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Topic: The Body Shaming of Amanda Waller Post ReplyPost New Topic
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John Byrne
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Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
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Posted: 09 November 2017 at 8:38am | IP Logged | 1 post reply

As most of you know, I was first to draw this character, and the model was very simple: Nell Carter.

Since I let loose of her, tho, Amanda's odyssey has been pretty shameful. She translated more or less whole into animated versions, but it didn't last. Artists and Hollywood casting directors immediately slimmed her down. And, in the case of the drawn versions, without a whisper of a suggestion that she actually look like the same woman minus some pounds.

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Robbie Parry
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Posted: 09 November 2017 at 9:06am | IP Logged | 2 post reply

I had wondered about the change. 

Are there woman of the same size elsewhere in comics?
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Andrew Bitner
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Posted: 09 November 2017 at 9:26am | IP Logged | 3 post reply

Her New52 incarnation was ridiculous, looking like she was based on Angela Bassett.
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Eric Jansen
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Posted: 09 November 2017 at 9:53am | IP Logged | 4 post reply

It's hard to complain too much about good, cool, name African-American actresses like Angela Bassett, Viola Davis, or Pam Grier being cast as Waller--at least they were mostly the appropriate age and of realistic physique, but when ARROW cast a super-skinny unknown as the character, it was especially ridiculous--and annoying when I remembered she was nicknamed "The Wall" because she was large!
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Mario Ribeiro
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Posted: 09 November 2017 at 11:53am | IP Logged | 5 post reply

And, since the world is ridiculous, some claim that the real Wall fit the "Mammy" stereotype, so they see the "babe" version as an improvement.
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John Byrne
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Posted: 09 November 2017 at 12:02pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply

… some claim that the real Wall fit the "Mammy" stereotype…

••

Demonstating once again that these idiots have no idea what they're talking about.

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John Byrne
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Posted: 09 November 2017 at 12:03pm | IP Logged | 7 post reply

It's hard to complain too much about good, cool, name African-American actresses like Angela Bassett, Viola Davis, or Pam Grier being cast as Waller...

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That swings awful close to racism. "It's all cool as long as she'd Black."

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Andrew Bitner
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Posted: 09 November 2017 at 12:29pm | IP Logged | 8 post reply

They're all good actresses. Not one is right for Amanda Waller, as created on the comic book page. Not that that stops Hollywood. It's just more evidence of their inability to think beyond a highly attractive face.
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James Johnson
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Posted: 09 November 2017 at 12:40pm | IP Logged | 9 post reply

I know this may sound like l see the world in rose-colored glasses......

But people come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. I did not have a problem with Amanda Waller being a large woman. I saw her being a strong female and a role model.

Hollywood and many folks who work in the comic book industry VERY rarely model their cast on what the real world looks like.


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Matt Hawes
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Posted: 09 November 2017 at 12:48pm | IP Logged | 10 post reply

Unless it's for comedic purposes, it seems that in the entertainment industry only pretty people are allowed to exist.

I recall thinking, even as a teen, how refreshing it was to read THE NEW MUTANTS by Chris Claremont and Bob McLeod because McLeod had designed characters that looked like real teens. Sam Guthrie was tall,  lanky, had big ears and was even a tad goofy-looking in a real sort of way. Rahne Sinclair looked like a kid, and was not a stereotypical sexpot. 

After Rob Liefeld and later artists got ahold of the characters,  that all changed. They became cookie-cutter sexy superheroes. Blech.

JB's characters also get this a lot. Kitty Pryde, Wonder Girl (Cassie), Waller, and more. Even Puck in a sense, since God forbid there be an actual little person as a superhero. Somehow, It was thought better having him once had been shown as a normal sized person cursed with a demon to become a dwarf ( or whatever that nonsense explanation was).


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Vinny Valenti
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Posted: 09 November 2017 at 1:13pm | IP Logged | 11 post reply

"Rahne Sinclair looked like a kid, and was not a stereotypical sexpot."

--

Maisie Williams is spot-on casting for Wolfsbane in a NEW MUTANTS movie. Too bad pretty much nothing else is looking to be done right.
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Matt Hawes
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Posted: 09 November 2017 at 4:40pm | IP Logged | 12 post reply

Vinny, I agree about Maisie Williams being cast, and pretty much the rest of your statement. 
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