Linkage

[oyceter]

• shewhohashope posted on beauty standards and skin color in relation to a new school video made on the old Brown vs. Board "pick the doll that is the nicest (etc.)" experiment. There's a link to the video from her post as well. I have to say, I am getting more and more annoyed with romance novels waxing on and on about how fair and pale and luminous the heroine's skin is. Probably accurate by historical standards, but I particularly want to smack the contemporaries and fantasies that do this.



• And now for the less serious! heresluck has been watching Heroes (whoo!) and posts on race and class in the show, among other things. (vague spoilers through 1x18)



• And saving the most squeeful for last... vonnie_k HAS BEEN WATCHING HONEY & CLOVER! She likes it! She really, really likes it! *dies from squee* I now repimp the series and direct you all to the torrents because it is quite possibly my absolute mostest favorite anime series and possibly even TV series ever, I love it that much! Also, maybe I will rewatch some episodes tonight, lalala.

Comments

[chomiji]

True story on the race issue, and on fantasy and story-telling: Almost 20 years ago, I used to run fantasy role-playing games at science fiction and gaming conventions. I used my own game setting, a largish island that was a stopping-point on several important searoutes, and so it had people of a variety of races. The pre-made characters that I provided for gameplayers at these events reflected this fact on the standardized forms that I'd prepared, which had blanks for eye, skin, and hair color.

At one con, a young African-American boy of about 15 came over to play with my group. As is typical, he picked a character on the basis of profession (thief, fighter, priest, etc.). As he read the character description, his expression grew utterly shocked and surprised. He looked up mutely for a minute, his eyes blazing, and then exclaimed joyfully: "He's black! This dude's black!"

What a difference a very small decision made to that particular kid ... .

[oyceter]

OMG yes. I still remember picking up Elizabeth Bear's Hammered and realizing that the kickass female assassin character in future!Hartford was Chinese.

It's just... part of me is so sad that just seeing a non-white character makes me so happy, because what does that say about all the things I'm reading and watching now? And another part is really sad and angry whenever this gets brought up and all the writers and artists protest that they must not have their artistic license trampled on, because dude. It's so small, and it makes such a big difference, and people still just don't want to do it.

[chomiji]

That's why I was so ticked off by that recent Earthsea travesty. That's a series that made a lot of difference to many young SF&F fans. And the producers of that thing had the nerve to claim that they were doing race-blind casting!

[oyceter]

Oooof yes! And I keep wanting to see Ghibli's version of Earthsea, except they're all white too. Wargh.

[chomiji]

Oh NO!!! The Ghibli one is all-white too? > feels nauseated <

Dammit, that's a story that deserves to be told properly! And Le Guin deserves to see it done properly before she dies, too...

:-(

[shewhohashope.livejournal.com]

So, Honey and Clover is good? I'm already watching Romeo x Juliet, X/1999, and Darker than BLACK, but I have to wait two weeks for my season 2 Princess Tutu DVDs.

I've also been rewatching Ouran, and Nekozawa's sister calls them on being a reverse harem! I didn't even know what a 'glasses-character' was when I first watched this show. It makes so much more sense when you're somewhat familiar with shoujo manga/anime conventions.

[oyceter]

Honey and Clover is the best thing ever! Well, maybe not ever, but it's pretty damn near the top of the list for me, or sharing the space with others. It's not a very standard anime; it's about these five art students and their teacher in Tokyo and what their lives go through in three or four years (I can't keep the time straight). It sounds really simple, but it's got this incredible depth to it; it manages to be about ordinary things and make them extraordinary and touching. Every time I watch it, I feel happier. If you want and try to dl a few episodes instead of committing to a giant torrent, bravecows has got individual eps up here: bravecows.livejournal.com/237603.html (not directly linking just in case of spiders or whatnot).

[shewhohashope.livejournal.com]

It's up on youtube, so I can check it out before I commit. If it's as good as everyone says, I'll probably get the DVDs.

[oyceter]

Oh! How awesome.

Also, alas, the DVDs aren't out, though I think Viz has (finally) licensed the series. I am sitting here, waiting to throw money at them once they put them out.

[boxmint.livejournal.com]

(I like the use of the word "waxing," because it tacks on to fair and pale and luminous and makes me picture waxy white skin.)

[oyceter]

Heeee. I didn't think of that, but I like that too!