Michelle Rodriguez recently lashed out at the diversity situation in Hollywood, especially when it comes to superhero movies. We've seen time and time again where the race of several established characters has been changed for the sake of diversity and to give us the impression that America is progressing.
Taking a white character and making him or her black is laziness and just a quick way for movie studios and comic book publishers to say that we are onboard with diversity. In all honesty, though, it just proves they are not doing this for the actual cause of diversity in films; it is nothing but publicity stunts and we as moviegoers are falling for it left, right and center.
Instead of creating a black version of Spiderman or The Flash (Wally West), is it so hard to put already established black superheroes or villains at the center of attention? What about creating a black or Latino superhero from scratch and do the hard work to push this individual into the realm of popularity? If that's too difficult, then surely it is possible to bring obscure black superheroes into the fray.
As a black person, I have no love for these things, but it is impossible to not say these changes have not been successful on-screen, and it has a lot to do with TV show views and moviegoers falling for the need to force push diversity.
In addition, what about Culture? There's no care for that either. Take the hottest comic book TV show airing right now, The Flash and the character, Iris West, who is played by Candice Patton, a black woman. Her character is a complete disregard for black culture, and the same can be said about Latinos and Asians who have been used to replace white characters.
I'm going to be completely blunt here: What viewers are getting from Iris West on The Flash is a black woman with no visible signs of black culture, because everything from her just screams white culture. Since this is indeed the case, how can she resonate with the black audience?
Diversity is a thing that should take time to move forward, so this whole thing, in my opinion, is not genuine. It is all about using a familiar topic to make more money on the part of movie studios and comic book publishers.
It's also about the color of the skin and force pushing an issue because it will help studios look good in the eyes of the public; that is all. I'm against it 100 percent, and as such I hope for visible change in the future to come.
And to the folks chastising Michelle Rodriguez, open your eyes.
Photos: MarkScottAustinTX | Flickr, Art Comments | Flickr
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