Bad comics and privilege fail
I'm back, baby!
So, someone posts this comic on an LJ community I participate in:
http://www.zudacomics.com/street_code
(warning: crappy Flash navigation awaits you).
It's a bike community, specifically a bike punx community, and I guess the relevance is that it's about some guy who happens to ride his bike around NYC and gets doored. Though that's a minor plot point. Mostly the comic appears to be about some sad sack white guy who lives in NYC and is miserable. Basically, it's some limp, navel-gazing dreck, but because it's about the experiences of a Young White Man living in The Big City, I'm supposed to find it meaningful and relevant to my life. Even though it's telling the same damn story that has been told about Young White Men for the last, oh, bazillion years. So I say as much in comments, and a dialogue ensues.
grolby: Yeah. Oh, look, a story about a white man living in NYC. What a gritty life he leads! Bleh.
Part of my reaction is due to the obnoxious Flash viewer, but also... because it's another story about a young white man living in New York. Read it or watched it a million times already.
dj_flex: Yeah, sorry the comic creator's gender and race invalidated the story for you. ¬_¬
grolby: Yes, invalidated was definitely the word I used.
But you know... yeah. It kind of did. Because it's the same fucking thing, a million times over - a young white man whose urban experience is Important, Meaningful and Relatable. I think it was the not-so-subtle "but I'm not rich, so I must be AUTHENTIC," disclaimer toward the beginning that really turned me off. Who cares if the local elderly Italian-American men think the protagonist is a yuppie? That's right - the protagonist, and no one else. Own the damn story and own your identity.
You know, I don't know what other story a white urban man should tell, but that's my reaction. I will say this: the beginning was interesting and really caught my attention. But I'm pretty sick of the whole "self-pitying white man with no sense of perspective" schtick. And up to the point where I gave up, that was the story. Impromptu cat surgery in your apartment: freaky and interesting. 30 pages of look at how badly my life sucks: boring and self-indulgent. It comes down to that old writing cliche: show, don't tell
Just to add to this, you say gender and race as though my feelings are problematic because of these qualities in general; that it's just as bad as if I felt the same way about a story about a woman or person of color. But that's not true. It's really, really fucking relevant that this is a story about a white man. We're talking about people whose stories have been told a million times, and whose experiences is constructed in our society as being the most relevant, most important, most valuable, most relatable. The suggestion that my skepticism at being directed to yet another piece of this dominant narrative is morally questionable is rather offensive.
Hell, by 30 pages in, there were two women in the story: one, the crazy cat activist surgeon and the girlfriend, both of whom are out by page 5, the girlfriend through an expository break-up, because... well, not because of anything to do with her own feelings but presumably in order to add to the sad-sack background of this main character that I'm supposed to identify with. I mean, no reason is given, but I think that because she's contributing to the protagonist's misery that we're supposed to wonder why she's so mean. I'm guessing she left him because she was sick of his whining, but that's just me.
Sorry, page 14, and I forgot about the Korean twins (WTF??). So nevermind on that score. I blanked a lot of it out of my memory.
dj_flex:So what? Dean Haspiel should just shut up and not make his comic? Or just all white guys in general?
What's the timeframe on it not being dominant anymore?
grolby: No, he should make a good comic.
As for a time frame, how about when navel-gazing hackery isn't seen as relevant simply because it's about a white guy who can draw competently?
So sorry to put you through that. Luckily, it's not necessary to read it if you just want to get to my point, which is this: yes, I am reflexively skeptical of more stories about young white men, from the perspective of young white men. I think we all should be. Not because there's something inherently wrong with those stories, but because they are incredibly over-exposed, at the expense of other artists and other stories from women, people of color, queer people, etc. Basically, men like Dean Haspiel here get the enormous privilege of their work being assumed to have artistic merit simply because it was created by a white man. And because it tells the story of a white man. There are a hundred million other artists out there with a hundred million more interesting stories who no one is paying attention to because they're so busy swooning over how this white guy is making ART! The fact that it's really mediocre art is kind of glossed-over.
The point is not to avoid White Guy Art, but to put to serious scrutiny. We have a subconscious tendency to rank it as better than it deserves, so fighting privilege means making an active effort to counteract that tendency. The questions about any art are, does it speak to me? What does it have to say? Is it good? I'm just saying, make those questions a little harder for the privileged artist, since your inclination is probably to make them easier by default. And if they pass, White Guy Comic Artists deserve plenty of accolades. Look at a guy like Neil Gaiman - he deserves success because he's told interesting, unique, fantastic stories without resorting to the White Guy Experience Fallacy of thinking that a story about your sad-sack life must have artistic merit. But, you know what's sad? I, a mainstream, not-that-into-comics guy, couldn't name a black comic book artist or writer if my life depended on it. But I can name several white guys.
So if these criteria and excessive cynicism cause me to miss out on some genuinely great artists that just happen to be white men, well, I'm over it.
Woo, more fun!
Guess what: you've heard most stories before. And there are people besides you that maybe haven't heard this particular story before, Mr. Jaded.
I assume it has merit because he's a white guy? Fuck you.
"Dean Haspiel is a native New Yorker and the creator of BILLY DOGMA, STREET CODE, and ACT-I-VATE. Dino has drawn comix for the New York Times, Marvel, DC/Vertigo, Dark Horse, Scholastic, Toon Books, and other publishers but is best known for his semi-autobio collaborations with Harvey Pekar on THE QUITTER and AMERICAN SPLENDOR, and with Jonathan Ames on THE ALCOHOLIC, and HBO’s “Bored to Death.” Dino is a founding member of DEEP6 Studios in Gowanus, Brooklyn. www.deanhaspiel.com"
Yeah, that all just fell into his lap because he's a white guy. Not because he worked his ass off to be great at what he does or has talent or anything.
There's more to this dialogue here, if you feel you must, but I pulled this comment out because it falls into the common trap of assuming that this means that White Guy Artists haven't worked hard for their success and that I'm saying that things just "fell into his lap." Well, no. For anyone to succeed as an artist is really hard fucking work. And there are a lot of great artists who never make it. This does not in the slightest erase the privilege that white artists enjoy when their worked is observed and judged by both the art community and the general public. The plurality of successful, lauded artists are white guys. Do the hardest working, most talented artists around just happen to be white guys? Uh, no.
So, someone posts this comic on an LJ community I participate in:
http://www.zudacomics.com/street_code
(warning: crappy Flash navigation awaits you).
It's a bike community, specifically a bike punx community, and I guess the relevance is that it's about some guy who happens to ride his bike around NYC and gets doored. Though that's a minor plot point. Mostly the comic appears to be about some sad sack white guy who lives in NYC and is miserable. Basically, it's some limp, navel-gazing dreck, but because it's about the experiences of a Young White Man living in The Big City, I'm supposed to find it meaningful and relevant to my life. Even though it's telling the same damn story that has been told about Young White Men for the last, oh, bazillion years. So I say as much in comments, and a dialogue ensues.
grolby: Yeah. Oh, look, a story about a white man living in NYC. What a gritty life he leads! Bleh.
Part of my reaction is due to the obnoxious Flash viewer, but also... because it's another story about a young white man living in New York. Read it or watched it a million times already.
dj_flex: Yeah, sorry the comic creator's gender and race invalidated the story for you. ¬_¬
grolby: Yes, invalidated was definitely the word I used.
But you know... yeah. It kind of did. Because it's the same fucking thing, a million times over - a young white man whose urban experience is Important, Meaningful and Relatable. I think it was the not-so-subtle "but I'm not rich, so I must be AUTHENTIC," disclaimer toward the beginning that really turned me off. Who cares if the local elderly Italian-American men think the protagonist is a yuppie? That's right - the protagonist, and no one else. Own the damn story and own your identity.
You know, I don't know what other story a white urban man should tell, but that's my reaction. I will say this: the beginning was interesting and really caught my attention. But I'm pretty sick of the whole "self-pitying white man with no sense of perspective" schtick. And up to the point where I gave up, that was the story. Impromptu cat surgery in your apartment: freaky and interesting. 30 pages of look at how badly my life sucks: boring and self-indulgent. It comes down to that old writing cliche: show, don't tell
Just to add to this, you say gender and race as though my feelings are problematic because of these qualities in general; that it's just as bad as if I felt the same way about a story about a woman or person of color. But that's not true. It's really, really fucking relevant that this is a story about a white man. We're talking about people whose stories have been told a million times, and whose experiences is constructed in our society as being the most relevant, most important, most valuable, most relatable. The suggestion that my skepticism at being directed to yet another piece of this dominant narrative is morally questionable is rather offensive.
Hell, by 30 pages in, there were two women in the story: one, the crazy cat activist surgeon and the girlfriend, both of whom are out by page 5, the girlfriend through an expository break-up, because... well, not because of anything to do with her own feelings but presumably in order to add to the sad-sack background of this main character that I'm supposed to identify with. I mean, no reason is given, but I think that because she's contributing to the protagonist's misery that we're supposed to wonder why she's so mean. I'm guessing she left him because she was sick of his whining, but that's just me.
Sorry, page 14, and I forgot about the Korean twins (WTF??). So nevermind on that score. I blanked a lot of it out of my memory.
dj_flex:So what? Dean Haspiel should just shut up and not make his comic? Or just all white guys in general?
What's the timeframe on it not being dominant anymore?
grolby: No, he should make a good comic.
As for a time frame, how about when navel-gazing hackery isn't seen as relevant simply because it's about a white guy who can draw competently?
So sorry to put you through that. Luckily, it's not necessary to read it if you just want to get to my point, which is this: yes, I am reflexively skeptical of more stories about young white men, from the perspective of young white men. I think we all should be. Not because there's something inherently wrong with those stories, but because they are incredibly over-exposed, at the expense of other artists and other stories from women, people of color, queer people, etc. Basically, men like Dean Haspiel here get the enormous privilege of their work being assumed to have artistic merit simply because it was created by a white man. And because it tells the story of a white man. There are a hundred million other artists out there with a hundred million more interesting stories who no one is paying attention to because they're so busy swooning over how this white guy is making ART! The fact that it's really mediocre art is kind of glossed-over.
The point is not to avoid White Guy Art, but to put to serious scrutiny. We have a subconscious tendency to rank it as better than it deserves, so fighting privilege means making an active effort to counteract that tendency. The questions about any art are, does it speak to me? What does it have to say? Is it good? I'm just saying, make those questions a little harder for the privileged artist, since your inclination is probably to make them easier by default. And if they pass, White Guy Comic Artists deserve plenty of accolades. Look at a guy like Neil Gaiman - he deserves success because he's told interesting, unique, fantastic stories without resorting to the White Guy Experience Fallacy of thinking that a story about your sad-sack life must have artistic merit. But, you know what's sad? I, a mainstream, not-that-into-comics guy, couldn't name a black comic book artist or writer if my life depended on it. But I can name several white guys.
So if these criteria and excessive cynicism cause me to miss out on some genuinely great artists that just happen to be white men, well, I'm over it.
Woo, more fun!
Guess what: you've heard most stories before. And there are people besides you that maybe haven't heard this particular story before, Mr. Jaded.
I assume it has merit because he's a white guy? Fuck you.
"Dean Haspiel is a native New Yorker and the creator of BILLY DOGMA, STREET CODE, and ACT-I-VATE. Dino has drawn comix for the New York Times, Marvel, DC/Vertigo, Dark Horse, Scholastic, Toon Books, and other publishers but is best known for his semi-autobio collaborations with Harvey Pekar on THE QUITTER and AMERICAN SPLENDOR, and with Jonathan Ames on THE ALCOHOLIC, and HBO’s “Bored to Death.” Dino is a founding member of DEEP6 Studios in Gowanus, Brooklyn. www.deanhaspiel.com"
Yeah, that all just fell into his lap because he's a white guy. Not because he worked his ass off to be great at what he does or has talent or anything.
There's more to this dialogue here, if you feel you must, but I pulled this comment out because it falls into the common trap of assuming that this means that White Guy Artists haven't worked hard for their success and that I'm saying that things just "fell into his lap." Well, no. For anyone to succeed as an artist is really hard fucking work. And there are a lot of great artists who never make it. This does not in the slightest erase the privilege that white artists enjoy when their worked is observed and judged by both the art community and the general public. The plurality of successful, lauded artists are white guys. Do the hardest working, most talented artists around just happen to be white guys? Uh, no.