@csg_cl said:
I'm not sure I understand what your are saying when you say "isn't that the natural progression in western entertainment" ... the whole argument the "anti-SJW" opinion seems to have is that western entertainment is pushing away from straight white male leads in everything and that this is bad. I think at this point it's clear that female lead action movies can be huge earners at the box office. China is a hard marketplace to use as an example of what is successful and what isn't ... with all the government regulation on what is made available to who and where it's not as straight forward as box-office revenue = consumer interest. By this linear model Wonder Woman was on par with Winter Soldier, and outperformed the Hobbit in China and Black Panther is crushing box-office all over the world (including China), which shouldn't be the case if diverse cast is the issue. But maybe I'm not understanding what you were saying here.
By natural progression, I sort of mean that 'straight white male' has been so ingrained with the superhero culture that it's part and parcel with the superhero identity. Most of it takes place in America, and really can be seen as an aspect of America solving or creating problems. Everything from the Avengers, Justice League, even stuff like the Incredibles, Watchmen, and the low budget stuff aimed at kids largely play off a caucasian America.
Now obviously, superhero comics can be diverse in normalcy to great effect, as Wonder Woman and Black Panther have demonstrated. I suppose by natural progression, we've moved from cheesy thought boxes to cinematic heroes. Maybe Black Panther and Wonder Woman are highly successful outliers in terms of diversity, but when it matters it's all cool when popularity and box office performance send a good message.
But at least we can agree on something. Namely, that good writing and diversity are good when done well. And sweeping overhauls of iconic characters is an unlikable proposition. Perhaps over-diversification is the natural progression of the comics subculture. Perhaps over-diversification works for movies, but not for comics.
I suppose what I'm saying is that the greater world expects straight and narrow white superheroes like Superman, Batman, Captain America and others, though now that I think about it, I suspect I've compared relatively niche comics to movies made for a far broader audience.
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