BlackGeekdom Science-Fiction from a Different Perspective

source: TPMCAFE

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The episode entitled “Hero” marked the return of Pete Ross (played by Sam Jones III) to Smallville.  The story revolved around Pete gaining a superpower and then getting on his high horse and telling Clark that he wasn’t going to be like him and not keep his “gift” a secret.   On paper, the story’s a fairly good idea.  But, the best laid plans of mice and white men oft go awry.  WIthout going into a litany of powers that white male “meteor freaks,” were endowed with, let’s just say that it seems as Pete got leftovers.  

Pete “Stretchy Man” Ross.  You are asking yourself what’s wrong with being stretchy?  I’ll give them that Plastic Man and Elongated Man are cult favorites of fans of the Justice League B Team, and let’s not forget the ever popular Reed “Mr. Fantastic” Richards of the Fantastic Four.  But come on people!!!  Why you giving the only black man on your show some lame ass power?!?!  Sweet Christmas!!!  Hopefully, he’s done.  I was so distracted by the lame ass power that I didn’t even pay attention to the subplot that was moving along the long story arc. 

It’s not bad enough that the show has been white washed, but to bring Pete back with this lame ass power goes to show you that the writers on the show have completely lost touch with reality.  At least in the comic book world, African American characters are treated with more respect.  Honestly, I have never liked Pete Ross’s character on the show, but it was okay since it added diversity to the show.  But maybe I’m overlooking the main point.  Television has been white washed.  Name a major network that has a show with more than two African American characters.

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Will Smith was immortalized at Grauman’s Chinese Theater on Monday.  I make it no secret that I think Will is the premiere genre actor of this generation, as well as being a box office Midas.

If you are interested, you can see his acceptance speech HERE.

Will Smith: Blackgeekdom Hall of Fame Inductee

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 Here’s an interesting blog post I found on the Informed Reader Blog at Wall Street Journal Online about African-Americans creating a space in the white dominated world science fiction and fantasy.

It also includes a link to an excerpt from “The Comet” by W.E.B Dubois.

http://blogs.wsj.com/informedreader/2007/07/31/697/

The only commentary that I have is that what’s being written represents the writers.  The more African American writers there are, the larger our presence will be.  But the other problem is that there doesn’t seem to be an interest in the African-American community in science-fiction and fantasy.  Whether that is a result of there not being many writers, I don’t really know.   I would tend to think that is the case.

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This is a great article. I think it really gives some insight into “Fanboys”. Now I only wish they would give the Fanboys who tend to look more like Lando than Legolas (if you know what I mean) their props. Translation everybody at your con doesn’t like Heavy Metal or Folk Music. Can we get a little diversity? People do listen to other things besides Metallica, Gwar, or Enya (although the sample used in “Ready or Not’ by the Fugees was tight) to name a few. Can we please get get some Wu Tang (Hell they even have a comic) or some Jay-z at a Con. On second thought. Don’t worry about. I’m just venting. Just read the article its pretty good
Read More…

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What do Worf, Son of Mog, Benjamin Sisco, Tyr Anasazi, and D.L. Hawkins all have in common? Obviously from the title they are all single dads trying to make their way in the world. (I know that Worf is a Klingon, but for my argument he’ll do) Is there a reason that sci-fi writers continue to do this? Read More…

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Surfing the internet as we are proned to do, I found an interesting website about Black Women in Science Fiction. I can’t tell when the last time the site was updated, but I found the list…curious.

Less than 9% of Science-Fiction television series have featured black women as main characters. And that is assuming you were to count recurring characters who were usually tossed in the background

Without taking time out to do the math, the number seems to be accurate enough; however, a more thorough study would be helpful. The main problem is that science-fiction writers are no different then writers in any genre. They write about things that reflect who they are, whether they do it consciously or not is another disscussion for another time. Of course, George Lucas cast Billy Dee Williams, but was there anyone cooler and more suave than him at the time who could play that character? Rick Berman cast Avery Brooks, but how could you not cast a great talent such as he. Keith Hamilton Cobb was perfect as Tyr, but do you remember seeing any other Nietzscheans that looked like him?

Back to the topic. Most of your science-fiction writers are white just like most other genres. Majority of the audience is white. So, it makes sense that things are the way they are. The only genre that gets it is the comic book genre. Characters of every minority are represented on every level and thoughout all types of comics. There are writers, artists, and charaters. Why is there such a disparity? Maybe the television and movie industry should focus on better stories and less on making sure they hit the right racial demographic. Generally, the average science fiction fan doesn’t care about race.

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