Like, can black people live? Can we just live? It seems as if simply being black is reason enough for the harshest treatment.
Being black and female doubles the disdain.
They say that beauty is subjective and “in the eye of the beholder”, but when the beholder views things through the lens of white supremacy, no critique can be taken at face value.
Recently, the trailer for the Titans live-action series was released. Racists proceeded to show their heads in mass numbers and completely took over the conversation surrounding one of the characters appearance.
Anna Diop plays Starfire, an orange-skinned alien from the planet Tamaran. She’s arguably one of the top three strongest members of the Titans; super strength, flight, concussion blasts from the hands and eyes, you name it, she can do it.
If you read DC Comics, you know that’s something that the vast majority of folks would NOT do. But she’s built for it.
TSL Comic Book Convo: More of Our Favorite Characters Headed to TV …
To me, there’s no longer any question whether or not we’re living in a new Golden Age of Comic Book characters in all mediums of communication. To that end, we’re also seeing characters of African descent that are gleaned from these illustrated pages being birthed onto the big and small screen like never before.
Each of the traits that make the character who she is is fanciful and there’s nothing a little CGI can’t do to jazz up a project in postproduction. So, where are all these criticisms really coming from?
C’mon, you already know!
Diop, an American of Senegalese descent and dark-skinned black woman, recently disabled the comments on her Instagram account to due to the rabid racism that ensued.
Titans Trailer
At the heart of DC UNIVERSE will be all-new exclusive original live-action and animated series based on DC’s iconic characters. Developed by Warner Bros. Television, Swamp Thing and Doom Patrol are scheduled to debut in 2019, following the dramatic, live-action adventure series Titans which premieres later this year. Warner Bros.
This isn’t new. Idris Elba caught flack for being cast as Heimdall in Thor, fans of the CW’s The Flash criticized making Iris and Wally West black and Tessa Thompson’s portrayal of Valkyrie was roundly criticized as well.
All of said criticisms didn’t take anything but race and color into account. Thus, these criticisms should be lambasted, the critics ostracized. However, perhaps due to the dynamics of social media and the hive mind-type of group-think that it engenders, the overall community of fans are slow to react if they react at all.
TSL Comic Book Convo Presents: David Walker- Writer for DC Comics’ …
The Shadow League’s TSL Comic Book Convo is a day late this week but the delay was worth it as we speak with comic book writer David Walker.
Meanwhile, Diop should be having the time of her life while engaging her fans about a project that’s near and dear to her, instead disabling her Instagram comments in an effort to protect herself from an onslaught of racist white males swaddled in privilege.
5,980 Likes, 86 Comments – Anna Diop (@the_annadiop) on Instagram: “”
And that’s just comic books!
Star Wars has had more than its fair share of instances in which so-called fans stepped over the racial and gender lines to criticize leads that were diverse.
It’s naive to surmise that this has anything to do with creativity, acumen, storyline or anything other than race. These takedowns start out in Facebook groups, on Reddit and in other concealed corners of the digital sphere, only exploding onto an unsuspecting black actor or actress when they dare accept a role these cowards feel shouldn’t be theirs.
Anna Diop is a stunning woman, but I also know it doesn’t really matter what I think of her. The true testament to her abilities will be in the finished product.
So, fanboys should just STFU and let the woman shine.
