Racist superhero comics in Cracked

The title of this piece isn't quite accurate. It should be something like "Dozens of Shockingly Racist Scenes in 5 Famous Superhero Series."

Many of the scenes are from the World War II era, when Americans were fighting the Germans and Japanese, so the racism is somewhat understandable. A few are from the ignorant but well-meaning 1960s and 1970s. In a couple of cases I don't agree with the author--such as the X-Men's use of racial slurs to argue against racism.

Racist and stereotypical depictions of Indians make more than their fair share of appearances. Let's take a look:

5 Shockingly Racist Scenes in Famous Superhero Comics

By Seanbaby#5. The Justice League

It's unusual for an elite group of whites to be racist, but the Justice League had some problems with it. For starters, even their space aliens were Aryan. When Hanna Barbera adapted them into a cartoon in the '70s, animators had to invent four ethnic members just so they wouldn't burn through their supply of "flesh" paint in the first season. If you're not familiar, the racial heroes added to the Super Friends were:

1. A Native American named Apache Chief who wasn't either of those things.Bruce Wayne became a bat to strike fear into the hearts of Gotham criminals, but in China, bats are often considered good luck. So Batman may have decided to murder a few hundred of their people to clear up any confusion. And speaking of confusion, here's the kind of interaction Batman has with Native Americans:There were people on the Justice League with racism that didn't even make sense. Green Lantern is a space policeman. Most of his coworkers and friends are jellyfish or cosmic squirrels, and yet he had no idea what to do when he met a real-life Earth Eskimo.Yes, Hal Jordan had an Eskimo sidekick he called "PIEFACE." And that nickname fucking stuck. Thomas Kalmaku walked around for decades answering to PIEFACE. It was such a bizarrely offensive character that when Filmation created a Green Lantern cartoon in the '60s, they replaced him with a blue (probably) alien boy named Kai Ro. Hal wasn't as aggressively racist towards him, but their relationship was far from appropriate.

Superman handled most racial situations perfectly. He made it through WWII and Korea without calling anyone names and he didn't even ask to touch Black Lois' hair. If he had one cultural kryptonite, it was that he wasn't great with Indians.In a story called "Superman, Indian Chief!", Superman was called in to settle a property dispute in Metropolis. An evil mogul discovered, through distant Native American ancestry, that he owned all the city's land. He instantly began extorting the citizens of Metropolis and proudly bragged about it right to Superman's face. It was almost suicidally evil, and here's how Superman handled it:Superman had any number of option--everything from diplomacy to super hypnosis to super ventriloquism to punching the evil dick into the sun. He went with: running back in time to screw the Indians out of their land 300 years ago. He didn't even have to think about it. He was already jogging through the 1800s before the guy was done with his threat. Say what you want about Aquaman and Wonder Woman shrieking "Jap!" for the better part of a decade; Superman wove his racism into the very fabric of his universe's chronosphere.

#4. The X-Men

Like the Justice League, most of the X-Men's cultural diversity came in one explosion of poorly thought out ethnic characters. For example, James Proudstar. He's a Native American with the power of being pretty tough and tracking. Almost as if a racist thought, "What super powers would be handy if you had to, like, be an Indian all day?" And sure enough, when we meet him, he's having a wrestling match with a buffalo. A wrestling match with a buffalo.

Actually, the original Thunderbird was John Proudstar. His brother James became Thunderbird after John died.

And yes, a buffalo on the Apache reservation is fairly ridiculous. It's theoretically possible but extremely unlikely.#1. The Marvel Family



Comment:  Seanbaby criticizes other portrayals in the Marvel Family comics, but not the Native portrayals. The Native examples are sidelights, and they're self-explanatory.

Unfortunately, it's still not uncommon to see Native characters wearing headdresses and buckskins, or half-naked, or both. Yes, even in the 2010s. For instance, Grant Morrison re-introduced Chief Man-of-Bats, the Native Batman, a few years ago. (Man-of-Bats may have debuted in the Batman story pictured above.)

Arctic movies and autumn TV

Indian Comics Irregular #197:  Movies Hire Alaska Natives

Taika Waititi as Tom Kalmaku

After Adam Beach left the Green Lantern movie, I forgot to pursue the matter. If Beach isn't playing Tom Kalmaku, then who is?

Comic-Con reminded me that Green Lantern is coming, so here's the scoop:

Taika WaititiBirth Name

Taika David Waititi

Height

6' 2" (1.88 m)

Mini Biography

Taika is of Te-Whanau-a-Apanui descent and hails from the Raukokore region of the East Coast. He has been involved in the film industry for several years, initially as an actor, and now focusing on writing and directing.

Trivia

He is of Maori and European-Jewish descent.Comment:  Once again, Hollywood casts a non-Native in a Native role. Yes, Waititi is indigenous (Maori), so he isn't the worst choice possible. But he isn't Inuit like Tom Kalmaku. Adam Beach would've been closer to the mark.

I include his height because it shows how casting changes the character in subtle ways. Kalmaku is supposedly 5'7", although he looks more like 5'3" or 5'4". He's a typically short Inuit person. Making him tall means he can push his way through crowds. He doesn't have to be as bright because he has a strong physical presence.

Let's see...Waititi has played 13 roles before Kalmaku. None of them look big or impressive, although they may have been in New Zealand. My initial impression is that Waititi doesn't have any special qualifications to play Kalmaku.

Once again, the producers hired any ol' brown-skin because they're all the same, right? They didn't hire one of the thousands of Native actors who's closer to Kalmaku physically and culturally than Waititi is. They certainly didn't try to find an Inuit actor--unlike, say, the producers of Sikumi or Everybody Loves Whales. They went for a simple, expedient choice rather than a good and proper one.

And what about all the Inuit aspiring to be actors? Oh, well...maybe next time. The next time somebody does a major studio film featuring a major Inuit character, that is.

For more on the subject, see The Many Faces of Tom Kalmaku and Casting Tom Kalmaku.

Below:  "We both look vaguely brown and Asiatic. What else do you want?"

Green Lantern out, Cowboys and Aliens in

My pal Victor posted this Tweet today:Just had lunch with Adam Beach. No Green Lantern but he leaves tomorrow to New Mexico to start filming Cowboys & Aliens w/ Harrison Ford.

Comment:  That's Adam with director Lian Lunson. I don't know anything else about the lunch or the casting decision.

Despite the presence of Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) and Adam Beach (Comanche Moon), I fear Cowboys and Aliens will be stereotypical. I'd be amazed if the Apaches in the story don't come across as deadly savages.

For more on the subject, see Adam Beach to Play Tom Kalmaku? and COWBOYS & ALIENS.

The many faces of Tom Kalmaku

I finally found some images of Green Lantern's sidekick Tom Kalmaku. Since I've talked about casting someone who looks Inuit in the Green Lantern movie, check them out:






As I said, Adam Beach isn't a bad match for Tom Kalmaku facially. He's a lot better than having some random white, Asian, or Latino guy play the role.

For more on the Green Lantern movie, see Adam Beach to Play Tom Kalmaku? For more on the subject of non-Natives playing Natives, see A Brief History of "Redface" and The Best Indian Movies.

Adam Beach to play Tom Kalmaku?

My pal Victor sent the following tweet to his Twitter followers Wednesday:Whoo Hoo!! Adam Beach just told me he's in the new Green Lantern movie. Way to go, bro.Comment:  I presume Beach is playing GL's Inuit sidekick Tom Kalmaku, since that's the only Native role in the story.

If you don't know who Tom Kalmaku is, see Casting Tom Kalmaku, Review of GREEN LANTERN: LEGACY, and The Origin of Tom Kalmaku.

What do I think of this? On the minus side, Beach isn't Inuit. No doubt the filmmakers made little or no effort to find an Inuit actor. This seems to be standard operating procedure in Hollywood.

Also, Beach is four years older than Ryan Reynolds, who is playing Green Lantern. I'd say Tom Kalmaku should be in his mid- to late 20s and 5'6" or thereabouts, not 37 and 5'11" plus. That's the way he was in the original comic books.

On the plus side, Beach is a Canadian Native, which puts him closer to the Inuit than most actors. He looks more Inuit than many Native actors--certainly more than, say, Wes Studi or Russell Means. Beach's boyish enthusiasm matches Kalmaku's boyish enthusiasm for his pal Green Lantern, so he could be a good fit.

Most of all, thank God the filmmakers didn't offer the job to Johnny Depp, Taylor Lautner, or another pseudo-Indian actor. For once an important Native role goes to a Native.

If casting Depp as an "Eskimo" sounds odd, consider this. Depp the 1/8th Eastern Cherokee is no more related to Tonto the Apache than he is to Tom Kalmaku the Inuk (singular of Inuit). In fact, I'd guess the Apache people--of Athabascan stock from the far north--are more closely related to the Inuit than they are to the Cherokee.

For more on the subject, see The Best Indian Movies.

Casting Tom Kalmaku

What looks like a Brazilian website suggests actors for roles in a Green Lantern movie. As you may recall, the Green Lantern cast includes Tom Kalmaku, an Inuit airplane mechanic.

Elenco Ambrosia:  Green Lantern



Comment:  This image makes Tom Kalmaku look more Asian than Inuit. Even so, actor Jonathan Ke Quan doesn't look any more like Kalmaku than a randomly chosen young Asian man.

As usual, I'd say choose the most authentic actor possible. Go to Alaska or Canada and have an open casting call if you can't find any Inuit actors in the Lower 48.

Despite the Asian eyes, this is the kind of face I'd suggest for the Alaska Airlines logo. Given the Alaskan context and the strong Native features, I think most people would identify it as a young Inuit man. They wouldn't need a parka to make the connection.

For more on the subject, see Comic Books Featuring Indians.