Diversity Is Almost a Superhero: a Critical
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DIVERSITY IS ALMOST A SUPERHERO: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF DIVERSITY IN DC’S ARROWVERSE by Taylor Cuinn Mireles, B.A. A thesis submitted to the Graduate Council of Texas State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts with a Major in Sociology May 2020 Committee Members: Audwin Anderson, Chair Deborah Harris Joshua Miller COPYRIGHT by Taylor Cuinn Mireles 2020 FAIR USE AND AUTHOR’S PERMISSION STATEMENT Fair Use This work is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, section 107). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of this material for financial gain without the author’s express written permission is not allowed. Duplication Permission As the copyright holder of this work I, Taylor Cuinn Mireles, authorize duplication of this work, in whole or in part, for educational or scholarly purposes only. DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this thesis to Yvette Marie Mireles. With this thesis, I want to let you know that you achieved what you aimed to do and that I will forever be thankful for what you’ve done and continue to do. I love you. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first off like to thank Dr. Audwin Anderson, my mentor, chair, and friend. You took me under your wing from the beginning and opened up my studies to show me what I can do with my education and the impact I can have in the world. I will be forever grateful for the last two years working with you and all that you helped me accomplish. I would also like to thank my thesis committee: Dr. Audwin Anderson, Dr. Deborah Harris, and Dr. Josh Miller. Thank you all for all the work and guidance that you provided during this past year. I am so happy that all of you were more than gracious to help me turn this thesis into what it is. I would like to thank my family: Mom, Dad, Sidney and Maygen. Thank you for all your support and strength through this program. I am forever grateful to have you by my side during this academic journey. Sidney and Maygen: continue reaching for your dreams. I am so proud of you both and all that you have accomplished during these years. I love you both so much. Finally I would like to thank my friends and colleagues that have joined me in this program: Kimberly Hartfield, Hannah Edwards, Alejandra Lemus, and Destinee Leyva. Thank you for joining me on this adventure and being the best of teammates as we went through this program together. I am so proud of you each and I look forward to seeing all you achieve. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ v LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... ix ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ x CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE............................................................................. 3 Diversity Exploitation ................................................................................. 3 Race in Superhero Culture is “Forgotten” .................................................. 5 Queer Representation: Positive and Negative............................................. 6 Female Superheroes Challenging the Norm ............................................... 8 III. GAPS IN THE LITERATURE ....................................................................... 12 Not Expanding the Scope.......................................................................... 12 Not Identifying the Root of the Problem .................................................. 12 IV. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS................................................................ 15 Critical Race Theory ................................................................................. 15 Queer Theory ............................................................................................ 19 V. METHODOLOGY........................................................................................... 22 Each Show’s Premise ................................................................................ 24 the arrowverse ....................................................................................24 arrow ................................................................................................... 24 the flash ............................................................................................... 24 supergirl .............................................................................................. 25 DC’s legends of tomorrow .................................................................. 25 vi black lightning .................................................................................... 25 VI. FINDINGS ......................................................................................................27 Descriptive Statistics Character Breakdown .............................................27 Thematic Analysis ....................................................................................32 one step forward for racial diversity, two steps back for racial lines ...........................................................................................32 the everlasting alien variable ..............................................................41 black lightning has once again been failed .........................................46 the fallacy of basic women .................................................................49 LGBTQ+ diversity representation ......................................................58 VII. CONCLUSION .............................................................................................69 Limitations ................................................................................................69 Conclusion ................................................................................................70 LITERATURE CITED .....................................................................................................71 vii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Gender Breakdown ......................................................................................................27 2. Diversity Breakdown ...................................................................................................28 3. Race/Ethnicity Breakdown ...........................................................................................29 4. Sexual Orientation Breakdown .....................................................................................30 5. LGBTQ+ Breakdown ....................................................................................................31 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviation Description CRT Critical Race Theory QT Queer Theory DEO Department of Extranormal Operations ix ABSTRACT In the last ten years, superheroes have entered the mainstream and are a part of media studies. Most of this research has been based in examining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Therefore this paper examine a part of comic studies that hasn’t been explored. This paper analyzes DC’s Arrowverse using a sociological lens using Critical Race Theory and Queer Theory. The intention of this thesis is to examine the diversity that is presented in the Arrowverses’ shows: Arrow (2012), The Flash (2014), Supergirl (2015), DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (2016), and Black Lightning (2018). Race, gender, and LGBTQ+ aspects of diversity are examined using a review of past literature and specific examples of quotes and storylines from the Arrowverse in order to examine the diversity presented. Keywords: comics, media, DC, race, gender, queer, sociology x I. INTRODUCTION Comics have been visual representations that contain a multitude of multicultural and socially relevant information. Direct results are that certain comics have molded and confirmed perceptions and other comics offered viewers the chance to have their viewpoints challenged (Klein 1993). Television shows and films are the reason that comic characters are interwoven with mainstream culture today. Comic-Con is an event that occurs every year in San Diego, where big corporations, comic book companies, celebrities, and over 125,000 fans gather to discuss all things film, television, and comics (Smith 2010). This event is physical proof of the social importance that comic culture currently has in mainstream culture. Past research has examined comics, Marvel movies, or specific DC characters’ worlds containing Batman, Superman, or Wonder Woman (Carrington 2016; Gibson; Howell 2015; Lavigne 2015; Low 2017; Robinson 1998). In past research, there is a significant lack of research focusing on a large scope, such as the DC superheroes within the Arrowverse television shows. This is an important gap to explore considering the continued success of all the shows and the advertisement of diversity within them. Instead of just looking at one character’s reality these shows have offered an opportunity to explore diversity in an entire world that involves intersecting superheroes. Diversity in this thesis will be defined as race, gender, sexual orientation, and sexual identity.