I See Posts Before My Eyes

brevoortformspring:

When the new Muslim Ms. Marvel was first announced months back, I was almost immediately reminded of something Dwayne McDuffie said about minority characters in comics. Reminded again with that recent formspring question that thought the character was a generalizations, so seemed appropriate to…

The First (or just among The First) of something is going to get a lot of extra eyeballs on it.  

There will be those who claim it only exists Because It’s That Thing. And therefore, can be safely ignored, thus making it very hard for there to be a The Second.

Some will claim that they’ll get extra benefits as people are afraid to criticize the thing for fear of being anti-thing.  Contrariwise, some will claim they’ll get EXTRA criticism because they’re the thing, and as such, much of that criticism has to be discounted (which only makes the people in that first group think they’re right)

Some maintain that if they don’t address every single aspect of beint the thing, it means they are “really” that thing, and therefore isn’t a good representation of the thing.  And other people say they don’t WANT to hear about every single aspect of being the thing, how about you just tell a good story and just let them…be…the thing, without cramming it in our face?

If you portray the First as a paragon (or an Icon, if it turns out someone already Paragon) of goodness and niceness, you’ll get some claiming you’re trying to deify that thing, and aren’t there BAD ones of them too? But if you make the First a bad thing (or just a little not quite perfect), you’ll get people you’re doing the opposite, trying to give the impression that ALL the thing are like that one thing.

In short, when you’re the First (or sometimes, just Something Different, no matter how many other of that different type there’s been before) you’ve got an equal chance of upsetting and annoying 

When these are merely comic book characters, the argument seems a bit less important, and the vitriol a bit heavier.  This somewhat ignores the fact there are real people making those comics, but only in somewhat rare situations do the criticism or controversy of the characters filter back to the creators.  

But sadly, there are still real people who are stuck with being The First.  The Fist Gay (well, gay and out) NFL player is getting a lot of talk now, and most of those same arguments are being laid on them. And one has to wonder “Why even bother trying to be that thing, just do a good job and make money?”

Basically, because there’s a lot of people out there who are a Thing, and they don’t see enough (or any) like them out there, and they may worry that there’s something inherently wrong with being a Thing, and try to stop being a Thing, which can be difficult, or even hazardous.  And usually not necessary.

Accept the fact that not everybody is like you, and that it’s possible to be a Thing, and still be very good at this other Thing, and they don’t connect.

And if you’re afraid of a Thing, then seeing more of that Thing may help you realize that while they’re a Thing, they’re not all ONE Thing. There’s tall ones and short ones and nice ones and rude ones. In short, like your Thing.

So if a new Thing comes along, consider the possibility that it might be a good Thing.