[Discussion] Here is what I, as a black guy, think about the diversification of movies/games . READ BEFORE YOU START FLAMING ME.

First, comic-book-films aren't really an issue for Gamergate per se. /r/WerthamInAction may be a more appropriate subreddit for this discussion.

Second, diversification in games and comics etc. are different issues because movie-adaptations-of-comics are bound by decades of continuity whereas new video game IPs are created all the time. There are different considerations at play here.

There is also an important issue here; comics and stories in general tend to arise out of a specific context. Human beings often use narrative allegories to communicate the important aspects of their own experiences. This is true when we go down to smaller groups too; hence groups will often create stories about their own experiences. Is it any surprise that artworks created by (for example) African-American artists will often be about aspects of the African-American condition (being abused by police, for example)?

Comic books, or more correctly superhero comics, have often been the stories of "nerdy" people (i.e. a particular kind of social-outcast). Yes, this particular kind of social outcast has typically (but not always) been white and male but the culture isn't defined by being white and male per se... its defined by social outcast-ness and the possession of a rational/cerebral temperament.

In essence, a lot of the anger over comics being "diversified" is due to what is being seen as an act of "cultural appropriation." The stories/myths of Group X are being changed to make them reflect the norms and sensibilities of a different group or groups.

This ties in with the fact that some characters are inexorably tied to a cultural context; the character's personality and development can only be understood with respect to the society and culture within which the character was raised etc. Simply "changing the demographic" whilst keeping the personality the same is impossible.

Take, for instance, gender. Men and women are still treated very differently in society. They have different experiences, different expectations placed upon them, different challenges to face, etc. Can we truly just gender-swap a character and expect they'd keep an identical personality?

No one objects to the creation of new characters of diverse demographics (except for ACTUAL bigots of course). But I think there's something rather... sinister... about taking pre-established characters who are beloved by a group of people and then changing those characters to conform to the wishes of people who aren't in the group in question. I wrote an article about this, with reference to the female version of Thor, here: http://honeybadgerbrigade.com/2015/04/30/reddit-repost-she-thor-and-the-ms-male-character-paradox/

/r/KotakuInAction Thread