BadAzz MoFo

Gone Fishin’

David Walker — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 16:44:42 +0000

I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m taking the month of June 2013 off to get caught up on various projects. Have fun without me.

W-100: THE BREAKFAST CLUB

David Walker — Fri, 31 May 2013 14:15:53 +0000

White One Hundred: 100 Great Films Starring Only White People, #6 — The Breakfast Club — This movie came out when I was in high school, and pretty much everyone I know went to see it. At the time, everyone raved about how The Breakfast Club was “just like real life,” which of course, it really wasn’t, but that in and of itself is another topic all together. The thing about this movie that I want to discuss is that there is absolutely no reason for the entire cast to be white, and yet they are. I mean even the janitor is played by a white guy (and no—no matter how you try to package it, Emilio Estevez is a white guy). In what is arguably one of the most definitive high school movies of the 1980s, in which entire social cliques are condensed into easy to comprehend stereotypes, there are no people of color—not even the janitor!!! Every high school archetype you can imagine is represented by the all-white cast, and in doing so, the film creates a reality where…that’s right…there’s no place for people of color. Oppression by way of omission. Any one of the five main characters in Breakfast Club could have been played by an actor of color. Tell me Judd Nelson’s character couldn’t have been played by Esai Morales, or that Ally Sheedy couldn’t have been replaced by Kelly Jo Minter. I’ll give you that with four of the characters if they’d been played by someone non-white, it would’ve brought in an inter-racial romance dynamic, so I won’t even go so far as to suggest replacing them. I mean, god forbid some black football player start making out with some white chick with dandruff. So, I’ll give you the need to have four of the main characters be white (although not really). But Anthony Michael Hall doesn’t get any action—he’s just a nerd. You’re telling me they couldn’t have cast someone like Jonathan Ke Quan (from The Goonies ) as the stereotypical over-achieving Asian nerd, and still had the movie work? And by the way, The Goonies will never be on this list, because it co-stars Jonathan Ke Quan, proving it doesn’t take much to stay off the White One Hundred.

W-100: SUPERMAN

David Walker — Thu, 30 May 2013 20:01:46 +0000

White One Hundred: 100 Great Films Starring Only White People, #5 — Superman — Okay, I’ve barely gotten started on the White One Hundred project, and already people are emailing me, trying to dispute my entries. Apparently, in the extended cut of one of the Lord of the Rings movies, there may or may not be an extra who may or may not be a minority of some sort. In The Wizard of Oz, the Munchkins were played by little people, who are minorities, so that’s got to count for something. Right? Wrong! And I’ll tell you what else doesn’t count as far as the White One Hundred is concerned, and that’s the solitary minority extra, who may or may not have a single line of dialog, but still exists in an otherwise all-white world. Sound familiar? Here’s the all-time classic example: Superman. There is one character of color in the entire movie, a pimp, who sees Superman and proclaims, “Hey Jim, that’s a bad outfit!” Now, with all due respect to actor Bo Rucker, who played the pimp, this does not count in the war against oppression by omission. In fact, I think I can speak for most of the black kids who sat in the theater back in 1978 watching Superman, only to feel a twinge of unbearable shame and embarrassment when the ONLY black character in the movie turned out to be a jive-talking pimp…it’s better to have no black characters, if this is all you’re going to have.

Bo Rucker as the anonymous pimp in Superman.

The problem with Pimp, who is listed that way in the credits, and is pictured above, is that the character is merely an extension of the same racial ideologies that renders people of color largely invisible. This ideology says, in very simple terms, “There is no place for people of color in this world, unless they adhere to this narrow spectrum of images.” The result is we get an otherwise all-white world, populated by one black person, who is a pimp. I invite you to trade places with every black kid in America who watched that, and saw themselves reduced to a comedic aside that managed to pander to the most negative of stereotypes. Welcome to the world of Superman, where you will believe a man can fly, and that the only black person who fits into this reality is an anonymous pimp.

W-100: THE PRINCESS BRIDE

David Walker — Thu, 30 May 2013 19:12:43 +0000

White One Hundred: 100 Great Films Starring Only White People, #4 — The Princess Bride — The entire point of the White One Hundred project is not to accuse any one film or filmmaker of being racist. The point is to call attention to the omission of people of color within the world of film, and that most certainly is a byproduct of racism. And the problem with this particular byproduct is that it can be found in some really great films that don’t appear to be racist at all, and yet contribute to the dehumanization of people of color by simply leaving them out. Case in point: The Princess Bride. I love this movie. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen it. But there ain’t no black, brown, or yellow folks anywhere in the movie. Not one. Even the Spanish character, Inigo Montoya, is portrayed by a white actor. You’re telling me that in all of Florin there isn’t one person who wandered over from Africa or Asia? It’s not like I’m asking for any of the main characters to be played by actors of color, but a handful of extras would have been nice. I mean come on, give us minority folks a sense of belonging. Instead, it is made known to us that we don’t belong. And this is where we see how oppression through omission works. The Princess Bride is a great film. I definitely prefer it over Star Wars (which I think is mediocre at best), but sorry folks, it takes place in an all-white world. And in such worlds that provide our entertainment, our perceptions of everything from beauty to romance to good and evil are formed. For better or worse, this is a fact. How many of us cling to ridiculous notions of love and romance that have been formed by watching movies? Well, apply that same line of thought to the notions of what the world looks like, and you begin to see how the omission of people of color normalizes the notion of an all-white world, where all the measures of beauty and heroism are framed within a paradigm that excludes minorities.

W-100: STAR WARS

David Walker — Thu, 30 May 2013 15:13:32 +0000

White One Hundred: 100 Great Films Starring Only White People, #3 — Star Wars—Yes, the much beloved The Empire Strikes Back had Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian—as did the maligned Return of the Jedi. And all the prequels—which we must admit are bad films—had characters of various racial and ethnic backgrounds. But the very first Star Wars movie didn’t have a single character of color. Glynn Turman had been considered for the part of Han Solo, and George Lucas reportedly wanted Toshiro Mifune to play Obi Wan Kenobi, but both of those parts went to white actors. And so did every part in the movie. All those rebels running around, hopping into the x-wing fighters? None of them were black, or Asian, or anything other than a bunch of white guys. Now, I know what many of you will say… “But James Earl Jones starred as Darth Vader!!!” No. James Earl Jones provided the voice of Darth Vader, but that is not the same thing as having an actor of color starring in a role that provides visible representation to minorities. What we are talking about here is omission as a form of oppression, and when the ethnicity or race of an actor is rendered invisible, then that becomes a form of omission. So, sorry, but no cigar—we can’t count James Earl Jones, which means Star Wars: A New Hope is an all-white movie.

W-100: THE WIZARD OF OZ

David Walker — Wed, 29 May 2013 20:53:31 +0000

White One Hundred: 100 Great Films Starring Only White People, #2 – The Wizard of Oz. One of the most beloved family films of all time does not have a single person of color. All those Munchkins? Not a single black, Asian, quasi-Hispanic, or ethnically ambiguous Munchkin to be found. The entire population of Emerald City? Not a brown face anywhere (not even amongst the folks waxing and polishing the Tin Man). Sure, the easy explanation is that The Wizard of Oz came out in 1939, and that was pretty much how things were. But what does that really mean? Well, it means that in the 1930s it was perfectly acceptable to not have people of color on screen, because at that time ideologies of racial inferiority and superiority still prevailed. And if you don’t know what that means, let me explain it like this…The Wizard of Oz is one of the most widely seen movies of all time, and there are no people of color (and no, the flying monkeys don’t count). Imagine you’re a child of color, watching this beloved movie, and not a single scene contains anyone that looks like you or your family. This sends a message to every child of color who watches the movie that they have no place in this particular world, and it sends a message to every white child that a world without diversity is perfectly fine. This is omission and oppression by way of accepted cultural norms. Does this mean that The Wizard of Oz itself is racist? Does this mean that The Wizard of Oz is guilty of perpetuating ideologies of racial superiority and inferiority by creating a world exclusive to white people? Does this mean The Wizard of Oz might be potentially damaging to children of color, because it shows that they have no value whatsoever? Or am I just being overly sensitive? After all, it is just a movie.

Welcome to the debut of White One Hundred: 100 Great Films Starring Only White People

David Walker — Wed, 29 May 2013 18:31:06 +0000

To be honest, I’m tired of the same old conversation about race and racism in popular culture—especially as it relates to film. Some people get where I’m coming from, but far too many don’t, and that’s where the heated debate begins. One of the most insidious things about racism (and sexism) is the seemingly innocuous way it makes its way into popular culture simply through omission. All too often works of pop culture like movies and television shows take place in worlds populated without a single person of color, and it is presented as perfectly normal. This is in fact a manifestation of racial ideology that places white people in a role of superiority, while diminishing and dehumanizing people of color by making them non-existent within the framework of cinematic reality. In turn, this sends an unconscious message to an audience, which feeds into pre-existing ideological constructs. It happens all the time, many people are unaware of it, and even when it is pointed out, it is easily dismissed as being unintentional or innocent. But it is still damaging to those left out, and in time creates a lingering sense of alienation that manifests itself on a subconscious level. That said, rather then going any deeper into this topic, I’m simply going to prove my point with a little project I’m calling White One Hundred: 100 Great Films Starring Only White People. The entire purpose of this project is not to condemn the films and the filmmakers as being racist, but merely to point out the incredible extent of omission that goes on in film, and is accepted as being perfectly normal.

White One Hundred, #1 – The Lord of the Rings. Technically, this is three films, and there is not a single person of color to be found in all three. Yes, I know the films are based on the books of J.R.R. Tolkein—a man not known for his embracing of diversity—but in Peter Jackson’s cinematic adaptation, there is not one person of color. It’s not like they needed to cast Chiwetel Ejiofor as Boromir (though that would have been awesome). You’re telling me that we couldn’t get just one token black or Asian hobbit as an extra? In all of Middle Earth, there’s not one hobbit with the swarthy complexion of Harry Belafonte? That’s ridiculous. Maybe all the black extras in New Zealand and Australia were busy working on The Matrix movies, but somehow I doubt it. The closest thing to black people in all of Middle Earth are the orcs, and that’s not something I want to even come close to addressing.

Cartoon Fun Time 10

David Walker — Mon, 27 May 2013 16:37:57 +0000

This is a total rip-off of a piece done by Mark Bode in Epic Illustrated. The character is Cobalt 60, created by his dad, Vaughn Bode (one of the greatest cartoonists of all time). I drew this back in 1985, when I was about 14 or 15 years old. Even though I stole the pose, it is still one of the best things I ever drew. After discovering the Bodes, my short-lived career as a cartoonist took a new direction.

Cartoon Fun Time 9

David Walker — Sun, 26 May 2013 16:21:40 +0000

This is an old, unfinished piece I started more than 20 years ago. This is also one of the last things I ever did as a wannabe cartoonist. I had a grand vision for what this piece was going to be, and at some point I realized I didn’t know how to make that happen. Something inside of me shut down, and shortly after that I gave up on being an artist.

BAMF’s Movie Poster Hall of Fame – HARD-BOILED

David Walker — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:56:00 +0000

For the most part, I only include movie posters that have been painted or illustrated. Hard-Boiled is one of the few exceptions. This is one of my favorite posters of all time.