Joss Whedon probably doesn't want to kill Asian people

[seriousfic]

You know, perhaps it's just me, but having seen people saying that Joss Whedon has "well-documented issues with Asian culture" because there were no Asian characters in Firefly, I feel inclined to point out that it's a TV show that lasted 14 episodes and a movie. It's not like Friends, where they spent ten years shooting the shit and Tom Selleck got more screentime than the African people. They were canceled midway through the first season.

Besides which, they spent most of their time dealing with corrupt military/business types, criminals, prostitutes, and psychotic rape-cannibals. So if there had been an Asian character, there's a good chance you'd just be complaining "all the Asians in Firefly are villains or geishas!" I'm just saying, name a random recurring character and then imagine if they were played by an Asian. Would it be a "complimentary" role? Niska? "Fu Manchu wannabe!" Badger? "Scumbag!" Saffron? "Dragon lady!" Hell, you'd get that if one of the main cast were Asian. Jayne? "Oh, the Asian guy is treacherous, thanks Whedon!" Kaylee? "A cute, perky Asian girl? Fuck you, Whedon!"

So please, a little perspective, and let's conclude that while Joss Whedon may be flawed, as is his prerogative as a human being, he doesn't hate Asian people. That's M. Night Shymalan's bit.

ETA: Dichen Lachman as the Wasp? I could live with it. Although after watching her in Dollhouse, I'd buy it if you told me she was playing Captain America. Although then I'd have to start shipping Steve/Tony, because damn, Lachman and Downey? Hotness called, it wants its hot back.

Comments

[seriousfic.livejournal.com]

Oh, come off it, you must admit there's a difference between a 2,000 word fic and a series that's 60K. With a short fic, a cast that is pretty much only the main pairing is understandable. When it hits epic-length and there are no women, then you can pull out the... criticizing people... instruments...

[prozacpark.livejournal.com]

In case you've forgotten, I don't exactly believe that there's a tolerable level of sexism/racism I must be subjected to before I can complain about it.

[alara-r.livejournal.com]

I personally do consider that. I also consider the source text; shows where there *are* no interesting recurring female characters have a hard time producing fanfic with interesting female characters.

But if you're, say, an X-Men fan, and you write about Wolverine and Gambit, except that Gambit got Storm's weather powers and her connection to the biosphere and he became team leader, and you don't actually have any of the X-Women appear in your stories at all but you *do* have men appear, or you have Jean and Rogue but they are screechy harpies intended to try to break up Wolverine and Gambit to take them for themselves... it's kind of hard to avoid drawing the conclusion that you have a problem with women, even if the fics are short.

I know a slasher who loves Captain Picard. She likes to write Picard/Riker. She likes to write Picard/Q. She likes to write Picard/Jack Crusher. She has gone on record saying that she hates Beverly Crusher and will never write her. She also has mentioned hating a minor female character Picard had a romantic relationship with in the past. This... starts to look problematic. It's not any one fic, it's the pattern.