The Four Color Media Monitor

Ororo is Kenyan on her mother's side; Batroc and Gambit are French, as is Valerian and Asterix and Tintin. Are you sure Dr Strange isn't Armenian?

"Comparing secret identities and such to homosexuality and transexuality is ludicrous..."

Guys who have a secret night life in which they dress up in skin tight spandex to wrestle with other men? What could be gay about that? Even if you see the heroes In a different light, you don't have to be a dr wertham to see why gay guys would be drawn to the metaphor.

It's not a metaphor, though. They are just projecting their sexual disposition onto superheroes.

They want to believe that two fit, attractive guys wrestling in identity concealing clothing are acting out homosexual urges.

The secret identity=double life of homosexual behavior makes no sense since many gay sjws who write comics don't see the purpose of keeping secret identities as tropes because their protagonists are atomized pleasure seekers who don't have any loved ones to protect from scandal or punishment for being associated with a homo.



Superheroes are overwhelmingly a heterosexual juvenile power fantasy.
Saying that secret identities are gay is as ridiculous as afrocentrists claiming the vikings were Black Africans and that whites suppressed this supposed truth from the world

https://eden-saga.com/en/celts-vikings-black-people.html

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlackVikings

This is what people with no culture or history do.

They try to assume ownership of a culture that is not theirs.

I suppose the black Vikings bit is no sillier than all those paintings of Jesus as a blond, blue-eyed European, or the way so many people believe that the King James Bible is the word of God instead of a translation from a Semitic language, or the way people see science as if it was a European invention. Europe has been very willing over the centuries to adopt aspects of other cultures as its own.

If you grow up with superheroes they just seem like adolescent power fantasies, neither heterosexual or homosexual; but if you come to it fresh as an adult without having grown up with them, the gay interpretation comes easy and stands out as disturbing or daring, take your pick. It comes from the way the artists draw the costumes and the muscles as much as from the fact of a secret identity. That is the nature of metaphors; the better the work of literature, the more interpretations it is susceptible to. It is only very didactic propaganda type stories that can only be read one way; real stories with substance have metaphors that are more open textured.

The secret identity trope existed long before homosexual behavior was even legal; as a metaphor for gay identity, it made a lot of sense then. And yes, two fit attractive guys wrestling in secret in flamboyant skin tight body hugging clothing and masks does sound like they are acting out homosexual urges! Or at least like a turn on for gay guys.

"all those paintings of Jesus as a blond, blue-eyed European,"

I've seen plenty of stained glass portraits of Jesus in various churches, not once do I EVER recall them depicting Jesus as a blond, blue-eyed European. I did see some depicting Jesus as Asian and various other ethnicities in a church in Washington D.C., though...

"or the way so many people believe that the King James Bible is the word of God instead of a translation from a Semitic language"

First of all, I don't know about Saber Tooth Tiger Mike, but I'm Roman Catholic, and we generally use the Duae Reims version of the Bible, not the King James version. And even IF we did use the King James version, why the heck should it even matter what language it's written in or translated as? If it's the word of God, what language it's originally in or even what language it's translated into is completely irrelevant. Second of all, technically, the Bible was originally in Greek, Aramaic, and in the case of the New Testament Latin, it was never in "Semitic languages".

"or the way people see science as if it was a European invention."

I suppose some methods of science were conducted by other countries (since China did invent gunpowder). However, Science in its modern form was in fact invented by Christian Europe during the Renaissance era at the latest. Inventions don't necessarily have to be built out of nothing. You can also take an existing concept and improve on it further to have it be an invention.

"Europe has been very willing over the centuries to adopt aspects of other cultures as its own."

Most other countries have done that outside of Europe, actually. Just look at the various African tribal wars. In fact, part of the reason the African slave trade happened was because the winning African factions sold the losing factions out specifically for guns and more advanced technologies (yes, the Africans were just as guilty of slavery as we White Europeans were).

"If you grow up with superheroes they just seem like adolescent power fantasies, neither heterosexual or homosexual; but if you come to it fresh as an adult without having grown up with them, the gay interpretation comes easy and stands out as disturbing or daring, take your pick."

Seriously? THAT'S how it comes across as a gay metaphor? Ignoring for one minute that most of those comic characters' creators most likely would not have even envisioned homosexuality when creating them (especially when back in the day when they were being homosexual was most likely something you'd get institutionalized for and considered a mental illness), you could also make the same argument that the military and various wars are just homoerotic fantasies, or any action flicks or literally anything. And quite frankly, if I were an adult who never even grew up with them, "gay" wouldn't have even been my first impression of them.

"It comes from the way the artists draw the costumes and the muscles as much as from the fact of a secret identity. That is the nature of metaphors; the better the work of literature, the more interpretations it is susceptible to. It is only very didactic propaganda type stories that can only be read one way; real stories with substance have metaphors that are more open textured."

Actually, metaphors by definition are stories where the author tries to give a specific message across hidden in the narrative (usually because they can't directly state it for whatever reason), yet still apparent enough to actually have people get the message. Take Animal Farm, for example: That's the biggest example of a metaphor-based story, dealing with animals deciding to revolt against a cruel master, only to end up becoming as bad as them. That was written by George Orwell specifically as a metaphor of Stalinist Russia, owing to the events of the Spanish Civil War (not to mention had to do it in metaphor form because he was forbidden from writing the story making this explicit due to the USSR being an ally during World War II), yet the message was clear as day, with Orwell even making that apparent. If anything, stories with multiple interpretations are the worst form of literature, especially under metaphors.

"The secret identity trope existed long before homosexual behavior was even legal; as a metaphor for gay identity, it made a lot of sense then. And yes, two fit attractive guys wrestling in secret in flamboyant skin tight body hugging clothing and masks does sound like they are acting out homosexual urges! Or at least like a turn on for gay guys."

Ah, no, that's not even close to a reason for the secret identity trope. Unless you want to claim that the CIA and undercover FBI agents are "metaphors" for acting out homosexual behavior due to trying to keep secret (since, after all, undercover cops for sting operations, undercover FBI agents, CIA secret agents, and all of that generally have to lead double lives for protecting the country they work for and its ideology.). In fact, comics made it very explicit that the reason for the whole secret identity trope is specifically to make sure the main antagonists don't decide to get revenge and target them and anyone connected to them. It's if anything closer to something like Witness Protection before testifying in court. Not to mention back then, if the writers even thought of trying to push anything that might be construed as homosexual in any way, they'd be institutionalized and possibly have to take chemical castration drugs in the case of the UK.

And as I've stated countless times, if you're going to bother posting left-wing tripe on here, at least give your screenname and not use "anonymous". Or maybe somehow think you're homosexual and want a cover using your logic?

" Second of all, technically, the Bible was originally in Greek, Aramaic, and in the case of the New Testament Latin, it was never in "Semitic languages"."

Aramaic is a Semitic language. So is Hebrew, which most of the Old Testament was written in.

The original version of the text is, for those who believe, the word of God. A translation is a human product, and there are discrepancies between even the best translations and the original. Also, interpretation is part of translation, as things that can remain ambiguous in one language have to be stated differently in another. Some people believe particular translators were also divinely inspired.

The most famous blond blue-eyed Jesus is found in the paintings of Warren Salman. His 'Head of Christ' is one of the most frequently reproduced images of Jesus ever.


http://www.sallmanart.org/art-gallery.html

In vague, wishy-washy sjw thought blonde means brunette.

Furthermore, Christian religious doctrine makes a bigger deal out of ethnicity than skin color.

Under Christian religious doctrine, people are judged more by their actions than their skin color.

Hispanics who have images of white Jesus do not seem him as a "white man".

People who reject Christianity and have something against white people in general are more likely to be aware that Jesus is depicted as being white and that Christianity was spread by white people.



"And yes, two fit attractive guys wrestling in secret in flamboyant skin tight body hugging clothing and masks does sound like they are acting out homosexual urges! Or at least like a turn on for gay guys. "

"It is only very didactic propaganda type stories that can only be read one way; real stories with substance have metaphors that are more open textured."

A gay dude's wank fantasy is not a legitimate interpretation of a narrative.

The problem with your wishy-washy approach to interpreting text is that spits on the author's intent . Art is communication. If you are interpreting something completely differently than the way the artist intended, either the artist failed to communicate or you failed to understand.


Your moronic idea that an narrative should be a blank canvas onto which a person's dispositions can be projected is identical to Fredric Wertham's approach to comic book narratives. Under his open-textural approach, macabre content in comics could be seen as encouraging juvenile delinquency. How can anyone prove otherwise? Truth is the heart of the beholder. Who's to say comics WEREN'T responsible?

Who's to say Captain America ISN'T a symbol of white supremacy? Screw the creators' intent, he is what I say he is.


This is what an open-textural approach to narratives, to reality is.

It's downright mental illness.

The headline "So this is what Marvel movies will be about going forward?" is a major distortion..

I haven't seen the move yet, but I seriously doubt the movie is ABOUT this character.
How much dialog and screen time does he have?

Most likely, Marvel movies going forward will be about Spider-Man, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Black Widow and others, fighting villains like Mysterio, Baron Mordo, Taskmaster, in effects-fill cinematic adventures. Oh, and here in the corner is a supporting character who happens to be trans.

Different scans of the Salman painting have different color casts, ranging from blonde to dirty blonde to light brown, but that has to do with the scanner not the painting; Salman did do paintings in which the man is fair haired.

“Christian religious doctrine makes a bigger deal out of ethnicity than skin color. Under Christian religious doctrine, people are judged more by their actions than their skin color. ”? Depends on the Christian; southern preachers for a long time used the curse of Ham to justify slavery.The black churches have a different take. But when did Christian doctrine make a big deal out of ethnicity? Does the New Testament even speak of ethnicity as such?

The crucifixion is a powerful metaphor of suffering and redemption that has been interpreted and applied in many different ways over the years. Its meaning has not been exhausted.

I would agree that stories have to be read in context: the old 1940s comics that show the Human Torch and Toro sharing a bedroom or Capt America and Bucky skinny-dipping together were written at a time when it was standard for guys to swim naked in men-only swims at school or public pools, and when families were big and it was normal for poor kids to sleep 6 to a bed tucked in like sardines. But no-one can ever be entirely sure of the artist’s intent or what drives him. I admire your ability to read the mind of the artist, but most of us don’t have that ability; the Bible is interpreted very differently by different people, there are a lot of legitimate interpretations, and that does not mean God failed to communicate. It means the opposite; that he communicated profoundly to many different people.

Jesus is blonder in these scans of the Salman classics:

https://www.anderson.edu/galleries/warner-sallman/collection/

In the old Norse myths, Thor is red-haired, and it is Sif who is blonde. I wonder if Kirby's portrayal of the Norse god as having long blond hair was influenced by Salman's portrayal of a very different god.

Neal Adam's portrayal of a Jesus-figure in Green Lnatern 89 was very much influenced by Salman; his seems to have been the standard portrayal of Jesus back then.

Zach is Transgender, not Transvestite. Either way, “he” is the correct pronoun, as used in the Variety article.

So how much of a person's culture is true or false?