You absolutely did. Rest well, and take good care of yourself. I hope you recover soon. Don't push yourself too hard. Yes, we all could use more La'Ron in our lives, but your health is the most important thing. 💜
The suburban white school I went to as a white kid did have us read The Bluest Eye along with multiple other novels every year based around diversity. At the time, it felt like they were really beating a dead horse. When I graduated and went to college and started interacting with white kids that didn’t even know basics like the fallout of the cotton gin or what the Trail of Tears was and I realized how aberrant my school giving a shit was… I became REALLY grateful they made that effort I hadn’t appreciated at the time.
@Whats.Next.VideosThey did not call anyone racist. They said that their other classmates didn't even know about these events to begin with. So of course they didn't "obsess" over these events as they likely didn't know they existed.
It's a testament to your skill as an essayist that I have never cared about Aquaman, and still watched the whole thing with undivided attention. Fantastic work!
I'm Jewish, and the way you explained the Jewish comic creators' creation of white characters as wish fulfillment is very insightful. You are exactly right, of course. In the comic book heyday, a lot of 1st or 2nd generation American Jews were openly Jewish, leaning into the novelty of receiving much less persecution here than they may have gotten in their previous countries. Yet, many others sought the shelter of conditional whiteness and did whatever they could to get and stay in the good graces of white society. Like the American-born artist you mentioned who aspired to be American, despite being American by default. In those days, their American-ness may have default, but not necessarily de facto. This essay is a feast. Thank you for sharing your work and your passion with us.
Someone explain to me what the difference is between Jewish people and white Anglo people??? You look the same to me. Literally up till you guys start distinguishing yourselves
"Blondeness" is still obsessed over especially among European diaspora in the States. White mothers everywhere gush/lament over how their now-brunette child used to be a light haired blonde child. Even brunette adults, at their big age, make sure to tell people they were "blonde as a child". Above all, it's seen as a status and class symbol for being 1) the closest to "white purity" and 2) for being seen as expensive. It's expensive to maintain blondeness if you aren't natural. "Bottle blondes" spend up to $400 to go platinum and maintenance requires special products. Even men, who might be quiet about it, might obsess over something as frivolous as blondeness either amongst themselves or in their partners. I once dated a guy who had honey brown colored hair, a dirty blonde at best during golden hour, and when I pointed out he might be a brunette, you'd think I had called his mother a street walker. He looked me dead in my eyes and said "No, I'm blonde". He had Irish and Polish ancestry. As much as people loathe "H", they sure do want to subscribe to his ideals real bad.
Absolutely. I had an ex who was the same - I didn't know how bad he was until he went full mask-off, and talked about how his kids would look Aryan. He was 6'5", an actor, and an absolute flaming White Supremacist. He claimed to be effectively pure German. He was also the most abusive man I've ever met in my life, and years after we broke up, after being rejected by seven police departments across California, he found a home in the LAPD. His hair is brown. Not "dishwater blonde". Brown. In our household, being blonde was shameful. I'm Irish, English, and Italian in equal measure. My Italian mother hated the fact that I was born with hair that was too red to be blonde and too blonde to be red, and taught me I looked like a Nazi from the age of 7-8 on. When she combed my hair, she would literally rip it out. Woman doesn't seem to like any reminder that she could produce a child with my coloring, and she, to this day, says I'm not Italian (despite being raised with the culture and having an Immigrant grandfather). Needless to say, as soon as I could start dyeing my hair, I did, and I'm so thankful my hair darkened to medium brown.
@@victorq4842 I thought I'd responded to this - my apologies. My mom doesn't hate my Whiteness. I'm an unfortunate reminder that she - an Italian woman who seems to go along with my father's seriously f**ked-up perspective that "Italians aren't actually White people" - is every bit as Caucasian and European as I am. If she hates anyone's Whiteness, it's her own, by proxy of her child. By looking at her behavior and the behavior of others, it seems that some White people seem to look at blonde, blue/light-eyed people as the avatars of all that is worst about our history of genocide, racism, and colonialism, which conveniently distances them from it. I do not want to diminish, in any way, the privilege that goes hand in hand with having blonde hair and/or blue/light eyes. What I'm talking about here is a potential form of White guilt-shifting and rationalization. I should have included all of the above in my original comment, which, in hindsight, did not come off well (which might be an understatement). I'm sorry about that.
Something I noticed while looking over the Aquafamily is that a lot of them seem to have a theme of being outcasts of not really fitting in either Atlantis or on Earth. Arthur: Atlantian human hybrid who constantly has to fight for his royal birthright Garth: Hated and feared because of his purple eyes. Mera: A native of Xebel, a kingdom that has feuded with Atlantis. Jackson Hyde: Atlantian human hybrid and son of Atlantis’ most infamous enemy. His Rebirth incarnation also showed him having issues gaining acceptance due to his homosexuality. He is also black. Koryak: Atlantian human hybrid. Also half-Inuit. Lorena: Latina human transformed into an Atlantian by technology. Dolphin: Her original incarnation was simply a human who was altered to be able to survive underwater. She wasn’t even really an Atlantean prior to Rebirth. Lagoon Boy: Arthur allowing him into Atlantis was met with protests for being an outsider and his appearance.
Having Orm being an allegory to fascism also works due to Atlantis' connection to Nazi Germany, with a lot of the myth being perpetuated by them, outside of its original concept from Ancient Greece
This was a really good deep dive on not only Aquaman lore in the comics, but the history of the jewish creators that formed Marvel and DC. Also the fact that Polynesians have a close association with the sea made DCEU Aquaman made the connect even better
Thanks a lot! Glad to have you on board! And if RUclips's not letting you know of when I post new stuff, signing up to either my newsletter or as a free member on my Patreon will let you know whenever I do!
@@Readus101Thank you for articulating this exactly. If a black girl tried to state what you were saying it wouldn't come across well. Do you follow Harriyanna Hook?
isn't she supposed to literally have a orange skin color? I don't think people had a problem with them casting her but rather that they made her skin colour black when she's supposed to be an orange alien.
an aspect thats also fascinating is that by the 90s they did in fact start to put more diversity as add ons in aquaman's lore at least in terms of his acquaintances and family, Koryak who is his son of inuit descent, in the 00s there was lorena marquez of latina descent and they actually do adress the fact that atlantis makes them feel extremely ostracized and sub diego arc was used to put more diversity to aquaman in general and with the introduction of jackson hyde/reformed xebel a few yrs later, they later explained that ancient atlanteans did have black groups/tribes but they all went into exodus to ethiopia who had children with humans which black manta is descended from, the erasure/killing of most of these characters left such a bad taste in my mouth cause it felt like they took 6 steps backwards in terms of aquaman lore and how white it was.
Holy fuck, I did not know that about Lee (Lieber) and Kirby (Kurtzberg). Still being shown more examples of the whitening of cultures through "Americanization".
That period of life when you're a Black kid who isn't the "norm" and you start (white) people-pleasing and hating yourself is such a damaging and tumultuous time...I had to deal with it myself as a gay Black kid in the 80's and 90's who liked rock, metal, comics, and anime....the kids these days don't appreciate how much more free they are, lol. Glad you mentioned this and glad you evolved!
@@prixe12 Um, perhaps don't look to white or non-black folks to give you representation. They already told you how they feel about you. If you're mot useful to them, they don't want you in their spaces. Why would they give you something revolutionary? They're just gonna give you something that makes you feel ashamed - Magical Negro tropes. How about black people go petition Tyler Perry Studios and all black owned studios to make you something with your own fundraising campaigns?
Important to note that in addition to Mamoa's Hawaiian father, his mother has Irish, German and Pawnee heritage. Which has interesting potential connotations for his Aquaman, given that Mamoa's family history (like several other real life mixed phenotype and mixed culture families & individuals) already had individuals that had experienced the same form of marginalization that he himself had at different periods (given the history of Irish & American Indigenous marginalization in the Anglophonic sphere). So Mamoa's Aquaman could potentially have heritage from the other aquatic kingdoms on his mother's side, or his father could not be entirely human (although personally i prefer the former). Which in turn would play into how supremacists like Ocean Master rarely ever actually match their own ideals of strata (Hitler having Jewish & Slavic heritage, J Edgar Hoover being a closeted homosexual, Stalin retaining Georgian Orthodox priests as part of his inner circle despite being the HoS for an Atheist Ideocracy, half the fucking Apartheid oligarchy tracing their heritage to a Kohisan woman, etc).
This is a fantastic topic and really opened my eyes. As a lifelong comic books fan I have never known about this side of the history of characters and their creators, and the ramifications for current day discourse around re-imaginings and recasts.
Jason Momoa already played Aquaman in Stargate Atlantis, which is part of the same cinematic universe and you can't convince me otherwise bro. It even has Atlantis in the title.
Not sure, but he definitly showed to be good in what aquaman needs, and well rounded in all areas of acting, and fun with surprising depth. I wouldnt complain more recognition for stargate atlantis thou.
Oh please please touch on young justice season 4 having an atlantean character named Arion(pronounced aryan) and hes supposed to be the true savior of all humanity or something
@stefansauvageonwhat-a-twis1369 it was so wild watching it the first time his story is almost spot on the pagan n4z1 bs founding a race of magical supermen I have to believe it was done on purpose in the writers room but it's not even commented on in the show and I don't even think many people picked up on it I'm the only person I've seen bring it up
This was really interesting. All video essays go into deep places, but I like your videos because your research into specific history and ability to tackle complicated projects, while making things still legible for those of us who arent plugged into pop culture like that, like... That shines and stands out in my playlist filled with other video essays.
Hot take (sadly): similar reason to why I want a certain marvel character to be asian american in the mcu for some similar reasons said in the video. As a 2nd gen(black african brit), I feel his backstory would make more sense via his dad bringing his son to a certain sacred city, and the story of not feeling completely home in any location would makes more sense to me that way considering the parallels of identity crisis with Asian diaspora kids too.
@Readus101 You should cover WB and DC cancelling misha green and jurnee smollett's Black Canary movie after David Zalav became the president of WB Both misha and jurnee deleted their Twitter accounts along with any promotional material that was meant for the movie amid the cancellation of multiple DC and WB projects Among those canceled projects just recently we had gotten the news that the independent Zatanna movie was also canceled, but for completely different reasons that involved JJ Abrams.
I happened upon this offering in the middle of the night and I’m glad that I did. Honestly, without seeing your name attached I assumed it was going to be something totally different. Nope. My brain is now full for the day. It also compels me to think of somewhat similar disjointed origins for (specifically) DC characters regarding race/ethnicity. Catwoman in particular. That Sean Cody logo left me gagging. Because I immediately knew what you were inferring. Great work!
Always love your hour+ long videos 😍😍😍 Knew very little about aquaman/havent seen the recent movies but this was utterly fascinating from beginning to end
Agreed, Something that I liked under hamada was the fact that he like zack and was open to taking cast risks w/ traditionally white/blonde characters like Supergirl, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Cyclone, Dinah, Batgirl and the Flash, I don't feel that kind of risk in Gunn's DCU. If Jason is not available to do Arthur, I would hope they continue the trend of having him be Polynesian instead of Ocean Thor.
I actually mentioned that. All these anti-woksters have double standards. They cry Gingercide when they cast a black woman for Iris West or Starfire yet NONE of the DCEU characters look like their comic book counterparts... not even Lois Lane who's played by red haired Amy Adams.
@suezcontours6653 I admit I was a little apprehensive for both leslie and sasha when they were cast as supergirl and batgirl, respectively but I Would hope they get a second chance at those characters. Because let's be real here does supergirl need to be white to work? Seriously? Isn't there Is a comic where the mom is dark skin? Also, DCTV, DCEU, and DCAU have had a black Iris West.
Yeah bro, growing up a comic fan was wierd for me. Hulk was always my favorite character because of his origin and the dynamic between him and hulk. Helps that he wasnt blonde or had blue eyes (in marvel everyone looks like Peter Parker) but through most of my childhood i wanted a black superhero thay was not only popular but was cool. Static and Blade were that for me for a long time. Now comic writers are catching on and giving minority characters real character arcs and involvement in plotlines unlike in the past where most didnt have anything to do or didnt have a comic.
Thank you for this wonderful in-depth analysis. I would have clicked it with the previous title, too. I just didn't have the time because of the length, so I needed to wait until I could listen to/ watch it in one go c: I can now add a new book to my reading list. European educational institutions don't talk about racism, especially against black people enough. That really has to change. I'm glad that videos like this can offer different POVs and allow exchange, so that we can all learn from one another without shame or judgement. Thank you so so much💖
I appreciate your discussion about Orm SO MUCH, these are thoughts I've had since I saw the film when it was released and yet I don't think I've seen anyone explain it, much less as eloquently as you have! it's also why I find it impossible to be interested in the sequel when all the promotion makes it look like an Orm redemption tour.
54:00 I can prove that its even more convoluted now on regards of the Atlanteans and the DC Universe as a whole cause now they have been labeled an "omniverse" which means all past iterations of these characters are considered loosely canon. Not even remotely joking.
Peter David is one of those writers that was secretly part of the back bone of the industry for a long while. Made some of the most iconic comics runs. Hulk Fan😊
The 90's design for Aquaman was always the most interesting because i grew up with the Hanna Barbara Justice League as well. Aqua man with a hook always stood out and seperated him from Namor for me. Aquaman being an outlaw is cool imo. Glad they went with Jason Mamoa. Sad to see him go but i dont want all superheroes who are white to have their race changed for casting simply because i dont think its worth it. For some characters like Magneto, Xavier, Sentry, and maybe a few others im fine with bit some characters shouldnt change. F4 always will be a period piece in my head making them white makes sense.
I really appreciate the dive into the history of old school comics and how Aqua Man the character was created! Love the breakdown of the character changed to reflect the identity of Jason Momoa. Where the original character was created to fit an ideal of what a conventionally attractive man is deemed to be and how unconsciously or consciously how marginalized people, we tend to absorb whiteness and the ways it may show up in our daily lives. I thought the casting of Jason Momoa as Aqua Man was amazing regarding being outcasted and finding himself.
Lifelong Aquaman fan here. I want to congratulate you on an excellent analysis. I grew up watching reruns of the Super Friends & the old Aquaman cartoons, so Silver Age Arthur was already “my” Aquaman when David’s & Giffin’s Orin emerged during my teens & 20s. I didn’t like him, & it took me a long time to figure out why: because he’d been turned into a pro-racist trope. I left off the character until his more recent runs (Waterbearer onward), where the whiteness elements were a bit less pronounced. And I loved the New 52’s retcon back to his Silver Age origin story, & all the housekeeping it did to Atlantis. I could finally go back to Aquaman being my favorite superhero. Momoa’s casting was brilliant, & making movie Orm look like comic Arthur even moreso, because it served as a commentary on the racial subtext running through Arthur’s entire canon, even if that wasn’t Wan’s intent. I’d honestly love to see DC lean into a Polynesian Arthur going forward, both in the comics & any future movie or TV projects. They won’t, of course. But I really respect what Snyder, Wan, & Momoa brought to Aquaman, & I don’t want to see it die. Thanks for such a comprehensive breakdown & analysis of my problematic favorite superhero!
@@daelen.cclark I’m hoping that in one of its inevitable continuity reboots, DC Comics will just have that new official Aquaman be Polynesian on his human side, without further comment.
This is exactly why I think it's about time either Marvel and DC started making a lot of new characters or we got a new comics universe. It seems like creatives are given a LOT more leeway with their characters and stories than back then. Or at the very least it's so much easier for a wider variety of people from different subcultures, sexualities, and ethnicities to find and love characters they identify with. And I honestly do love a good remix of a character, but there's so much baggage here that it seems difficult to really make a new version stick, you know?
Thank you for this video! Brilliant! t’s really frustrating that DC comics has adapted the character of Aquaman to match his film counterpart but kept his whiteness. From my understanding Aquaman has never been a particularly popular character in his original DC form. it was the casting of Jason Momoa that arguably made him so appealing and fresh, this also includes his cultural background and non white appearance. DC took these traits and just put up coat of white paint over them and said there go this is what you wanted right? Cynical outsider, Tribal tattoos, check, beard, check, flowing mane, check. Brown skin and multicultural features ,nope. 😞
it took me like 3 weeks to finish this, but I'm really glad i did i really liked it. i always appreciated the choice to cast a half Hawaiian half white guy, but didn't know about all this history.
I had other issues with bvs and its promotional material(like the b+w aquaman image), but i was fine with the casting as soon as i heard some of the reasoning... atlantis is an island, aquaman should not look like a white dude. Even works better with the blonde hair prejudice thing from classic comics. And then aquaman the movie happened and all the atlanteans were white. Smh.
I saw the the video of Momoa doing the Haka at the red carpet and remember being hyped that Atlantis would take after that Polynesian culture. Then it didn't.
@@daelen.cclark Fairytale set in South Carolina, Sukey is a young girl who is having a hard time and her own fairy godmother is a mermaid named Mama Jo. It's a beautiful storybook.
Never thought Id hear of The Bluest Eyes again in my life honestly, if it wasnt me bringing it up because of how hard hitting the ending was. Funnily enough, I read that book Junior year of High School in a rural predominantly white school, so points for my High School there I guess.
I dont care really , like preferences, ok, but aquaman white and blonde doesnt seem llike its part of his character. Its bland. So its good to not hang on it really. And yeah ethnic diversity makes atlantis way less bland. :( he isso good, jason, like why he could play a very different funny aquaman, just keep him.
My sister is blonde, my whole life i was treated as less beautiful, less presentable, and less desired. Even in the lgbtq Community blonde gender conforming women are stereotyped as being straight more often than brunette women in the same community
His father is a native Hawaiian & his mother is white. Either way , hes white passing. He has green eyes , tan skin , tall & has wavyish long dark brown hair.
You aren't wrong with Jason Mamoa being the best Aquaman. A lot of stuff DC did with his character that I didn't like, but his portrayal is so striking that it doesn't matter.
It should be noted that non-white Atlanteans long before Johns and the New 52/Rebirth did. In the 90s, the David run featured Koryak, Orin's son with an Inuit woman named Kako: "Aquaman had a brief bond with the Inuit woman Kako, which resulted in a child. Koryak was raised by his Inuit mother in her remote village in Northern Canada without ever knowing the identity of his father or the truth about his Atlantean heritage. As a teenager, Koryak was introduced to Aquaman. Aquaman was ill prepared for the boy's temper and attitude, which, in many ways, mirrored Aquaman's own personality. Resentful of Aquaman's close relationship with Tempest, the angry, rebellious Koryak eventually took up residence in Atlantis, Aquaman's undersea kingdom. Against his father's express wishes, Koryak led a great migration of Atlanteans out of the capital city Poseidonis and into the tunnels of its sister city Tritonis. There, he unwittingly released the cruel Kordax and embroiled Atlantis in a great war with the God Triton. As a result of his misguided actions, Koryak was banished from Atlantis. He returned in shame to his mother's village." dc.fandom.com/wiki/Koryak_(New_Earth) Later, we got Lorena Marquez, the second Aquagirl, who was Latina and was noted to have a similar skin tone to Koryak by Koryak himself. The post-crisis, pre-Flashpoint Aquaman comics also integrated a number of non-Atlantean characters into the cast, including Tsunami aka Miya Shimada, a Japanese-American woman with hydrokinesis. Even post-crisis Ocean Master, ironically enough, was also of Inuit descent. In fact, their post crisis iterations are an inverse of the DCEU versions, with Orm being the hybrid of non-white origin while Orin is the full-blooded Atlantean who fits the Arian ideal. I'm somewhat surprised you didn't mention them.
The moment I saw the casting of Jason Momoa as Aquaman I thought it was perfect. My bigger problem with the films is why the fuck they wear armour underwater. That just seems like such a terrible idea if you want to have any buoyancy at all.
Jason Mamoa I admit was an odd choice at the time when he was casted as Aquaman but he did fit into the role quite nicely. It's a shame his tenure is pretty much over. But yes for a long time I did associate Aquaman as one of the biggest examples of purely Aryan looking features until more recent iterations switched that up. And lets face it as this entire video essay is pointing out, the roots of this association runs way deeper than all of us even know or admit. Love the vid btw.
Thank you for elaborating on the potential of these characters, and thank you for citing your sources when you quote them. Makes me appreciate these movies all the more!
First and foremost. This is such an amazing breakdown and well layed out video. 2nd What's really crazy about the Jewish creators and there desires to be Americanized (white) is that the majority of white US citizens supported Hitler. The leaders idolized how quickly they whipped out so many of Germany's undesired citizens in such a short period of time. They wished they could do the same with their undesirable citizens in the US.
Isn't the myth of Atlantis a African myth? Plato learned about it from the Egyptian priests who learned about it from other people in Africa. All that Poseidon stuff was added by the greeks.
Another thing that can be associated at just a little detail: The talk about the war against humans as some purification of their sins( their polution, capitalism and etc) and the need of Orm to "Erase their sins" is a little too much as the Holy War platonic idea, and subsequently....American Imperialism( We always came back here, amiright?)
Who would be surprised, mamoa is great at action and comedy, while also nailing the tragic when he has to , and khal drogo shows he can ooze authority. Plus as stargate atlantis fan, yeah, he isnt the deepest there but he makes a loot out of that role, and its really wholesome. Plus gives him scifi/fantasy chops. So yeah, i hope he stays, because he nails all aquaman could need to be. I honest to god as mamoa fan because he is , really well rounded, yeah he s a great fit.
@@user-ry3nb9lp4b how do you think countries were made? Europe was once just different tribes who didn't get along like native Americans, same with Asia and every other continent. Mexico only exists because of Spanish colonisers breeding with native Americans.
Considering I was in the middle of suffering from Sinusitis while I was recording this video, I think I did pretty okay!
You did great! I hope you get some rest and feel better.
Never noticed. Well done!
I hope you get rest and take care of yourself.
@La'Ron, this video has been a gift. Thank you for this 🌈💖
You absolutely did.
Rest well, and take good care of yourself. I hope you recover soon.
Don't push yourself too hard. Yes, we all could use more La'Ron in our lives, but your health is the most important thing. 💜
I been watching you videos this whole tim wondering,"When is he gonna step aside and blow his nose" but now i know and knowing is half the battle.
The suburban white school I went to as a white kid did have us read The Bluest Eye along with multiple other novels every year based around diversity. At the time, it felt like they were really beating a dead horse. When I graduated and went to college and started interacting with white kids that didn’t even know basics like the fallout of the cotton gin or what the Trail of Tears was and I realized how aberrant my school giving a shit was… I became REALLY grateful they made that effort I hadn’t appreciated at the time.
@Whats.Next.VideosThey did not call anyone racist. They said that their other classmates didn't even know about these events to begin with. So of course they didn't "obsess" over these events as they likely didn't know they existed.
Just hearing Readus explain any comic book history is so calming.
It's a testament to your skill as an essayist that I have never cared about Aquaman, and still watched the whole thing with undivided attention. Fantastic work!
I'm Jewish, and the way you explained the Jewish comic creators' creation of white characters as wish fulfillment is very insightful. You are exactly right, of course. In the comic book heyday, a lot of 1st or 2nd generation American Jews were openly Jewish, leaning into the novelty of receiving much less persecution here than they may have gotten in their previous countries. Yet, many others sought the shelter of conditional whiteness and did whatever they could to get and stay in the good graces of white society. Like the American-born artist you mentioned who aspired to be American, despite being American by default. In those days, their American-ness may have default, but not necessarily de facto.
This essay is a feast. Thank you for sharing your work and your passion with us.
Someone explain to me what the difference is between Jewish people and white Anglo people??? You look the same to me. Literally up till you guys start distinguishing yourselves
@@suezcontours6653 bruh back in the day Irish folk weren't considered white enough either, it's all bullshit.
@@suezcontours6653 white supremacy is crazy... spanish, italian were not considered white either.
"Ain't yo mama atlantean" is the hardest title I've seen this month 😂❤
"Blondeness" is still obsessed over especially among European diaspora in the States. White mothers everywhere gush/lament over how their now-brunette child used to be a light haired blonde child. Even brunette adults, at their big age, make sure to tell people they were "blonde as a child". Above all, it's seen as a status and class symbol for being 1) the closest to "white purity" and 2) for being seen as expensive. It's expensive to maintain blondeness if you aren't natural. "Bottle blondes" spend up to $400 to go platinum and maintenance requires special products. Even men, who might be quiet about it, might obsess over something as frivolous as blondeness either amongst themselves or in their partners. I once dated a guy who had honey brown colored hair, a dirty blonde at best during golden hour, and when I pointed out he might be a brunette, you'd think I had called his mother a street walker. He looked me dead in my eyes and said "No, I'm blonde". He had Irish and Polish ancestry. As much as people loathe "H", they sure do want to subscribe to his ideals real bad.
Absolutely.
I had an ex who was the same - I didn't know how bad he was until he went full mask-off, and talked about how his kids would look Aryan. He was 6'5", an actor, and an absolute flaming White Supremacist. He claimed to be effectively pure German. He was also the most abusive man I've ever met in my life, and years after we broke up, after being rejected by seven police departments across California, he found a home in the LAPD.
His hair is brown. Not "dishwater blonde". Brown.
In our household, being blonde was shameful. I'm Irish, English, and Italian in equal measure. My Italian mother hated the fact that I was born with hair that was too red to be blonde and too blonde to be red, and taught me I looked like a Nazi from the age of 7-8 on. When she combed my hair, she would literally rip it out. Woman doesn't seem to like any reminder that she could produce a child with my coloring, and she, to this day, says I'm not Italian (despite being raised with the culture and having an Immigrant grandfather).
Needless to say, as soon as I could start dyeing my hair, I did,
and I'm so thankful my hair darkened to medium brown.
@@RexytheRexysorry that you went through two abusive relationships. Your boy friend and your mother who hated your whiteness
@@victorq4842 I thought I'd responded to this - my apologies.
My mom doesn't hate my Whiteness. I'm an unfortunate reminder that she - an Italian woman who seems to go along with my father's seriously f**ked-up perspective that "Italians aren't actually White people" - is every bit as Caucasian and European as I am.
If she hates anyone's Whiteness, it's her own, by proxy of her child.
By looking at her behavior and the behavior of others, it seems that some White people seem to look at blonde, blue/light-eyed people as the avatars of all that is worst about our history of genocide, racism, and colonialism,
which conveniently distances them from it.
I do not want to diminish, in any way, the privilege that goes hand in hand with having blonde hair and/or blue/light eyes. What I'm talking about here is a potential form of White guilt-shifting and rationalization.
I should have included all of the above in my original comment, which, in hindsight, did not come off well (which might be an understatement).
I'm sorry about that.
Something I noticed while looking over the Aquafamily is that a lot of them seem to have a theme of being outcasts of not really fitting in either Atlantis or on Earth.
Arthur: Atlantian human hybrid who constantly has to fight for his royal birthright
Garth: Hated and feared because of his purple eyes.
Mera: A native of Xebel, a kingdom that has feuded with Atlantis.
Jackson Hyde: Atlantian human hybrid and son of Atlantis’ most infamous enemy. His Rebirth incarnation also showed him having issues gaining acceptance due to his homosexuality. He is also black.
Koryak: Atlantian human hybrid. Also half-Inuit.
Lorena: Latina human transformed into an Atlantian by technology.
Dolphin: Her original incarnation was simply a human who was altered to be able to survive underwater. She wasn’t even really an Atlantean prior to Rebirth.
Lagoon Boy: Arthur allowing him into Atlantis was met with protests for being an outsider and his appearance.
Having Orm being an allegory to fascism also works due to Atlantis' connection to Nazi Germany, with a lot of the myth being perpetuated by them, outside of its original concept from Ancient Greece
An hour an a half long video essay, La'Ron just keeps on blessing us with gems! :D
This was a really good deep dive on not only Aquaman lore in the comics, but the history of the jewish creators that formed Marvel and DC. Also the fact that Polynesians have a close association with the sea made DCEU Aquaman made the connect even better
it's been a minute since i've watched a readus video and man, i remember now why i subbed. awesome stuff as usual.
Thanks a lot! Glad to have you on board! And if RUclips's not letting you know of when I post new stuff, signing up to either my newsletter or as a free member on my Patreon will let you know whenever I do!
@@Readus101Thank you for articulating this exactly. If a black girl tried to state what you were saying it wouldn't come across well. Do you follow Harriyanna Hook?
Excellent, poignant, thought provoking, and entertaining as always.
I was reminded of how a lot of people lost their goddamn minds when actress Anna Diop was cast as Princess Koriand'r/Starfire on TITANS.
isn't she supposed to literally have a orange skin color? I don't think people had a problem with them casting her but rather that they made her skin colour black when she's supposed to be an orange alien.
an aspect thats also fascinating is that by the 90s they did in fact start to put more diversity as add ons in aquaman's lore at least in terms of his acquaintances and family, Koryak who is his son of inuit descent, in the 00s there was lorena marquez of latina descent and they actually do adress the fact that atlantis makes them feel extremely ostracized and sub diego arc was used to put more diversity to aquaman in general and with the introduction of jackson hyde/reformed xebel a few yrs later, they later explained that ancient atlanteans did have black groups/tribes but they all went into exodus to ethiopia who had children with humans which black manta is descended from, the erasure/killing of most of these characters left such a bad taste in my mouth cause it felt like they took 6 steps backwards in terms of aquaman lore and how white it was.
Holy fuck, I did not know that about Lee (Lieber) and Kirby (Kurtzberg). Still being shown more examples of the whitening of cultures through "Americanization".
That period of life when you're a Black kid who isn't the "norm" and you start (white) people-pleasing and hating yourself is such a damaging and tumultuous time...I had to deal with it myself as a gay Black kid in the 80's and 90's who liked rock, metal, comics, and anime....the kids these days don't appreciate how much more free they are, lol. Glad you mentioned this and glad you evolved!
Why don't you guys start your own black comics and animation just like Black Sands Entertainment
@@suezcontours6653 Because money, time, and resources don't grow on trees
@@prixe12 Um, perhaps don't look to white or non-black folks to give you representation. They already told you how they feel about you. If you're mot useful to them, they don't want you in their spaces. Why would they give you something revolutionary? They're just gonna give you something that makes you feel ashamed - Magical Negro tropes. How about black people go petition Tyler Perry Studios and all black owned studios to make you something with your own fundraising campaigns?
@@suezcontours6653you don't believe in allyship do you?
@@zacharybosley1935 No
totally off topic, but that shot of Momoa with Snyder is gold, Momoa is literally twice Snyder's size! He makes him look downright adorable!
Important to note that in addition to Mamoa's Hawaiian father, his mother has Irish, German and Pawnee heritage. Which has interesting potential connotations for his Aquaman, given that Mamoa's family history (like several other real life mixed phenotype and mixed culture families & individuals) already had individuals that had experienced the same form of marginalization that he himself had at different periods (given the history of Irish & American Indigenous marginalization in the Anglophonic sphere). So Mamoa's Aquaman could potentially have heritage from the other aquatic kingdoms on his mother's side, or his father could not be entirely human (although personally i prefer the former). Which in turn would play into how supremacists like Ocean Master rarely ever actually match their own ideals of strata (Hitler having Jewish & Slavic heritage, J Edgar Hoover being a closeted homosexual, Stalin retaining Georgian Orthodox priests as part of his inner circle despite being the HoS for an Atheist Ideocracy, half the fucking Apartheid oligarchy tracing their heritage to a Kohisan woman, etc).
This is a fantastic topic and really opened my eyes. As a lifelong comic books fan I have never known about this side of the history of characters and their creators, and the ramifications for current day discourse around re-imaginings and recasts.
Jason Momoa already played Aquaman in Stargate Atlantis, which is part of the same cinematic universe and you can't convince me otherwise bro. It even has Atlantis in the title.
That’s an awesome coincidence!
Not sure, but he definitly showed to be good in what aquaman needs, and well rounded in all areas of acting, and fun with surprising depth.
I wouldnt complain more recognition for stargate atlantis thou.
Oh please please touch on young justice season 4 having an atlantean character named Arion(pronounced aryan) and hes supposed to be the true savior of all humanity or something
...uh
how did I not catch that lol
but yeah YJ is a well of political comic stuff
@stefansauvageonwhat-a-twis1369 it was so wild watching it the first time his story is almost spot on the pagan n4z1 bs founding a race of magical supermen I have to believe it was done on purpose in the writers room but it's not even commented on in the show and I don't even think many people picked up on it I'm the only person I've seen bring it up
Hold it. What
I remember this!
Classic Young Justice move lol@@katherinealvarez9216
Blonde-Haired, Blue-eyed and Chris-named is the current western beauty standard.
This was really interesting. All video essays go into deep places, but I like your videos because your research into specific history and ability to tackle complicated projects, while making things still legible for those of us who arent plugged into pop culture like that, like... That shines and stands out in my playlist filled with other video essays.
Hot take (sadly): similar reason to why I want a certain marvel character to be asian american in the mcu for some similar reasons said in the video. As a 2nd gen(black african brit), I feel his backstory would make more sense via his dad bringing his son to a certain sacred city, and the story of not feeling completely home in any location would makes more sense to me that way considering the parallels of identity crisis with Asian diaspora kids too.
I know who you’re exactly talking about! If anything at minimum he should be mixed. Half white, half Asian.
@@mizushogun 🤝 agreed
Who?
Jason Momoa makes a great Aquaman and would probably make a good Lobo if allowed.
(Did Momoa shout “outrageous” at any point? That’d be awesome!)
@Readus101
You should cover WB and DC cancelling misha green and jurnee smollett's Black Canary movie after David Zalav became the president of WB
Both misha and jurnee deleted their Twitter accounts along with any promotional material that was meant for the movie amid the cancellation of multiple DC and WB projects
Among those canceled projects just recently we had gotten the news that the independent Zatanna movie was also canceled, but for completely different reasons that involved JJ Abrams.
They were DCEU movies and the universe is dead now so they aren't happening anymore
Is JJ a terrible person now, too?
I happened upon this offering in the middle of the night and I’m glad that I did. Honestly, without seeing your name attached I assumed it was going to be something totally different. Nope. My brain is now full for the day. It also compels me to think of somewhat similar disjointed origins for (specifically) DC characters regarding race/ethnicity. Catwoman in particular. That Sean Cody logo left me gagging. Because I immediately knew what you were inferring. Great work!
Now this is an intriguing title
Always love your hour+ long videos 😍😍😍 Knew very little about aquaman/havent seen the recent movies but this was utterly fascinating from beginning to end
Agreed, Something that I liked under hamada was the fact that he like zack and was open to taking cast risks w/ traditionally white/blonde characters like Supergirl, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Cyclone, Dinah, Batgirl and the Flash, I don't feel that kind of risk in Gunn's DCU.
If Jason is not available to do Arthur, I would hope they continue the trend of having him be Polynesian instead of Ocean Thor.
I actually mentioned that. All these anti-woksters have double standards. They cry Gingercide when they cast a black woman for Iris West or Starfire yet NONE of the DCEU characters look like their comic book counterparts... not even Lois Lane who's played by red haired Amy Adams.
@suezcontours6653 I admit I was a little apprehensive for both leslie and sasha when they were cast as supergirl and batgirl, respectively but I Would hope they get a second chance at those characters. Because let's be real here does supergirl need to be white to work? Seriously? Isn't there Is a comic where the mom is dark skin?
Also, DCTV, DCEU, and DCAU have had a black Iris West.
Yeah bro, growing up a comic fan was wierd for me. Hulk was always my favorite character because of his origin and the dynamic between him and hulk. Helps that he wasnt blonde or had blue eyes (in marvel everyone looks like Peter Parker) but through most of my childhood i wanted a black superhero thay was not only popular but was cool. Static and Blade were that for me for a long time. Now comic writers are catching on and giving minority characters real character arcs and involvement in plotlines unlike in the past where most didnt have anything to do or didnt have a comic.
Thank you for this wonderful in-depth analysis. I would have clicked it with the previous title, too. I just didn't have the time because of the length, so I needed to wait until I could listen to/ watch it in one go c:
I can now add a new book to my reading list. European educational institutions don't talk about racism, especially against black people enough. That really has to change. I'm glad that videos like this can offer different POVs and allow exchange, so that we can all learn from one another without shame or judgement.
Thank you so so much💖
Ok, now I definitely need an analysis on the mcu's change from Atlantis to Tlalokan
it was genius
I appreciate your discussion about Orm SO MUCH, these are thoughts I've had since I saw the film when it was released and yet I don't think I've seen anyone explain it, much less as eloquently as you have! it's also why I find it impossible to be interested in the sequel when all the promotion makes it look like an Orm redemption tour.
54:00 I can prove that its even more convoluted now on regards of the Atlanteans and the DC Universe as a whole cause now they have been labeled an "omniverse" which means all past iterations of these characters are considered loosely canon. Not even remotely joking.
Peter David is one of those writers that was secretly part of the back bone of the industry for a long while. Made some of the most iconic comics runs. Hulk Fan😊
The 90's design for Aquaman was always the most interesting because i grew up with the Hanna Barbara Justice League as well. Aqua man with a hook always stood out and seperated him from Namor for me. Aquaman being an outlaw is cool imo. Glad they went with Jason Mamoa. Sad to see him go but i dont want all superheroes who are white to have their race changed for casting simply because i dont think its worth it. For some characters like Magneto, Xavier, Sentry, and maybe a few others im fine with bit some characters shouldnt change. F4 always will be a period piece in my head making them white makes sense.
I really appreciate the dive into the history of old school comics and how Aqua Man the character was created! Love the breakdown of the character changed to reflect the identity of Jason Momoa. Where the original character was created to fit an ideal of what a conventionally attractive man is deemed to be and how unconsciously or consciously how marginalized people, we tend to absorb whiteness and the ways it may show up in our daily lives. I thought the casting of Jason Momoa as Aqua Man was amazing regarding being outcasted and finding himself.
This whole video is incredibly informative and gripping, but the outro goes especially hard. Bravo!✨
Lifelong Aquaman fan here. I want to congratulate you on an excellent analysis.
I grew up watching reruns of the Super Friends & the old Aquaman cartoons, so Silver Age Arthur was already “my” Aquaman when David’s & Giffin’s Orin emerged during my teens & 20s. I didn’t like him, & it took me a long time to figure out why: because he’d been turned into a pro-racist trope. I left off the character until his more recent runs (Waterbearer onward), where the whiteness elements were a bit less pronounced. And I loved the New 52’s retcon back to his Silver Age origin story, & all the housekeeping it did to Atlantis. I could finally go back to Aquaman being my favorite superhero.
Momoa’s casting was brilliant, & making movie Orm look like comic Arthur even moreso, because it served as a commentary on the racial subtext running through Arthur’s entire canon, even if that wasn’t Wan’s intent.
I’d honestly love to see DC lean into a Polynesian Arthur going forward, both in the comics & any future movie or TV projects. They won’t, of course. But I really respect what Snyder, Wan, & Momoa brought to Aquaman, & I don’t want to see it die.
Thanks for such a comprehensive breakdown & analysis of my problematic favorite superhero!
Polynesian Arthur would be great for adaptations.
@@daelen.cclark I’m hoping that in one of its inevitable continuity reboots, DC Comics will just have that new official Aquaman be Polynesian on his human side, without further comment.
This is exactly why I think it's about time either Marvel and DC started making a lot of new characters or we got a new comics universe. It seems like creatives are given a LOT more leeway with their characters and stories than back then. Or at the very least it's so much easier for a wider variety of people from different subcultures, sexualities, and ethnicities to find and love characters they identify with. And I honestly do love a good remix of a character, but there's so much baggage here that it seems difficult to really make a new version stick, you know?
The OG Aquaman seems like it fits more for an alternate version of Namor rather than Aquaman.
This was so good, had to watch it twice.
Damn, this is a fucking great video! Thank you so much for the new perspective on the whole series!
Thank you for this video! Brilliant!
t’s really frustrating that DC comics has adapted the character of Aquaman to match his film counterpart but kept his whiteness. From my understanding Aquaman has never been a particularly popular character in his original DC form. it was the casting of Jason Momoa that arguably made him so appealing and fresh, this also includes his cultural background and non white appearance. DC took these traits and just put up coat of white paint over them and said there go this is what you wanted right? Cynical outsider, Tribal tattoos, check, beard, check, flowing mane, check. Brown skin and multicultural features ,nope. 😞
And THATS how you clear a Pitch
90's Aquaman has the best design imo. Helped be somewhat unique even though hes just another blonde haired blue eyed superhero.
it took me like 3 weeks to finish this, but I'm really glad i did i really liked it. i always appreciated the choice to cast a half Hawaiian half white guy, but didn't know about all this history.
This was excellent! New viewer. Instant subscriber! 👏🏽👍🏽🙌🏽
Oh you are cold with it.
I had other issues with bvs and its promotional material(like the b+w aquaman image), but i was fine with the casting as soon as i heard some of the reasoning... atlantis is an island, aquaman should not look like a white dude. Even works better with the blonde hair prejudice thing from classic comics.
And then aquaman the movie happened and all the atlanteans were white. Smh.
I saw the the video of Momoa doing the Haka at the red carpet and remember being hyped that Atlantis would take after that Polynesian culture. Then it didn't.
This is off topic: I'm just if people will lose their minds if they ever adapt Sukey and the Mermaid.
Not sure what that is, but it’d probably make a neat movie in the right hands.
@@daelen.cclark Fairytale set in South Carolina, Sukey is a young girl who is having a hard time and her own fairy godmother is a mermaid named Mama Jo. It's a beautiful storybook.
What would a white character with their race being embeded or a central part of their character look like to you?
Magneto is an example.
This was really interesting and a great presentation! Thanks!
Never thought Id hear of The Bluest Eyes again in my life honestly, if it wasnt me bringing it up because of how hard hitting the ending was. Funnily enough, I read that book Junior year of High School in a rural predominantly white school, so points for my High School there I guess.
I dont care really , like preferences, ok, but aquaman white and blonde doesnt seem llike its part of his character. Its bland. So its good to not hang on it really. And yeah ethnic diversity makes atlantis way less bland.
:( he isso good, jason, like why he could play a very different funny aquaman, just keep him.
Great video. Thank you for making it. I learned a lot about Aquaman.
My sister is blonde, my whole life i was treated as less beautiful, less presentable, and less desired. Even in the lgbtq Community blonde gender conforming women are stereotyped as being straight more often than brunette women in the same community
Thank you 🤗
Underwater-Interdimensional Australia.
OOOF!
Saltines gonna saltine.
Such a good video, holy shit. Definitely sharing this around. Amazing work!
La'Ron Readus do you think in james Gunn dcu we will get the blonde version of aquaman
2:32 Excellent explanation
This was very informative and interesting.
I didn't know Jason Mamoa wasn't white. I thought he was white this whole time😮
No, he is not white he’s multiracial
His father is a native Hawaiian & his mother is white. Either way , hes white passing. He has green eyes , tan skin , tall & has wavyish long dark brown hair.
Excellent video
Wow!!! Excellent work!!!
Great deep dive
Thank you! I wish all of youtube was this good
You aren't wrong with Jason Mamoa being the best Aquaman. A lot of stuff DC did with his character that I didn't like, but his portrayal is so striking that it doesn't matter.
It should be noted that non-white Atlanteans long before Johns and the New 52/Rebirth did. In the 90s, the David run featured Koryak, Orin's son with an Inuit woman named Kako:
"Aquaman had a brief bond with the Inuit woman Kako, which resulted in a child. Koryak was raised by his Inuit mother in her remote village in Northern Canada without ever knowing the identity of his father or the truth about his Atlantean heritage. As a teenager, Koryak was introduced to Aquaman. Aquaman was ill prepared for the boy's temper and attitude, which, in many ways, mirrored Aquaman's own personality. Resentful of Aquaman's close relationship with Tempest, the angry, rebellious Koryak eventually took up residence in Atlantis, Aquaman's undersea kingdom. Against his father's express wishes, Koryak led a great migration of Atlanteans out of the capital city Poseidonis and into the tunnels of its sister city Tritonis. There, he unwittingly released the cruel Kordax and embroiled Atlantis in a great war with the God Triton. As a result of his misguided actions, Koryak was banished from Atlantis. He returned in shame to his mother's village."
dc.fandom.com/wiki/Koryak_(New_Earth)
Later, we got Lorena Marquez, the second Aquagirl, who was Latina and was noted to have a similar skin tone to Koryak by Koryak himself. The post-crisis, pre-Flashpoint Aquaman comics also integrated a number of non-Atlantean characters into the cast, including Tsunami aka Miya Shimada, a Japanese-American woman with hydrokinesis.
Even post-crisis Ocean Master, ironically enough, was also of Inuit descent. In fact, their post crisis iterations are an inverse of the DCEU versions, with Orm being the hybrid of non-white origin while Orin is the full-blooded Atlantean who fits the Arian ideal.
I'm somewhat surprised you didn't mention them.
Of course Geoff actually said that to Ray Fischer. That’s unfortunate, especially when it’s a writer who’s work you know!
54:15 If I have any issues with the New 52 is that they didn't have a plan or a timeline and just made shit more difficult to keep up with
The moment I saw the casting of Jason Momoa as Aquaman I thought it was perfect. My bigger problem with the films is why the fuck they wear armour underwater. That just seems like such a terrible idea if you want to have any buoyancy at all.
Well argued yo 🔥
More long videos like this!!
Jason Mamoa I admit was an odd choice at the time when he was casted as Aquaman but he did fit into the role quite nicely. It's a shame his tenure is pretty much over. But yes for a long time I did associate Aquaman as one of the biggest examples of purely Aryan looking features until more recent iterations switched that up.
And lets face it as this entire video essay is pointing out, the roots of this association runs way deeper than all of us even know or admit. Love the vid btw.
Is there anything to some of the biggest characters in comics being adopted? And could that be connected to what you're diving into in any way?
Ngl at first i was gonna had this video in the background but you got me with Jack Kirby literally saying "i
wanted to be an AmeRIcaN""
Thank you for elaborating on the potential of these characters, and thank you for citing your sources when you quote them.
Makes me appreciate these movies all the more!
First and foremost. This is such an amazing breakdown and well layed out video.
2nd What's really crazy about the Jewish creators and there desires to be Americanized (white) is that the majority of white US citizens supported Hitler. The leaders idolized how quickly they whipped out so many of Germany's undesired citizens in such a short period of time. They wished they could do the same with their undesirable citizens in the US.
Isn't the myth of Atlantis a African myth? Plato learned about it from the Egyptian priests who learned about it from other people in Africa. All that Poseidon stuff was added by the greeks.
Fantastic video!
48:53
Representation matters.
Another thing that can be associated at just a little detail: The talk about the war against humans as some purification of their sins( their polution, capitalism and etc) and the need of Orm to "Erase their sins" is a little too much as the Holy War platonic idea, and subsequently....American Imperialism( We always came back here, amiright?)
Pro wrestling video from La’Ron when??
I love you, man. In a passive way, not a creepy parasocial way. 😉
Who would be surprised, mamoa is great at action and comedy, while also nailing the tragic when he has to , and khal drogo shows he can ooze authority. Plus as stargate atlantis fan, yeah, he isnt the deepest there but he makes a loot out of that role, and its really wholesome. Plus gives him scifi/fantasy chops.
So yeah, i hope he stays, because he nails all aquaman could need to be. I honest to god as mamoa fan because he is , really well rounded, yeah he s a great fit.
Native Americans stole land from each other too, every culture and race did that.
@@user-ry3nb9lp4b how do you think countries were made? Europe was once just different tribes who didn't get along like native Americans, same with Asia and every other continent.
Mexico only exists because of Spanish colonisers breeding with native Americans.
I thought you were having a break ... Can't believe we got this insane gift before the years end❤
Hey