Stereotypes in Comics

Racism has always made me feel unclean whenever it turns up. Depending on the message it can be used strategically for dramatic effect or to make a point, which is fine, but it takes subtlety and understanding to execute it properly. I have read authoritative fiction in which racial slurs were very effectively used in context, and as long as there is appropriate context, the mere presence of a racial remark can be ignored.

Will Eisner speaks of the necessity of stereotypes in comics to communicate a mood or message. While his argument was valid during his time, it would seem that now things are less back and white. Contemporary graphic literature is much more interpretive and no longer needs to rely on such blatant symbolism (such as the good gun and bad gun). While part of his argument does remain it's given more toward a philosophical perspective that allows the reader to decide for themselves whether something is "good" or "bad."

Recent films such as the Transformers movies and Cop Out were good examples of cheesy stereotypes employed for cheap laughs. I'm not so easily amused. I found those films quite irritating with the gratuitous attempts at humour to the point where it started to anger me. Whether it was racially insensitive writing or the simple fact that the jokes sucked I cannot say. In either case, it's still stereotype and I'm tired of it.

Despite all we covered in class that day, racism never comes up in my work as a problem to be dealt with. If it appears in my work I work carefully to use the idea to enhance the story in a dramatic way, or I omit it entirely, and even then, it only appears so often. I don't want one concept to receive emphasis of so many others. For me the most common stereotype to deal with is the Mary Sue character. I can't stand them. It is these characters that helped drive me away from anime, actually. They're far too powerful, too brooding, and all too common. It's as though I have to go extra lengths just to make sure there aren't any in my work, but like I said earlier, there can be a time and place for these sorts of things.