IBARW Icons!
Not much, but I made them myself: four icons for IBARW. Zoe's a general IBARW icon, and the other three are some of my (least) favorite media PoC stereotypes: the Asian Nerd (Toshiko Sato from Torchwood), the Black Sidekick (Martha Jones from Doctor Who), and the Sexy Latina (Inara from Firefly.) Feel free to use. Crediting me would be greatly
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I think there are definitely issues with how Martha was sometimes written, but I don't think much if any of that has to do with her being a PoC. She's distinctly not the "black sidekick," but rather a new companion who happens to be black. If she doesn't measure up to Rose -- and, parenthetically, let me add that I loved Freema Ageyman considerably more than Billie Piper, who I thought had a much better chemistry with Eccleston than with Tennant -- it's only occasionally in the Doctor's eyes, and only because Russell T. Davies decided unwisely to go the unrequited love route again. I (and I suspect a fair percentage of DW's audience) see Martha as a smart, funny, capable, independent woman first. And, oh yeah, she happens to be black.
Which isn't to be dismissive of her skin color or ignore its significance entirely. But I think a) being a PoC in the UK isn't exactly the same as being one in the US, and b) it's seen primarily as a children's show in the UK. So while they maybe could have gone more into why Martha in a maid's uniform carries slightly more negative connotations than if it was a white companion, that's not really what the show is about. And I think "Human Nature"/"Family of Blood" does touch on it, if only very briefly.
Admittedly, I speak from a position as a white, middle-class male. But I'd say Torchwood and Firefly are ahead of the curve, with markedly diverse casts, with incredibly strong parts for PoC, and of different sexualities, etc.
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