race fail is full of fail, aka this is a rant (but with gifts!)

[kristin]

i do not generally read sf/f anymore. not since high school, except a few beloved authors i keep up with. i had been considering getting back into it, but have decided not to. right now my list of authors i would be willing to read is far shorter than the list i am now avoiding.

maybe it is because i had been paying so much attention to racefail, to everyone (at least outside of flock) in fandom decrying the pros, but i got super angry earlier looking at the fandom steel cage match. i saw the qualifying round, voted without really looking at the results, then checked back for the first round and noticed my options.

now i don't know all the fandoms, but using wikipedia i found (not surprised, but disappointed) there are seven characters of color who made it through to the first round, two of which (Cameron from T:SCC and Michael on Prison Break) are not coded as CoC. That is out of 48 characters, so roughly 15%. discounting cameron and michael, 12.5%. as an aside, there are 19 women. all in all, not surprising, and not as bad as it could be.

the issue i have is when you look at the results so far. only one CoC (the wonderful Gus of Psych) is winning. only one. (of the women only 7 are winning, none of whom are CoC.)

i think it is a pretty safe bet a white male will win this. now i know the CoC are often underwritten, suffering from lack of knowledge on the part of the creators, shoehorned in and under utilized. i know this. but still, it is a bit disappointing.

people, there are characters of color and they are awesome! take a look at nextian's characters of color yenta meme!

.

Now for the gift. tell me about your favorite CoC and i will make you an icon of them. (i would appreciate it if you could provide an image if it isn't a fandom i know.) depending on how many people reply, you might get more than one.

eta: i'm now unlocking this post
eta the second: gus didnt make it to the next round, so the sweet 16 is all white, with four women, at 25%, when fandom is 95%(guesstimate) female. looking at the results, it looks like there will be one woman (VMars) in the top 8 for certain (is she just that awesome or is it the fact that she hasn't been up against a guy before? i really hope it is the former, because she is pretty fucking awesome.) and one possibly (lorelei gilmore).

Comments

Re: rant for the win! (part 1)

[ticketsonmyself.livejournal.com]

I am so, so pleased to find another person who's a fan of both The Wire and Homicide! And all the things you've said about Clark Johnson! And bwah, Reed Diamond as Kellerman! I love that moment in Fire, if that's the episode. Frank and Tim! Beau and Kay! So much of what I love about Homicide. I admit, I have a love/hate relationship with the later seasons: I try to love, they seem to hate me. But Peter Gerety is a fine actor!

I wish I knew of more fans of The Wire and Homicide around! The relatively small Homicide fandom seems to have gone mostly defunct way before I started watching on DVD, whereas The Wire fandom is small if fervent—as you probably know. Here, have a few story recommendations, in the event you haven't seen these before:

In the Land of Pleasant Living (http://2ndary-author.livejournal.com/13698.html?thread=92546&format=light#cutid1). “Sometimes, I think we’re totally lost.” Short. In season 2, Frank tries to figure out where he and Tim are going for their latest call. Baltimore's streets are confusing, but his fellow homicide detectives are ready to help... whether Pembleton wants it or not. Perfect dialogue and characterization, with the by-turns funny and macabre, gritty-streets atmosphere of the show.

The Birthday Girl (http://schism.tktv.net/stories/birthday.html). "Happy birthday, Detective Scooby Doo." Short. Kay has a birthday in season 2. Perfect dialogue and characterization: funny, brisk, and just sweet enough, like a missing scene from the show.

The Hustle (http://yuletidetreasure.org/archive/39/thehustle.html). Kima is the new McNulty. AMAZING take on Kima after season 5, and on everything that's come before for her and for Jimmy. Pitch-perfect in the spirit of the show: the nuances of dialogue, characterization, every last thing.

Re: rant for the win! (part 1)

[ticketsonmyself.livejournal.com]

And here's a couple more for Frank and Tim (who do seem to get the most fan attention... but never fear, Meldrick and Mike, I still love you!).

Five-Finger Discount (http://romanticalgirl.livejournal.com/686906.html?format=light&mode=reply#cutid1). “Is that what you’re going to do? Give up your career as a cop to be a hand model because some hairdresser told you to?” Very short. That conversation they must have had about Tim's haircut in season 4. Pitch-perfect, with the funny conversational cul-de-sacs so characteristic of their relationship and Homicide dialogue in general.

Shell Casing (http://www.geocities.com/ducklie/11cents/stories/shell.html). My very favorite part:

"Then say you're perplexed. Don't 'hmmmm' me. You're starting to
sound like Howard," Pembleton said. "The English language is a great
invention, use it."

"Maybe Clary picked up the casing after he shot him," Bayliss said.

"He didn't have it on him when we picked him up," Pembleton said.

"He could have dumped it on the street. Or in that bar."

"Why would he drop the gun with his prints all over it almost on top of
the body, then stop to pick up the casing, and then flee in a panic?"
Pembleton asked.

"He didn't know what he was doing, Frank. He freaked out after he shot
Ramsey. People do weird things when they're under stress," Bayliss
said as he kept scanning the carpet.

"I don't," Pembleton said.

"Yeah, but I don't think you're a regular person," Bayliss said.

A mini-casefile set in season 5. Practically perfect in every way, especially the ending!

Re: rant for the win! (part 1)

[blueheronz.livejournal.com]

As am I -- pleased to meet another fan of both shows. Although I can be rather fannish, this wasn't the case back when Homicide was on the air. And now, most of the comm activity is past tense. However, I'd love it if we could friend each other and perhaps discuss the shows from time to time. If that is kosher, just go ahead and friend me, and I'll take that as an "OK."

You know, I've not read ANY fanfic for either The Wire or Homicide. I'm a writer -- working on a novel now, but formerly a journalist -- and I did write a bit of fanfic for the House fandom in 2005 - 7, give or take. But I seldom find time to read FF. I must check this stuff out, though. I'd be very tempted to write a character study of Stringer Bell.

Thanks for the recs and the conversation.

Re: rant for the win! (part 1)

[ticketsonmyself.livejournal.com]

Sure! People who are fans of both shows seem few and far between in the circles in which I travel; I'm mostly still at the stage of incoherent, nonverbal flailing with The Wire (probably not helped by how my pain medication tends to kick in during the evening, when I've watched the show), but I'm happy to friend.

A friend of mine who's not on LJ followed a similar path: she used to be a journalist, but quit to write a YA novella. Hats off to you and your ongoing labors!

If you don't have much free time, "In the Land of Pleasant Living" and "The Birthday Girl" are under three pages each, and "Five-Finger Discount" (linked in my second comment of recs) is under two pages, so those are quick reads. (And if anyone reads this comment and is thinking about getting into Homicide, the first two stories contain no spoilers, and "Five-Finger Discount"—which is actually set in season 5; my typo earlier—includes one general spoiler for the end of S4. "Shell Casing" has three spoilers through early S5.)

Ooh, I would totally read a Stringer Bell character study.

Thanks for the conversation!

Re: rant for the win! (part 1)

[ticketsonmyself.livejournal.com]

No, wait, correction of my earlier correction: "Five-Finger Discount" is set in mid-season 4. Ahaha.