Okay, so you know how a lot of works, no matter what they are, have some sort of social commentary or functions as an allegory to something in particular. And before I go any further, the world is filled with many complicated issues that many only receive one side of for whatever reason: news media being from one of five networks, government issued statements, social media, etc. but that doesn't make the issues that are being talked about less important than what they seem. And there are many examples of real life events and issues becoming stories many come to love.
Now the main examples I'll be using are going to be Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra, and X-men because it's probably the only ones I can explain without confusing the ever loving fuck out of some of you. Also this will be two parts, as X-men is its own chapter. Let's get started.
With the X-Men we a large variety of social commentary. When it comes to those who are the minority or fall into the "other" category, what exactly they experience will be different because of where they live, what they look like, on top of many other factors. Nightcrawler and Angel are my two favorites to compare. Nightcrawler looks like a literal demon but is probably the nicest person you'll ever meet. Angel can pass as a human with a trenchcoat, but served under an evil mutant called Apocalypse. You have mutants that can pass as humans and mutants that either can't at all or can somehow cover up their mutation. This can be parallel to being "white passing" when you're black.
Even the fact that mutants want the same right as nonmutants can be parallel to LGBTQ+ individuals, imigrants whether they're legal or not, or even minority citizens.For example, Native Americans weren't even consider citizens until 1924, fours years after women were given the right to vote, but there were still laws in place that kept many out the polls such as the requirement of being able to read and write in English( something many former slaves and some of their children didn't know how to do), poll taxes, nonvoluntary drafts, etc. You get mutants that are outed by people and lose friends or people act differently. Sort of like how if you're from Iraq and everyone finds out about that but you're Jewish or you're trans and everyone at work finds out. One one hand with being Iraqi and the US has a bit of a......I'm sure they hate us, but everyone's like "Oh, but you're not a Muslim terrorist, you're Jewish." and your trans coworker is harassed by that one asshole from accounting and the asshole is bugging them about if your coworker had the surgery or not. Now imagine being a mutant and you can shot lightning bolts. One hand: coworkers avoid you. On the other: one asks you to help threaten the boss to get everyone a raise.
We even have the Mutant Registration Act. Basically, if you're a mutant and you're powers is basically glowing in the dark, you have to register. "But Biamond," you complain, "if my power is to glow in the dark, why do I need to register?" Well...the fuck if I know. There are powers that seem reasonable for them to be registered: Telepath, teleportation, walking through walls, shapeshifting, control over the weather; but you get people like Magneto and get your answer. Magneto believed Mutants to be better ( and this is just one interpertation) than humans. Xavier believed them to be able to live together. This is often challenged because you have humans that are like " I have never been hurt by a mutant, but...." you have groups like Friends of HUmanity who might as well be the KKK or NeoNazis that will spew propaganda that will hurt mutants. You have humans that are like today's "woke" influencers who wants to help but are doing more harm than good. And the you have humans that truly care that are doing what they can to help or trying to learn how they can help. Sort of like today's Black Lives Matter protests or the protests at the border.
X-men have many examples of social commentary. And they are the literal definition of the Token band as their members are from all walks of life.
In case you want to see the voting history of US. Also go vote and/or register to vote.
History of Voting : https://www.sos.wa.gov/_assets/elections/history-of-voting-in-america-timeline.pdf
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Tropes and Cliches
RandomThere are a lot of tropes like the Token Gal and really hilarious cliches like Clumsy unless in Combat.And I want to discuss them here with you. Now there is nothing wrong with cliches and tropes, mostly because they're unavoidable. It's when you us...
