Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT strips 3931-3935 (4th to 8th February 2019)
Lear:
--- Quote from: 94ssd on 08 Feb 2019, 05:30 ---+1 for representing Arab characters and being casual about it without making their religion a huge deal. Growing up I was never able to see Arabs represented in popular fiction other than as villains or at best victims.
--- End quote ---
I'm a bit confused now.
As one of those priviledged white men who'd have thought nothing of asking someone where they are from, I can see how that question could be seen as putting labels on people, even if unintentional, and that those labels should not matter. Characters/People are not defined by their labels, they just have characteristics - and asking might be misunderstood. Got it.
But if so, how could it simultanously be remarkable to have an "Arab character"? Not to step on your toes, 94ssd, but despite her family appearently coming from Lebanon, up to this post it did not even cross my mind to see Brun as an Arab. Is a - so far - throwaway line about someones parents nationality (if even) enough to define a character like that? :psyduck:
Somehow, it gave me flashbacks to english language class tought by an American exchange teacher about political correctness. It was really strange - her goal was to show as images for us to describe, so she could show us what about it is politically incorrect. Too bad she started with a 'normal' looking guy and, after five minutes of silence, explained to us that he was jewish looking, and why he was jewish looking (large nose etc.), only so we would know not to call him jewish looking. But even worse, the guy in the wheelchair was not the guy in the wheelchair, he was the nice young gentleman with short blonde hair. So, if you were at a party looking for him, you'd describe him like that, not mentioning the wheelchair. So pretty much all I learned from her is not to mention obvious, visible characteristic, and how to call someone something they might not be based on vague characteristics.
Why I mention this? Because this feels the same again, I have no idea how to make sense of the information given, and is so disruptive to my worldview. It's not that I'm unwilling to change, but I really need good explainations to understand it.
TV4Fun:
Uh guys, Papadapoulos wasn't wrong because he asked Brun about her ethnicity, though that part was a little weird. It was more the very openly creeping on her thing that was wrong.
TheEvilDog:
Yeah, let's just be clear here for a second.
Pascal said Brun was "exotic". He was clearly eyeing her up as a sexual target. That much was clear in Thursday's comic. Renee's response today was not to a seemingly racist comment, but because she knew he was hankering for something else.
Zebediah:
Well, that was a long read.
A few general comments, not necessarily directed at anyone specific:
There have been established Lebanese communities in the US for well over a century. It is in no way unusual or “exotic” - it’s just one ethnicity in this crazy-quilt that makes up America. Name an ethnic group, we probably have it here. So Peter is way out of line on that score. There are no “exotic” people.
I got a definite vibe from Peter that when he heard “Lebanese” he thought “Hey, there’s a notch I don’t have in my belt yet!” Looks like Renee interpreted it the same way. Being attracted to Brun is one thing - reducing her to an ethnicity and being attracted to that is something else altogether.
And asking someone about their ethnic history is ok if you’ve gotten to know them as a person at least a little bit first. It’s not ok to ask someone you don’t know about it, because it comes across as you trying to define them by their ethnicity. (And you probably are.)
sitnspin:
"Where are you from" is code for "Why aren't you white?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAZTWRqaAwA
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