D&D Movie/TV (Yet another) D&D Movie Speculation thread.

[gyor]

C'mon.
Yeah, it was amoral and evil. No it's not a contest.

But, as the post that started this particular conversation went:


What do you think?
Does the the Barbary slave trade and the existence of white slaves in the past make things "even" with the African-American slave trade? Does the fact Arabs took Irish and European slaves mean that it's okay to have the only people of colour in a film be villains?

The Drow aren't "black" in the racial sense, they happen to have black skin. And who says all the heroes have to be white? They don't. This isn't a white vs black thing, let's not make it that way people and confuse a fantasy race with real world racial politics that it doesn't make sense to apply it too.

 

[generic]

Normal people won't, and the "woke" part of the audience is too small to matter economically, and they, will find something to complain about no matter what WotC does.

Never underestimate the power of social media campaigns...

Whether or not you agree with the "woke" portion of the audience, you have to admit the power a simple campaign.

Economy is important, but communication trumps all other factors in attendance.

 

[Jester David]

My suggestion is that WotC stop worrying about being "woke" and just tell a really good story with compelling characters. Making being "Woke" the top priority over setting, story, characters, and regular fans, has been a disaster for IPs like Ghostbusters, Marvel Comics (not marvel studios), and EA games, for example.

Don't worry about people being offended by Drow, that is there problem,, they are seeing things in it that aren't there.

WTF????
First, telling a good story with compelling characters and being woke are NOT mutally exclusive.
Second, despite what the "comicgate" people will tell you, Marvel comics is doing just fine. The diversity has NOT hurt comics.

And third, most of all, people of colour and LGBT folk CAN BE REGULAR FANS!!
There is nothing "irregular" about being a black D&D fan.

 

[Jester David]

The Drow aren't "black" in the racial sense, they happen to have black skin. And who says all the heroes have to be white? They don't. This isn't a white vs black thing, let's not make it that way people and confuse a fantasy race with real world racial politics that it doesn't make sense to apply it too.

Drow aren't "black" in the racial sense... anymore. But they were. Look at the original cover of Queen of the Spiders or Crystal Shard.

And the orcs of Lord of the Rings aren't "black" in the traditional sense. But when audiences see the only people of colour cast as the savage villains, it problematic.
When black fans don't see anyone in the movies (or game books) that look like them and they can identify with, then that's problematic.

 

[generic]

WTF????
First, telling a good story with compelling characters and being woke are NOT mutally exclusive.
Second, despite what the "comicgate" people will tell you, Marvel comics is doing just fine. The diversity has NOT hurt comics.

And third, most of all, people of colour and LGBT folk CAN BE REGULAR FANS!!
There is nothing "irregular" about being a black D&D fan.

I Agree (for the most part).

I know from experience with friends and family that anyone can be a "normal" (as gyor puts it) person, a D&D fan, and a sensitive individual (sensitive as not insensate).

 

[generic]

Drow aren't "black" in the racial sense... anymore. But they were. Look at the original cover of Queen of the Spiders or Crystal Shard.

And the orcs of Lord of the Rings aren't "black" in the traditional sense. But when audiences see the only people of colour cast as the savage villains, it problematic.
When black fans don't see anyone in the movies (or game books) that look like them and they can identify with, then that's problematic.

Furthermore, we know that orcs were derived from what would now be considered a racist view.

Tolkien himself described them as "somewhat mongol-like".

Ouch...

However, the Drow bit you posted is inaccurate.

 

[Mercurius]

Drow aren't "black" in the racial sense... anymore. But they were. Look at the original cover of Queen of the Spiders or Crystal Shard.

This isn't accurate, JD. Those are two covers that came 10+ years after the drow were introduced. We can add in FR1: Waterdeep, as well. So yeah, in the late 80s the drow were depicted as having brown skin on a few covers. But not originally, and really only for a short time; and furthermore, they weren't depicted as having African features, just brown skn.

 

[Azzy]

Why are you trying to make it a contest? Enslaving Africans was evil, enslaving Europeans was evil, ect..., that it was more Africans then Europeans doesn't make it more moral some how to enslave Europeans. It's all bad. It's not a contest.

It's not a contest. It's not comparable. What you're doing is making a false equivalency.

 

[Azzy]

What would a sneak-attack look like in film?

An attack the blindsides or otherwise surprises the enemy.

 

[Mercurius]

The question then is "will it ever be okay to have an all white group of protagonists facing savage dark skinned opponents" without racism being invoked?
Will casting dark skinned people as "the other" not be racist?

Why is that the question and whose question is it? You are making it a question but afaict, no one is advocating for an all-white group of good guys vs "savage dark-skinned opponents." That is a hypothetical strawman that just will never happen in this day and age. So why get upset about it?

Being "woke" means being aware of social issues. So, yes, being "not work" DOES equate with being "unaware".

And, no, not being woke does not make you a racist. But it does mean you might unintentionally say or do racist things. Or at the least continue to participate in existing systemic racism.

Again, you are fusing "being aware of social issues" with a certain and specific interpretation of social issues and history ("woke"), which you elaborate on in your post and in this thread. There are other interpretations, and if a person doesn't agree with the entire "woke paradigm," that doesn't mean they aren't aware of said social issues. This is the biggest problem I have with the "woke paradigm." It is another version of either you're with us, or against us.