reineyday asked: hellooo, i saw your post where you said "historical accuracy = no creator accountability" and it was smthg you said you always referred to--can you please expand or point me to your other posts? i'd like to understand more about this! thanks :D
So, say someone makes a show set in Victorian London. There are no characters of color on the show.
Someone watches the show and says, “Hey, why is everyone on this show white?”
The creators of the show, rather than accepting responsibility for 1. choosing the setting of the show in the first place or 2. their own casting choices, say, “Hey! That’s just historically accurate, there WERE no PoC ‘back then’!!”
Basically, it’s about trying to pass the buck onto “history” for creative choices they made. Like: “OH, I didn’t WANT to exclude anyone, but I HAVE to be loyal and accurate to the true history!”
And everyone just accepts that as if it’s true, and as if that is a good reason to make a show that consists entirely of white people.
This is about dodging accountability in that they chose a setting they assumed would have only white people in it, and then made that true. And that has happened so many times that the myth just keeps perpetuating itself. Rather than consulting actual history or demographics, they base this idea on TV shows, books and movies that have already recreated some version of “Victorian London” that contains nothing but white citizens (in much the same way the citizens of supposed “New York City” in countless sitcoms are inexplicably white); media from ten years ago, 20 years, 50 years, and so on.
When he was elected Mayor of Battersea, John replied to press speculation about where he might have come from with
the remark that he had been born - “in a little obscure village in
England probably never heard of until now - the city of Liverpool”. He
went on to declare - “I am a Lancastrian bred and born”.
Characteristically pugnacious, but he had been stung by reports
which, guessing wildly, said that he had been born in Rangoon or
somewhere in India. He was actually part of the already well-established black population in Liverpool.
London is and was a vastly multicultural and diverse city. Even before the 1800s and photography, surviving artworks depict a massively diverse populace:
But the point I’m making here is that claiming your whitewashed media is somehow “historically accurate” is total bunk.
If someone creates something that has nothing but white characters, it is that way because they CHOSE to make it that way. There is every opportunity and every reason to create media with characters of color in it, and trying to blame history for whitewashing is about dodging accountability.
I’ve been asked a few times how my comic making process works now that I’ve switched to penciling digitally, so I’m going to do a write up about that. As always you can find all my blogging about making comics on this handy tumblr post.
Jaavon and the Unknown Gentleman, 2011. Titus Kaphar. Gentleman with Negro Attendant, 1785-88. Ralph Earl
Jaavon and the Unknown Gentleman was commissioned by the New Britain Museum of American Art as a contemporary commentary on the Colonial-era work Gentleman with Negro Attendant, by Ralph Earl. The resulting painting is the first in a new series that focuses on identity. Kaphar explains:
“Much of black history recorded in Western art is summarized visually by three roles: enslaved, in servitude, or impoverished. But beyond this limited social order lies a people of dignity and strength, whose survival is nothing less than miraculous. Within the context of 19th century paintings, most black characters play, at best, secondary roles int he composition. The implication of hierarchy through compositional positioning (that is, figures in the composition) is a fundamental theme explored in this piece.
In many paintings from this period the prototypical image of a black person was as a slave or servant, just outside of illuminated areas of importance. The characters in the shadows were there to add balance to the overall composition and emphasize, or accentuate, the statue of the “important” character being painted.
In the original painting Gentleman with Negro the black child is stripped of all identity. He has no name, grotesquely articulated features, and is bereft of human dignity. In Jaavon and the Unknown Gentleman, the black figure is replaced with a living and particular child — my young neighbor.”
A forensic facial reconstruction of Marfa Sobakina - Third wife of Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) and Tzarina of All Russia.
Born 1552 – Died 1571
The beautiful merchant’s daughter was chosen from amongst 12 marriage finalists to become the wife of Ivan the Terrible. Soon after her selection, Marfa was afflicted by a mysterious illness. She became weak and lost weight rapidly. Barely able to stand, Marfa married Ivan in 1571 but died just two weeks later.
Ivan was devastated and Marfa’s death increased his paranoia and mistrust. Suspecting his wife was poisoned, he had several of his loyal subjects executed.
It is believed that the actual cause of Marfa’s death was a potion supplied by her mother to increase her fertility.
When I was signing books in Frankfurt, someone asked me to draw The Enchantress, and I had never heard of her, so he produced a picture, and I asked questions about her while I drew. It turns out I think she is pretty great.
![I was drawing t-shirt ideas
[x]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/ccfb776e5764250c073ed4621cb5ab31/tumblr_nm1jovKz7R1rnw5qjo1_400.png)
![cropped leggings
[x]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/72a0fc4b51489bf03023b6b503c35c45/tumblr_nlryfp9U5i1rnw5qjo1_400.png)
![When I was signing books in Frankfurt, someone asked me to draw The Enchantress, and I had never heard of her, so he produced a picture, and I asked questions about her while I drew. It turns out I think she is pretty great.
[x]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/08ebf138158c2929b6227e0cd4683c1a/tumblr_nlqcriakUN1rnw5qjo1_r1_1280.png)
