Superheroes & Stereotypes: a Critical Analysis of Race, Gender, And
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SUPERHEROES & STEREOTYPES: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF RACE, GENDER, AND SOCIAL ISSUES WITHIN COMIC BOOK MATERIAL Gabriel Arnoldo Cruz A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December 2018 Committee: Alberto González, Advisor Eric Worch Graduate Faculty Representative Joshua Atkinson Frederick Busselle Christina Knopf © 2018 Gabriel Arnoldo Cruz All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Alberto González, Advisor The popularity of modern comic books has fluctuated since their creation and mass production in the early 20th century, experiencing periods of growth as well as decline. While commercial success is not always consistent from one decade to the next it is clear that the medium has been and will continue to be a cultural staple in the society of the United States. I have selected this type of popular culture for analysis precisely because of the longevity of the medium and the recent commercial success of film and television adaptations of comic book material. In this project I apply a Critical lens to selected comic book materials and apply Critical theories related to race, class, and gender in order to understand how the materials function as vehicles for ideological messages. For the project I selected five Marvel comic book characters and examined materials featuring those characters in the form of comic books, film, and television adaptations. The selected characters are Steve Rogers/Captain America, Luke Cage, Miles Morales/Spider-Man, Jean Grey, and Raven Darkholme/Mystique. Methodologically I interrogated the selected texts through the application of visual and narrative rhetorical criticism. By using this approach, I was able to answer my guiding research questions centered around how these texts operate to reinforce, subvert, and modify socio-cultural understandings related to the race, gender, and economic class in the United States. iv This dissertation is dedicated to my parents, Baltazar and Bonnie Cruz. My father taught me that the path to El Norte is long, arduous, and that many do not make it. I owe a great debt to him for showing me how to be the kind of man that can endure the journey. I am grateful for three particular pieces of wisdom that my mother has imparted to me and that I will always carry with me. The first is that it is not enough to know something, you must understand it as well. The second is that dragons come in many forms, and they can be defeated if you are brave enough to try. The third is to care for others because there is a lot of ugliness in the world and everyone needs a little help. Thank you, Mom and Dad. I can only reach so high because I am standing on your shoulders. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS No one does it alone, and I am no exception. I owe a significant debt to everyone who has helped me throughout this long process that has spanned these last four years. I could not have done it without the help of my entire community and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank those who have helped me to “keep it between the ditches”, as we say in the South. I’d like to begin with my advisor, Dr. Al González, who has offered the insight and guidance that I have sorely needed throughout my time in this doctoral program. I would like to add that it is difficult to be what one has not seen and up until my time at BGSU I had seen few, if any, Latino scholars in Communication Studies or related fields. Dr. González was the first Latino scholar I have had the opportunity to learn from and work with. As a Chicano scholar who was new to the world of higher education his presence in my career as an academic has served as an affirmation that it is possible for someone like myself to scale this mountain. I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Joshua Atkinson, Dr. Rick Busselle, Dr. Rick Worch, and Dr. Christina Knopf, all of whom have informed my research and approach to education through the examples they have set and the advice they have shared. Dr. Atkinson and Dr. Busselle in particular have been formative in my development as an educator as I have had the honor of working with both professors as a teaching assistant for their respective classes. I would also like to thank Dr. Worch for providing a valuable perspective as a researcher outside of Media and Communication Studies, as well as Dr. Knopf for graciously agreeing to serve on my committee even though she is outside of the university. In addition to my official committee I would also like to thank those whom I sincerely consider my unofficial committee that is comprised of educators who have been instrumental in my success at Bowling Green State University. These professors include Dr. John Dowd, Dr. vi Lisa Hanasono, Dr. Tom Mascaro, Dr. Clayton Rosati, Dr. Lara Lengel, Dr. Lynda Dixon, and Dr. Emily Anzicek. Each of these professors were generous in giving me their time and attention and were crucial in aiding my intellectual as well as pedagogical growth. Of course, my support group also includes the many friends I have made at BGSU who have functioned simultaneously as co-workers, impromptu-therapists, academic sounding boards, and companions of the highest order. The names on this page are but a few of the many that are in my heart. I would like to offer my sincerest thanks to Andrew Donofrio, Benjamin Brojakowski, Erika Berhmann, Julia Largent, Arthi Chandrasekaran, Nicholas Prephan, Linsay Cramer, Alexander Vollbach, Shanna Gilkeson, Graeme Wilson, E. Saygin Koc, Dhiman Chattopadhyay, and Cody Clemens. Additionally, I owe a debt of gratitude to those that helped me start my journey in academia. These include my instructors from Rockingham Community College: Donata Worrell, Joyce Russell, and Dr. Benjamin Wooster; as well as educators from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro: Dr. Christopher Poulos, Dr. Killian Manning, Dr. Jessica McCall, and Dr. Etsuko Kinefuchi. I would also like to thank my friends from home, the Murphy, Strader, Ward, Vosburg, and Tilley families. Please know that I am grateful for your warmth, support, and love that has sustained me all these years. Finally, I would like to thank my family. They are the stars by which I chart my course, the guiding lights that help me to orient myself when I have lost my way. My wife, Kristen Cruz, has been with me every step of the way, encouraging me when I felt I could go no further. I could not ask for a better partner. I am grateful for the love and support provided by my parents who have always pushed me to do just a little better, to work just a little harder, and without those lessons I could not have made it here. I owe a great debt to my grandparents, Arnold and Brenda Rakes, who have opened my eyes to the world around me. They have not only shown me vii how beautiful the world can be, they have been instrumental in helping me to find my place in it. They have given me a taste of a life that I could have, and that desire helps to keep me moving forward. My siblings, Rafael, Raquel, Lucero, and Leonardo, have given me that which is particularly precious in graduate school: respite. Visiting with them during my trips home gave me a chance to breathe freely and to temporarily suspend my concerns and anxieties about school. My time with them was like fresh air for a swimmer, without it I would have drowned beneath the pressures of my work. What I have accomplished was not just for myself, but for them as well. My accomplishments thus far have been as much for them as for myself. My hope is to carve a path for them with each step I take so that they too may dare to follow their dreams. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER 1: THE CRITICAL GAUNTLET..………………….………………………… 1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………. 1 Rationale……………………………………………………………………………. 5 Stereotypical Representation and Authorship………………………………. 6 Whiteness and Public Perception…………………………………………… 10 Selective Literature Review………………………………………………………… 13 Comics and Stereotypes…………………………………………………….. 13 Gender……………………………………………………………………..... 20 Self-Determination…………………………………………………………. 22 Methodology……………………………………………………………………….. 25 Rhetorical Criticism………………………………………………………… 26 Procedure…………………………………………………………………… 28 Overview of Chapters………………………………………………………………. 31 CHAPTER 2: THE (MOSTLY) HEROES GALLERY…………………………………… 34 Captain America……………………………………………………………………. 35 Mystique.…………………………………………………………………………… 39 Luke Cage………………………………………………………………………….. 42 Jean Grey…………………………………………………………………………… 44 Miles Morales………………………………………………………………………. 47 CHAPTER 3: OF MUTANTS AND MEN..……………………….………………………. 51 Captain America: The Green in the Blue Eyes….………………………………….. 52 ix Origin & Powers……………………………………………………………. 52 Defending (White) America...……………………………………………… 57 Class Warfare..……………………………………………………………… 64 Test-Tube Masculinity…...…………………………………………………. 70 Mystique: The Jerks Running the World..……………………………………….…. 73 Origin & Powers……………………………………………………………. 73 Homo Superior……………………………………………………………… 75 Terrorist Vs. Freedom Fighter.……………………………………………… 80 Tinker, Taylor, Pin-Up, Mother.……………………………………………. 83 Critiques of Dominance…………………………………………………………….. 90 CHAPTER 4: HEROIC FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES……………………………………. 97 Luke Cage: “I Am, Therefore I’m Bad”...………………………………………….. 99 The Reformed Buck…...……………………………………………………. 99 Only the Baddest Survive..…………………………………………………. 106 The Holey Hoodie………..…………………………………………………. 126 The Hero of Harlem…………...……………………………………………………. 141 CHAPTER 5: PHOENIX, FEAR, AND FEMINISM………………………………………