Oct 27 2008
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This isn’t related to superheroes or writing, but might be interesting if you like US history. In US politics, certain decade-long trends tend to recur every thirty years: warfare, conservative dominance, and liberal dominance.
Aug 19 2008
Historians that try to pack centuries of information into a single book often fail disastrously because they cannot give each event the length it deserves. Not surprisingly, Howard Zinn’s People’s History of the United States is a bit flitty, even at 750 pages. For example, the first eight chapters focus on…
Jun 14 2008
In Article 1, Section 8, the Constitution lists Congress’ authority to establish copyright protection for authors before its authority to declare war or raise an army, but after its power to establish a post office. Go figure!
Apr 28 2008
Oiur resident political scientist plays with the numbers and concludes that Hillary Clinton could very well end up winning the popular vote.
Mar 13 2008
The RealClearPolitics polling averages are showing that Senator Obama has lost a lot of ground to McCain recently and now fares worse than Senator Clinton in a potential matchup with Senator McCain. Respectively, Obama and Clinton have a 1.2 and 1.5% lead over McCain. Furthermore, Obama’s once-noticeable lead over Clinton in head-to-head polling has dropped to a virtually nonexistent 1% in the RCP average.
Going into the convention… Continue Reading »
Jan 30 2008
Giuliani and Edwards are expected to drop out very soon, possibly with a McCain nomination from Giuliani. So I think that McCain has wrapped up the Republican nomination. On the Democratic side, I don’t think that Edwards’ departure will matter as much as Obama wants it to. But I do think that the timing is kind to the Republicans.
Jan 27 2008
Comics I Don’t Understand features a strip feebly attempting to lambast everyone’s favorite social science.
Jan 23 2008
“The United States has two political parties, the Know-Nothings and the Do-Nothings.” I can’t decide which is which.
Jan 20 2008
It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what others say in a whole book.
I save the day by wasting many, proving reptilian awesomeness. There, I only needed ten words.
–Agent Orange
You’re despicable.
–The Superhero Nation writing staff
Jan 18 2008
If human beings are fundamentally good, no government is necessary; if they are fundamentally bad, any government, being composed of human beings, would be bad also.
Regardless, we can safely say a government composed of humans would probably at least match the alternative.
–Agent Black
Hey!
–Agent Orange
Jan 11 2008
More presidential political betting stuff. Short version: Sell Guiliani and maybe Clinton. Buy Huckabee, Obama, and McCain. In particular, look at buying a contract on a Huckabee victory in Michigan (!) and Florida (!!!).
Jan 10 2008
Stuck in a Political Science gen-ed course? Not sure about how to beat it like a red-headed stepchild? 500 words lie between you and your hegemonic ambitions.
Jan 04 2008
Jan 03 2008
I recount what happened in Iowa and how the betting odds have shifted. Good news: most of my predictions were correct. Bad news: Iowa has resoundingly rejected me in favor of people with “experience.”
Jan 03 2008
Iowa caucuses tonight. Which state holds the next primary? (Hint: the primary is Republican-only). Continue Reading »
Jan 03 2008
My predictions for the Democratic and Republican Iowa caucuses, the immediate fallout and what it means for the bottom line. The betting line, that is. Yeah, this is definitely the only superhero site you’ve ever seen with a “Political Science” category or phrases like “structural considerations.” In your face, Marvel.
Jan 01 2008
Why are peace talks held at summits? Because things can only go downhill from there.
Jan 01 2008
It has come to my attention that… [/pretentiousness] I might be able to get a research grant to Iraq. Buzzam!
I wonder what in-country internet access is like…
If accepted, I’d be going for several months this summer to study the evolution of counterinsurgency strategies. (Mainly, the end of major combat operations to the ’surge’). That would give me five months to learn enough Arabic to actually be able to communicate with Iraqis. Salaam. Salaam salaam salaam. Hmm. Shouldn’t be too difficult. As luck would have it, I have access to a film that’s 100% effective at teaching Arabic.
I suspect the research (at least as far as the interviews I would be involved with… I hope!) will focus more on US servicemen in-country than Iraqis. I doubt even Team America could get me up to speed in time.
If you have been to Iraq or are in Iraq*, I’d really appreciate any suggestions about packing tips and uhh, how emotionally distressing the experience is? I’d also appreciate any other comments, particularly along the lines of STAY THE HELL AWAY CIVVIE!
*Google Analytics indicates I have gotten a few hits from the Middle East. I suspect that virtually all of the hits are from Americans, servicemen or otherwise. (With all due respect to Bahrain, I really doubt that native Bahrainis are that interested in an English-language proto-novel about American superheroes).
Dec 19 2007
Justice Scalia is… Jack Bauer.
Repeat after me… there’s no time!
Nov 27 2007
ABC did a story called Why Black Superheroes Succeed– and Fail. That’s interesting for whites writing black characters (or vice versa) or those wondering why some characters are popular and others aren’t.
I think black superheroes tend to fail because they get typecast as persecuted heroes. Even the article confuses two very separate ideas.
These two questions are very different!
The second implicitly assumes that a black hero has to face white-on-black persecution, which probably makes less sense now than it did in 1962. And, regardless of whether it is plausible that every black is persecuted by whites, persecution stories are usually depressing (particularly when the persecution is based on real-life events, rather than hating mutants or Muggles). Making the hero the victim of persecution changes the tone of the plot far more than just making him black.
Do black heroes have to be persecuted? I don’t think so. Most young people, especially, haven’t lived with the intense and visible racism of the 1960s, but the comics industry doesn’t seem to have caught on to that. Plot elements that were commonplace (or at least plausible) fifty years ago, like racial violence and particularly caustic racist remarks, often seem outlandishly cynical now.
If you do focus on racism, I recommend using elements of racism that are likelier to resonate with your readers circa 2007. People might step away in hallways and elevators or sit at different tables in cafeterias—I think that most readers would agree that’s how racism manifests right now rather than, say, burning crosses and even racial slurs. More provocatively, someone might suggest that a minority has gotten where he is because of affirmative action or that affirmative action hires as a whole are less qualified than other employees. Bank guards might get antsy. Etc. (For some more manifestations of modern racism, please see the footnotes).
The point is that modern racism has become subconscious—I suspect that most racists genuinely believe that they aren’t— and that portraying racism as in-your-face, 1960s slurs will likely feel out of touch and preachy to your readers.
When I watched Crash, I laughed so hard when a car crash caused people to immediately start screaming slurs. Wouldn’t you, uhh, want to get their insurance information first? NO CUZ KKKALIFORNIA IZ RACIST. Crash wants to Make A Point and comes off as totally cartoonish.
Freedom Writers portrays racial balkanization much more plausibly. I wonder how prevalent such racial balkanization is across the country. I’m inclined to say it’s pretty limited, but I live in a very white area so I don’t really know.
If you feel the need to include intense racism in your work—something that will seriously affect the tone and marketability of your piece—Freedom Writers offers a pretty good model. It treats racism more seriously.
FW suggests that racism arises from economics*. That offers FW’s world a sort of grim, perverse logic. FW’s world is deep—you see where the racism came from and why it is so damn hard to overcome. Readers understand economic motives and how much money matters, especially if you have very little. Readers won’t sympathize with race-based gangs, but they will appreciate that tolerance is a harder choice than they thought. That raises the stakes and makes the heroes larger-than-life.
In Crash, racism just sprouted from nowhere and persists despite economic concerns. Insulting someone rather than getting their insurance information is irrational. Furthermore, the story offers no explanation why the characters would think it’s rational. Why are characters intolerant? Because they’re emotional, maybe. That seems flimsy and unsatisfying. It also gives the story an arbitrary feel– the characters couldn’t overcome racism at the story’s start, so how are they able to at the end? It would feel much more logical if we knew why racism was a problem at the start.
Footnotes
*Although some sociologists do agree with Freedom Writers that racism is primarily rooted in economics, they’re in the minority. But that doesn’t matter– Freedom Writers feels coherent and plausible anyway. 99% of your audience has no idea what most sociologists think, so it’s the feeling that matters.
More modern racism
For the purposes of helping you write, I’ll broadly define racism as anything that might create discomfort or division along racial lines.
1) Affirmative action. I actually already mentioned this before, but I think it’s particularly useful because blacks and whites often strongly disagree not only about AA but about which statements/opinions about AA are socially acceptable. For example, in one class a white student discussing AA made the (not extremely controversial?) assertion that race influences faculty hiring decisions. This offended the black professor, who may have thought that the white was insinuating he was less qualified. The professor asked, “do you think I was hired because I’m black?” The white was taken aback by that point-black, personal question about what he probably perceived to be an impersonal, general statement. He said that he thinks that the professor’s being black was a factor.
As the author, you could paint this a few ways. Maybe the student is wrong to treat the issue impersonally, maybe the professor was being oversensitive, or that there’s just a gap in understanding between the white and the black that doesn’t suggest anything negative about either.
2) Whites saying “sup” to black peers. In terms of awkward hilarity, this is one of my favorites. Whites often feel pressured to act differently with blacks. You might chalk this up to insensitivity and/or oversensitivity. Saying “sup” probably isn’t sinister, but it may create tension because the black knows that the white is acting differently because he’s talking to a black. In a related example (one I can hopefully offer without making a political point), Hillary Clinton once adopted a painfully bad drawl when speaking before a black audience.
3) Subways, trains and buses. I’ve noticed that people (including nonwhites) strongly prefer to sit by people of the same race. Visual media, like comic books, have some fantastic opportunities for some grim humor by showing a black (or white?) sitting alone in a crowded bus like he has leprosy or something. I should add that I’ve never seen anyone change seats to specifically move away from someone of a different race.
4) The assumption that whites and blacks have substantially different skills, traits or tastes. Real life isn’t as bad as The Office, but I think that whites occasionally (implicitly) assume that blacks are hipper or predisposed to stereotypically black forms of entertainment. I was forced to witness a hilarious conversation between a white BET enthusiast and a black that has tastes somewhat more milquetoast than mine. White sups flew.