Current mood:	thoughtful
Entry tags:	anti-racism, comics, feminism, ibarw

IBARW 2 - Fables: Arabian Nights (and Days)
Since I have been planning to do this for a long time, and since it's the last day of IBARW, and since I promised... I'm going to put my Fables analysis (exposé?) ahead of posting about Storm's hair, Jewish/Israeli people of color and the appalling condition of POC in Heroes.

For the Heroes thing, check out bobthehaitian. For POC issues in media in general, check out deadbrowalking. For the debate surrounding Storm's hair... just don't go there, it's a nest of wank and people saying things I hope they now regret. Since her hair probably isn't going to become any less white before next year, I'll post about it in IBARW 3. Same goes for the Jewish thing, since it's too complex to be summarized and I want to do the issue justice.

For the purposes of this post: culturism is a form of racism that's built around a chauvinistic sense of one's cultural superiority to others; discourse that uses terms like "barbaric" and "backwards", especially with little research or backing, is culturist; colorism is a form of racism that discriminates against people based on their pigmentation; it can contain all sorts value judgments, from cultural and moral ones to purely aesthetic or sexual ones. Both rely largely on stereotypes and deliberate disinformation.

Both kinds of racism exist in every direction imaginable. Both are most influential and damaging in one particular direction: European, American or Anglo-centric culture towards all others, and the crudely defined white race towards any race darker than itself. Within the white race, there is a certain degree of favoritism; blonde-haired people are "more white" than dark-haired ones. Nonetheless, this has less effect than white-to-POC racism.


Fables is a monthly comic book by Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham (hereinafter, "the Inghams"), published by Vertigo Comics. Its premise is portraying a hidden society of fables, characters from myths, fairy tales and storybooks, living among us in 21st century New York City. The first few arcs handled the premise with grace and wit, introducing characters with a modern twist and weaving around them a war story full of twists and complications. So far, so good.

In December 2005, Fables started a four issue story-arc titled "Arabian Days (and Nights)", chronicling the arrival in NYC Fabletown of the Arabian Fables. I, who was beginning to get bored of the focus on European (and to a lesser extent, American) stories, was looking forward to an infusion of fresh blood. The story disappointed more with each of its fourth installments. All the benefit of the doubt in the world couldn't stop me from assessing its heavy-handed racist tones, which oyceter chronicles here.

If you haven't had a heart-attack yet, there's more, and this time with scans! Because I was sorting my comics yesterday, I took the time to pull out the arc, and two subsequent issues, and scan a few pages for your enjoyment. Er.

Arabian Nights (and Days):

#42, page 12 (2.4 MB), a nice spread that shows Sinbad, his harem, and his Vazir Yusuf arriving at Fabletown. Note the mangled English, Beast (in the black T-shirt) showing unhelpful sarcasm, and the wide array of nameless harem girls in costumes straight out of white men's fantasies. As oyceter noted, Sinbad is drawn quite attractively, while Yusuf is scrawny and stooped, with curled mustaches and less Westernized clothing.

#43, page 21 (1.4 MB), the promise of Yusuf's slimy appearance, fulfilled! Sinbad is all handsome and enlightened,in his tailored suit/swim trunks, obviously he rejects the broadly-stereotyped Arab masculinity and decides not to keep his harem. Obviously, this is because he is better-looking and better-groomed than those other, slimy Arab men, who can't get a date and therefore keep harems. This exchange also holds a none-too-subtle parallel to modern Muslim objections to Western cultural imperialism, complete with WMDs.

#44, because I couldn't pick just one, page 5 (2.3MB), showing the Djinn (WMD personified) transforming into a harem girl in order to pass amung the Mundies safely, and page 8 (1.4 MB), showing the Djinn executing one of Yusuf's allies. The fetishized European depiction of a harem outfit is back, and look! American men treat Iraqi women so much better than their own men do, and get no gratitude. Also note the unusually brutal and gory method of execution. The European Fables have executions, but they're so much more humane; in a different installment, Bigby Wolf throws Ichabod Crane out a window on trumped up charges based on entrapment.

#45, page 19 (1.5 MB), showing Hakim, Sinbad's assassin, being interviewed by Beauty and Beast to see where in Fabletown he can fit in. He's a swordsman and a poisoner, but clearly less honorable than Edmond Dantès, who could never hire him as an instructor in his fencing school. Hakim's future is explored a little in #59, "Burning Questions", the pastiche issue in which Willingham answers readers' questions with the aid of guest artists. Since his story is only three pages, I uploaded all three: page 1 (1.9 MB), page 2 (1.2 MB), page 3 (2 MB). Note how Hakim is portrayed as an ultra-conservative misogynist; the titillating costumes of Orientalist art and the fundamentalist archetype of modern days, all wrapped up neatly together, however contradictory. The Inghams really hit a jackpot of stereotypes.

Another scan from #45, page 19 (2.5 MB), shows an encounter between Flycatcher (the Frog Prince), Red Riding Hood (a recent arrival at Fabletown) and several of Sinbad's freed harem slaves. Fly had a family back in the Homelands, but he hasn't seen them in centuries, and now Ride has a bit of a crush on him. Ex-slaves show up in their titillating costumes. Now Fly's got wood. Uh, I mean, it's just because they parade around in their bloomers! #52, page 13 (673 KB), a whole seven issues later, Ride has adjusted so well to her new surroundings that she's sporting a new look. I guess culture shock isn't so bad when you're not an Arab.

I would have been able to buy culture shock, to a certain extent, if it wasn't so heavy-handed and so obviously restricted to the Arab characters. Yes, most of the European Fables have been living in this world for centuries and had more time to adjust, but Red Riding Hood? Not so much. And yet, an attractive redhead in a snazzy modern outfit is incentive enough to disregard this concept. Would it not have been a much more interesting story if the women of the harem and Ride had had to go through the journey of cultural adjustment together, whether bonding or bickering in the process? Where is Scheherazade in all of this? Is the idea of an Arab woman having any kind of strength or skill just too much for the Inghams' fixated view of Middle Eastern gender dynamic?

Everything about this storyline, from the fine lines of the art to the decision to segregate the missing Fables by cultural premise, reeks of cultural superiority complex. In Fables, the only character of color who isn't treated shabbily is Mowgli, of The Jungle Book. Why is this? Because India and America aren't political opponents in our present day power dynamic? Because The Jungle Book was written wholly by a white man, whereas The Book of One Thousand and One Nights was brought to white society through translations of Persian and Arab stories? They could have chosen to fill Fabletown with characters from stories of all around the world. It's not as though they're afraid of more obscure characters; Baba Yaga is hardly as well known as Sleeping Beauty, and yet she's a much more prominent character in Fables. How can these all be coincidences when they're so pervasive and systematic.

If you've been good and read this far, here's a bonus: page 22 (2.1 MB) of #42, showing Prince Charming seducing Beauty while they are alone at the office, away from her husband, Beast.