It shouldn't, but there's always this nostalgic aspect of comics for me, but I wasn't surprised that a new character would be bisexual. Comics tend to push the cultural conversation forward and reflect on cultural norms in general. But it's interesting to me that the reason is because the writers didn't want to have the son of Clark Kent and Lois be a straight white male savior. It's interesting to me that bisexual is just enough diversity to take away the power of heteronormative white culture
Charlie Olivieri
@Charlieri · 4:42
I didn't really think that this was a widely accepted view, but I think you'll mention that it's a kind of tepid message to have someone as buy or it's just enough diversity that it's not being pushed far enough. I think it's wholly going to be seen in how it actually plays out in the comics. And from what we can see from those photographs of the comics so far is that it seems to be Jonathan Kent kissing someone who looks like a very masculine person
Tasha Frank
@NLOFrank · 5:00
And so I don't feel like personally, it's a temporary message at all or warm cozy version of being gay because the difficulties that bisexuals have had over the years in fitting in any community has not felt warm and cozy
Charlie Olivieri
@Charlieri · 0:58
So yeah, it's not been fully revealed what JNF or as Powers are, but I think that sounds pretty good to me. That sounds like pretty good representation to me. And I'd be curious to see actually what it is
Tasha Frank
@NLOFrank · 0:30
Hey, Charlie, thank you so much for sharing. I'm really actually looking forward to seeing how the characters are going to progress in the storylines. I think it definitely opens up new explorations. Some of these characters is in a way that like Superman, for example, in a way that we haven't seen before and especially with the love interest also potentially having powers. That sounds really interesting. I'm very excited to see how this develops. It's
Hi, everybody. This is a really fascinating conversation, one that I thank you all for because it's really interesting to hear all of the different perspectives on this particular story. I have an an interesting take on it, and I'm wondering how all of you feel about it. And I'm bringing this to the table. Having read thousands of comic books in my life, I'm a very, very big comic book fan my room. I'm looking at it right now decorated with superhero stuff
Tasha Frank
@NLOFrank · 4:27
First of all, I have a friend who is really heavily into comic books and especially Marvel and saying that it's great that we are seeing more inclusive characters, but that it feels forced, like you mentioned some of them and we talked about female thought that it wasn't because this is who the character is
Charlie Olivieri
@Charlieri · 2:54
Just recently, Disney had a show called The Owl House, which is a little animation, and it's been canceled after the first season because it was too queer. And that's the truth. It genuinely was, which is mad. So all of these bigwigs are absolutely terrified of things being too out there and too queer
Tasha Frank
@NLOFrank · 3:49
Thank you, Charlie. I absolutely love that analogy. Like that completely made sense. And I definitely agree. I think no matter what is where, where this has come from, it can definitely lead to bigger things. I just hope that they don't want to give up on it and do continue. And yeah, your vegan icing thing reminded me of the Greggs sausage roll. Actually, I'm not vegan, but I am vegetarian, and I have struggled so much over the vegetarian food
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
Melissa Mccarter
@lissahoop · 4:19
This is a really interesting conversation. It's interesting to me where it's going is a perspective from advocates of LGBTQIA issues, and also from a perspective of someone who's concerned about these issues, but also is the main target or fan of comics like this
Melissa Mccarter
@lissahoop · 3:52
I totally get the analogy that basically any representation is move forward whether it's done well or not, and that you can't have a purity test just if you're trying trying to advocate for change. And I can see that in your vegan analogy, the idea that consumerism is pushing for vegan products. And so companies are like Ben, is dairy who are dairy companies are appealing to that consumerism
Charlie Olivieri
@Charlieri · 2:07
And I do think there should be some kickback for Disney, but I just don't think people know enough about it because it is such a small show to begin with, and I only heard about it from word of mouth, purely because of the representation and the good representation within the show
Charlie Olivieri
@Charlieri · 0:34
So this is a question for all of you. And I just wanted to ask, like, ideal world, what is your idea of good representation? Good, thoughtful representation? And how would that work for you with the media releases and all that kind of stuff? I'm just curious to see what people think the ideal is compared to what has happened with Super Martin's son. Here
And in the case of Marvel, I don't think that that's what they've been doing lately, and certainly for DC, I think they've been taking almost every opportunity they can to just make something because it's either trending or it's considered cool or the right thing to do. Everybody recently was talking about how Shang Chi was the first superhero film with an Asian American lead or with an Asian lead. And that's not true either. There have been other superhero films with Asian leads
Personally, I understand that everything I've said right now is like, that's a really tall order. I don't imagine that any of that stuff is going to happen, but I think that if we want to see some real change, these Studios need to start taking risks. And to your point, Charlie, they need to start green lighting stories that are compelling that haven't been based off of books or comic books. It needs to happen
Melissa Mccarter
@lissahoop · 4:09
And Taylor, thank you for more of a history of the evolution and how all these things kind of fit into the business and the storytelling history of these characters characters. So this all is a really big overall discussion that is not just centered on this particular Superman
Charlie Olivieri
@Charlieri · 4:10
Really like it's Superman's son, I think I understand where you guys are coming from in that respect, and we can always do more work to include more diverse artists really because the more diverse your artists, the more interesting and complex your stuff is going to be, especially when you're such a huge franchise as Marvel or DC like keeping things fresh and is always going to be super important and they're not going to be at the cutting edge if they aren't including voices from these various background
Tasha Frank
@NLOFrank · 4:33
Hey, Lisa, thank you so much for bringing this conversation to swell and thank you everyone for contributing. I've really loved how this discussion is twisted and turned and brought up so many amazing different points and points of view and has gone from talking about comic books and bisexuality and ice cream sausage rolls and Star Wars. It sounds like my perfect night in, to be honest. So Charlie area that is such an amazing question