The moral of this: being black is not a personality trait. Litterally just their skin tone. Edit: For all you thinking I am being racist? I think it is more culture that impacts your personality, which is alot different to your actual appearance.
Ghost Tea Yeah that's what you take out of it if you're whyte and biased probably. What I take out of it. 'There needs to be more black characters (obviously their skintone matters for this), and you're probably racist if you think whyte should be the "default". Also, acknowledging race doesn't = 'skin tone is personality'
@@Scoring57 I meant it as when there are black characters in shows, some aren't written very well and it just seems like there only character trait is their skin tone. I'm sorry if I offended you but that is what I meant. I do agree that there should be better and more representation out there for the black community
one of my characters is pretty much arab.... hes like a writer and historian for whatever his wife does in the storyline... although considering he runs a country it might be hard to avoid the oil sheik stereotype in all aspects
How to write a black character 1. Write them as any other character Optional: use stereotypes. Not all comedy uses them How to write a character 1. Write them as any other character Optional: Sometimes be stereotypical. Not all comedy uses it Conclusion: know your audience when writing any character
As a kid I really didn’t think about Craig being black for Craig of the creek I just thought Hmm how the fuck did they manage to get a couch in that tree stump hideout
@@MrConredsX Wait... I want you to re-read your words slowly. "There's a problem when literally any character is either black or female." If I'm reading this wrong please inform me but it sounds like you want every character to be a white male.
@@slothful2039 No, what i meant is making every character in the cast only black or only female. Witch exceptions like Boondock in which the race is relevant to the story.
@@MrConredsX Dude, by that logic, no character should be white/male since it isn't relivent to the story vast majoroty of the time. She-ra does have a reason, a crappy one but one none of the less, for having a prodominate female cast in universe. So your point doesn't stand because once it's flipped it falls apart. The REAL reason is pandering and bad writing but that also gose with shows with primarily a white cast.
Or you know what? Just write CHARACTERS. Thats all you need to do, make their story, their Personality, think of their looks after. Just write characters. Thats all you need to do.
Yyyeah... But this will happen when we got more black characters as protagonist and are well written and not for diversity quota same for other POC, especially native. As for the white characters thing? Nobody refers to them like that BECAUSE they're the majority, that's it
Exactly, the only not normal thing should be changing the characteristics of the character so it doesnt just look like a white person colored black and voila
*Step 2 1/2:* Give them some depth, development, and personality. *Step 3:* It doesn't matter what skin color, race, or any kind of human characteristics as long as they are well-written.
there was a joke a comedian whos name i cant remember said and it went something like, a white dude can say to me "my nigga you funny" and i wont get offended, but if he say "you are a funny nigga" then i might say something, has a similar feel to how you phrased it in a sense that it the main point doesnt have to be skin color
I'm the whitest white person you'll ever find and for the longest time I was scared to make any POC characters because I didn't know how to draw them, and I felt like I didn't understand enough about their culture and their heritage to do them justice. Only a year or two ago I realized we need to represent POC, and do our research. I then started characters that were black. Not because "I need much black characters for inclusivity" but because I had a character idea, and it would be even better if they were black. Now for the other POC groups that don't get a lot of representation :")
I want to see Black , Asian, Indigenous, Hispanic, Spanish and overall people of color. Of any gender and sexuality being represented the right way and not just stereotypes because we're people too. I also want to see also mixed people being represented too : ) I want everyone to see that no matter what gender, race and etc because we all can get along and we all have personality.
In some cases it maybe, but personally I think that ppl in the US/other melting pots shouldn't complain about it, because it's the whole point of the melting pot: to be diverce but united
@@alexejnovak8693 While I agree with your statement, referring to countries as "melting pots" could be considered harmful to some degree. The point of a melting pot is to create a homogeneous mixture within, meaning that the desired outcome is for everything within to be the exact same. Try referring to them as quilt countries! Quilts are designed to be different and- quite literally- patchy, but hold together just as well as other blankets. Quilts also exist in many different cultures all over the world, so it's a great way to say that while people come from different backgrounds and retain that, we can all work together to achieve our goals.
@@death_paint , as a migrant myself I don't actually see any adequate benefits of multiculturalism at least in Europe. Retaining your background can be harmful to the local culture (e.g. islam and its values), so the only thing that's going on is ghettoisation, but the picture of it is colourful, bright and optimistic, while country is being literally divided and there is no common goals (Retain society before and propagating islamic (as an example) values are different goals which don't make country united. So melting pot with graduate erasing cultural differences is much better, imho
I feel like whenever a show has people of color, or lgbtq people, or any other different culture then people think it’s just for the characters to be “quirky”...no. There just humans being humans!
Too be fair, there are quite a few people that put way too much emphasis on the race, and way too little in character, when writing characters in the more recent years. Like Disney with their noticeably lazier forms work, the comic book industry abandoning what not only drew in an audience, but also kept an audience, writers being hired for race rather than talent, TV channels such as the CW with their shows like Supergirl and Batwoman, and more common people that get the idea to "fix" the designs of drawn characters. Then again, the last example is made up of the people you expect to find on Twitter. And it doesn't help that when they're given valid criticisms and advice, they tend to take everything as a personal attack and doom themselves into becoming default examples on what not to do in terms of writing and making characters. Though they're showing a little progress, I'm not going to put my hopes up due to the fear that they'll stomp on said hope again.
I hate the writers who started these types of things because it blocks me from writing a diverse cast in my stories. People will hate on me and say I just made them that way just to make them look "unique" but no. They maybe different in some aspects, yes, but they're still normal and regular people which you can relate with. Don't get me wrong, other writers are amazing at writing a diverse cast, it's just some out there that... let's just say they're not that open minded...
"And for Black women? Yall got like 5...and they all got the same voice"- No truer words have been spoken, but I still love Cree Summer for all of her talents.
I don't see much black girls being a protagonist or hero of a story, especially in cartoons. If anyone can give me some recommendations then that would be nice
@@pinkanime_cat1460 There aren't many shows with Black girl protagonists. From the top of my head, I can only think of The Proud Family which is a fun show and getting a reboot soon (it will be interesting to see how writers handle critiques of the show having a lot of colorism in the reboot). There's also Doc McStuffins which was a preschool show. The sassy/bossy Black girl trope is definitely a real thing and it's annoying because sassy is always portrayed as negative but if a male character acted similarly he'd be "in control and taking charge", "a leader", etc.
Exactly. And If you want to dive into the racial divide or experiences then do so but your not forced to simply because the character your writing is black.
Except black folks have a culture outside of White America. And when that culture is ignored it is basically ignoring the main element that make black people... Well people.
Definitely agree with you with Craig of the Creek, but not so much about a Wrinkle in Time. Kinda found it to be a little bland in some areas, mostly concerning how there was an actual, tangible source of the dark parts of humanity, and how the little kid immediately trusted a complete stranger within the darkness despite knowing where he was and witnessing a taste of what's wrong with said darkness.
I completely love Craig of the Creek but I really hated watching the Wrinkle in Time movie as I read and analyzed the book. I watched the movie with the book fresh in my mind and watched it carefully to see how it would compare. This really ruined the movie for me, especially the ending as I was so excited to see how they would show some characters
I feel the same could be made about any minority character in the media ''why is she a girl'' ''why are they LGBTQ+'' because they exist, because they live lives just like everyone else and deserve to be on tv just like everyone else
And I absolutely agree with you in that regard, but there are quite a few people that have lazy uses of said characterizations and how certain audiences respond to certain characters in the more recent years. They're showing signs of improvement, but I'm not going to too surprised if I see people paying for a 2 millionth oppressed black guy, woman with no notable weaknesses, gay person being promoted as something special before being revealed to be a very minor background character/untouched B plot, or just any character, mainly guys that are either soft spoken or have a rival, that are assumed to gay solely for having respect for someone of the same sex.
Right, it's like G why is he a white male. They answer with *Because the writer is white* Me: So, doesn't mean all the characters he makes have to be. Him: ............
@P1CKLE_R1CK Just asking to see how much detail I have to go into but do you play any games where you create your character or have any books you enjoy reading?
P1CKLE_R1CK The meaning is this: White is the majority and there are a lot of writers that are white sure, but they aren’t the default. Meaning you shouldn’t be surprised or think it’s pandering when you see a black character because other people of other races/cultures exist too
Too bad we have creators doing that right now in some cases. It both makes me rage and laugh, mostly because I DO get a bit of a chuckle out of seeing these guys act uppity as if they're the first person to make a Black character....EVER. And when they start turning on each other for what they did wrong over it.
Super Cosmic Mutant Honey Candle Squid - this is my biggest fear when writing a character I don’t personally represent. I get so worried that people will think that I’m trying to make a statement or force diversity. But that isn’t true at all. I just want to write a story that all kids can see themselves in.
Seriously. I wore an Afro all through college, and people somehow assumed that I hated White people and was all "Black Power" and whatnot. Every bald White dude is not a supremacist, and every Black person with a Fro, is not apart of the Black Panthers or something😁😁😁
@@superiorpanda6449 that's only relevant if the fiction work is set outside of the US. If it's set in China, Chinese demographics are all that matter. If it's set in Sub-saharan africa, Sub-saharan demographics are all that matter, if it's set in the Middle East and North Africa, North African and Middle-eastern demographics are all that matter, and if it's set on the US, like almost all of these animations in the video are, only US demographics matter.
Real talk... over a year ago I was in a rabbit hole of alt right content and I truly believed anyone that was different from me in a movie or show was considered pandering. I’m not even white. This video really got me out of that rabbit hole and I unsubscribed from the channels that gave me such a negative mindset. I will not name them but some of them talk about entertain like Star Wars and make it political when it’s not that deep. I’m glad I watched this video. My views changed when he said “ because you think being white is the default. “
@@retrogamer6403 I'm not really happy with how they're marketing Captain Marvel, and I'm downright disgusted with her portrayal in the comics but I HOPE that she's more than just some feminist prop when the movie comes out.
this is why i always loved DJ from Total Drama. He looked like what people would expect him to be: A tall strong black man. He could've been treated as a thug or be seen as ghetto. instead they showed him as a sweet, caring, and trustworthy person. Hes the one of the only characters from Total Drama who WASNT derailed
It subvert expectation that how come some show who write a black character shouldn’t do the stereotype and trope of writing a black character but make them unique and as well when someone criticize the character they shouldn’t attack or be a jerk because they think it their race or skin color or sexuality instead they need to criticize the writing of the characters just many don’t do that because they think it bad character to have a character who skin color is different and it a easy excuse for them to be racist and a-hole
Fillmore is a genius cartoon, he’s just a solid character, and wasn’t created just TO BE black, he was just a great character that HAPPENED to be black, and that is truly the best black characters
that last line about people seeing white as a default, and then the montage of black characters was so spot on. especially with the music. this was such a well put together video, you completely voiced out my thoughts, especially as a black person who grew up head over heels in love with animation. we are just everyday people, who deserve to be represented in an everyday, normal way.
And the people who claim there are only the 2 are the same that claim to fight for the opressed and marginalized while simultaneously demonizing people who don't care.
"People feel like Craig being black is for no reason." ....you need a reason to be a race? *I'm so glad you made a strong rebuttal to that stupid idea.
Bro as a black 16 year old girl… this video still means a lot. Like I’m basically the YOU of my school where I can go one very long rants about obscure or v popular cartoons that nobody bothered to finish, and cartoons are literally my favorite pastime, my favorite thing to write about, and the literal biggest factor in who I am today. However I literally know like 4 black girls from those cartoons… suzie, numbah 5, doc mcstuffins, and penny proud.
I'm 14 now, and I remember seeing this video when I was about 11 or 12. Started my love for character and media analysis. Blew my mind how he voiced so many of the things I subconscious noticed all the time but was never able to articulate or even think to talk about. Still one of my fav videos on RU-vid
the problem really is only when the black character have no flaws, because black people must be perfect you know, that is why i like samuel L jackson characters, they are all bad characters, even when they are the good guys, they are all different and their color only matters when they should, like in Django , nick fury is not black nor is white, he is just nick fury, actually i can remember a black character in marvel that suffers from this problem
at least what I hate is when black is no longer a character design and instead a character trait as onec a character becomes identified simply by their race is when it becomes some tool for a political agenda. This goes for homosexuals as-well because alot of these characters aren't just characters who happen to be gay but are gay characters and thus get defined by their gayness. Really my problem though is this argument that black kids need a black character to look up to as that argument is completely supports that different races are a real thing, thus continuing the cycle of racism. I mean why can a kid with dark color skin not be able to look up to Peter Parker or why can a kid with fair skin not look up to Miles Morales. Why is it that skin color stops you from being able to relate to that character. (now sure a kid living in poor conditions/a ghetto won't be able to relate to a super wealthy character but he still wouldn't be able to relate as much to a extremely wealthy black character
As a Mexican who often notices that Hispanics don’t get a lot of shows and movies I also agree with a hispanic version of the leading statement you made in the “cuz he black” section. I love Encanto because the characters are hispanic and it makes me feel represented and it feels nice to be able to relate to them more than a white character.
I’m a creative writing major in college, and I’ve tried multiple times writing characters that were black, lgbtq+, women or other types of people that don’t come from the same background or lifestyle than I am. If I may be honest, it’s so much more difficult than writing characters like myself. It’s been said, “write what you know,” and while yes that is the easiest way to get the best story possible, but attempting to write other types of people’s perspectives makes you a better writer and helps you grow in empathy and understanding about other peoples feelings and experiences. Also, we know how much white people dominate Hollywood and the art we see today. It’s definitely grown toward other people, with movies like moonlight and get out, but white people still dominate both the starring roles and the executives. We want to see more people of different backgrounds than ‘white dude fresh out of Cali film school’ in our movies and tv and making them, but to say that only women can write women, or blacks can only write blacks is asking the industry to white wash what little we have now. We want representation, and I think the best way to do that is to be open to people attempting to write outside their own perspective and help them see how to write it better. We all want to represent other people in the best way, but oftentimes it won’t look great the first time around. Black people are still people, we should write them that way. Great video.
@@Galaxylion_omega I know two series creators sort of did that: 1) Matt Braly createda female-led series called Amphibia, and he called three women to serve as writers, and the writing team is of four writers. 2) Dana Terrace, creator of Disney's The Owl House, made the lead character Afro-Latina after her friend Luz Batiste, who works as consultant and story artist in the show and is Afro-Latina herself, asked her to do so in exchange of letting Terrace using her name for the lead character, even througth Terrace is white. And if she asked her friend to do such big thing, she must have known she would do it right.
@Dunkelwelpling They wanted a black Jedi, I loved Samuel L. Jackson. The rest of the Jedi were soft lookin conpared to him. Mace windu and Quigon jen and Yoda were practically the only truly threatening Jedi. Btw, they wanted Tupac, who I think would've been revolutionary.
Why is there even an argument about "this character is only black for the sake of being black"? Are they implying that by default all characters need to be white unless characterised by stereotypical "blackness"?
Im glad you put in Miles within your video. He’s a great character that I relate to a lot when it comes to struggle in life. Like in the beginning of Spiderverse where they show case his struggle fitting in to his new school and keeping up with the schools curriculums, trying to study and failed his test. I was in college when I saw that in theater and dude I shed tiers when seeing miles going through all these corses because that’s how I experienced going through college at the time. I struggle to be a good student but it didn’t always cut out. Plus he’s an artist like me. He draws in his spare time at his desk like me with no worries. I didn’t care if he doesn’t have the same skin color as me,(even though we’re both Latinos)I care because we both struggle with our daily lives. So yeah I’m glad you featured miles within your video.
"If you question a characters race then you think being white is the default." That was really well put and I think that's pretty true. I think that stems from early media pretty much being white washed and misrepresenting other ethnicity's. Also Hermes was my favorite character on Futurama.
Sofia Oliveira What's "normal"? Everyone has a cultural context. I hope you don't mean make them white characters that just look black. If you mean treat them like human beings than yes, they should do that. That doesn't exclude culture though
that's only ever a problem in mediums where its the norm for all characters to be like that, usually shoddy, middle quality sitcoms. (scrubs, how I met your mother, new girl, Kimmy schmidt.) And obviously the problem isn't the taglines, its just the general oversimplified characters that sitcoms thrive on.
I'm Latin American, and I just re-watched this video only to realize that it really changed my view and preconceived notions about a lot of things. I don't mean to take attention away from the focus of the video, which is black characters, but I've as well never truly felt identified by characters in media until recently, and this has inspired me to become a better writer, to make everyone feel included at least a little bit in the things I create. Thank you for that
@astralips i get the same thing, I'm black and people say i have a "white" voice.. It gets really annoying like how the hell am i 'supposed' to sound??
When it comes to black female representation in animation, there are actually two in the show Rise of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (or ROTTMNT). The show doesn't point out their skin color and instead focuses on their personalities. It's amazing. Their names are April O' Neil (Yes, THAT April.), and another character named Sunita who shows up later in the show. There are a few other characters who are also dark-skinned, but I thought that letting others know about the more untouched upon characters in media would take priority.
As a Mexican kid going up in the days seeing black characters and TV was important to me we got to see other people of color shout out to Mr. Régional inside the Jordan downs projects for letting us steal his cable.
My grandma asked me why I was drawing one of my characters dark skinned when I could draw them light skinned, (she’s dark skinned, Mexican, and was always mistreated by her family members who were lighter for being brown). I told her that it’s because there are dark skinned people, like her, and that it would be weird not to draw them ever as if they didn’t exist.
that makes me so sad from my heart. your g-ma saying that to you means that she held on to that mistreatment and it turned into self hate...which really brings racism into perspective. god bless you for that response though, coming from someone who used to deal with the same self hatred.
I totally understand how you feel though. I'd definitely watch a show or flock to it if a main or supporting character was Native American. That's one of the reasons why I decided to watch the Miraculous Ladybug movie. It didn't help that the movie was decent. Kinda terrible for the repetitive plot though. The native girl did feel like an actual character. I loved her for her personality, not because we're the same race. It just so happened that we were. So... if a new show came out with a native american main or supporting character, I'd love it if the character isn't stereotypical where every single grandfather is suddenly a shaman or a wise future-teller with a basic mystical flute playing in the background everytime he's on screen. It'd be cool if they were written to be indigenous just to be indigenous, not for forced and ignorant representation. They could follow their culture if they wanted. They could be from any setting. The rez, the city, the suburbs. I lived in all three settings and I adapted to all three locations, even at public and boarding schools. I prefer boarding schools by the way. Much less scarier than public schools... shiver. Piper McClain from Heroes of Olympus isn't a good example by the way, no matter how much I love Rick Riordan and his books. Learn from his mistakes if you want good indigenous representation. Not all of us have rich and famous dads! I mean, seriously. Name one famous native american, one who isn't white and blonde and descended from a Cherokee princess. Back on track, Craig of the Creek is cool. I love that show. Not just because he's also brown, but because the show is actually really good. It feels real in a nostalgic sense but modern as well. The characters don't care that he's black. It would definitely change everything if Craig wasn't black considering his family dynamic being an almost accurate portrayal of a black family, but that's not my point. I don't have the writing capabilities to write out my thoughts about that.
It's funny how the amount of melanin in your eyes or hair doesn't change a character, yet the amount of melanin in your skin does. Skin color isn't really different from hair or eye color.
@@khosusdiclor5291 Keep on the right path my brother, keep writting shit about those damn commies and all those mothefuckers from E-Asia, except from those from thailand, those are cool, real homies
You're not alone. I'm surprised this isn't a top comment. Did your parents say you weren't allowed to watch that as a kid too? Mine weren't about it and I've heard the same from a bunch of friends.
@@BetweentheBeans My granddad thought it was incredibly stupid and shamed me for voluntarily letting my brain melt, but he never made me change the channel. I just did it so he'd relax lol
I love coming back to this video, time and time again. As an aspiring writer especially, this gives me the confidence to take the time and write whole, complete characters outside my background. Thank you. ❤
It's hard to draw fades with vector colors, as someone who rocks a fade I figured that out when I was learning vector art. This is why the sharp cut is so popular in animation, it's a substitute for a fade. You know, when they have a buzz cut on the sides than it just changes to long hair instantly. Like Kai from Legend of Korra.
@@pj.g They are depicted orange, have been otherwise racist and could still be pandering. Mumiens are less controversial (by being Scandinavian, I think I have a problem).
Race swapping is a whole other argument. Because there already IS a default in that case, and something people are already used to, that is being changed to suite a modern day narrative. Race swapping is the laziest way imaginable to do diversity, it's telling the same story over again except their black (or something else) this time. Truly it helps no one
@@-MoonBreathing Wrong. James Bond's character is British, and Ariel's character is a mermaid. Neither are inherently white. Maybe watch this video again?
I never understood the Mentality that a character needs a reason to be any race. Once I was drawing one of my characters and she was black just because when I designed her I thought that skin tone looked pretty on her specifically. People kept asking me why she was black and I was so confused. She was black because black people are exist.
I agree. Unless your character is a stereotype, you shouldn’t need any specific reason to give them a certain race/gender/sexuality as long as that’s not their only trait.
@@theydevil.designs So basically 'don't make them about their race in a good way but go ahead make them about their race in a bad way'? Why is it more of a problem to have a character who's only quality is their race in a positive way versus a character who's only quality is their race in a negative way (aka a "stereotype")?
Scoring57 That’s not what I was talking about. A character’s race shouldn’t affect their personality in any way because it’s just a skin tone. If being a specific race is a character’s only “trait”, then they’re useless and are (usually) only shoved into whatever series they’re in for diversity points.
You made some great points dude and OH MY GOD that always pisses me off! Like, why are people getting mad about a character being black just because? Black people exist! Like what? Are you gonna ask a real black person why they're black? "Oh so you're just out here living your life? You have a non-black related job? You have a non-black related hobby?... Then why are you black?" That shit makes no sense. Same goes for people getting mad about a character being any other race, ethnicity, sexuality, or gender identity... honestly, people need to stfu
Exactly, like I legit saw someone say "Why are there so many black characters" and "Stop trying to be woke by adding black characters" to Craig of the Creek as if black characters only exist to make people look inclusive.
I'm 15, white, and a trans lesbian, and I've been growing up in gen z and not once have I thought that white/cishet was the default. I can't speak for other people, but I'm glad I live in this era of television. Veridis Joe sums it up very well, in his two videos about 90s animation vs. Today's. Thank you for making this video it will definitely be something I look out for when writing my own shows when I'm older.
@@iitsmyiah4848 I can't speak for anyone else, but for me it's because I put character above race. I can enjoy a white guy character, but I'm not going to be particularly interested if they're a generic chosen one from just about every superpowered teen novel. I can get behind a black character, but I'm going to sigh in boredom if their only character is that they're oppressed by white people. I can love a character whose a woman, but not when they're made into a Marry Sue, overpowered, irrationally loved by all including the hunky badboy, never allowed to have any actual weaknesses or faults that takes part in the story, and all. I can like an Asian character, but not a Garry Stue with a harem of cardboard cutouts. And I can enjoy a gay character, but not one that's either an overhyped background character that's only shown in one to a few scenes, or just randomly becomes a part of a gay relationship without showing any development of romantic interest. And my biggest peeve that can applied to literally any of these characters is when they use an unbelievably stupid line of logic, but the writer wants you to believe that they're geniuses.
I’m not even black and I came to that conclusion. There was no substance to the writing, and it felt like they expected the show’s joke mileage to extend purely on “i’m black,” rather than actual jokes.
I'm a black women. I want to be a voice actor, and for once, I just want to play characters that don't have a political statement behind it. Lemme just be the nerdy girl that I am bruh.
Virginia Vass Nothing wrong with "political statements" when they're needed. Also I wouldn't even consider most of these "political statement". Sometimes it's just stating the truth. Also, they probably should get black voice actors to voice black people instead of white people doing imitations of black people. I doubt they'd allow black people to do legit voice acting while imitating white people. Maybe as a joke or something but not without anyone's knowledge.
@@Scoring57 Yeah that's true, we definitely need to state the truth about what's going on in our lives and culture. It would be nice to see more black cartoon characters without them having a reason for being black though. Heck, it would be nice to see more black characters, period. I mean, why can't we be Steven Universe or Finn the Human? Also, what I like about voice acting as opposed to stage or film acting is that there is more freedom in the parts you can play. Anything is possible. Can't wait to get started!
Craig of the creek was such a great written show! The focus isn't on Craig being black, but on Craig being a kid who loves to spend time outside with his community of local kids. When it does show aspects of black culture it's not about shoving it in the face, but it's in the more subtle like within the very realistic black family dynamics. Craig's parents have a different relationship with him than Kelsey or JP have with their parents respectively. The show isn't a criticism of different people's lives, but showing that people have different family atmospheres and that's okay--good even.
@@tamalemuncher789 SJW is a pejorative created by right leaning social circles to de-legitimize the voices and concerns of minorities including but not limited to people of color and the LGBTQ+ communities. It's not a productive or wise term to throw around.
@@elijahdavila3684 no, its to prove the majority wrong, and to show that they need to stop popularizing or degrading everything they touch just to fulfill thier desires to be an effective member of society
This was such an incredibly insightful video, and I'm glad someone was finally able to touch on this topic in a way that explains everything so perfectly. Keep it up man, really enjoyed this.
Very rarely do I find myself audibly saying "yup" or "exactly" when watching video essays like these. Thank you so much for bringing to light a conversation that needs to be had. Subbed.
“For no other reason than being black.” I mean? Are people usually black for a reason? Do these people just run up to a black person on the street and ask “why are you black?”
Broken Music Box He is talking about the reason why people implement black characters into their show. Some do it to make sure there is diversity in their show, some do it to tell a story specifically about their race whether it be in a good way or a bad way, and some do it as simply by randomly assigning a race.
@Flávia And I remembered the Mean Girls scene of "But,if you're from Africa,why are you white?" and "Oh my god,Karen,you can't just ask people why they're white!"
@Koriander Yander well east asians in general seem to be pretty xenophobic especially towards black people. They didn't like Jayden Smith kissing a Chinese girl in that karate kid remake and they altered the force awakens poster by making John boyega appear way smaller than in other promotional material
As a Mexican, I feel upset that In most cartoons we are portrayed as drug dealers or something, there’s usually a character who says “Oh, I know a guy” and showing a Mexican selling them something illegal.
The stereotypes I’ve seen the most in Mexican characters are the ones where they’re ignorant, superstitious, always speaking English in an accent of a native-born Mexican even though they were born and lived in the US for most their lives. Oh and can’t forget the red sweater
This is seriously one of the best written and articulated breakdowns of African-Americans in popular media, particularly animated media. you illustrated points I’ve always thought but never been able to put into words. Excellent work!
because when you live in an 70%+ white country it's more likely that white people are creating the shows that can relate to other white people... go to China and see how man Black/White people there are on their television or movies.
this really helps all the non-black writers (like myself) who are trying to write black characters. thank you :) writing a character who just happens to be black is good advice, because you're totally right! and shout out to whoever commented 'being black isn't a personality' i agree
*I'm Italian and have been called every stereotype in the book and couldn't care less that cartoons portray us as pizza loving, greasy haired mobsters that say "Ayyye" all the time. I just think its hilarious and realise that its just based on what the media portrays us as. I still just laugh because some of my family DOES sound and act like that. And who doesn't love pizza?*
Italian here,too! I personally find it annoying because stereotypes are so fucking boring. Dude, think of something new, I’ve heard it a million times. But we can’t relate to this experience because we haven’t experienced oppression due to us being Italian. That’s a big factor. See ya, I’m about to insert a non-stereotypical Italian into my story haha
I hope you guys knows about Ezio Auditore Da Firenze from Assassin Creed. He's one of the best character ever written. He wasn't a stereotype no, he was a relatable character, not a caricature, and freaking badass.
@@CheeCheeMcFee You mean as in nowadays? Because Italians have fought hard and relentlessly to cut their own corner in america, just like the Irish and Catholics once did.
What's ironic though is that some of the biggest Italian stereotypes are now *black* stereotypes. Like gangster culture, white t-shirts and the phrase "Ayyye" is now Hip Hop slang. Michael Jackson even had the Greaser look. Italians haven't been notorious gangsters & mobsters in decades and most Italians I've seen in person look almost 100% Anglo Saxon white, especially the females. The only thing that's noteworthy is the nose.
It would be best if you had talked about Anime because many black anime fans get attacked by weeaboos just because they give opinions on Black characters in Anime or draw a black character for fan art series.
I think that'd be a great separate video! :) I love hearing video essays like this, and the racism in anime is very stark a lot of the time. I really like hearing opinions and thoughts on it, rather than pretending it isn't there. I like anime, and have several black friends who also like anime, but I'm not in the anime subculture so to hear about this type of toxicity was so shocking, I was totally ignorant of it. Thanks for bringing it up here! Definitely needs to get brought up in the zeitgeist and talked about imo.
And when they aren't even white, they are Asian, at least most anime characters are. Like, I love when people shift the skin tone in fanart Because they either are a darker skin tone/ want to be more diverse than the source material.
Static was something I needed to see as a kid. He’s an inner city black kid, a badass superhero, and an awkward geek whose jokes don’t always land. He has a white bestie whom he trusts with all his secrets, and it’s not conditioned on homosexuality, but on mutual trust. He gets exposed to the darkness of the world around him, encountering bullies, ex-cons, a frightened homeless child (I had no idea before this show that those could exist), and the adult horror of a bullied kid turning the tables by bringing a real gun. He still keeps his optimism, his belief that the world can get better, that people can be talked to and reasoned with after everything they had done. He may not have had anything like my background, nor was he always right every time, but Static was someone any kid could admire. Also, does Piccolo’s background make him a minority? Yeah, he’s an introvert, but Piccolo values his friends and makes the hard choices when they can’t or won’t. He can be the responsible adult and still not slack off on his training. And he has the most adorable soft side. Just declare him the leader of the group already. Maybe it’s time for black leads and diverse casts to be the norm rather than the exception. The real world shouldn’t just revolve around white people, so neither should our cartoons or other stories.
Total Drama had it's number of black characters, and just about all of them had different personalities. I can't name all of them, but the ones I do name are all completely different from one-another... Leshawna: The sassy black girl, kinda like Zuri from Disney Channel's Jessie. She isn't scared of anyone and she isn't ashamed of her body. DJ: A kind-hearted, soft and friendly guy who's scared of almost everything. I guess you would probably expect something like this considering the fact the show was on Cartoon Network. Lightning: The big buff jock who thinks he's better than everyone. He seeks attention and isn't afraid to do whatever it takes to win. Cameron: The exact opposite of Lightning. He's the small scrawny nerd who gets picked on by almost everyone. Cameron's kind of like A.J from The Fairly Odd Parents when it comes to being smart and using his brain more than most other characters.
while this is true and they did have different personalities, I feel like Leshawna was still one of those characters who was written as BLACK, before she was written as a character. She had the stereotype of the loud, ghetto, and sassy black woman.
Well thought out, entertaining, and non-antagonistic in tone while still making the point solidly. This video is damn near as close to perfect as I've seen in a while!
This is a really interesting take. It has challenged a lot of my personal thoughts and feelings towards it. Very good job. And after watching it, I think your point on “care” really just summarised it.
My dad is a black Dominican. My mom is a white latina. On my 15th birthday he hugged me and he looked at us in the mirror. And as I was staring at our reflection he told me that I look nothing like him, and that made him happy. I looked at him, and he told me he was happy that I was born white, that being black was really hard and dangerous, and he wouldn't want that for me. I went upstairs and cried. I want nothing but to look more like my father.
I can relate in way, my dads skin is this beautiful light tan that darkens in the sun...he never burns. I turn into a lobster though. But he always told me to love myself and love the people around me because hate creates more hate. Learn to love yourself and continue to love your father who cares very much for you, and your mother.
