Dat’s Waycist!
Contrary to what the title might imply, this isn’t going to be a broad discussion of racism in general or even to how it applies to my characters as an extension of “On Values Dissonance”. Rather, I was wanting to specifically address the Blackamoors of Junker Jorg. The name itself will elicit the titular cry of this post and it’s entirely intentional. Though the country of Byrandia is largely inspired by pre-WWII France, it’s rather plainly goose-stepping its way down the path of fascism.
The basis for Junker Jorg stems from two separate dreams that I connected. The one relevant to today’s discussion basically follows the events of Chapter 1 of the story. I was occupying the character who would be Root, watching all the various monsters roaming about in the ruins in the distance. One of the large ones, I noted, would’ve been voiced by the late Daisuke Gouri if it actually could speak. This made me think about Gouri’s role as Bask Om, commander of the fascistic paramilitary group known as the Titans, in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. Sure enough, who would appear on the horizon by the Titans themselves. The rest played out mostly how you saw it on the page. (As a side note, Margie was largely inspired by Lili Stecchin of Pumpkin Scissors, her torment quite possibly fueled by my annoyance at the idea of a little girl being a sergeant major. I was rather pleased with the justification I came up with in the story proper.)
Well, I couldn’t very well use the Titans in the actual story, so I took inspiration from the Italian Blackshirts, the German Brownshirts, and the Spanish Falange to craft an organization of my own design. I don’t know why, but I decided to incorporate Laurence Olivier’s disconcerting blackface makeup from his performance of Othello as a distinguishing feature. Now, if you haven’t seen the movie itself, just checking out a screenshot will reveal how off-kilter it looks. The funny thing is how much faith Sir Laurence had in its verisimilitude. Just look at this article to see how much he was applying his powers of observation (or attempting to, at least) to affect a genuine portrayal. Anyway, with that inspiration, it was just another step to go from a depiction of the Moor of Venice to the archaic term ‘Blackamoor’ that became the organization’s name.
So, yes, if you think the fascist gang of thugs from the story is racist, you’re right on the money. Ironically, the blackface allows them to minimize any potential racial variance in members (to the casual eye, at least), so while their rhetoric is virulently racist, they’re pragmatic enough to take in just about anyone willing to do the terrible things they do. I suppose it’s not unlike the yakuza being fairly willing to accept Koreans into their ranks.
Anyway, hopefully this post shed some light on things. I doubt it’ll spare me the barbs of some social justice warrior, but I seem to be obscure enough to be free of such attention.
Tags: Commentary, Cross Arc, JJ, JJ1, Junker Jorg, Miscellany, Post-Apocalyptic
Commentary, Cross Arc, Junker Jorg, Miscellany, Post-Apocalyptic | James Carmack | 04 December 2015 |
