Weekly Update 04.10.18
Added 2018-04-10 17:59:14 +0000 UTCI’m a whole day late on my Weekly update! ^^;
It was a busy weekend (and a busy Monday) but I did manage to get some drawing done in there. I need to finish the last of my tax stuff this week (small business owner and the comics biz on the side complicates it) so that will be taking up the majority of my free time. I also leave town on Thursday but will be back Friday (I’ll be taking my sketchbook with me).
We’ve reached the halfway point on the Stress Relief comic \(^0^)/ so now’s the time for me to stay focused! Also I need to get the next page of BORN finished up, so expect an update from that as well this week.
I’ve actually run into a funny bit of trouble with BORN, specifically the naming of locations. I had originally meant to keep it all nebulous, but you can’t always get away with that. The story takes place in a fictional town (for which I still haven’t figured out a name) with a fictional Shinto Shrine. So what the crap do I call them? In my original script it was The Shrine of the Glowing Forest ( 輝く森の神社 / Kagayaku mori no jinja ). The shrine is named for the surrounding woods, which are said to be the home of spirits. But so far as I can tell, shrine of the glowing forest is a pretty damn weird name for a shrine. For now it’s simply an Inari Shrine (稲荷神社 Inari Jinja) which is a common shrine in Japan. Inari is the kami of foxes, agriculture, and is also the patron of swordsmiths, so it will still work for the story if worse comes to worse. I have about thirty pages to figure it out.
It’s the little details like these that have kept me from working on this comic for so long. And this is not about being politically correct (believe me, I’m already bracing for the cultural appropriation accusations) it’s about being correct.
Lots to do this week, and it’s already Tuesday! Let’s get to it!
Comments
Absolutely! Treat the culture with respect. Best way to do that is to open a book, do the research, ask questions, and try to get the details right. Unfortunately, I live in California where the atmosphere is extremely PC and the cultural appropriation discussion doesn't see much nuance. I've gotten called out just for drawing in the "Manga style" (I don't even call my comics manga, just comics). I will be getting shit for this comic, I'm just bracing myself.
Stereoscope Comics
2018-04-11 19:46:36 +0000 UTCGod I love Cowboy Bebop! 😊
Stereoscope Comics
2018-04-11 16:01:59 +0000 UTCWhile I don't think 'you can never use stuff from other cultures ever' is reasonable, no, it *is* a good idea to treat other cultures you're pulling stuff from with respect- and about being correct in your depiction of them, yes. I’d say the reasonable thing to do is to put in the reasearch- which you've done- and to listen if someone from the culture you're depicting points out a mistake.
horngeek
2018-04-11 11:51:26 +0000 UTCBy the way, "Shrine of the Glowing Forest" sounds like a pretty cool name for a Shinto shrine to me. But you're the author, so call it whatever you think is appropriate.
Shrub Jump
2018-04-11 05:47:28 +0000 UTCOr was "Speed Racer" cultural appropriation because it was inspired by American car culture and car racing? Or was "Cowboy Bebop" cultural appropriation because it was partly inspired by American jazz and blues music, Hollywood action movies and Westerns, French New Wave cinema, and Hong Kong martial arts movies?
Shrub Jump
2018-04-11 05:45:02 +0000 UTCHaha! Nice one :)
Michael
2018-04-11 05:09:53 +0000 UTCIf anyone brings up cultural appropriation I ask if they feel the movie A Fist Full Of Dollars (one of the greatest westerns of all time and the precursor to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly) is cultural appropriation because it was based on the samurai film Yojimbo. When they say yes, I ask them if Yojimbo is Cultural appropriation because it was based on an American novel by Dashiell Hammett (the guy who wrote the Maltese Falcon and Sam Spade). That usually shuts them up.
Stereoscope Comics
2018-04-10 22:40:58 +0000 UTCUgh, this cultural appropriation thing is ridiculous. If those whining idiots had their way no-one would be able to do anything without a certificate that X was done in their hometown over 1000 years ago.. The naming thing is a pain in the butt too and the worst thing is when you come up with a great name, enter it into google and find out its already in common use somewhere :(
Michael
2018-04-10 18:54:06 +0000 UTC
