Kevin Burton Smith wrote:
> Yeah, that's something I think some people miss in
the books. I think
> on the surface, yes, Susan and Hawk (and even
Spenser, to a certain
> extent) may be racial stereotypes, but dig a little
and the
> subversion that is the subtext becomes clear. The
ditzy, frigid,
> money-grubbing Jewess (isn't that the way that
stereotype goes?)
> becomes the educated professional/hot
tamale/drinking buddy,
mmm, I was thinking the well educated, particularly in the
mind-games department, stereotype. The one racists begin by
saying "I've always admired your people for..."
> and the
> dumb but street smart black thug becomes a savvy
articulate and
> sophisticated, uh, professional criminal, closer to
James Bond than
> Bad Bad Leroy Brown.
More the savvy, immoral and not very articulate "six-foot
nigger with a switchblade" stereotype that figures in some
racist jokes I used to hear around this part of
Ontario.
> The racial/sexual/whatever banter plays up the
stereotypes, but only
> for the much greater fun of poking honking big holes
right through
> them.
I accept that's the intention, but it just never worked for
me in hardboil, where characters are judged by their actions,
and this sort of shuck and jive dialogue, or long-winded
motivational or moral musings are just so much after-the-fact
justification for misbehaviour.
I don't see all side-kick pairings as racist, or otherwise
bad. I just don't see why Hawk had to be black and Susan
Jewish and not, say, the other way around. It's been close to
40 years since I read Cooper. My awareness of Hawkeye and
Chingachkook comes largely from the much more recent movie,
but my sense there was that they treated each other as
equals, and not a case of one respecting the other's code
because it allowed him to see done what he would not do
himself. Mouse may do what Easy doesn't, but I never get the
sense that Easy is easy with that. He's usually upset, in
fact, but not in a position to do anything about it. And this
is assuming I accept them as two separate characters. There's
lots of room to develop the interracial sidekick kick without
being racist.
Admittedly I grew frustrated and stopped reading Parker early
on. Between Spenser and Hawk, I found Hawk much more
interesting because I always wondered where he came from,
what made him the man he was. But I never got that. Just more
of the same stereotypes. Did he become more articulate later
in the series?
And Kevin, speaking about racial experiences via Bouchercon,
it didn't occur to me until I got home how few black people I
saw at the event. I remember Walter Mosely and Gary Phillips
among authors. I do not recall any black female authors at
all. Maybe this is because I'm not as attentive to female
authors as I should be. But I don't remember anyone black
other than Mosely, Phillips and the hotel staff. (And I
wasn't too far out of it. I even have a vague recollection of
meeting Bill Crider.) This is an observation, not an
accusation, but if it is correct, what does this say about
our genre, particularly when Oprah is the most influential
bookselling resource in North America today?
Kerry
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