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TV and Movies favorite (super) people...

post #1 of 8
8/1/06 at 5:31pm
Thread Starter 
I was indirectly inspired by O-Mac's Superman post.

Why in American movies and television shows are MOST superheroes, benevolent aliens disguised as humans or people who speak directly to GOD usually white folk...

Is this simply because white folk still (for a good while longer...) make up the majority of the population. Or maybe just the case of whites making better producers, writers, actors, et al... Or is it maybe just a little bit of our baser side exposing itself.

We are after all among the few remaining industrialized nations that has yet to elect a woman or a non-white male to the nation's highest office. All MEN are created equal? Not unless you want to run the country...

I am mainly interested in AI'ers opinions regarding movies and television. I personally feel that white folk still carry (to differrent degrees depending on your upbringing or education...) an ingrained superiority complex. Forget the shame and blame. I know AI'ers can discuss this cool and composed...

I like to think that 100 years from now the ensuing discussion would be historically quaint. I hope.
You know, what's interesting about our country is that for years we were isolated from the world by two great oceans, and for a while we got a false sense of security as a result of that. We...

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You know, what's interesting about our country is that for years we were isolated from the world by two great oceans, and for a while we got a false sense of security as a result of that. We...

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post #2 of 8
8/2/06 at 9:21am
Always thought it strange that Donnie Darko was white and not, well...


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post #3 of 8
8/2/06 at 9:59am
Quote:
Originally posted by hardhead
I was indirectly inspired by O-Mac's Superman post.

Why in American movies and television shows are MOST superheroes, benevolent aliens disguised as humans or people who speak directly to GOD usually white folk...

Is this simply because white folk still (for a good while longer...) make up the majority of the population. Or maybe just the case of whites making better producers, writers, actors, et al... Or is it maybe just a little bit of our baser side exposing itself.

We are after all among the few remaining industrialized nations that has yet to elect a woman or a non-white male to the nation's highest office. All MEN are created equal? Not unless you want to run the country...

I am mainly interested in AI'ers opinions regarding movies and television. I personally feel that white folk still carry (to differrent degrees depending on your upbringing or education...) an ingrained superiority complex. Forget the shame and blame. I know AI'ers can discuss this cool and composed...

I like to think that 100 years from now the ensuing discussion would be historically quaint. I hope.

The more you worry about this, the worse you're going to make it. One difference between, say, America and Great Britain is that a top-notch female politician has never run for top office in America. Hillary may try, and the reason she will fail has little to do with her gender.

As for superheros, there are a handful of non-white superheroes, but you have to remember that this genre was mostly created in the 50's and 60's, during which multi-culturalism was not a unspoken mandate. Most non-white superheroes show up in the 70's and 80's, but they haven't been around as long so there's far less franchise.

Lastly, I don't think whites are the majority of the population. . . currently. The American "ruling class" (i.e. the controllers of the bulk of the nation's capital) has traditionally been white, but I think if you were to check it now you'd major chunks of domestical capital under the auspices of Asian and Indian Americans. The other races have certainly been around long enough to be well represented in this rare-air. Why they are not shouldn't be made my problem.
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post #4 of 8
8/2/06 at 9:59am
It is my personal opinion that the reason we see mostly white people in the media is a mixture of what you said. I do believe that a larger part of the problem is a superiority complex. White people just think that they look better than everybody else. The world of supermodels is dominated by white people. What does that say about what people think is the definition of beauty? White is almost viewed as normal or the way you are supposed to look by a lot of people.
"We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!" ~ Vroomfondel
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"We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!" ~ Vroomfondel
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post #5 of 8
8/2/06 at 10:09am
Quote:
Originally posted by maimezvous
The world of supermodels is dominated by white people. What does that say about what people think is the definition of beauty?

For what it's worth, it has long been a perplexing topic for scientists that "white-ness" is actually a compound of mostly dominant physical traits. Physical attractiveness can be ascertained as a collection of different thought processes, but it would make sense that there's some genetic disposition to seek dominant traits in a mate.

On that note, Brazilian model seem to be all the rage these days, and they're a pretty mixed group. Perhaps it's a case of dominant traits trickling through.
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post #6 of 8
8/2/06 at 10:15am
That's interesting. I hadn't thought of beauty that way. What about the blond blue eyed people though. Their traits aren't dominate but people still say they are beautiful.
"We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!" ~ Vroomfondel
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"We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!" ~ Vroomfondel
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post #7 of 8
8/3/06 at 10:04pm
What about "Blankman" ?? ... blows this whole theory out of the water.
From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, "Look at that!" -...
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From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, "Look at that!" -...
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post #8 of 8
8/3/06 at 11:36pm
How about Shaft, and all the other blaxploitation movies, aren't they sort of superhero movies for some? Also is it any wonder, that in US the pale ones still rule media and politics, when there are more black men in prison than in college? And many latinos don't even have citizenship. America is worlds createst melting-pot but so far it hasn't come even close to homogenous state.
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