March
March is a autographical graphic narrative surrounding the civil rights movement in the 1960s and the personal account from the perspective of John Lewis, a prolific civil rights activist and leader during the March for Jobs and Freedom.
I found this graphic novel extremely interesting, coming from a perspective of a nonblack student, where I have only seen information surrounding the civil rights movement always slightly shrouded in a certain type of omitted information failed to be mentioned in high school textbooks. I had never known the Rosa Parks arrest was designed deliberately to create public attention, nor had I known how specific and how much preparation had been taken to perform the sit-ins. Everything was planned carefully and with purpose, which I found fascinating, and especially inspiring knowing the suffering they knew they were going to face, but knew their resolve to make a change. It was also interesting seeing the backstory surrounding John Lewis's life that spurred his passion towards activism and becoming a preacher. In terms of stereotyping, it was approached very objectively and factually, as things that were literally told to him in his experiences rather than being used to prove a point or portray a specific type of character. They are very literal and have a deep focus in March, where black imagery is the entire subject in regards to the Civil Rights Movement.
I believe stereotyping can be a useful tool in identifying tropes and archetypes in characters when it comes to animation, comics, and gaming, especially when they are in shorter forms where there is not much time to establish a true sense of character, only a scaffold of one that can be caught onto easily. I believe once these stereotypes perpetuate a negative stigma on their target, they become unacceptable in my opinion. To link a physical or personality trait to a specific group of people in public media is power being put into the wrong hands and being used in a dangerous way, that can and will easily reflect back onto the society it projects itself upon. I have seen this linkage and its effect in the classic design of villains with sharp angles and long hooked noses that come from the racial stereotyping of Jewish people. To have a variety of characters with these features, good or bad, is good representation. When only villain or evil characters present these features, they tack on a underlying racist comment, whether intentional or not. I don't believe stereotyping is ultimately necessary in designing and representing characters, I believe they are more of a shortcut method to get a point across, but as long as you are accurately projecting the personality you want your audience to perceive, character design should serve to enhance, not be a crutch, towards their personality. I feel like everyone is affected by stereotypical representations to a certain degree. Growing up with pop culture naturally means assimilating with popular stereotypes we grow up to learn and believe they are second nature and objectively true. While I have not personally felt attacked by any specific racial stereotypes in media, I do understand there is always a subconscious effect they have on my perception of society and the world around me whether I notice it or not.
I found this graphic novel extremely interesting, coming from a perspective of a nonblack student, where I have only seen information surrounding the civil rights movement always slightly shrouded in a certain type of omitted information failed to be mentioned in high school textbooks. I had never known the Rosa Parks arrest was designed deliberately to create public attention, nor had I known how specific and how much preparation had been taken to perform the sit-ins. Everything was planned carefully and with purpose, which I found fascinating, and especially inspiring knowing the suffering they knew they were going to face, but knew their resolve to make a change. It was also interesting seeing the backstory surrounding John Lewis's life that spurred his passion towards activism and becoming a preacher. In terms of stereotyping, it was approached very objectively and factually, as things that were literally told to him in his experiences rather than being used to prove a point or portray a specific type of character. They are very literal and have a deep focus in March, where black imagery is the entire subject in regards to the Civil Rights Movement.
I believe stereotyping can be a useful tool in identifying tropes and archetypes in characters when it comes to animation, comics, and gaming, especially when they are in shorter forms where there is not much time to establish a true sense of character, only a scaffold of one that can be caught onto easily. I believe once these stereotypes perpetuate a negative stigma on their target, they become unacceptable in my opinion. To link a physical or personality trait to a specific group of people in public media is power being put into the wrong hands and being used in a dangerous way, that can and will easily reflect back onto the society it projects itself upon. I have seen this linkage and its effect in the classic design of villains with sharp angles and long hooked noses that come from the racial stereotyping of Jewish people. To have a variety of characters with these features, good or bad, is good representation. When only villain or evil characters present these features, they tack on a underlying racist comment, whether intentional or not. I don't believe stereotyping is ultimately necessary in designing and representing characters, I believe they are more of a shortcut method to get a point across, but as long as you are accurately projecting the personality you want your audience to perceive, character design should serve to enhance, not be a crutch, towards their personality. I feel like everyone is affected by stereotypical representations to a certain degree. Growing up with pop culture naturally means assimilating with popular stereotypes we grow up to learn and believe they are second nature and objectively true. While I have not personally felt attacked by any specific racial stereotypes in media, I do understand there is always a subconscious effect they have on my perception of society and the world around me whether I notice it or not.
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