Social Justice and Comics: what went wrong.

I may have touched a bit on this in multiple rants, but the recent Starfire disaster made me want to rant about this topic in general.

I am NOT trying to change anyone's mind on the topic. It is highly unlikely that I will agree with the current Social Justice Slacktivists or keyboard WARRIORS. (THAT'S WHERE THE WAY IN SJW COMES FROM. This part is what they tend to downplay in order to seem like victims. You know like being a guest speaker claiming to be a victim, then noticing a detractor in the audience watching silently and calling them "a garbage human". Or being a speaker at an event claiming that harassment is Exclusive to women, but a male speaker exposes the harassment he's gotten and you act like a year to him... Not going to say anything names, but y'all probably know who I'm talking about.)

Recent comics and TV shows have been tried to cater to these Slacktivists that, funnily enough, they don't watch the shows, or buy the comics... Those who read them are in three camps:
"Fans" who keep buying the book despite it being garbage out of fear of cancellation.
"Fans" who keep buying the book because of "social justice" and to "stick it to the misogynerds".(this one is the tiniest fraction)
"Fans" who keep up with the book "hoping that it will get better."
Well, these fans are the problem...

If you truly like the book, you buy it and enjoy it... If you don't like it, you need to let them know... Usually, this is done by voting with your wallet. (And this is why I'm so worried about MOTUC not reaching a wave 3 due to the issues at Super7. In that case I am ALL THREE... BUT mostly third group.)

I dropped Marvel Cómics before the "SJW era" began. I dropped it around One Moronic Deal, and that's where my Hatred towards Joe Quesadilla began. I have bought the rare issue every now and then, but even with Doc Ock becoming the Ultimate Anti-Spidey, I can't bring myself to fully commit to Marvel.

Why is that? Social Justice ruining the comics... Let me explain: Back in the Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko era of the comics, there was a very Progressive movement. Unlike today's movement, the Progressive aspects were used as SERVANTS TO THE STORY. The X-MEN, the most obvious example, was a parallel to the actual Civil Rights Movement... Bit, this parallel was molded to fit a story of superpowers beings fighting other superpowers beings from this world and others, while attempting to live somewhat normal lives in a world that discriminates against them for having an odd genetic quirk. The stories showed us that racism is bad WITHOUT BEING PREACHY AND IN YOUR FACE ABOUT IT. Even the somewhat preachy anti-drug issue of Spider-man wasn't as preachy as today's comics. Harry's descent into addiction FIT the story because the people involved looked for a place to put the message, where it felt "Natural" or "Organic" progression of the character within The Story.
Nowadays the story takes a second or third place to Agenda. You know what happens when you try to fix a story around an agenda? Characters act out of character to suit the message instead of the story... Or worse, characters lose all individuality and identity to become mouthpieces for the message.
Then we have Forced changes to fit the agenda...
Jane Thor is a curious case... While there have been times that Thor Odinson has been denied HIS Power, like the time a Space Cyborg Horseman was deemed Worthy... He was STILL Thor.
Taking away his identity and giving it to a woman, who Technically should be called Thora, see Ms. Birch... Is the main reason people are against the Mighty Jane Foster...
Mighty Jane, has been decent in the few things I've read with her, but she ISN'T THOR...

Another curious case is Miles Morales. While he WAS a Token, and A Peter Parker had to die for him to exist; he IS DECENTLY WRITTEN most of the time.

Then you have the Characters who LOSE INDIVIDUALITY to become a Token version of another Character...
Captain Falcon... Not the Nintendo one.
Falcon, former Captain America sidekick was "ascended" to "Black Captain America". (Which they made one already with Isaiah Bradley) Or how about the Seventh or Eight Smartest person in the world became "Asian Hulk" while She-Hulk became THE Hulk (who now raids Canseco's secret stash because she can't look feminine)
These folks are an issue, since it's an obvious move for "tokenism" and faux diversity. What's the point of eliminating Falcon as his own man and putting him in Captain America's hand-me-downs?
Aside of "Political Correctness" or "$ocial Ju$tice"? It's almost as if a Black (or Asian) character isn't good enough unless they're taking the mantle of a White man?

Then we have weird tumblr art styles and sensibilities bleeding into the comics...

Remember when Squirrel Girl looked like this?
Now she looks like a deranged love child of Alvin Seville and a human...

Please note that I'm not talking about how chubby (not fat) she looks in the new art style as my complaint. My complaint is that this new art style makes her look less than human... Which is much more worse than the horrible 90s art of her. Also, Logan tapped that... 00s Squirrel Girl wasn't stunning, but at least she looked like a human girl with an athletic build that happens to be an unbeatable superhero. The modern iteration looks a bit too soft bodied to do what she does.

As I said earlier, She-Hulk lost her femininity due to "issues" and it completely loses the point of She-Hulk. But wanting an empowered superpowers woman to look feminine is somehow sexist and misogynistic. Which I don't get, since women shouldn't "become men" to become empowered... Cause that would mean accepting that women are not good enough... Which is sexist and misogynistic.

Damn, this is turning Into a long-winded rant...

So, let's recap: Comic Book fans Are NOT against progressive storytelling, when the progressive themes SERVE the Story...
Again, the Story must be the most important part. It needs to be engaging enough to reel in even the least progressive folks and NOT make them feel like they're reading propaganda.

There are Legacy characters and characters who AREN'T made for Legacies...
Anyone can wear a Stark tech suit and act as an Ironman, but not everyone can be Spidey. (here you'd need a clone or a freak accident) IF the torch needs to be passed, make sure the changes don't feel like filling a minority quota, but instead be natural progression. Riri fails here because she feels like a Mary Sue. Miles passes because he feels like a real character (even if he was made to fill up a quota).

And I kinda touched up on the third point by accident when speaking of legacy roles. Characters need to feel REAL in order for people to become invested... That's why a New Yorker from a parallel Earth with abilities similar to Spider-man and happens to be black and have Puerto Rican ancenstry feels more real than an alien girl from a women only world that only has Latina Lesbians with Superboy Prime-esque powers that happens to be a little racist against whites (but is OK, because according to Tumblr, you can't be racist against whites)...

Bending over to Slacktivists and pushing an agenda (it doesn't matter if it's based on good intentions) will repel readers, because smart people don't like being force-fed propaganda. If they're reading comics (or playing videogames) chances are that they're looking for a small escape from reality. (Which is why I poke fun at Kojima every now and then... He can be a bit too preachy and very "subtle".)

Diversity in comics is nice, when it's done naturally. It helps when the characters have their own unique voice and don't feel like some sort of hive mind propaganda voicebox.

But, wanting the comics to be good and entertaining is racist, sexist, or something.

I completely forgot about the TV show and movie issues...
This is rather simple: when adapting Characters from the page to the screen, make sure the Characters LOOK LIKE THE CHARACTERS... Not simply a "race issue" but a costuming issue. One can simply "ignore" a black Starfire or an Asian Beast boy if they happen to LOOK LIKE Starfire and Beast Boy. (Ie. Painting their skin in the appropriate unnatural color, making the outfits resemble the comic book outfits, or cartoon versions of the comic book outfit happens to be a bit too unrealistic...

If a character wears a mask in the Comics, then he Should have the mask. Like say, Hawkeye... He could've worn the mask on one scene in The Avengers and have Natasha comment on how ridiculous it looks, to have him reply that it's a lucky charm from his youth days as a circus performer. Maybe even having him tucking it inside his uniform in subsequent movies. (Or have Natasha ask him if he still carries that ridiculous thing with him. Maybe have Cap tell him that he should wear it more often, as it suits him.)
Or going to the Fox side, the Wolverine outfit should have always had the mask, but have Logan pull it back most of the time (as he often does in the comics)

Also, what's the deal with turning Gingers into black people? Stop it! Also, turning Asians white is NOT COOL!

Wanting something respectful to the source material isn't that complicated...