tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28103455.post8214620313913611332..comments2024-03-09T05:53:59.542-05:00Comments on Oz and Ends: When Starfire Attacked ApartheidUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28103455.post-91119092638965630812020-08-24T15:34:18.894-05:002020-08-24T15:34:18.894-05:00I have these issues tucked away in my shed somewhe...I have these issues tucked away in my shed somewhere and have thought about them often over the years, including in recent months. <br /><br />I was 13, growing up in a conservative family with low education in a rural part of the county. I had no understanding of colonialism, had not sense of "South Africa" as a distinct political region, had certainly never heard the word "apartheid." <br /><br />I look back on these comics now as one of my first introductions to the concept of social justice, though I wouldn't have that phrase for many years to come. <br /><br />About the same time that Jane Eyre was giving me my first exploration of feminism and questioning social distinctions rooted in wealth and lineage, the Teen Titans were making me think about racism, homelessness, mass religion, drug addiction and so much more. <br /><br />It's easy to be cynical about comic books of the 80s (or in general), easy to poke fun at the idea of learning about apartheid from a ridiculously stacked alien princess with perma-tan, eyes so green they lack whites and hair that would make Dolly Parton jealous (plenty of problematics to unpack in the character of Starfire). <br /><br />But personally, I'm grateful to the writers and artists who even then were using that platform to awaken young readers to some of the grim realities of the world -- whether in their own back yard or on the other side of the planet. <br /><br />Thanks for posting this and for the trip down memory lane. Think I'll finally dig out those comic book boxes when I clean out the shed this fall = ) E. Van Meterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12932742029166845736noreply@blogger.com