fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2556 ]

[ SECRET POST #2556 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2556 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 024 secrets from Secret Submission Post #364.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 1 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 1 - repeat ], [ 1 - titc ], [ 1 - I can't post this as an actual secret (since it isn't one), but a nice update from an OP ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I don't know the specific comic link, but this is the comic: http://www.dumbingofage.com/

The current storyline is about twins whose parents are interracial, yet very racist and hate on the girl twin because she has 'curly hair'. The mother is white, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She...apparently is so acist she hates her 'black looking' daughter, yet she married and had kids with a man who is black and looks it.

The author apparently got extremely butthurt when asked how this was possible, and told everyone to shut up, because interracial couples can be so totally racist you guys!

DA
But stuff like that happens in real life? I knew a family, all black, and they'd totally make fun of one girl in the family for having super dark skin, like she was "too black" or something. Idk. It was really weird. So yeah, interracial couples can totes be racist, just like everyone else in the world. People are weird.

My point is that their kids are much lighter than the father, and honestly? If she's supposed to be so racist, why did she marry and have children with a black man...? Why not only date white men if she hates them so much?

How fucking old are you? Racism isn't just the domain of cartoon villainy. It's a very complex social issue that can manifest in surprising ways, up to and including a white woman loving a black man (or a mixed race man in this case) despite his being black.

I knew a family, all black, and they'd totally make fun of one girl in the family for having super dark skin, like she was "too black" or something

Unfortunately, colorism is a wide spread problem that lingers within the black community and I've seen it even within my own family. I'm a black woman with skin that's on the light side (about beyonce light if you need a reference) while I have cousins who have much darker skin. Looking back on my childhood, I realize that my grandparents quite obviously favored their light skinned grandchildren over their darker skinned ones which I enjoyed at the time but didn't recognize the true reason behind it. There are also a lot of things that family members have said that I just thought were jokes at the time but in hindsight are cruel and offensive. My cousins were always given tips by well meaning aunts and such about what kinds of creams and home remedies they could use to lighten their skin, as if it were a given that they wanted to in the first place.

That's fucked up. I'm sorry.

AYRT

Oh. It's a David Willis thing, my interest is suddenly gone. Thanks for the link though!

Oh. It's a David Willis thing, my interest is suddenly gone.

lol. mte

No idea who that is, but he must be really awful, lol.

His comics started off funny but he's slowly descended into this faux-social justice thing that comes off as a bit forced and a little dogmatic and it's really obvious he's only doing it out of rebellion against his religious upbringing -- which I get, but I feel like he's tackling these issues in a bit of a hamfisted way. I like Dumbing of Age more than Shortpacked these days, but I'm gradually getting tired of both. I don't know if it'll take me as long to drop it as Questionable Content, though.

Hamfisted is the right word for it. It honestly looked like a good storyline that was going to explore the issue a bit more subtly, it's clear from his comments this was by accident and it's all meant to be obvious and hamfisted after all... just in the comments section instead of in the story.

I know this is late but, while I still have no problem accepting the premise that her parents racially motivated favoritism led to Sal acting out in many ways, the timing of the Billie/Walky conversation couldn't be worse. We just got done seeing how her "bid for attention" in the form of armed robbery has traumatized Amber to the point of Dissassociative Identity Disorder, and now he wants us to feel sorry for her? At this point I'm gonna need more than a comment about her hair to even want to feel any sympathy for her.

http://www.shortpacked.com/index.php?id=1919 is also perhaps webcomics whinyest most trite strawman and persecution complex.

And given the worlds of webcomics that's an incredible feat.

It's cracking me up that this guy is calling Watterson a sellout and some sort of greedy scum (when he's probably the farthest thing away from that in newspaper comics), but his art style is so painfully based off of Watterson's it hurts.

Re: DoA racist parents...thing

thezmage - 2014-01-02 16:54 (UTC) - Expand

The problem was mostly the author's comments.

It was good when it was ambigious. It suprned discussion. I thought that was what he wanted, and there were hints that both siblings had a point (Walky is a somewhat goofy child but in addition to looking more "white" does well in school and presents with very little drama, so he gets along well with his parents. Sal does seem to get treated different but has an actual criminal past that contributes to the strained relationship and flees almost immediately after showing up then yells at her brother about it)

The problem was when Willis started going "nope, Sal is right AND YOUR RACIST OR IGORNANT IF YOU CANT SEE THAT". Rather then keep it grey, with Sal having both some accuracy and some bitterness-clouded interpretations of her past and her reactions to it he's implying it's very simply this way and allowing for no interpretation of the work to be tolerated but that.

If you want it to be clear, in your work, you should make it clear IN YOUR WORK. Not tantrum on the internet and close down comments because of all the racists (read: People having fair interpretations of the work based on what's been presented so far in the story). Especially that last part. When you close down comments like that, it's hard to keep the same respect for an author.

the word you want is spurred, not spurned

spurned is what willis did AFTER he stopped being ambiguous

Oh Christ, the comment section. What irritated me more after he closed down the comment section was in the comments of another strip, he got annoyed with the person who asked why he didn't post any links to articles about racism in mixed-race families instead of just linking to people praising his storyline. And in response he kept going on about how the person was asking to links to Fox news articles on why racism doesn't exist, when that was clearly not what the guy asked for at all.

He didn't just jump to conclusions, he built a fucking jetpack and flew over there. Jesus Christ.

His comments sections are almost always a disaster.

I got banned from the Shortpacked comments.

Really? How? You're so fantastic. (I mean that sincerely.)

Re: I was rather dissapointed.

dethtoll - 2014-01-02 22:03 (UTC) - Expand

Re: I was rather dissapointed.

forgottenjester - 2014-01-02 22:39 (UTC) - Expand

Re: I was rather dissapointed.

(Anonymous) - 2014-01-04 16:15 (UTC) - Expand

Re: I was rather dissapointed.

(Anonymous) - 2014-01-02 22:41 (UTC) - Expand

Yes, what Noodles said. It should be noted that the only even vaguely racist comment either of her parents made was their father noting he liked Sal's hair when it was straight (but it had taken more of its natural curl at that point).

He also had that problem with the 'Everybody around Dorothy is a misogynist jackhole' thing. Except, of course, nobody had ever actually been shown making any 'you're a woman, so you're going to give up on your dreams to raise a family' thing she supposedly got from everybody but her parents (the one who came closest was her mother, ironically).

I think Willis has problems with his own internal canon not always being put into the story.

I mean, he's the author and I respect the author's headcanon is basically canon, but it seems he puts in subtle references that are at best "maybe this" and expects other people to see "clearly this"

Willis has a problem generally with people who disagree with him even somewhat. Sure, there are people he (and others) legitimately have reason to want out of his sites: MRAs, fundies trying to "bring him back," and just plain trolls. To them, when Willis bans them, I say "Good riddance." The trouble is, he doesn't stop there, but bans people and, sometimes, shuts down comments when he gets feedback of the sort that isn't 100% pats on the back. He's also fond of whining on his Twitter and Tumblr about it, posting people's usernames and all.

Really, I'd have been done with his comics long ago, but damn it, I just care about his characters and what happens to them too much.

This is something that gets banded about way too much on 4chan, but Willis might have a touch of Autism/Aspergers.