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[Rentahamster]

But yeah, there really aren't too many "super hero" movies staring a predominately black cast. I do also know of this movie. I never saw it, but it always looked more like a wacky comedy with a super hero theme, more than an actual super hero movie:

Meteor Man is the shit. It's also got a homeless rapist in it.

Sorta like watching Naked Gun now.

 

[Rentahamster]

To be honest, what bothers me most about a lot of Hollywood movies are the shit writing, shit cinematography, shit character arcs, shit story structure, overreliance on shitty special effects, and obnoxious marketing campaigns. I couldn't really care less about any subjective criticisms of "forced diversity". Now, there is a funny critique to be made about out of touch filthy rich studio executives trying to force diversity by comittee and how ironic that can be, but as far as the impact on the final movie itself, it's hardly a factor relative to the other things.

 

[Gander]

You know one the best things about the Star Trek series besides all it's special effects and adventures? At it's core the Federation was based on a civilization that had matured to point where money, gender and race where no longer negatives that people fought over. I think this idea appeals to us. We also would like to see our society reach that point. In order to do that we have to take steps towards that goal. Having more diversity in entertainment is one way to do that.

Another point. In the 80's if you heard someone say "He's an American" immediately without even seeing who someone was talking about you imagined some white guy. Now it could be anybody, as it should be.

 

[I Stalk Alone]

I mean this is getting more obvious everyday, but the latest Spiderman trailer really hit it home for me.
So in this Hollywood reality, a white teenage has a best friend who is Asian, a rival who is Indian, and 2 girlfriends who are black.
The only white person he seems to interact with in his life regularly is his aunt.

I mean this is just an example, but stuff like this is pretty common now in every "mainstream" Hollywood movie. A hero must have XX percentage of minority/female friends/associates/enemies/etc.

So I know what their agenda is, but don't people find it strangely unsettling, or even annoying, when the agenda is so transparent and forced these days and worst of all, does not really depict reality but instead if trying to push a certain type of "desired" reality?

I mean I am a minority, and when I grew up, I had very few friends outside my race. And I didn't date anyone outside my race. And this held true for 95% of other people in my high school and college. From what I observed, asians hung out with asians, blacks hung out with blacks, etc. There is very little cross-race social activity in the real world. So when I see Peter Parker hanging out with all these minorities, it feels strange and unnatural, and a bit unbelievable. He would be the 5% unusual case, not the norm. And note that I did grow up in very diverse societies, not unlike New York City where Spiderman is. So I know how things are even in "diverse" places.

You based this whole thread on your own personal anecdote. Not sure how that will work out. Hollywood is not representation of real life since its hollywood. Think of the characters as metaphors for the idealism of acceptance.

 

[davepoobond]

Yeah cause when I watch movies I’m looking for how realistic they are


Give me a break

 

[Papa]

Honestly I do not care but what I care about is critics using this to make the movie better than it actually is. Black panther was a good example here. Because of the skincolor of the actors it has gotten way more praise and was way too overhyped than this movie deserved. Same with Ghostbusters which was even argued that if you do not like this movie you are a misogynist. (critics for black Panther also argued with people not liking it are racist)

Just rate the damn movie not the diversity.

I also hate when the marketing is revolved about their political agenda:

like this

Damn check out all that diversity

 

[Antoon]

Im all for diversity, but not when its shoved in my throat. Black Mirror, Titans (live action teen titans) and so many other mainstream pieces all seem to be riding that train. It destroys my enjoyment by 50% knowing that I am watching PC infested product.

 

[Sub_Level]

It annoys me in commercials because its so fucking obvious and forced. Like yes, I see you targetting that untapped black woman demographic Pine-Sol.

In a movie tho, naw, its not as noticeable cuz there's more characters and storytelling in general.

 

[Starlight Lotice]

I don't mind it up to a point.

Although when you have characters who are supposed to be white/black/asian etc and they change it up "just because" does rub me up the wrong way.

I believe Idris Elba maybe the next James Bond, and I would be fine with that any other time where James Bond in different media represents a super spy with no distinctive features, but James Bond in every book (and film at this moment) is a White Man with Black Slick Hair and a "mostly" Posh Accent. I hope they are not picking him just to checklist having a Black Bond because that would betray the original vision of James Bond. (I like Idris Elba in a lot of films by the way so this isn't a mark against him)

Doctor Who, however is completely fine being a woman/black/young/old etc because the character is an Alien who can change into any form they want.

I think Hollywood want to look diverse but are trying too hard with it. I can only imagine making Harry Potter a woman down the line once JK Rowling sells the rights or something.

 

[glimmerman]

Hollywood is just chasing the market, 18-24 year old wokes. I think its fine, no doubt my parents thought the movies I liked at that age sucked because [old people reasons]. Basically my take is the same as it is with games: if you don't like something for whatever reason, don't buy it.

 

[Future]

Growing up in LA this was my reality. A true after school special with someone of almost any race. White, Jewish, Black, Vietnamese, Filipino, Korean, Hindu, Mexican... it was comedy now that I think about it.

It was actually shocking to realize so many people DONT have that reality when I grew up (and also illuminated some things too). So yeah... Spider-Man doesn’t bother me. Don’t know if New York big city is like LA but no this doesn’t bother me.

I think people just gotta get better at empathizing and realize their reality isn’t everyone’s. That’s why there are thousands of movies and stories.... there will be many others that probably match your specific experiences

 

[kunonabi]

It's mostly bugs me when it's historically inaccurate or it's racebending established characters. I mean it's silly that every group of friends has to follow this diversity template but it isn't that big a deal as unrealistic as it is.

Funny thing is my elementary school crew was even more diverse than the hollywood checklist but that's because I went to a diplomat's school.

 

[mckmas8808]

Im all for diversity, but not when its shoved in my throat. Black Mirror, Titans (live action teen titans) and so many other mainstream pieces all seem to be riding that train. It destroys my enjoyment by 50% knowing that I am watching PC infested product.

When did Black Mirror ever shove "diversity" down your throat?

 

[triplestation]

In the case of Spider-man Homecoming/Far from Home, diversification feels quite natural and realistic. I live in NYC and it's common to see groups of kids with that kind of diversity. But of course that's not the only form that groups of kids come in, of course you'll also have groups of just asians, etc.

 

[Boss Mog]

I do hate forced "diversity" but for Spider-Man it's doesn't seem far fetched since NYC is pretty "diverse", it's not like Far Cry 5 where you're in deep rural Montana and half the people are black.

 

[Captain Zyrain]

It only bothers me when it's really stretching reality/forced. I live in an area that is 75% white, and yet I work in a company where whites are the minority. It doesn't bother me, it's not even an issue, but it happens. Same could happen in movies.

Stuff like "Overlord" where they made the main character black, even though there were no black paratroopers in D-Day is kind of weird to me, though his "blackness" didn't impact the movie at all, so I could mostly ignore it.

Historical stuff should remain historical. If there were no white people there, don't put them there! Same for any other race. I thought Black Panther was fine, it takes place in Africa. I wouldn't expect a bunch of white people to be there.

 

[AlphaMale]

I hadn't really thought about it until my gf decided to watch the entire "Grey's Anatomy" series again.
After a while, I just got annoyed by the ratio of the races in the hospital. Anyone who's ever been to a hospital before (in North America) will know the percentage of each race inside a real hospital is no where near the realm of what is portrayed in Grey's Anatomy - or any hospital created by Hollywood or TV, for that matter.

 

[mckmas8808]

I hadn't really thought about it until my gf decided to watch the entire "Grey's Anatomy" series again.
After a while, I just got annoyed by the ratio of the races in the hospital. Anyone who's ever been to a hospital before (in North America) will know the percentage of each race inside a real hospital is no where near the realm of what is portrayed in Grey's Anatomy - or any hospital created by Hollywood or TV, for that matter.

Do you tend to do that with all works of entertainment? Do you view every piece of entertainment expecting or longing for some form of "1 to 1" realism that you've seen in your own life, even if it's a fiction piece of entertainment?

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

Anyone who's ever been to a hospital before (in North America) will know the percentage of each race inside a real hospital is no where near the realm of what is portrayed in Grey's Anatomy - or any hospital created by Hollywood or TV, for that matter.

I can't help but find this to be somewhat of an odd thing thing to say.

Not sure how anyone can speak for every hospital in North America. Do you have any facts to back this up?

 

[Makariel]

I mean I am a minority, and when I grew up, I had very few friends outside my race. And I didn't date anyone outside my race. And this held true for 95% of other people in my high school and college. From what I observed, asians hung out with asians, blacks hung out with blacks, etc. There is very little cross-race social activity in the real world. So when I see Peter Parker hanging out with all these minorities, it feels strange and unnatural, and a bit unbelievable.

I must be unnatural then. I'm in a relationship with someone of a different race, as are a number of my friends. Also have many friends that don't look like I do. Guess that's a side effect of moving out when you're 18 and studying and working in different places. The "only fuck within your own race"-mentality is still pretty widespread I guess. I have gotten used to a lot of passive aggressive comments every time I travel with my partner. Around here in the UK we don't have much trouble.

The diversity is kind of a joke still. They’re forcing diversity but how is still still no male Asians.

 

[Uhtred]

According to commercials, everyone is in an interracial relationship now, I mean everybody. And that spans all sexual preference.

 

[Makariel]

According to commercials, everyone is in an interracial relationship now, I mean everybody. And that spans all sexual preference.

Seems like I'm missing out, don't see much commercials theses days. Nothing says real life of real people like a good commercial.

 

[AlphaMale]

Do you tend to do that with all works of entertainment? Do you view every piece of entertainment expecting or longing for some form of "1 to 1" realism that you've seen in your own life, even if it's a fiction piece of entertainment?

Like I said, I never really noticed before. It just came to me after watching 10 seasons of it. lol
No, I can't expect 1:1 realism. There's a tonne of dumb things that happen in movies that are impossible in real life. (for instance when an elevator door closes in movies versus real life, or how forensics works, etc.)
I get it. I was just making note of my observations as it's somewhat relevant to this thread.

 

[mckmas8808]

According to commercials, everyone is in an interracial relationship now, I mean everybody. And that spans all sexual preference.

You must get a different set of commercials than what I get on my TV. Most commercials I see that have couples in it are male and female (together) and they share the same race/ethnicity.

 

[Doom85]

Stuff like "Overlord" where they made the main character black, even though there were no black paratroopers in D-Day is kind of weird to me, though his "blackness" didn't impact the movie at all, so I could mostly ignore it.

Historical stuff should remain historical. If there were no white people there, don't put them there! Same for any other race. I thought Black Panther was fine, it takes place in Africa. I wouldn't expect a bunch of white people to be there.

I think they knew not many people would take issue with Overlord given that the Nazis secretly making an immortal/undead serum kinda makes the film not THAT historical.

 

[Captain Zyrain]

I think they knew not many people would take issue with Overlord given that the Nazis secretly making an immortal/undead serum kinda makes the film not THAT historical.

Yeah, which is why it didn't bother me. I actually thought "wow I didn't realize they had black paratroopers in WWII" and googled it afterwards (because it was interesting not because I was upset lol). Found out there were Black paratroopers.. but they never got deployed:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555th_Parachute_Infantry_Battalion_(United_States)

Interesting read.

 

[mckmas8808]

Yeah, which is why it didn't bother me. I actually thought "wow I didn't realize they had black paratroopers in WWII" and googled it afterwards (because it was interesting not because I was upset lol). Found out there were Black paratroopers.. but they never got deployed:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555th_Parachute_Infantry_Battalion_(United_States)

Interesting read.

That was interesting. Makes the movie completely into an alternative universe where the Nazis created that serum and the Black paratroopers actually were deployed and all of that stuff on screen then happens.

 

[Chairman Tickles]

Few of those examples presented in this thread are really forced diversity. Sure, 13% of blacks in the US are being presented as somehow comprising 50% of the population, but that's minor. I'd call that over-representation.

THIS is forced diversity: (Haniball Barca)

When you race-swap historical figures who are well known for the sake of agenda 'misrepresentation.' In this example it's like making Alexander the Great a Han Chinese.

 

[Captain Zyrain]

Making Ripcord Black in the GI JOE Rise of Cobra movie was unacceptable!

Not Marlon Wayans!

(lol)

 

[G-Bus]

Growing up, I absolutely loved this movie, and I still think it's a lot of fun:




But yeah, there really aren't too many "super hero" movies staring a predominately black cast. I do also know of this movie. I never saw it, but it always looked more like a wacky comedy with a super hero theme, more than an actual super hero movie:

Fuckin loved meteor man when I was younger. Been so long since I've seen that.

 

[kunonabi]

You must get a different set of commercials than what I get on my TV. Most commercials I see that have couples in it are male and female (together) and they share the same race/ethnicity.

There's definitely been a pretty noticable surge in interracial couples in advertising since Trump got elected particularly white men with black women.

There's been a huge push towards black actresses and young black girls as protagonists in media too. The latter has mostly been a good thing aside from some unfortunate racebending here and there

 

[brian0057]

As long as their vapid political posturing isn't shoved in to the detriment of the story, the movie can be as good or as bad as they want.
Science fiction and fantasy (or fiction in general) don't need to reflect reality, so I don't care.

 

[Mihos]

Star Trek did it right, Last Jedi did it wrong

 

[bitbydeath]

Im all for diversity, but not when its shoved in my throat. Black Mirror

Black Mirror?
Is this because it has the word Black in the title?
The cast changes up with every episode...

 

[Greedings]

I don’t really mind. I rarely watch Hollywood stuff, but if I do and there’s one person of every race it just kind feels normal. My life is full of people from different races (well not black now, they left).

It does make me smile when the white character has a best friend who’s gay, black, in a wheel chair and wearing a turban.

 

[dopey]

And on top of that J.K. Rowling got a $125 million budget back in 2001 (that's equal to $170 million in today's money with inflation) by Warner Bros. That's Hollywood! She didn't do it all her self.

Sure, but the reason Warner Bros decided to make high budget movies based upon her work was because the books were such an enormous success, and she did make the books 'all her self'.

'Game of Thrones', also very successful books turned in to a high budget tv show, 'The Walking Dead' based upon very popular comics, etc. 'Roots' is one of the most popular tv shows in US history, which is based upon a very successful novel.

 

[mckmas8808]

Sure, but the reason Warner Bros decided to make high budget movies based upon her work was because the books were such an enormous success, and she did make the books 'all her self'.

'Game of Thrones', also very successful books turned in to a high budget tv show, 'The Walking Dead' based upon very popular comics, etc. 'Roots' is one of the most popular tv shows in US history, which is based upon a very successful novel.

So what's your point? The other person was talking about black people needing to create their own characters from scratch and not relying on Marvel characters for some reason.

 

[squigglefizzle]

It only bothers me when it's really stretching reality/forced. I live in an area that is 75% white, and yet I work in a company where whites are the minority. It doesn't bother me, it's not even an issue, but it happens. Same could happen in movies.

Stuff like "Overlord" where they made the main character black, even though there were no black paratroopers in D-Day is kind of weird to me, though his "blackness" didn't impact the movie at all, so I could mostly ignore it.

Historical stuff should remain historical. If there were no white people there, don't put them there! Same for any other race. I thought Black Panther was fine, it takes place in Africa. I wouldn't expect a bunch of white people to be there.

Speaking of that, it was weird to see Asgard suddenly become a non-white country/planet/thing in Thor 3 (with added interracial couplings as well.)

 

[Ke0]

Isn't spiderman set in new york city lol

Maybe OP thinks NYC is how Seinfield and Friends depict it as like 99% white?

 

[Elcid]

I personally hate color washing of any characters. If a character is black, white, Asian, etc. then cast them accordingly. That being said I do love the last Spiderman movie and am looking forward to this one but I definitely would have preferred characters casted to match their original design. Now if they make characters like Liz and Ned then I don't mind that at all and loved both characters actually. But God damn I wish MJ was a natural fiery redhead. Body and appearance should match. Can you imagine that little twerp playing Flash playing football or becoming Wendigo?

Look at Miles Morales, imagine if they whitewashed him? Instead they stayed true to the character source in Spiderverse and it was INCREDIBLE. One of my favorite movies ever.

 

[jason10mm]

Speaking of that, it was weird to see Asgard suddenly become a non-white country/planet/thing in Thor 3 (with added interracial couplings as well.)

What is weird is that chris hemsworth's upper arm is as thick as the woman in front of him's entire body

But yeah, I didnt really expect Asgard to stick to 100% white folk. Not sure it was ever shown that way in the comics (probably) but the first movie had, IIRC Asian folks as well as at least Elba, so they were ethnically diverse from the get go. It's kinda like the Merlin BBC show from a few years back with a black Gwyn. Made no historic sense (as much as a show about King Arthur is historical) but didnt really impact the story as I dont recall that they ever addressed it (like she was an African immigrant or something).

I find it more distracting when there are ethnically diverse casting of alien races (i.e. white and black actors with just some small facial prosthetics) with no attempt to show ethnic diversity specific to the alien race (different head crests, skin patterns, etc). So an underground dwelling race has melanin skin differences? Why? It's just lazy story telling, nothing against diverse casting.

 

[Azurro]

It was really weird in Spiderman Homecoming. Having a role here and there like Flash being this small and ugly Honduran kid or whatever that bullies everyone is one thing, but it seems that every single shot, every single crowd in every moment was carefully planned to meet diversity quotas, with just one race in each shot. It's so artificial and strange.

And well, I know I would have been killed for saying this elsewhere, but Asgard in the Marvel movies is everything but Nordic. For a realm out of Nordic mythology, it's just weird. It'd be like having a bunch of white, asian and black people in Coco, but hey, gotta PC where ever you can.

 

[kunonabi]

It was really weird in Spiderman Homecoming. Having a role here and there like Flash being this small and ugly Honduran kid or whatever that bullies everyone is one thing, but it seems that every single shot, every single crowd in every moment was carefully planned to meet diversity quotas, with just one race in each shot. It's so artificial and strange.

And well, I know I would have been killed for saying this elsewhere, but Asgard in the Marvel movies is everything but Nordic. For a realm out of Nordic mythology, it's just weird. It'd be like having a bunch of white, asian and black people in Coco, but hey, gotta PC where ever you can.

They're going to double down on it in the sequel too as they're adding two transgenders. One as a main character and the other as a lead extra.

 

[dopey]

So what's your point? The other person was talking about black people needing to create their own characters from scratch and not relying on Marvel characters for some reason.

My point was that the source material was already incredibly successful, and that creating a big budget movie based upon it was a no-brainer, and the idea that it was Hollywood that made the Harry Potter movies so popular by using a big budget is flawed reasoning. Warner Bros went for a big budget movie because they felt certain they would easily recuperate it and also make a great profit due to the massive popularity of the books.

As such I don't see what point you were trying to make by that statement, if some source material has such a huge following, studios will buy the rights and produce a big budget movie in a heartbeat.

In contrast, with regards to source material popularity, I'd say movies like Black Panther, Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy, Aquaman actually should not have been made (particularly with such huge budgets), however given the huge hype surrounding superhero movies this was still relatively safe bets, making a big budget Harry Potter movie on the other hand was probably as safe as it gets.

 

[mckmas8808]

My point was that the source material was already incredibly successful, and that creating a big budget movie based upon it was a no-brainer, and the idea that it was Hollywood that made the Harry Potter movies so popular by using a big budget is flawed reasoning. Warner Bros went for a big budget movie because they felt certain they would easily recuperate it and also make a great profit due to the massive popularity of the books.

As such I don't see what point you were trying to make by that statement, if some source material has such a huge following, studios will buy the rights and produce a big budget movie in a heartbeat.

In contrast, with regards to source material popularity, I'd say movies like Black Panther, Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy, Aquaman actually should not have been made (particularly with such huge budgets), however given the huge hype surrounding superhero movies this was still relatively safe bets, making a big budget Harry Potter movie on the other hand was probably as safe as it gets.

Okay, so the bolded is where I'd disagree then. And to with the other comment you quoted of me, I was saying he was wrong to say black people should have come up with their own superhero or character, instead of leaching off Marvel. That point didn't make any sense to me because the hero of color was already made and well known.

 

[All Hail C-Webb]

I mean this is getting more obvious everyday, but the latest Spiderman trailer really hit it home for me.
So in this Hollywood reality, a white teenage has a best friend who is Asian, a rival who is Indian, and 2 girlfriends who are black.
The only white person he seems to interact with in his life regularly is his aunt.

I mean this is just an example, but stuff like this is pretty common now in every "mainstream" Hollywood movie. A hero must have XX percentage of minority/female friends/associates/enemies/etc.

So I know what their agenda is, but don't people find it strangely unsettling, or even annoying, when the agenda is so transparent and forced these days and worst of all, does not really depict reality but instead if trying to push a certain type of "desired" reality?

I mean I am a minority, and when I grew up, I had very few friends outside my race. And I didn't date anyone outside my race. And this held true for 95% of other people in my high school and college. From what I observed, asians hung out with asians, blacks hung out with blacks, etc. There is very little cross-race social activity in the real world. So when I see Peter Parker hanging out with all these minorities, it feels strange and unnatural, and a bit unbelievable. He would be the 5% unusual case, not the norm. And note that I did grow up in very diverse societies, not unlike New York City where Spiderman is. So I know how things are even in "diverse" places.

You might have grown up in places like NYC, but they weren't NYC. In NYC, the cast of characters you grow up with are often that diverse, and all signs point to an even more diverse society.

I do agree that it can get shoehorn Ed into places were it doesn't feel natural, but that bothers me as much as 90's sitcoms set in NYC where you rarely see anyone who wasnt white.