On Oppression and its Misrepresentation in Fantasy Fiction

Magneto hovering

The character Magneto from X-Men

I’ve been thinking about how magic is often represented in fantasy.

I’ve written previously about how many SFF stories (poorly) represent post-racial societies. My issue with magic is a close cousin to that topic.

Continue reading

On the Misrepresentation of Post-Racism in SFF Shows

Charles Pike, a character from season 3 of the sci-fi show The 100.

Science fiction and fantasy are my favourite genres of movies and TV series.

This is largely because they are the genres of ideas on what another version of the world could—and in some cases should—look like.

Continue reading

3 Times Wonder Woman Made Me Wonder “What the Hell?” (pt. 2)

(Continued from Part 1)

Last week, I started writing about the things I disliked about the movie Wonder Woman.

This particular post was a follow-up to one about the things I did like about the movie.

Overall, I did enjoy the movie.  However, no movie is perfect and no form of media exists outside of the societal context in which it’s created.

Continue reading

3 Times Wonder Woman Made Me Wonder “What the Hell?” (pt. 1)

No movie is perfect; that’s just a given.

Even those that come will have aspects of it that demand closer scrutiny.  Not even great movies are beyond critique.  Meanwhile, critiquing a movie doesn’t have to mean you didn’t still enjoy it.

Continue reading

3 Reasons Wonder Woman was a Wonderful Movie

I’ve never much liked superheroes.

With the exception of a brief fondness for Superman in my childhood – and this more on account of his being Christopher Reeve rather than “super” – I’ve cared little for any superhero’s exploits.

Continue reading

Another Favourite Warrior Woman Character (and an important lesson about self-discovery by disguise)

Cover painting from the book Winds of Fate by Mercedes Lackey

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about my favourite warrior women characters.

(That is, my favourites aside from the one and only Xena, who is, in my opinion, the greatest warrior woman character there is.)

But I inadvertently left someone off my list; someone who made a strong impression upon me at a specific point in her personal journey.

Continue reading

My 5 Favourite Warrior Woman Characters (who aren’t named Xena)

A few weeks ago, I wrote about warrior woman characters and whether they helped or hindered the ongoing struggle for women’s equality in real life.

Having concluded that such characters do indeed benefit women and society, I can now happily share my top favourite warrior women characters who aren’t named Xena.

I have to include the stipulation of “not named Xena” because Xena is, in my opinion, the greatest warrior woman character there is.

Continue reading

Are Warrior Women Characters Good for Real-Life Women?

Midway through my replay of all six seasons of Xena Warrior Princess last year, I heard word of possible reboot of the show.

Details on the project have since remained scarce.  No one has been cast – not even the eponymous character – nor have there even been rumours about who’s under consideration for any of the roles.

Initially, the showrunner for the Xena reboot was set to be Javier Grillo-Marxuach, one of the writers from my new favourite TV show, The 100 (Xena having been my old favourite show).  However, just last week, it was announced that Grillo-Marxuach had left the project due to “unsurmountable creative differences”.

Continue reading

Whitewashing vs. Racebending: Yes, There is a Difference

Samuel L. Jackson starring as a racebent Nick Fury

Samuel L. Jackson starring as a racebent Nick Fury

You can count on it.

Whenever a major media outlet posts an article about the problem of whitewashing in mainstream entertainment, there is a certain response that’s guaranteed to appear in the comments thread.

Well it’s no different than casting a person of colour in a role meant for a white person, so if they had a black James Bond, it’d be equally racist and offensive.

Continue reading