For me, the caricatures in Astérix aren’t especially problematic, as absolutely *everyone* got caricatured. The series is literally a work of relentless, gentle parody and hilarious absurdities.
I think you’re kind of answering your own point, there.
Also, let’s be real-- Asian characters barely appear at all in the books. I’m not even sure where the Chinese pirate does, above, and I’ve tried my share of googling on it.
Asian characters barely appear at all in the books.
That’s correct. But the few times they do, that’s what they look like. If you grew up reading it, it’s kind of grandfathered in, but the racist caricatures are simply not acceptable by modern standards.
I don’t think anyone’s really arguing that, but also, I’m not sure Astérix is a very good place to be fighting those battles, as every single person, ethnicity, gender and so forth is parodied.
Hmm. That said, there are some old stereotypes of Asians in the West that to my mind are pure invention, and aren’t fairly representative of the peoples. In fact, they were probably deliberately designed to be hurtful and mean-spirited, like those ridiculous propaganda posters the USA produced during WWII, depicting Japanese people, i.e. ‘the enemy.’ So, a caricature based on that model isn’t really a fair caricature. I guess I agree with you, after all.
You’re correct that “parodying” with a clear inspiration from racist depictions of people is not okay, regardless of the intent. Uderzo didn’t make up the giant red lips of the Numidians on his own, for example.
Is Asterix better?
For me, the caricatures in Astérix aren’t especially problematic, as absolutely *everyone* got caricatured. The series is literally a work of relentless, gentle parody and hilarious absurdities.
I like Asterix and get it’s a product of its time, but the Asian and black caricatures in particular are pretty bad by today’s standards.
I think you’re kind of answering your own point, there.
Also, let’s be real-- Asian characters barely appear at all in the books. I’m not even sure where the Chinese pirate does, above, and I’ve tried my share of googling on it.
That’s correct. But the few times they do, that’s what they look like. If you grew up reading it, it’s kind of grandfathered in, but the racist caricatures are simply not acceptable by modern standards.
I don’t think anyone’s really arguing that, but also, I’m not sure Astérix is a very good place to be fighting those battles, as every single person, ethnicity, gender and so forth is parodied.
Hmm. That said, there are some old stereotypes of Asians in the West that to my mind are pure invention, and aren’t fairly representative of the peoples. In fact, they were probably deliberately designed to be hurtful and mean-spirited, like those ridiculous propaganda posters the USA produced during WWII, depicting Japanese people, i.e. ‘the enemy.’ So, a caricature based on that model isn’t really a fair caricature. I guess I agree with you, after all.
You’re correct that “parodying” with a clear inspiration from racist depictions of people is not okay, regardless of the intent. Uderzo didn’t make up the giant red lips of the Numidians on his own, for example.
Oof.