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REVIEW: Terra Formars GN 1

Rederoin wrote:

Angel'sArcanum wrote: FINALLY SOMEONE POINTS OUT THE BLATANT RACISM! Geez, all the critic reviews and fans I've seen seem to miss the extremely obvious and offensive racism and stereotyping, it's disgusting. ...What racism? The cockroaches are not racist(they aren't even black) and characters who perform racist acts do not make the work itself racist, so what i'm i missing?

That's like saying if a black-faced comedian held a sign that said "I'm not black

I'm disappointed in the editorial staff at ANN for this review.

But they aren't even black for fucks sake.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWc7aVFe2sY#t=58

black =/ red-brown

If they were giant brown roaches, that'd be a good argument. But they aren't. They don't have six legs. They don't have thoraxes. They don't have compound eyes. The only cockroach features they retain are antennas and skin color. The author even went out of his way to give them curly hair on the top of their heads, which real cockroaches don't have.

The author chose to create humanoid monsters who look like 19th Century racist caricatures of black people. Calling them cockroaches doesn't make the choice any better.

The cockroaches are clearly based on exaggerated body structures of black people....

samuelp wrote:

They're cockroaches, do you seriously expect them to be like, purple or something? They're black colored. Or very dark brown at the least.

If they were giant brown roaches, that'd be a good argument. But they aren't. They don't have six legs. They don't have thoraxes. They don't have compound eyes. The only cockroach features they retain are antennas and skin color. The author even went out of his way to give them curly hair on the top of their heads, which real cockroaches don't have.

The author chose to create humanoid monsters who look like 19th Century racist caricatures of black people. Calling them cockroaches doesn't make the choice any better.

Angel'sArcanum wrote:

The cockroaches are clearly based on exaggerated body structures of black people....

Isn't it racist to say and a stereotype that every blackskinned man has a huge body structure ?
And everyone can be a cockroach if you "exaggerate" it.

A lot of people seem to have forgotten that a lot of the old stereotypes for black people are based on the belief that black people are 'lesser' evolved humans. You know what a 'lesser' evolved human looked like? The homo eretcus.

Angel'sArcanum wrote:

The cockroaches are clearly based on exaggerated body structures of black people....

Isn't it racist to say and a stereotype that every blackskinned man has a huge body structure ?
And everyone can be a cockroach if you "exaggerate" it.

Rederoin wrote:

A lot of people seem to have forgotten that a lot of the old stereotypes for black people are based on the belief that black people are 'lesser' evolved humans. You know what a 'lesser' evolved human looked like? The homo eretcus.

You just proved everyone else's point here.

Edit to elaborate: If the author isn't overtly racist, one could say that he's ignorant. It could be chalked up to a difference between Japanese culture and experiences with Blacks versus those in America. Our history here doesn't easily allow this kind of oversight without calling out a lack of sensitivity to race issues.

MohaCario wrote:

Angel'sArcanum wrote: The cockroaches are clearly based on exaggerated body structures of black people.... Isn't it racist to say and a stereotype that every blackskinned man has a huge body structure ? And everyone can be a cockroach if you "exaggerate" it.

Obviously not "all", the author took it from a generalization and I am simply pointing out the approach that has presented itself in his work. He has created a very superficial mockery of a race by portraying all these exaggerated and falsified descriptors. I'm not the one making these shallow and derogatory exemplifications. I have friends that are black and I find this an offensive stereotyping of their race.

Can you proof that the author intended it to be racist against black people?

Not to mention how this stereotype is from the west/europa, not Japan.

The homo eretcus is not suddenly racist because people are racist against black people. It makes no sense. The stereotype isn't even from Japan, its not a western comic.

MohaCario wrote:

Angel'sArcanum wrote: The cockroaches are clearly based on exaggerated body structures of black people.... Isn't it racist to say and a stereotype that every blackskinned man has a huge body structure ? And everyone can be a cockroach if you "exaggerate" it.

Obviously not "all", the author took it from a generalization and I am simply pointing out the approach that has presented itself in his work. He has created a very superficial mockery of a race by portraying all these exaggerated and falsified descriptors. I'm not the one making these shallow and derogatory exemplifications. I have friends that are black and I find this an offensive stereotyping of their race.

Rederoin wrote:

Can you proof that the author intended it to be racist against black people?

Ah, I get it--"These people are offended, but they're in the wrong, because the work wasn't meant to be offensive!"

Except words have meanings--intent means nothing in the face of how people perceive things. He wrote/drew it, he's responsible for how people feel afterwards, intention notwithstanding.

Rederoin wrote:

Not to mention how this stereotype is from the west/europa, not Japan. The homo eretcus is not suddenly racist because people are racist against black people. It makes no sense. The stereotype isn't even from Japan, its not a western comic.

That's exactly what I said when I pointed out he may be ignorant due to cultural differences.