Marvel Vs Criminal Justice

One of the largest ways the media influences public opinions is through the news. News outlets report on local and world events, often applying their own bias to advance an agenda (Cavender, 2004). In general, entertainment television depicts crime, especially violent crime, far more often than it actually occurs in the real world (O’Keefe, 1987). Crime is more often than not presented to the public in two ways: crime is violent and criminals are nonwhite (Gilliam, et al, 1996). When put together, these two factors have

Hollywood scripts and television programming are filled with storylines of crime and criminal justice. The viewing public consumes crime

“It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s a paper about the makers of them comic books! “

Pop culture media, like Law and Order, has a way of showing people how crime is portrayed. Case (2013), mentions that past studies about the representation of crime in the media has increasingly shown fear to the public and portraying unrealistic standards of how crime is in the real world. Media likes to exaggerate how things truly are in the real world, which is why people believe what the media portrays. People will believe that everything they see in a television show can truly happen in the real world, which certain things can happen but not everything. If people end up believing in how the media portrays crime then people will be living in fear of their society being more violent than it actually is (Case, 2013).

Superheroes such as Miles Morales, Kenan Kong, and Jaime Reyes taking the title of Spiderman, Super-Man, and Blue Beetle all have one thing in common; they epitomize an underrepresented ethnic and racial community. Axel Alonso, the creator of the half-Hispanic, half-black Spider-Man (Miles Morales), explains, “Miles is but one face in a diverse landscape of heroes that includes Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel), Sam Wilson (Captain America) and Amadeus Cho (the Hulk), and offers readers of all creeds and colors a chance to see their own reflection” (Moreno, 2016, para. 10). Just like the creation of Batwoman, Miles Morales’ creation is due to the fact that creators wanted to be able to reach every member of their audience. However, “often lost in the intersection between superheroes and science fiction is the place race occupies in the genre, and when it is addressed, the discussion frequently turns to framing the genre as racially biased,” (Nama, 2008, p. 134). For these reasons, many comic book creators refrain from addressing these issues, since it may lead to them being accused of conforming to a stereotype. Even so, “the audience for comics is a truly multicultural one; in fact, it is more ethnically diverse than are the heroes the young people read about” (Brown, 1999, p.

Within media and society there are seemingly different representations of race and crime. They are different in how they are constructed for their perceived audience in the majority and the opinion that is supposed to be evoked by the event. Within the public perception of crime in reality there is abundant racism that has been socially constructed over many generations. Whereas media crime is gentrified and critiqued in such a way as to support fears and intrigue into crime through violence from what could rarely happen to the viewer. When both of these are combined the social construction of race is reinforced. Through crime television shows the allure of feeling a crime through draws an audience.

There is a plethora of crime related movies, TV shows, video games, etc. Violent portrayals of crime are everywhere. As most Americans do not have any personal experience with the criminal justice system, public knowledge of how it operates comes mostly from the media. Dowler (2003) did a study on the relationship between consumption of such media and fear of being victimized by crime. He found that there is, in fact, a relationship and people who consume more of this media are more afraid of crime. “Regular viewers of crime shows are more likely to fear or worry about crime. Similarly, regular crime drama viewers are more likely to hold negative attitudes toward police effectiveness.” (Dowler,

This inaccuracy is likely due to the lack of diversity among scriptwriters and television producers. Screenwriters simply regurgitated the images that were fed to them by the white majority. But, in the past few years Hollywood has undergone a somewhat dramatic shift. Black people are beginning to write roles for other black women. As a result, America is beginning to see a new type of black woman-one who is not hyper sexualized, overly angry, or unintelligent. This new breed of black female heroines is just that-heroines. Characters in television shows like Being Mary Jane and Insecure convey characters who are witty, career-driven, educated, and

Starting with Ken Dowler, Thomas Fleming, and Stephen Muzzatti, the authors of “Constructing Crime: Media, Crime and Popular Culture” (837-839) one can see how they believe the media impacts the view of crime from a public perspective. In Canada, crime is a main segment of the news and while that source would be considered informational, the subject of crime itself can also be for entertainment. Likely, North America favors the subject of crime and this can be prove true based on television content today through shows such as Chicago P.D., Law and Order: SVU, Killer Couples or Rosewood. While these shows and many others manage to hook an audience through intriguing storytelling of crime the lines between the true crime information and creative

Theses are all very popular sitcoms that show little to none representation for people of color. The television show Girls, created by and starring Lena Dunham, has received many complaints on the fact that there were no people of color in the show when it had first aired, and there are still barely in it today. In the article ‘I’m a White Girl’: Why ‘Girls’ Won’t Ever Overcome Its Racial Problem, written by Judy Berman, Berman states, “Dunham continues to cast non-white actors only when race defines their character.” (Berman). What Berman means by this statement is unless the character’s race has to do with the role they’re playing, you most likely won’t see a person of color in the show. The only times you will probably see a person of a different race would be if their character was either in the background, playing a character that isn’t given a major enough role to even be given a name, or playing a role where they are seen in a negative light, such as a bum in the streets or a racially stereotypical character, such as an angry black man. A research project had been conducted at the University of Southern California to analyze and come to a conclusion as to how diverse Hollywood actually is. The researchers looked over several hundreds of films from the years 2007 to 2014, not including 2011, and studied more than 30,000 characters to reveal how truly diverse films in

The movie included only one women superhero- the black widow, compared to most all male cast. In fact, in this entire film, only 3 women were given some type of speaking role, all which had really minor importance to the film. Most of these women were shown helping the male characters, helping them enhance their powers or providing a moral reasoning. While Black Widow’s combat skill were credential, she was essentially a superhero due to her manipulation skills. I find this super power not worthy of breaking gender barriers. This power plays with the mind and carries a feminine aspect to it considering that many regard women as highly emotional. Furthermore, the Black Widow was not given enough screen time to develop her character. In one of her scenes where she is found alone with uncontrollable Hulk, she was the only one that was shown defenseless where the fights between other superheroes are shown to be equally matched. The construction of the cast of this movie supports the opinion where the society fails to see women super hero to be empowering. Many of the fans consider the females presence in the action series to only be aiding the main masculine hero and providing romantic

However cross racial/ethnic representation does not have to be, and most certainly can be, done in a way that is respectful to the other race that it is depicting. Unlike historical blackface, studio makeup techniques and the technological editing capabilities of the industry has made it increasingly difficult to even tell in actor’s race in most cases. Furthermore, restricting people to their own biological race can be counterintuitive for minorities opportunity in Hollywood.

The public depends on the news media for its understanding of crime. Reportedly three quarters (76%) of the public say, they form their opinions about crime from what they see or read in the news (Dorfman & Schiraldi, 2001). After reviewing five hours of reality crime television shows, one is left with a very dismal look on society and a prejudice towards minorities as they are largely depicted as the perpetrators of crime. This new genre commonly referred to as reality television appears to be sweeping the nation by storm. Opinions vary, depending on whom you ask, to what extent reality plays a role versus the selling of a product. Sensationalism, advertising, ratings hype, profiling and fear all comprise the mass

I believe that the recent rise in non-traditional casting, specifically the use of black actors in traditionally white roles has incurred a backlash from individuals whose racism may have been previously undetected. Comic books, graphic novels, many of us grew up reading these captivating stories. Joining our favorite superheroes upon their courageous adventure deep within the fantasy world allowed those of us to overlook the struggles of our demanding reality. These impactful narratives also taught us an imperative lesson about people and the ever-looming potential for evil that exists in even the kindest of hearts.

Spiderman, Superman, Iron Man, the Joker, some of the greatest and most influential comic book characters of all time. These defenders of Justice and masterminds of evil have been entertaining us for over seventy years. However, there is a particular distinction that separates the aforementioned heroes and villains, their source. Marvel and DC, the kings of the comic book industry, have been heated rivals since Marvel’s Stan Lee created the Fantastic Four in 1961. Constant arguments arise over who is the better company: Marvel or DC? Yet, after careful analysis of heroes, villains, and movies they’ve produced, one can recognize that Marvel is the superior comic book company.