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More from Maverick Lobo
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMkdOBsEXJQ
Made in the Winter of 2016/2017, back when I had dreadlocks and was a kangaroo-sona. I was a bit fed up with the lack of awareness on why diversity in creative media is important and decided to make an info comic to not only explaining why but also how I utlize it in my creative works through the furry fandom.
A lot has changed since 2016/2017, different medias have become much more aware of the issue and has taken steps to remedy it (not always for the better - but it's a start), and this was pre-Get Out and Black Panther.
What a lot of people forget about me - in all my furryness - is I do work for the black community in my area; typically teaching the youth or providing resources to those who wouldn't otherwise have access to resources so they can pursue their goals, (if not outright signing them up for college). I'm no super charity philanthropist or anything like that, I just help when I can with groups and events using the skills and knowledge I developed over the years to uplift and encourage.
One of the most frustrating things about the "black experience" in America is how misconceptualized it is to others due to echos of systematic racism and media consumption. There's videos on the subject that explain it better than I can in an artist comment blog:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOwhBkoNK0g
What I aimed to do with this comic is educate in a comedic way while also providing a bit of my artist statement and ethics during the process.
I hope you all enjoy.
Posted using PostyBirb
Made in the Winter of 2016/2017, back when I had dreadlocks and was a kangaroo-sona. I was a bit fed up with the lack of awareness on why diversity in creative media is important and decided to make an info comic to not only explaining why but also how I utlize it in my creative works through the furry fandom.
A lot has changed since 2016/2017, different medias have become much more aware of the issue and has taken steps to remedy it (not always for the better - but it's a start), and this was pre-Get Out and Black Panther.
What a lot of people forget about me - in all my furryness - is I do work for the black community in my area; typically teaching the youth or providing resources to those who wouldn't otherwise have access to resources so they can pursue their goals, (if not outright signing them up for college). I'm no super charity philanthropist or anything like that, I just help when I can with groups and events using the skills and knowledge I developed over the years to uplift and encourage.
One of the most frustrating things about the "black experience" in America is how misconceptualized it is to others due to echos of systematic racism and media consumption. There's videos on the subject that explain it better than I can in an artist comment blog:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOwhBkoNK0g
What I aimed to do with this comic is educate in a comedic way while also providing a bit of my artist statement and ethics during the process.
I hope you all enjoy.
Posted using PostyBirb
Category Artwork (Digital) / Comics
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 986 x 1100px
File Size 757.8 kB
Listed in Folders
I definitely agree that media portrayal and the public perception it generates leaves much to be desired. Granted, my own perception is itself skewed by my own experiences with the few blacks I knew growing up in a predominantly white rural community in Eastern Ontario, most of whom with Caribbean or military family histories and doing quite well for themselves. Having known them as peers on equal footing for so long and having some knowledge of the rights movements, learning that such injustices were still happening in micro, especially south of the border, was rather mystifying.
With that said, I would like to elaborate on the subject of media attempting to address racism using anthropomorphic animals as metaphorical allegory, as the biggest pitfall of any such endeavor is how the characters behave. Confounding a human social issue with behavioral differences in species rarely goes over well as it's very easy to use a species' traits to characterize stereotypes of their own, detracting from the message you're trying to convey in the process.
in terms of allegory done right, you really have to look at propaganda, veiled political satire, and inspired works therein (Squirrel & Hedgehog, Raynard and Maus being good examples of each respectively). What sets these above conventional media's failed attempts like Zootopia is that they make little to no effort to portray the anthros behaving like the animals they resemble, but rather as people that just happen to resemble animals.
in terms of allegory done right, you really have to look at propaganda, veiled political satire, and inspired works therein (Squirrel & Hedgehog, Raynard and Maus being good examples of each respectively). What sets these above conventional media's failed attempts like Zootopia is that they make little to no effort to portray the anthros behaving like the animals they resemble, but rather as people that just happen to resemble animals.
You're right, it does no good to use anthropomorphism as an allegory for race (or any issue for that matter) if that portrayal is just going to go off stereotypes or be so watered down that the message is lost (or weak).
On the subject of Zootopia: I attribute its watered down message (lord knows it was a commercial success) to the behind-the-scenes events. Movie went through a lot of revamps and, less they wish to displease their stakeholders, the movie couldn't be TOO controversial or it might affect sales (they went pretty dark originally XD ). So in the end we're left with 'Prejudism is bad.' 1 billion dollars later nothing's really changed.
I do love Maus though. Another comic I loved was Blacksad, which has the racial issues of the 50's in the world it's in, but it doesn't address it directly since it focuses more on Blacksad's detective episodes. Maybe I'm just a sucker for anthropomorphic characters lol
I'll have to check out Raynard and Squirrel & Hedgehog
On the subject of Zootopia: I attribute its watered down message (lord knows it was a commercial success) to the behind-the-scenes events. Movie went through a lot of revamps and, less they wish to displease their stakeholders, the movie couldn't be TOO controversial or it might affect sales (they went pretty dark originally XD ). So in the end we're left with 'Prejudism is bad.' 1 billion dollars later nothing's really changed.
I do love Maus though. Another comic I loved was Blacksad, which has the racial issues of the 50's in the world it's in, but it doesn't address it directly since it focuses more on Blacksad's detective episodes. Maybe I'm just a sucker for anthropomorphic characters lol
I'll have to check out Raynard and Squirrel & Hedgehog
Reynard the Fox is an old French Medieval literary cycle, prominently taking veiled jabs at the aristocracy and clergy at the time through the allegorical use of anthropomorphic animals, with Reynard himself being something of a peasant-hero character. At one point, Disney was going to make a movie based off of the folk tale, but scrapped it due to some issues Walt had with the original stories (the assets were later recycled for use in the animated Robin Hood movie).
As for Squirrel & Hedgehog, it's an animated North Korean series that ran from 1977 to 2013, and whilst it's primarily directed towards children it has the underpinnings of a political thriller that some have argued is an allegory for the nation's geopolitical situation.
As for Squirrel & Hedgehog, it's an animated North Korean series that ran from 1977 to 2013, and whilst it's primarily directed towards children it has the underpinnings of a political thriller that some have argued is an allegory for the nation's geopolitical situation.
I might also be able to interest you in Andrew Swann's Moreau series if you haven't already heard of it. The titular uplifted animals of the mid-21st Century setting, originally created as living weapons for the next world war, eke out a living as second-class citizens in a world that just barely tolerates them for not looking human enough, which is more than what can be said for the resident genetically engineered humans (universally referred to as Frankensteins) who are more often discriminated against for being too human. Along with this second-class citizenship are additional problems that stem from the shortsightedness involved in their creation - things like rat moreaus maturing at a much faster rate than their mental development can keep up with due to the emphasis on them being made with cheap manpower in mind, or the early onset of age-related problems in every moreau population due to there not having been any expectation at the time that they'd outgrow their roles as supersoldiers.
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