Reflection and Analysis

A Wrinkle in Time - Too much SJW? (2/13/2018)

I am sick and tired of political correctness which calls for the changing of a character recognized in fandom as being ethnically white into a character who is ethnically not white.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not against racebending a character if there is good reason to do so, such as when the Voltron: Legendary Defender staff decided to make Allura a character of color. Their reason for doing so came down to the stereotype of the blonde haired, blue eyed princess which was considered the ideal of beauty during the period for a princess. Instead of getting rid of her blonde hair and blue eyes though, they broke the stereotype with her skin color.

Another example is the modern production of Annie where the classic is put into a modern context. Or how about The Wiz which parodies the original. I think I can name quite a few like this.

What I'm talking about is racebending for the wrong reasons. I'm talking about racebending for the sake of appearing politically correct, only to be SJW instead. To quote Fanlore, "Okay. "SJ" stands for "social justice," right, but not actual social justice. It refers to the misuse of social justice terms to get your own way in fandom and tear down disagreement. We used to refer to people who did SJ as "SJers," but it has marphed into "SJW" or SJ Warriors."

I'm sick of people hiding behind social justice issues to get their way, or to try to.

The reason this comes up this time is because of A Wrinkle in Time. The same arguments which always come up when a character is racebent to a character of POC crop up, but nobody is looking at whether the reason for the change is a logical change to be made.

No, the person being the best person for the job doesn't count as this assumption is highly subjective and only truly works in stage productions where the casting choice is limited, or in cases where one knows the actor is the best choice. For example, Jesse L. Martin can be argued as the best choice to play Joe West in the live action Flash series. His acting resume backs this up. He's a great actor, but I can't think of another actor who is as well known whose got as much history of playing cop roles who would fit.

There is a good reason to racebend Meg, the fact A Wrinkle in Time actually goes into the issue of diversity, so this may be seen as a way to get the message across clearer. This isn't quite the same as Hermione Granger, whose racial context within the series draws more from World War II than it does slavery happening in an entirely different country. (Americans aren't Americanistic at all, are they?) I'll even argue Storm Reid's acting resume says she could pull off Meg's character under the direction of the right production team.

I hope in honest sincerity that this movie doesn't kill her career.

The reason I say this is because while there is good reason to racebend Meg, but the actual reason she's being racebent isn't. DuVernay openly admits to having a political agenda. Worse, the quotes scream she's turning the film into her own personal wish fulfillment fanfic. Wish fulfillment isn't a bad thing, but it can lead to the creation of Mary Sues. So, the question comes will the wish fulfillment get in the way of telling a good story.

However, everyone rejoicing over the casting choice.

Says Charles Pulliam-Moore in his article "The Reason Publishers A Wrinkle in Time Is the Same Reason That Ava DuVernay Is Making the Movie. "Madeline L' Engle's 'A Wrinkle in Time was rejected by 26 different publishers when she first began shopping the book around in the early '60s. There were many reasons given: too complicated, too adult, and no one reads books with young female leads. Now, 55 years later, Ava DuVernay's live-action adaption of the book is making a similar point about young, black girls deserving a chance to be a part of the scifi cultural canon."