In comic book myth, the hero walks among us but we don’t even know it. Superman pays the rent as reporter Clark Kent. One doesn’t even have to be a comic book fan to know that Spiderman is Peter Parker, and most recently, the black and Latino Miles Morales. Even people who would never stand in line for Twilight tickets know that Batman is really a traumatized billionaire named Bruce Wayne.
The villains have their double lives as well. Lex Luthor poses as a philanthropic businessman but he really hates Superman and wants to rule the world. Peter Parker has no idea that the Green Goblin is really his best friend’s father, Norman Osborne. In the real world, the villains don’t hide behind masks but rather behind the keyboard and the avatar. They are the new breed of geek racists. They’re not as obvious as the Joker but just as scarred as Two-Face. It’s unlikely they wear black masks but totally plausible they wear white hoods.
The election of President Obama did not usher in the post racial America many were hoping for. Instead, the President’s win ripped the veil off hidden racism that the majority culture assumed was in the past. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, there is a 755% rise in hate groups. The new racists, or perhaps the newly documented ones, don’t only hate minorities in reality but also hate them in fantasies too. It’s the Klansman with a pocket protector. Imagine The Big Bang Theory with a Swastika.
This same hate emerged with the recent release of The Hunger Games.
Based on the best selling fantasy novels, the movie opened to a 152 million dollar opening weekend. It also opened up widespread discontent with the black actors in the film. In the book, Rue, is described by the author, Suzanne Collins, as being dark skinned and is played by the black actress Amandla Stenberg. The author also worked on the screenplay. But the Neo-Nazi Nerd doesn’t want a little thing like the intent of the author interfering with his masturbatory dreams of a racially pure cinema. The Twitter comments are ugly, vehement, and plentiful.
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The web has always been full of “Fringe elements who feel more comfortable spewing their venom under pseudonyms. But this new breed of geek racism can no longer be dismissed as a few kooks who need to stop playing World of War Craft long enough to meet some real people. Although there are no specific statistics, geek racism appears to be a growing trend that is picking up steam and becoming more vocal based on social media trends.
In Thor: The hate group, Council of Conservative Citizens, call on a boycott because black actor Idris Elba was cast as Norse God, Heimdall.
In Ultimate Spiderman (comic book version): There is widespread hate speech on comic book site, Bleeding Cool, when the new Spiderman in the Ultimate Universe, was black and Latino, including: “That’s just dangerous. With spider powers, just think how much stuff he could steal, if he was not so lazy.”
From the late Dwayne McDuffie (Co-creator of Milestone Comics, writer on Justice League, Ben 10, All Star Superman animated movie):”I think being a writer that the reader knows is black puts a lot of the…white male readership on edge. They’re really looking for some proof that I’m trying to shove my agenda down their throat.”
On a practical level, geek racism runs deeper than white folks whining about cartoons. There are white people who marched, and died, during the Civil Rights Movement and white people who protest the injustice of the Trayvon Martin case. However, just like in the myths, there are also the villains who walk among us.
The racist geek doesn’t exist in a vacuum. These are the geeks who might work in Silicon Valley or at major movie studios. Indeed, these are the geeks who might be cops when they’re not reading funny books and going to sci-fi flicks. These are the geeks who could work at the comic book company itself, which is an industry already under fire for not hiring enough qualified women.
In fact, the same geeks who dress up in hilarious Transformer costumes at Comic-Con are capable of hating minorities as much as the Aryan Nation. They’re more than meets the eye, alright.
Not all geeks, of course, but enough for it to be a major problem.
This looks like a job for Superman.
Just make sure he’s not black.
Very eye opening! How can you say that in a tweet? “I wasn’t sad that Rue died because she was black?” – I must say white kids are getting a whole lot more interesting ha? Post-Racial America my *ss!
“There are also the villains who walk amongst us.” I couldn’t agree more!
The planet needs a Superman to clean it up – rid it of racists. I am sure that Superman may just be black since not many other peoples seem to have the balls to stand up for justice – for other people.
When you have that Norwegian kid happy about killing his own people, it reminds you of Hitler. it makes me shake.
Then you have Zimmerman walking around, that reminds you also of how they came to wipe out the native Indians and forced Africans into slavery here – things have not changed much with these Geeks. They are around everywhere like a plague – destroying in the name of Democracy & Capitalism.
White Supremacy, which is the basis of racism is made even more stupid now that we know they are anything far from supreme. To see people use it, you beg to ask, genetically are we the same people??
It’s more frightening that the new racists are as young as 10 & 11 years old.
That was an unfortunate event in Norway. That country is a fine land, it’s people serene and hospitable – some of the biggest philanthropists in the world. It’s a shame that happened in Norway!
Thanks for the comments, everyone. I’m so glad you recognize that it’s not just about comics and superhero movies. The reaction to these fantasies are systemic of the realities of racism.
I agree with Dwayne McDuffie, black really puts a lot of the white male readership on edge. Why? I don’t know, because we are not about to pay anyone in the same coin. Or are we? I can’t seem to wrap my mind around it.