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« on: March 02, 2007, 07:36:00 am »
"You never saw her reading a Terry McMillan novel, or listening to Marvin Gaye, or cornrowing her hair - NOTHING!"
Well, I do think that it's not unreasonable that *some* black characters might not do any of those things or anything else that might be generally viewed as "black." I work with an African-American lady who listens to country music, votes Republican and certainly doesn't read Terry McMillan. That's just how she is, you know? If she were a fictional character, would she be lambasted for not being "black enough?" I would hope not. Now, I do like the changes that have been made to Storm -- because Claremont women tend to be ueber-babes with the same personality over and over again.
I'm not arguing with the basic truths of your point (that black characters tend to be downgraded to 'black' books and storylines) but I don't necessarily think that the fact that Storm didn't do what you view as traditionally black things makes her a poorly written character. Maybe that's just the way that girl *is* you know?
And yes, I am a white male who enjoys Black Panther -- so perhaps my views are skewed in that direction, though certainly not intentionally. I think it's great that the BP series is reaching out to readers beyond the same WASP group that they've catered to for years. And I appreciate that Reggie is able to do that while simultaneously pleasing someone like myself who does fit into that catered-to audience.