Roger Green: a librarian's life, deconstructed.
I was watching ABC News’ This Week (on Monday, as usual), when I came across this note during the “In Memorium” section:
Myron Waldman, 97 — Animator who drew Betty Boop, Casper, Popeye and the original Superman cartoon series.
And I almost missed it.
I have one batch of those original Superman cartoons on DVD, Popeye was my first hero, and I’m sure I’ve seen some of Waldman’s other work as well.
Myron Waldman: one of those people I’ll miss, even though I didn’t know his name.
Mike noted late last year that writing about that issue of “Lois Lane” where she is turned black was mined to death. And probably it was, but I still find it endlessly fascinating anyway, probably because it came out while I was collecting comics, yet I was totally unaware of its existence.I was a Marvel zombie at the time, reading Luke Cage, Sub-Mariner, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and the like, rather than Superman, Batman or (sorry, Gay Prof), Wonder Woman.
For those unfamiliar with the story, in brief: Superman helps Lois Lane turn black, so she can “see how the other half live.” It has a “Black Like Me” quality to it. It reminds me of my single favorite piece EVER on Saturday Night Live, a filmed segment in which Eddie Murphy, in whiteface, gets on a city bus. When there are black and white people present, everything is as expected. But when there are ONLY white people, then the party starts and no one has to pay the fare.
Googling about, I found a lot of conversation about whether Beyonce Knowles might be cast as Lois Lane in some Superman movie. There was an interesting range of responses, from “Why not?” to “Why are they trying to be political correct? Lois Lane is WHITE!” One declared: “Lois Lane should not be played by a negress.”
A negress?
Seldom have I heard that term, but the jury seems to be out on whether the term is offensive or not. The American Heritage Dictionary lists it s offensive, in the same league as Jewess. It IS arcane, that’s for sure.
I’ve been thinking about when does/how can one recast a part that had been traditionally played by a white person. Certainly, with the historical discrimination in the movie business, one can make the case for more color-blind casting. But is Lois Lane so iconic that a black actress simply will not do?
I read that there were complaints in some circles about Jessica Alba being cast as Sue Storm in last summer’s Fantastic Four movie, not over her acting ability, or lack thereof, but over her skin color, darker than the comic book character.
Daredevil fans know that the Kingpin is white in the comic book, but played by a black actor, Michael Clark Duncan, in the movie. I noted little resistance, but then I don’t read all of the comic blogs, so if there was controversy, I’m sure someone will let me know.
Occasionally, one of my blogging colleagues suggests a movie recast, usually of an older movie for which all the major players were white. Almost invariably, I’m the one who’s most likely to suggest “non-traditional” casting.
To the original point of this piece: I think it’s always a good idea for us to put ourselves in situations where we are not the majority, situations that make us a little uncomfortable. However hackneyed the comic story might have been, I think its heart was surely in the right place.
***
It occurred to me, especially after this Sunday’s sermon on forgiveness, that talking about race seems to mean being angry about it in the minds of some people. Certainly stuff happens, and certainly some of it is hurtful. But for me to hold on to the anger of all of these tales would be too debilitating for me. So, I let go, I forgive whatever the slight, or perceived slight, may have been. However, as you may have noticed, I seldom forget.
I was working on the word LOVE in terms of its letters’ rank, and I discovered:
L is the 12th letter (15th from the end)
O is the 15th letter (12th from the end)
V is the 22nd letter (5th from the end)
E is the 5th letter (22nd from the end)
There are 10 spots forward from one consonant (L) to the other (V)
There are 10 spots backwards from one vowel (O) to the other (E)
What is the significance of all of this? Is there some sort of numerological synchronicity to the very word LOVE?
I dunno.
And why do I even KNOW this stuff? Well, I was going to put together a compilation album for some blogger exchange last year and thought I’d disguise the subject matter by putting in the same rank letter from the other direction, but what I ended up with was OLEV, pretty obvious what it was supposed to be.
(Whereas ROGER, e.g., becomes ILTVI, not quite so obvious, but actually pronounceable.)
To paraphrase Holland, Dozier, and Holland, love makes me write foolish things.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Oh, the title: LOVE BY THE NUMBERS.
(And you thought I was going to write something mushy about how much I love my wife and daughter and mother and sisters and nieces and friends…)
***
Given this analysis of the day and this hot trend, and despite these lovely cards, it is this song that is my favorite on this day.
***
According to today’s New York Times, “The Kiss of Life” by Joshua Foer: The Germans are also said to have coined the inexplicable phrase “A kiss without a beard is like an egg without salt.”
***
Happy birthday, Anne!
Haven’t done this in a while. Kelly has stolen from me, more than once, so I hought I’d steal from her this time. You wanna play? Go here. It doesn’t always generate the same list, BTW.
You said your birthday is 3 / 7 / 1953
which means you are 52 years old and about:
36 years 4 months younger than Walter Cronkite, age 89
31 years 8 months younger than Nancy Reagan, age 84
28 years 9 months younger than George Herbert Bush, age 81
21 years 5 months younger than Barbara Walters, age 74
19 years 4 months younger than Larry King, age 72
13 years 1 month younger than Ted Koppel, age 65
9 years 8 months younger than Geraldo Rivera, age 62
6 years 8 months younger than George W. Bush, age 59
1 year 8 months younger than Jesse Ventura, age 54
2 years 8 months older than Bill Gates, age 50
7 years 6 months older than Cal Ripken Jr., age 45
13 years 4 months older than Mike Tyson, age 39
17 years 5 months older than Jennifer Lopez, age 35
22 years 10 months older than Tiger Woods, age 30
29 years 3 months older than Prince William, age 23
and that you were:
48 years old at the time of the 9-11 attack on America
46 years old on the first day of Y2K
44 years old when Princess Diana was killed in a car crash
42 years old at the time of Oklahoma City bombing
41 years old when O. J. Simpson was charged with murder
39 years old at the time of the 93 bombing of the World Trade Center
37 years old when Operation Desert Storm began
36 years old during the fall of the Berlin Wall
32 years old when the space shuttle Challenger exploded
30 years old when Apple introduced the Macintosh
30 years old during Sally Ride’s travel in space
28 years old when Pres. Reagan was shot by John Hinckley, Jr.
26 years old at the time the Iran hostage crisis began
23 years old on the U.S.’s bicentennial Fourth of July
21 years old when President Nixon left office
19 years old when Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace was shot
16 years old at the time the first man stepped on the moon
15 years old when Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated
12 years old during the Watts riot
10 years old at the time President Kennedy was assassinated
6 years old when Hawaii was admitted as 50th of the United States
4 years old when the Soviet satellite Sputnik 1 was launched
not yet 1 year old at the end of the Korean War
And all of the things that happened on this list since I was 10 I remember in bizarre detail, except for the introduction of the Mac. All sorts of uplifting stuff on that roster.
FWIW, Joe Stalin died two days before I was born, as did Prokofiev.
I was 6 years old when the events that triggered the Truman Capote book “In Cold Blood” took place. My wife was not yet born, so she was really unfamiliar with the subject matter of the movie “Capote”, which we saw yesterday FOR FREE, thanks to the generosity of a local realtor. (We could have seen anything playing at the Spectrum theater.) Carol said that it was a very good film, but disturbing, and she’s not sure she’s glad see saw it. I was more familiar with the subject matter, so I anticipated certain of the more graphic scenes. Not only was Catherine Keener, and especially Philip Seymour Hoffman deserving of their Oscar nominations, but the screenplay was gripping.
More on The Colored Negro Black Comic Book by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon.
Note: in the comic strip tradition all the words in the strip are in capitals, but for readability, I’ve deigned to write in standard English. Also the words that are in bold in the strip are in red in this text.
“Mother Eartha”, a 4 page response to “Mary Worth”
Page 1:
Page 2, Panel 1:
Young woman: Oh, Aunt Mother Eartha, my husband has been out of work for months – with no job in sight…
Page 2, Panel 2:
(Shot of the coffee pot, young woman’s hand pouring java into Eartha’s cup)
Young woman: – our unemployment checks stopped coming, the welfare payments are low, our bills keep climbing-
Page 3, Panel 1:
Young woman: -my son’s lost heart and is fighting the system – taking dope rioting….
Page 3, Panel 2:
Young woman (on sofa, in background): – my daughter’s pregnant again and her husband lost his job- oh – oh –ooh
Page 4 IS MISSING FROM THE BOOK! How does this end? I wish I knew! Anyone near the library at Michigan State University want to tell me how this concludes?
***
Dark Racey, a 4-page take on “Dick Tracy”.
There is no table of contents, or for that matter, pagination, the only reason I know the name of the next story is from the citation at MSU. Of course, page 1 of this story is missing as well.
Page 2:
Page 3, Panel 1:
Racy: -Perhaps you suspect someone on your own police force?
Sheriff: This boy’s seen too many movies?
Page 3, Panel 2
(Sheriff firing gun: Bam Wam Fam Jam
Page 4:
(Racy on the ground in a pool of blood, three holes in head and shoulder, word “holes” with arrows pointing to them. Another cop stands at attention.)
Sheriff: See that the murderer gets to the morgue…
This is obvious a take on “In the Heat of the Night”, yet another Sidney Poitier movie, but with a…different outcome. Disturbing, believable, but not particularly funny.
***
“King Coal”, a 4-page retort to what I believe was called “King Cole”, a strip not in the Toonopedia, though I do vaguely remember it.
EDIT: The strip was called The Little King, and it IS in the Toonopedia.
Page 1
Page 2, Panel 1
The crowd: Long live the King of Liberalia!
The photographer (in foreground talking to a man in a hat): How magnificent! A black king!
Page 2, Panel 2:
Man in hat: That’s because Liberarians are a grerat liberal people!
Page 3, Panel 1:
Photographer: Where is the king of Liberalia’s castle?
Man in hat: Over yonder kill.
Page 3, Panel 2:
Photographer sweats up the hill.
Page 3, Panel 2:
Photographer: !
Page 4:
King entering decrepit castle with clotheslines running from crooked turrets to adjoining building and a couple with a baby in clothes with patches.
If you thought taking shots at liberals was a recent activity, think again. A real “gotcha” strip, which I liked all right.
***
“Charcoal Chin”, a 4 page reply to “Charlie Chan”. Was this ever a strip, or just a series of movies?
Page 1:
Page 2, Panel 1:
Charcoal (to son)” – And, as it is added in the great proverbs – “We are all blacks…”
Page 2, Panel 2:
Charcoal (looking at bullet):…we are all Orientals, we are all Eskimos…
Page 3, Panel 1:
Charcoal (to son):…we are all Parisians…we are all New Yorkers-
Page 3, Panel 2:
Page 3, Panel 2:
Son: -And, I suppose, Pop – we are all whites?
Charcoal: Taxi!
Page 4
Taxi driver gives Chins the raspberry. Logo- Bigot & Redneck Taxi Corp. Rates .45 ½ mile.
Charcoal: – To every rule, my son – there is an exception – and, like Confucius say, boy, have you found it!
As I recall, there was a feeling in 1970 that people of color were in the same boat. Don’t think that perception is nearly so true today.
The person cited in the first panel was JFK, of course. A number of comic book (and other) people nearly deified the martyred President, maybe not over who he was, but over who he might have become.