Now here's a realistic depiction of terrorism in Science Fiction...
Scene: Comic book convention lecture hall, panel discussion. The room is full. Five creators sit at a long table, their names on placards in front of them. The banner behind them reads 'WORDS UP - MINORITY VOICES IN COMICS.'
HOOPER (Dwight Ewell, an angry-looking black man in a leather jacket): For years in this industry, whenever an African-American character - hero or villain - was introduced usually by white artists and writers - they got slapped with racist names that singled them out as negroes: Black Panther, Black Lightning, Black Goliath, Black Manta, Black Talon, Black Spider, Black Hand, Black Falcon, Black Cat..
VOICE FROM CROWD: She's white.
HOOPER: She is? Well bust this - regardless. (Holds up comic.) Now my book White-Hating Coon doesn't have any of that bullshit. The hero's name is Maleekwa, and he's a descendant of the black tribe that established the first society on the planet, while all you European motherfuckers were still hiding in caves and shit, all terrified of the sun. He's a strong role model that a young black reader can look up to, 'cause I'm here to tell you - the chickens are comin' home to roost, ya'll. The black man's no longer gonna play the minstrel in the medium of comics and Sci-Fi/Fantasy! We're keeping it real, and we're gonna get respect - by any means necessary!
HOLDEN (Ben Affleck, calling out from the crowd): Bullshit! Lando Calrissian was a black man, and he got to fly the Millenium Falcon!
HOOPER: Who said that?
HOLDEN (standing): I did! Lando Calrissian is a positive black role model in the realm of Science Fiction/Fantasy.
HOOPER: Fuck Lando Calrissian! (HOLDEN sits.) Uncle Tom nigger! Always some white boy gotta invoke 'the holy trilogy!' Bust this - those movies are about how the white man keeps the brother man down - even in a galaxy far, far away. Check this shit. You got cracker farm-boy Luke Skywalker, Nazi poster boy - blond hair, blue eyes. And then you've got Darth Vader: the blackest brother in the galaxy: Nubian God.
BANKY (A wide-eyed Jason Lee, standing): What's a Nubian?
HOOPER: Shut the fuck up! (BANKY sits.) Now Vader, he's a spiritual brother, with the force and all that shit. Then this cracker Skywalker gets his hands on a light-saber, and the boy decides he's gonna run the fucking universe - gets a whole Klan of whites together, and they're gonna bust up Vader's 'hood, the Death Star. Now what the fuck do you call that?
BANKY (still wide-eyed): Intergalactic Civil War?
HOOPER: Gentrification! They're gonna drive out the black element, to make the galaxy quote-unquote 'safe' for white folks.
HOLDEN: But Vader turns out to be Luke's father. And in Jedi, they become friends.
HOOPER: Don't make me bust a cap in your ass, yo! Jedi's the most insulting installment, because Vader's beautiful, black visage is sullied when he pulls off his mask to reveal a feeble, crusty white man! They're trying to tell us that deep inside, we all want to be white!
BANKY (blinking innocently): Well, isn't that true?
(HOOPER's eyes bulge. He pulls a nine millimeter from his belt, draws on BANKY and fires. BANKY goes down, falling forward into the crowd, which screams and scatters. HOOPER jumps over the table and raises his fists in the air.)
HOOPER: Black rage! Black rage! I'll kill any white folks I lay my motherfuckin' eyes on!
(The room empties. HOLDEN sits in his chair, laughing. HOOPER steps off the stage and picks BANKY's head up off the floor. BANKY grins.)
HOOPER (breaking character and shaking his head): 'What's a Nubian?' Bitch, you almost made me laugh.
[ 01-12-2001: Message edited by: Traz ] |
