New media has the potential to invigorate communities who are desperate to see accurate portrayals of themselves in media. New media could be the voice of the people – like television it can instantly convey information, but the cost and complexities of developing it are manageable by the average American person. The internet could invent a new way for people to see and understand each other. However, today’s topic is far more depressing.
Browsing wikipedia, as I often do, I came upon this listing:
The film, and wikipedia entry, is entitled: Gay Niggers from Outerspace. It’s a film from Denmark.
While the film is framed as a comedy, it’s simply offensive. The central “joke†of the film is the absurdity of Queer people throughout the African Diaspora being in space. The film dehumanizes the achievements of Black people, Queer people, and Queer, Black people. Oh, and women, too. Unforutantely, this is not the first time we’ve seen images like this: consider Born in Flames , a science fiction film about African American lesbian feminists.
Maybe the filmmaker hadn’t considered the work of Samuel R. Delany: Black, gay, and a science fiction writer.
Maybe they hadn’t considered the work of Guion S. Bluford, the first African American man in space.
Wikipedia, while a potential goldmine of information, is only as strong as the people contributing to it and the people running it. I wonder to what degree wikipedia censures pornography and other explicit images. Hustler’s wikipedia page doesn’t show graphic pornographic images, which are legal to promote. But under the guise of art, I can have homophobic and racist images thrown in my face? I’m confused. If women, men, and the transgendered women and men in the sex industry are going to be repressed because pornography is offensive, shouldn’t Black people, Queer people, and Queer, Black people have the same “protection”?
Think about it. We can do better than this.
– reviewed by T. Nova