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REVIEW: Terra Formars GN 1

Poor treatment of female characters and general racism

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Poor treatment of female characters and general racism

Are you serious? You know, putting all this rotten Shonen Jump Weekly crap into manga\anime\videogame review is the worst thing possble.

People are really complaining that Americans are all represented with blond hair??
All asian characters in US series or movies are black-haired people, guys! And let's not talk about all these parodies showing them as being short, stubborn and nerdy.
And what the hell with comparing antropomorphic cockroach with African people??? Just because they're black?

At least there's no hypocrisy like in US series, where they put a black person in a position of power just to be politically correct: "Bones" and "Castle" (who both had a black male boss during their first seasons, before to be replaces by a black female boss), "FlashForward", "Grey's Anatomy", "Hannibal" (black Jack Crawford), "NCIS", etc...

Complain all you like, none of that will change. If it were a more sincere attempt at discussion and the exchange of opposing views I'd have less of a problem with it but you "AAAARRGGHHH Shonen Jump Weekly CRAP I HATE FEMINISSMMMM" angry guys always just seem like you're trying to shut everything down and silence people for daring to bring up interpretations you don't like and don't agree with. And that's really pointless and stupid and not at all in the spirit of discussion.

Scholars from Japan suggest that their countrymen are not intentionally racist but are insensitive toward other peoples because of centuries of homogeneous and isolated development. "They have little social experience in dealing with different races," explains Nagayo Homma, a professor of American studies at the University of Tokyo. "They know about Martin Luther King and civil rights, but it's in an abstract context." If that is the situation, it is not surprising that stereotypes abound -- and not just about blacks: while whites generally are considered by Japanese to be advanced and "civilized," fellow Asians and others are sometimes seen as backward, even inferior.

For many Japanese, the first exposure to blacks came during the post-World War II occupation, when they saw U.S. soldiers housed in segregated barracks. Others picked up racial attitudes and stereotypes -- such as Little Black Sambo -- from U.S. television, movies and books, or American acquaintances. "I experience racism daily," says Robert Jefferson, a black radio correspondent for ABC News in Tokyo. Jefferson says Japanese avoid sitting next to him on trains or taking the same elevator.

While such experiences are commonly shared by white foreigners, Jefferson also recalls stereotyped remarks -- not unheard of in the U.S., of course -- such as "You must be able to sing very good" because all blacks do. Jefferson adds that a landlord refused to show him housing because the rules prohibited rentals to models, TV personalities, bar girls -- and blacks. When Jefferson asked why blacks were excluded, he was told, "Because when two or three of them get together, they don't know how to act."

At the same time, blacks are prominently displayed in Japanese commercials. Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson and Singer Michael Jackson push Japanese products, and Suntory brewery features a black doo-wop group called 14 Karat Soul in television spots for its Suntory White whisky. Japanese marketing experts say viewers respond favorably to blacks because they seem more full of energy than whites. Says an advertising expert: "Blacks appear to have a wild side that seems beyond normal human strength."

Some Japanese people have stereotypical images of black Americans, gleaned from American television and press accounts. Black people are often described like with black skins, dangerous, funny, strong or lazy. Most of the black TV celebrities we can see on TV act silly and do not speak Japanese well and people make fun of them. Those black talents have to be silly to show up on TV, otherwise we never see them, because people do not want them to speak Japanese well and want them to be just like their stereotype. Bobby Ologon speaks weird Japanese, Bob Sapp eats raw meat. I do not know how they feel about doing the performances, but it is like watching circus show. People look down on them and it is obviously discrimination.

I think that is based on that a lot of Japanese people believe Japan is a homogeneous nation. They sometimes do not accept foreigners. Unless people admit that the concept of homogeneous is myth, people keep looking at black people “You can never be “Japanese”, because you look totally different from us and don’t speak Japanese well. So you have to be at least just like our stereotype, then you will be all right.

Japan Will Scrap Black Caricature

Responding to charges of racial insensitivity, Japan's postal ministry on Monday ordered 100,000 copies of an official magazine destroyed because they carry a cartoon that could offend blacks.

The magazine carried a cartoon of a thick-lipped, dark-skinned character holding a frying pan and wearing a chef's hat...

...It was not clear why a black caricature was used...

Let's stop with all the "but... but... but... there's no evidence he intended it that way!" or "there's slight differences!" or "but homo-erectus!!" BS. Just stop.

ChibiKangaroo wrote:

Let's stop with all the "but... but... but... there's no evidence he intended it that way!" or "there's slight differences!" or "but homo-erectus!!" BS. Just stop.

There's no point in anyone discussing anything with you if you find the idea of asking for evidence "BS". It sounds like you already made your mind up and it would be futile for anyone to discuss it with you, ya know? It's not a very good discussion starter if you're gonna shut down any opposing arguments right off the bat.

lostrune wrote:

ChibiKangaroo wrote: Let's stop with all the "but... but... but... there's no evidence he intended it that way!" or "there's slight differences!" or "but homo-erectus!!" BS. Just stop. There's no point in anyone discussing anything with you if you find the idea of asking for evidence "BS". It sounds like you already made your mind up and it would be futile for anyone to discuss it with you, ya know? It's not a very good discussion starter if you're gonna shut down any opposing arguments right off the bat.

What I am talking about is the fact that the images clearly look like the offensive caricatures of black people, some of which I linked in my response. I don't think that it is reasonable to debate whether or not they look like them. They obviously do. I was stating that the excuses being offered up don't somehow offset the fact that the images appear like the caricatures.

What I said was debatable was the impact of that similarity, which is what I argued below that.

Honestly I don't think the Terraformars really look much like anything like the stuff that got linked here. Though they do look like what I've seen of homo-erectus

Again I'm not trying to really argue whether or not people should find it offensive but they pretty clearly resemble that more closely than early 19th century depictions of blacks.

car·i·ca·ture noun \ˈker-i-kə-ˌchu̇r, -ˌchər, -ˌtyu̇r, -ˌtu̇r, -ˈka-ri-\
: a drawing that makes someone look funny or foolish because some part of the person's appearance is exaggerated

: someone or something that is very exaggerated in a funny or foolish way

Full Definition of CARICATURE

1
: exaggeration by means of often ludicrous distortion of parts or characteristics
2
: a representation especially in literature or art that has the qualities of caricature
3
: a distortion so gross as to seem like caricature

Divineking wrote:

Honestly I don't think the Terraformars really look much like anything like the stuff that got linked here. Though they do look like what I've seen of homo-erectus Again I'm not trying to really argue whether or not people should find it offensive but they pretty clearly resemble that more closely than early 19th century depictions of blacks.

Does that image of homo-erectus you linked have gigantic eyes bulging out of his head, massive lips and his mouth opened enormously wide with tons of shiny white teeth contrasting starkly against his dark skin? No. I don't think so.

You are focused on the fact that they all share dark skin and have other similar features. Well under that thought process, all offensive caricatures of black people would be perfectly OK because someone could just claim that they look like some ancient version of man. The problem is more about the emphasized features which are common to caricatures (again, the eyes, mouth, lips, teeth). This is the very meaning of the term caricature:

(From Merriam-Webster's)

Quote:

car·i·ca·ture noun \ˈker-i-kə-ˌchu̇r, -ˌchər, -ˌtyu̇r, -ˌtu̇r, -ˈka-ri-\ : a drawing that makes someone look funny or foolish because some part of the person's appearance is exaggerated : someone or something that is very exaggerated in a funny or foolish way Full Definition of CARICATURE 1 : exaggeration by means of often ludicrous distortion of parts or characteristics 2 : a representation especially in literature or art that has the qualities of caricature 3 : a distortion so gross as to seem like caricature

If you understand the very nature of the term caricature, then yes, the TerraFormar characters, such as the one I showed in the image above, is clearly highly similar to the offensive caricatures of black people that I also linked.