Mexican artist on Memin Pinguin
Posted by: Rich Watson on July 11, 2008 at 11:22 am
“…No one in this huge complains [sic] against Memin has ever tried to actually read the whole story. I know it’s daunting, as last I checked it ran around the 200 issues, but they could ask about it to people who had read it. Because when you get Memin in context, the story is quite different from what you might guess at the covers, or at a single issue.”
urbanhorror July 11th, 2008
Nothing is more Racist, than trying to explain to the offended party that what offended them is not Racist
Rich Watson July 11th, 2008
How so? Adalisa is clearly speaking from a position of authority, not only being Mexican but someone way more familiar with the comic, I would wager, than you or I combined.
Romanticide July 12th, 2008
“Nothing is more Racist, than trying to explain to the offended party that what offended them is not Racist”
So if what you saw was a poster containing a picture of “birth of nation” with a caption saying “this kind of racism sucks” and you only see the birth of nation picture. Does it makes anybody trying to making you see the caption you missed racist? Or does it mean you are not only blind but stuborn?
Adalisa July 14th, 2008
Sorry it took me so long to come and comment here. First of all Rich, thank you for linking to my blog. I never expected so many people to read my post, but now that it has happened, I have a much better idea of what is going on, and what can be done to reach a better understanding on this tricky business.
@urbanhorror: I am afraid that we’re probably passing each other by with our mutual points. I’m aware,as I say in my post (Although I clarified it in an ETA after reading yours and other comments like this) that the image of Memin is offensive, and it draws from very racist stereotypes. I’m currently organizing with a friend a group of mexican artist to redesign Memin to take him away from those stereotypes. What I was trying to explain is why Mexicans say the story is not racist. because there are a couple of things that were completely distorted in the news report because of the language and cultural difference.
mathan July 15th, 2008
Yeah, I really think that this one is all about context. It’s the context of the time when the comic was created, when that’s how Black characters were portrayed, and it’s also a matter of cultural context. As an outsider looking in the character looks pretty bad, but based on what Adalisa posted the actual stories seemed to address issues of race (among others) in a responsible manner.
And given that it’s not an American audience, they aren’t as versed in the brutality of American racism as we are. It’s an offensive image, but it doesn’t seem to be malicious.
