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Unearthed Arcana: Gothic Lineages & New Race/Culture Distinction
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<blockquote data-quote="Dire Bare" data-source="post: 8187298" data-attributes="member: 18182"><p>Heh, trying to argue that Burroughs's John Carter of Barsoom stories aren't built on racist tropes . . . . naïve at best. I love the Barsoom stories, but they don't hold up well regarding realistic and anti-racist portrayals of different peoples. At all.</p><p></p><p>What should we do about it? Not read them? Should publishers put a warning label on them? What if we want to adapt them into movie or role-playing game? We have the same issues we have with D&D.</p><p></p><p>I would prefer than any modern reprints of the Barsoom stories open with a discussion of these stories, how they are important and influential sci-fi stories, but also seriously flawed and built with the racist tropes popular at the time. Doesn't make E.R. Burroughs a bad person, or the reader a bad person for enjoying the stories. But not something we should ignore or perpetuate either.</p><p></p><p>In a new adaptation, I would try to do the same thing many of us are trying to do with D&D . . . . adapt the source material to mitigate, or even remove if possible, the racist tropes without also completely destroying the stories. Is that even possible? It's not easy, for sure. But worth trying.</p><p></p><p>The Disney movie "John Carter" didn't do well at the box office, but was a decent adaptation of the stories. It mostly side-stepped the racial issues rather than change or confront them, which disappointed me. Lost opportunity. I picked up the Barsoom RPG by Modiphius, but haven't had the chance to really dig into it yet. Jury's out on this one for me.</p><p></p><p>I would love to see a Barsoon adaptation that reimagined John Carter and the various Martian peoples he meets and jettison the racial stereotyping. I think it could be done, and even explore racial issues through fiction not unlike Star Trek attempts to do.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dire Bare, post: 8187298, member: 18182"] Heh, trying to argue that Burroughs's John Carter of Barsoom stories aren't built on racist tropes . . . . naïve at best. I love the Barsoom stories, but they don't hold up well regarding realistic and anti-racist portrayals of different peoples. At all. What should we do about it? Not read them? Should publishers put a warning label on them? What if we want to adapt them into movie or role-playing game? We have the same issues we have with D&D. I would prefer than any modern reprints of the Barsoom stories open with a discussion of these stories, how they are important and influential sci-fi stories, but also seriously flawed and built with the racist tropes popular at the time. Doesn't make E.R. Burroughs a bad person, or the reader a bad person for enjoying the stories. But not something we should ignore or perpetuate either. In a new adaptation, I would try to do the same thing many of us are trying to do with D&D . . . . adapt the source material to mitigate, or even remove if possible, the racist tropes without also completely destroying the stories. Is that even possible? It's not easy, for sure. But worth trying. The Disney movie "John Carter" didn't do well at the box office, but was a decent adaptation of the stories. It mostly side-stepped the racial issues rather than change or confront them, which disappointed me. Lost opportunity. I picked up the Barsoom RPG by Modiphius, but haven't had the chance to really dig into it yet. Jury's out on this one for me. I would love to see a Barsoon adaptation that reimagined John Carter and the various Martian peoples he meets and jettison the racial stereotyping. I think it could be done, and even explore racial issues through fiction not unlike Star Trek attempts to do. [/QUOTE]
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