Episode 51: According To The Source Material

   I've written several times before about how much I love comic books and superheroes in general. It's one of my biggest passions. One look into my room, my phone, my sketchbook, you'll see how important superheroes are to me. Superheroes are to me what sports are to most men my age. 

    As such a huge geek, I find myself entangled in a ton of different fandoms. It's not even just Marvel or DC, there are other companies and stuff that's completely original. And even within Marvel and DC, each movie, show, and comic series yields its own fanbase. 

    The problem with so many fanbases, however, is that some of them are toxic. I'll never forget when fans of Rick and Morty (a show I quite enjoy) tortured poor fast food workers just because the haha funny pickle man said Szechuan sauce is yummy. It's also sort of a running meme on the internet that Rick and Morty fans think they're better than everyone else because of the shows high-brow scientific humor. I've never seen a Rick and Morty fan genuinely believe that, but if they really do, then I can attest that the humor in Rick and Morty is nothing special. Yeah, it's funny, but it's funny in the way that several other shows are funny. You by no means have to like science to laugh at the haha funny pickle man.

    But for this blog, I wanna focus on a specific issue. A lot of comic book fans like to demand accuracy to the comics for adaptations of them. They think that if a show or movie doesn't explicitly follow the comics, that means it's bad. While I do think comic accuracy is beneficial and should be a priority, it by no means is a necessity. An adaptation of a comic can, and often is, really good even if it just loosely follows the comics or even if it's only inspired by them.

The Walking Dead

   The show is based on a long-running (now over) comic series of the same name, written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics. The show often takes major liberties from the comics. Daryl isn't even in the comics, and Carol is, but she dies early on. Rick leaves the show in season 9 but in the comics he never leaves and he dies towards the end. The show is so different from its source material that it's perhaps more accurate to describe the show as loosely based on the comics.

    But I love the show. Despite my love for the comics, I don't care that the show is different from them. I think the changes they've made have generally worked out well and they've done a great job coming up with original stories in a separate universe.

Race-bending

   Now, this is a tricky thing. In the interest of being inclusive and politically correct, production companies sometimes like to change the race of a white character so they are a minority. Jim Gordon, traditionally white, was played a black man in The Batman. Ariel from The Little Mermaid, traditionally white, is going to be played by a black girl. 

   I generally don't think this should happen. Characters should be left the race they were created as. White characters should stay white, black characters should stay black, Asian characters should stay Asian, Latino characters should stay Latino, what have you. 

   But for Pete's sake, 98% of the time it's nothing to get mad over. Jeffrey Wright did a bomb ass job as Jim Gordon and I'm sure Halle Bailey will do a fine job as Ariel. My life does not change at all because Gotham City's police commissioner has darker skin, or because some mermaid does. The changes aren't accurate to the source material, sure, but it doesn't effect the quality of the work.

Anyway, see you next week!