Stereo Types (A Personal Reflection On A Two-Way Issue)

To be honest I don't really hold that strong of an opinion on stereotypes. I grew up with a lot of people making comments to me on Italian-Amerian stereotypes and, while people may not handle it in the same way, I learned to laugh about it and move on. I see stereotypes as a neutral thing. On one hand they are useful in identifying someone quickly, on another hand they can be used in the negative aspect of out casting a group of people (example for recent prejudices include Caucasians, men, black Americans, Hispanic/ Cuban legal citizens, people who follow Islamic rituals, police, and the higher and lower economic classes). However some people who have gotten stereotyped frequently eventually used that as a comedic advantage. Look at Jewish comedian Mel Brooks who maked fun of his own Jewish stereotypes. If you want to look into his work I suggest starting with The History of The World Part One. 

For design and representation, it really does depend on where you are going with it. Sometimes stereotypes can be used positively in political art/comics and comedy and it can work to help get some messages across and create a few laughs. In animation exaggeration of features (ex. the curvy hour glass figure of a woman and the strong upper bodied man) can make them easy to recognize and memorable in the sense of simplification. Now when it comes to race that IS a tricky thing to go by. However I believe people are free to go by how they wish when it comes to design if it is their own. It's there right to express their character how they wish. Heck, if I wanted to right now I'd draw myself to look like Italian stereotype Mario from Super Mario Bros. or a "greaser" in the 50s if that's how I wish to portray myself.

When it comes to a personal issue of being stereotyped I have been stereotyped in more than one manner. One of these stereotypes I will not go over though due to it being a confidential and being a very personal private issue. I've been stereotyped for being a guido (which is a modern day equivalent of calling an Italian-American W.O.P.), a homophobic Catholic (I come from a Catholic family), and a racist and overly religious republican. Now the last one is the only one that has bothered me growing up. I can say as a person with friends of different backgrounds and ethnicities, not identifying myself with religious labels or rules, and being ftm I don't fit into the negative stereotype that has been sweeping the political field on the right wing. In a separate incident, some people who I once called my friends, would make fun of me for being Italian-American, while I could laugh at the accent as a joke, I stopped laughing after being only addressed as a guido and a W.O.P. I found it to be very obnoxious, so of course I cut my ties. Other than those two particular incidences, I have not suffered in my work or my personal life because of it, and laugh about it and joke about it to this day. After 14 years of my life in speech therapy I learned that words can be taken in any context but it's up to you to choose how to take them and it goes with imagery too. I can say that it does apply to my life in the real world. So in long story short, I have been affected by these stereotypes but I've had more positive experiences than negatives all just because of the way I handled the situations.

I will say that you all are welcome to disagree, I encourage intellectual diversity!

Maus - A Graphic Novel Telling of The Holocaust

I have to say that while reading the captivating graphic novel of Maus by Art Spiegelman it held very different approach to a historical topic, that being the holocaust. As a person really big into both history and literature this had the best of both worlds (or genres) put in together nicely into one book. Now, as someone who knows people that came into this country in times of war (Bosnian war, Cambodian Civil War, Rwandan Civil War, and The Syrian War that has been going on since 2011) the way the father and son were portrayed when telling the story were very similar of both friends and children I knew who immigrated from war interacted and behaved. I say this in the sense of an outsider seeking on their own to understand their story, whether it is of the experience of war or their immigration. The conversations between the characters while the father was recalling his youth just reminded me a lot of those chats I would have with my friends who have fled from war driven countries. Asking questions, being told the tales of their lives and youth, and of course sometimes there would be emotions both of anger, sadness, and joy.

The style was very out of what is commonly seen in comics, a "clean-cut" smooth style. While it did maintain a clean look it, the artist gave it a very bold and brave look that matched well with the story's topic, that topic being the World War II holocaust. To compare it to what the son said in the first chapter, "it makes it more real".

Underground Comics

I'm a little late to the game on this blog but after some time and finally catching up on my other class assignments I finally got around to another entry about the "wonderful world of comics"; the underground comics for this week of course. I myself am a big fan of independent comic artists and underground ones too. A personal favorite of mine is The Infernal Pact by Joseph Schmalkes (a local artist in Maine). It deals with a biker gang that gets wrapped up in making a pact with a demon. Their subtitle puts it down simply in the long run, its about "Sex, Drugs, Violence, and Damnation". Now I chose not to re-read The Infernal Pact, instead I chose to look into Tijuana Bibles, Fat Freddy's Cat, and Mickey Meets The Air Pirates.

The comic that I took the most liking to no doubt and hands down Tijuana Bibles! It was just so humorous, and when it comes to pervious, sexual, and provocative jokes I am a big fan! I’m not a fan of limitations to humor. This comic just swept me off my feet. The style is misleading, looking like the mild pin-up art that was common in the 1950s, which honestly added more to the humor. I found it a bit relatable to a degree but that’s private information. Overall it was just really fun to read through and each segment was short sweet and to the point.

To be perfectly honest I thought Fat Freddy’s Cat was a take on Fritz The Cat upon first glance (if you haven’t seen it I recommend it to those who are adventurous in the cinema realm). The further I got into it though it reminded me of some sort of adult parody of Garfield and I think rightfully so since it’s a house cat causing mischief. I can’t say I enjoyed it as much as Tijuana Bibles though, but it was still a nice comic to read.

Speaking from a artistic critical standpoint Mickey Meets The Air Pirates was a little hard to follow. I really did like the art style though! A lot of they styling reminded me of Bone by Jeff Smith. It had crude and provocative humor but again didn’t strike me as well as Tijuana Bibles did. Though the charming style did make up for the humor. I mean I’m sure it was funny for some people but it just didn’t strike a bell with me