Why is Spider-Man White?- Page 2

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 8:04pm

Frankly, I think this is ridiculous and is a slight offense to Spiderman's creator, Stan Lee. His book is not about this issue and if Spiderman were suddenly black it would have to be explained and have a reason for being beyond "oh, he's black now because there should be more black people in entertainment."

It's offensive to suggest that his character who got superpowers from being bitten by a radioactive spider could be black? You're gonna have to explain that one to me. Why does it have to be "explained" at all. Besides the fact that he originated as a white character in the comics, what about Peter Parker or Spiderman dictates that he not only HAS to be white, but that it's offensive if he's not? You'd have blown a gasket if you'd seen the Charlie Brown revival.

Changes are made all the time to the mythology of these characters. The Superman movies don't take place in the 30s, the Batman tv show and the movies take two totally different tacks with the material, Superman died in the comics, etc, etc.

Again, I see no reason why Spiderman has to be white and I've yet to see anyone make a real case for it in this thread.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 8:24pm

Halle Berry played Catwoman but the movie completely reworked the previous mythology and was not attempting to be Selina Kyle.

Um, Eartha Kitt?

[Calvin]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 8:29pm

The reason Peter Parker is white is because he is a square nerd modeled after people like Stan Lee and his friends at the time who grew up in New York. Peter Parker and his family have an extensive mythology and color blind casting simply doesn't apply here.

Square nerds have to be white?

Or maybe just having the last name White is good enough?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 9:37pm

Nobody got mad when they made one of Charlie's Angels Asian.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 9:59pm

why should he be black, phyllis? what's the rationale for making him black? is there a compelling reason why a character created as a white male should be re-invented as black? can we do the dreamgirls as white? can you give me a compelling reason why that would not work? i think i could overcome all the hurdles there and present them as three white chicks. that would be acceptable, no? but why do it? what's the reason? i was furious that that made kate jackson asian. i thought they should have made farrah irish instead.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 10:06pm

Not should, could. i see no rationale, except that there's no reason why he couldn't be. no, there's no compelling reason at all. no, because dreamgirls IS about race. spiderman is not, unless there's some sort of allegory I'm missing. And white dreamgirls is only acceptable on youtube, where you can mock them.

[Yawper]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 10:17pm

Spiderman originated in 1962 when a student named Peter Parker was bit by a radioactive spider while doing a science demonstration. What was the likelihood of a black student being portrayed in that position in 1962?
Updated On: 6/2/10 at 10:17 PM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 10:19pm

Do the movies take place in 1962?

And I would say, statistically speaking, you'd probably have a better chance of finding a black college student in 1962 then you'd have of being bit buy a radioactive spider, so if you could buy the premise of the story, you should be able to buy the character as non-white.

ETA - Yawper rewrote his question in the post above. He originally asked what was the likelihood of their BEING a black student in 1962, not the way he has it currently written, which makes no sense. Updated On: 6/2/10 at 10:19 PM

[Yawper]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 10:22pm

So after an almost 50 year history you're going to now change the character's fundamentals and think that's going to fly with Spiderman fans?

If you feel the need to be politically correct then introduce a black superhero and give him his own history. Updated On: 6/2/10 at 10:22 PM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 10:24pm

Huh?

How does it fundamentally change him?

Why does it bother you so much? Updated On: 6/2/10 at 10:24 PM

[Yawper]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 10:40pm

There are backstories to all the major superheroes. It's a major part of their evolution as characters. They don't just drop out of nowhere like musical theater characters do.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 10:44pm

A part of me doesn't mind them changing Peter Parker from black to white but another, even bigger, part of me screams "DON'T MESS WITH HISTORY!" As long as they make a good movie, I don't think I will have a problem with it, but it still irks me when people change things just to be politically correct or current.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 10:45pm

So after an almost 50 year history you're going to now change the character's fundamentals and think that's going to fly with Spiderman fans?

Yeah, Peter Parker is white. That's all there is to it. Had he been changed say 40 years ago then that would be one thing, but he has an image now. It's too late.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 10:45pm

And movies based on these comics never ever deviate from the source material?

And what about Peter Park dictates he has to be white?

I know this questions are rhetorical, since you don't answer them and just drop non sequiturs like the one about musical theatre.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 10:47pm

He doesn't HAVE to be white but Peter Parker (the geeky, white kid) has been loved and cherished for so long that changing anything about that character makes the fans (including myself) go ballistic. I mean, in the 3rd movie when Peter became emo.....that never happened in the comics. He became a bitch, but not emo, and that caused a big problem among fans.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 10:55pm

And what about Peter Park dictates he has to be white?

He doesn't have to be white, but changing it now would SCREAM PC. Then it'll start a whole debate on why he isn't Mexican, Asian, Indian, etc.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 10:56pm

People...it's a cartoon. Yes, okay, I used "cartoon" to provoke. It's a comic. A graphic novel. Whatever. I can't believe there's a heated discussion about this. Besides, what's so politically correct about making Spiderman black? It's just another choice.

Many comic books and their characters changed costumes and personas during updates over the years. Blackhawk is one of them.
Blackhawk's ch-ch-ch-changes.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 10:59pm

It might not scream PC to others, little white boy. But why is race the one characteristic that seemingly can't be changed, but no one is crying foul at anything else?

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 10:59pm

But those were secondary characters that didn't have a huge fan base. You can't really compare the two. It's like, what if they made a new Indiana Jones movie but made him black? The fans would have an uproar because it's not Indy.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 11:00pm

The white fans, you mean.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 11:02pm

Phyllis - Really, if ANYTHING deviates from the original storyline, the fans go crazy. If you changed Peter from taking pictures for a newspaper to making him a news anchor - that's not how Peter was originally written and then you have fans foaming at the mouth.

Updated On: 6/2/10 at 11:02 PM

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 11:03pm

Not necessarily the white fans. If they made SPAWN white, I would not be happy with it, because that is not the SPAWN that people became fans of.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 11:07pm

Again, if they make Peter black and make a great movie, then I am all for it. But, don't just do it only for the sake of doing it.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 11:18pm

It was not as if Raimi followed original canon in the previous films and it was not just the third film that deviated (it just did so in a bigger and very awful way).

Also, I never saw Peter Parker- I just saw Spiderman. As far as Peter, I just saw nerdy outsider trying to fit in.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 11:20pm

Could there be a black Peter Parker in the Broadway Spiderman?