Author Topic: What if the Animorphs were racist?  (Read 4496 times)

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Offline TobiasMasonPark

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Re: What if the Animorphs were racist?
« Reply #30 on: February 17, 2011, 05:39:31 PM »
     Sorry...BAMF?
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Offline Terenia

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Re: What if the Animorphs were racist?
« Reply #31 on: February 17, 2011, 07:03:20 PM »
They definitely tackle the issue of discrimination in their own way with Ax's aversion to vecols. AppleGrant certainly have their opinions about race/sexual orientation/etc. You just don't see it as much in Animorphs. In Everworld, Remnants and GONE these issues are much more apparent.

I'm thinking in particular of GONE, where Dekka is African American and gay - something that is very clearly stated. Edilio is Honduran and a character makes a jab at him very early on (calls him a wetback). So it is definitely present.

That said, I think it is a bit unrealistic that the Animorphs never mention race. I work at a school that is pretty ethnically diverse - probably similar to the school that the Animorphs attended - and all I hear from my students is "because I'm Mexican I do this," and "you just did that because you're black." Usually they say it in jest, but race is definitely on the forefront of their minds.

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Offline TobiasMasonPark

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Re: What if the Animorphs were racist?
« Reply #32 on: February 17, 2011, 07:07:57 PM »
     Cassie-Polar Bear scene in Megamorphs 3?
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Offline Blaise Zebrataur

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Re: What if the Animorphs were racist?
« Reply #33 on: February 17, 2011, 07:11:07 PM »
I wouldn't say they were racist at all.Case closed in my mind anyway.

Offline Stephquiem

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Re: What if the Animorphs were racist?
« Reply #34 on: February 17, 2011, 07:12:58 PM »
No one's saying they're racist. -_- The topic title clearly says "What IF."

Offline 11:11

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Re: What if the Animorphs were racist?
« Reply #35 on: February 17, 2011, 07:15:32 PM »
Allison Kim was Asian and she was a BAMF. Therefore this Asian reader gives KA a pass.

Yep! Plus Timmy/Tuan was Asian too.
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Offline Blaise Zebrataur

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Re: What if the Animorphs were racist?
« Reply #36 on: February 17, 2011, 09:21:24 PM »
Oh well why would it matter? I mean if they were,it shouldn't matter because they all fight for freedom and to stop the yeerks.

Offline AniDragon

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Re: What if the Animorphs were racist?
« Reply #37 on: February 18, 2011, 08:19:40 PM »
I don't think it's weird at all that race rarely came up. Heck, I live in a primarily white city, and I usually only ever hear race used as a descriptive term. (i.e. "The new guy at work is tall, black, very French, etc.")

Heck, I hung out with one girl for a year before I even knew she was Native. To go one step further, I lived most of my life not knowing that I'm part Native. I really was raised with "People are people. Some of them look different, but that's okay."

But, then again, my city seems to be more concerned with discriminating based on the language you speak, so I guess racism was put on the back burner. *rolls eyes*
« Last Edit: February 18, 2011, 08:21:41 PM by AniDragon »
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Offline Darth Zakryn

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Re: What if the Animorphs were racist?
« Reply #38 on: February 19, 2011, 04:55:09 AM »
I see ethnicity as something to be proud of, in a cultural sense, but nothing to obsess over. For example, I have some French in me. And some English. And some German. And Cherokee, Welsh, and Irish :P. But while I still would like humanity to be united as one people, that doesn't mean I want those other ethnic backgrounds to disappear entirely.

That said, I found it very strange that race was only mentioned a few times, but now I've come to realize something. I think if there had been any racial issues with the Animorphs (be they good or bad) they were gone by the time good ol' Elfangor landed right in front of them. It was probably a combination of their parents' views, the area they lived, and the relatively peaceful and open times they were in (as opposed to the harsh totalitarian era at the beginning of MM#4) that led them to adopt a "we're all equal" or at least a "we're all human" stance. Which makes their parents even more underdeveloped as people, since how did THEY work with those issues?
« Last Edit: February 19, 2011, 08:56:01 PM by Zakryn »

Offline Dameg

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Re: What if the Animorphs were racist?
« Reply #39 on: February 19, 2011, 10:46:44 AM »
Look, it isn't only in Animorphs. If you read/watch series/movies/books/whatever, how many times did you see an author who present a character as clearly racist (in a realistic way), or homophobic, but still "good", and who can change his mind after a while? Not so often, I guess. Bad people (enemies of the hero, for example) who are racist (like Senna's team in Everworld) is "normal", because the director/author make a parallel between being bad and being racist: a racist is somebody who would kill anybody if he could, something like that. And the heroes? If they're racist, it's only because the director/author is racist, and there is 2 solutions: 1- because of the period it was written, no one care; 2- it isn't shown in the movie/book, you simply can't see any black guy nor gay for example...
It's really rare to see authors/directors who really show one of their best character as racist/homophobic, because they think the public want to see total bad-ass or angels as characters. Black or white. But a "gray" character, being cool with some people, as long as they aren't (for example) Arab, would be unpolitical, and hardly appreciated by the public.
If you just read this thread, you have a good example. Many people think that saying that somebody is black and have a different skull/skin/hair is racist. It isn't! A lot of people don't see the difference. I already had this experience. And I remember an episode of South Park who talk about racism very well too (when they want to change the flag, because it shows a band of white people killing a black guy, and the children are accused to be racist... when, actually, they didn't even see the colors of the people on the flag). A lot of people accuse other people to be racist because they don't accept them. Example: A guy, Arab and a pure ass-hole (he speak very aloud, insult people in the bus, push people...), ask a cigarette to a white girl, and she refuses to give him any, even if she has. The guy will insult her and tell her she's racist, when it's clearly his manners/attitude who are wrong. <= This kind of things happens very often in France. Actually, the Arabs here who tell the white French are racist, are often way more racist ^^'
Anyway, directors/authors probably don't want to be accused to be racist because one of their character is racist. A lot of people think that an author will write what he thinks. But I think some also write exactly the contrary, to shock the audience and make them think. Does it work? I'm not sure ^^' (I think I remember a French comedian (a black guy, actually) who was accused to be racist in one of his sketch... but maybe people didn't understand what he meant. I'm not sure, I never heard the sketch and his explanations)
Even if KAA&MG wanted to have a racist character, I mean a racist who is against Blacks and Jews and gays..., do you think Scholastic would let it go? I think it would have been as for Tate in Remnants ^^' In Animorphs, the racism is shown only as against the Vecol and the other species (and most of the time by the Andalites, if not them by another species, not by the human), and only in MM3 as human... but it's in another parallel, where the Animorphs are pretty "bad". See? Bad people are racist but good people can't be ^^'

What I think: Not showing it won't make it disappear. It isn't because you say that everybody is cool and kind and tolerant that it's true. And it isn't because one of his/her characters is racism/homophobic that the author/director is too. But a lot of people are so stressed to be accused to be racist, that they prefer to say nothing at all, and are often ready to say that other people are racist.

PS: Well, sorry, my post is long and not very clear. ^^' If some people think I'm racist after reading it, I just don't care :D I know I'm not, and it's the most important ^^
Oh, and if you didn't understand something, 'coz you know, I'm French and strange and so French and all that stuff lol, then ask ^^
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Offline LisaCharly

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Re: What if the Animorphs were racist?
« Reply #40 on: February 19, 2011, 10:59:45 AM »
Interesting you should bring up Everworld, Dameg, since Christopher is a 'good guy' character who starts out as a racist. I actually thought his transition from being a racist jerk anti-hero to a somewhat-less-racist jerk anti-hero was one of the more touching character developments in the series.

Offline Dameg

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Re: What if the Animorphs were racist?
« Reply #41 on: February 19, 2011, 11:58:18 AM »
Oh, you're right. I forgot him ^^' Well, he was more homophobic than racist, I think...
Yeah, I also liked this development. In fact, he became an important character for me, because of that.
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Offline Darth Zakryn

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Re: What if the Animorphs were racist?
« Reply #42 on: February 20, 2011, 12:31:53 AM »
News flash! I was rereading #21 when I noticed something. David is right. Tobias IS racist. Not against humans, against other birds. Sure, they're his enemies and might be different, but they're just doing what they do, and don't know better. At least HUMANS know better than to be racist. So yeah, one of everyone's favorite characters is racist. Whaddya know.

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Re: What if the Animorphs were racist?
« Reply #43 on: February 20, 2011, 04:42:51 PM »
Well, I think a red-tailed human nothlit insulting a non-sentient bird for stealing a meal that means life or death isn't exactly "racist"...maybe more like animal abuse? ::)


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Offline Baranth

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Re: What if the Animorphs were racist?
« Reply #44 on: February 21, 2011, 08:33:59 PM »
Well, I think a red-tailed human nothlit insulting a non-sentient bird for stealing a meal that means life or death isn't exactly "racist"...maybe more like animal abuse? ::)

I believe the term is "specist".
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