization of Bart, Ollie, and Kon. And, yeah, Superman. My friend pointed out that Ollie has to come back to suffer the post-Roy-becomes-Dark Knight-Ollie storyline from Cry for Justice, so he's going to be okay. And Superman is Superman. But I worry about my former Young Justice people.

Anyway, BN #6 was accompanied by Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #2, which was yet another ridiculously awesome Greg Rucka book. This was a slam bang issue, man. I loved the overlap of Diana's thoughts with those of the Black Ring. And it was a totally emotional ride through her life. I had no idea it was fake until her mom showed up. Then I was a bit suspicious. Then Batman (can someone tell me why Bruce is Diana's symbol of love?), then Aphrodite.

Let me say, as an aside, that every time I think of Aphrodite I picture her like so:

Yeah, I'm a Xenite. I don't apologize. (Please enjoy Gabrielle's expression in that picture. For serious.)

Right, so the Deputy Lanterns. I'm not mega familiar with GL mythology. Has this happened before? I know the rings choose the right people, but I dig the emergency, planet-specific deputization. And I like the people they chose. One of the things I do like about the GL stuff is that there are good guys and bad guys in the good corps and bad corps. I mean, Mera's in red, right? Cool.

I guess there's been some kerfluffle about Diana's uniform. Yeah. It's a bit showy. So is her normal uniform. Now it's showier. Yeah. How about the blood running down Mera's face? Not an issue?

Okay.

I'll let other people go into that. Personally, I don't get why men can't be loving enough to be part of the Star Sapphires. If women can be angry enough to be part of the Red Lantern Corps, against the stereotype of meek and non-angry women, I don't get why a man couldn't have been chosen by the violet ring. I'm going to be honest, I'd probably have given the ring to Kal-El. But okay, give it to Diana. It's not like I'm a writer at DC or a Violet Ring. You know. And I did like how over in Action Comics he was a blend of all the colors. Or good colors, I guess. Green, blue, whatever.

Something I like about Doctor Who is that it makes Earth out to be this really special place. There's a reason the Doctor likes it so much. The people here are terrible and wonderful and they change the course of time itself. I sort of wish that attitude could be found in other genres. Maybe Earth could be the place of the first male Star Sapphire. What about planets with no genders or more-than-two genders? What do Star Sapphires do there? Just skip over that sector?

I liked this issue. Now let's fix Bart (I have a sad sad feeling that now that Irey is Impulse, Bart's not as necessary to the DCU) and finish up this Black Lantern stuff (I know, I know, April). It's been interesting, but there's only so much of the undead I can take.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to London. Cheers!

Why Avatar Didn't Suck Like I Thought It Would (A Review)

Okay, first things first: go see Avatar and go see it in 3D (IMAX optional).

Good. Done? Great.

This entry will contain spoilers though, honestly, if the entire concept of this movie didn't give it away, go read more. Or watch more movies. Or both.

I think by now that the entire population of the world with access to movies knows about Avatar, probably knows the general gist of what it's about, and knows it's supposed to be a game changer. All the reviews pretty much ejaculate their praise all over it, pooh-poohing the idea that the rehashed, heavy-handed plot could, in any way, detract from the awesomeness of the tech that created this movie.

Dammit, they're sort of right.

I was one of the cynical, and a friend of mine begged me to go see it so that she could talk about it with me, because we talk about movies similarly. So I went, and I loved it.

Didn't just like it. Loved it.

I've been thinking about why on my car ride home. (A few of us from various points went to see it, and the most central location is about 35 minutes from me.)

Here's what I've got.

The Story

This wasn't the first time that I've encountered a story (I will use the word "story" to refer to pretty much any and all media... book, movie, comic, tv, video game, etc.) that was about a handicapped character (usually male) using some sort of tech to escape life. Sometimes that's into a computer, into a network, into another body, into a robot. Whatever. This wasn't the first time I've encountered a story where a member of the oppressing group (usually male) "goes native" and saves the more-complex-than-the-oppressors-think population, usually melting the heart of an icy, tough native (usually female) along the way, while butting heads with the don't-want-change voices of the group (usually the competitor for said female's affections), and completes that saviorness through some feat even the natives can't do, and usually be introducing them to his weapons and/or tactics. This wasn't even the first time I've encountered a thinly (or not-at-all) veiled allegory for the BS that conquering nations have pulled against indigenous peoples and the planet we all have to share (usually for money). Hell, it's not the first time I've encountered a story about a Great Tree with someone called Navi in it (hey hey, Ocarina of Time, 'sup?).

A lot of people have compared this to Dances With Wolves. I think it's more like Dune, another very ecological-minded story (well, the books anyway).

That's just it, right? This has all happened before and it'll all happen again. There aren't really any new stories, just new ways to tell the old stories.

So. This way rocked. And it rocked because of the 3D, which I'll get to in a sec.

Now, here are a few of my story-related quibbles, all of which I think were overshadowed by the finished product:

- Why, on this planet with a different atmosphere and a different gravity, where plants and animals developed very very differently to our planet, did the Na'vi develop as bigendered bipeds that can only reproduce through heterosexual intercourse?

- WHY NOT A FEMALE PROTAGONIST? Come on, Cameron. You made Ripley awesome. You wrote Sarah Connor. ! Exclamation! While it was great that Neytiri's dad handed her his bow and left her in charge of the people... uh, why didn't it end that way? I almost expected her to get to be People Leader and Jake to be the Tree Talker, in a gender-reversed ending. Which would have made sense and been satisfying within the narrative of the story. But, hey. Whatever. Notably, the only two females that We Care About that get to live are the protagonist's mate and her mother. Yeah.

- Did we really have to cast the voices of the Na'vi using only Native American and black actors? Really?

I think James Cameron is a smart guy. An I think he very very purposefully cast the parts the way he did, and very very purposefully made certain shots. Like Michelle Rodriguez (god I love her) as the only Marine to stand up to the scary white guy with muscles and scars. Or the long lingering shot over the collected Marines during the "kill 'em all" speech. The camera stopped on a group that was made up of a black man, a woman, and a couple of people who could definitely be classified, by our race-driven society, as "of color". Here's the best message, the most subtle one, the one that's beneath even the "don't kill our planet, assholes" message: for eff's sake, teach history, teach it right, and don't let corporations or the military run things.

The message of the story isn't really "stop killing our planet", it's stop putting people in charge and giving weapons to people who think it's okay to do these kinds of things.

That's pretty bad ass. Too bad most people mostly notice the SFX.

The SFX/3D

Okay, it's a game changer. There, I said it. I asked my friend why she thought this would be applicable to genres outside of science fiction or action, where we're in it for the "ooh" factor. The answer, which I figured out about ten minutes into the movie, is: because this type of 3D immerses us. This isn't about bringing the action out to our seats, it's about bringing us into the world of the movie. This can work for an alien landscape like Pandora or for a back alley in 1940's LA. Seriously, could you imagine a good noir in this kind of 3D? Really awesome.

She told me that by a few minutes into the movie, the alien landscape is no longer even alien because the effects are so good. True. The only thing that kept me from complete immersion was the alienness of the plants and animals, which went away after a little while spent with the Na'vi (so I get why they're a blue mix of cats, Native Americans, and tribal Africans, but I still don't like it). But what sold me on this was the shot right at the beginning, where Jake is sitting on the drop ship with a row of people, and I felt like I could reach out and if I did... I'd be reaching down the row. And it was reinforced everytime we panned through a room and it felt like looking at an actual room that I was standing in. A few times, I lifted my glasses up just to see the difference.

So the 3D blew my mind more in environments I could intellectually process than the alien world of Pandora.

But, you know, it still blew my mind.

Inna Final Analysis

This story had a lot of issues, as someone viewing it from a non-majority lens (i.e. the viewpoint of someone aware of the negativity of colonization, oppression, and marginalization who doesn't think that we're done doing this stuff yet... aka someone that's read Howard Zinn), with a bit of a critical view to directorial choices such as casting. It wasn't the best use of allegory ever, unless you peel back a few layers. It was cliché in all the wrong places (gender, racial politics) and the right ones (the deaths were correct, satisfyingish ending).

But for 2 1/2 hours I didn't just watch Avatar, I wandered the planet with the characters.

Now that's immersion

That's a game changer.