How do I go about writing aquatic humans as an allegory (or w/e the right word is) for Indigenous people? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by byrdiebirder@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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I'm considering writing the merfolk in my story as a sort of metaphor for indigenous peoples, as well as other sea-dwelling or otherwise aquatic humans. Is this inherently problematic in and of itself, or is there a way to write this that works and is respectful to actual indigenous folks? If it's inherently disrespectful, I can nix the idea, but as of current I don't have any other equivalents to write them in with. I'm sure I could figure something out easily enough, though.

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[-] Eric_andre311@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

This may seem problematic as an idea but I think black panther 2 pulled it off in a respectful and interesting way.

Namor (king of Atlantis) has always been a big part in marvel comics, being the first mutant. But the way he was portrayed in the movie gave him an indigenous history that made him and Atlantis as a whole a lot more interesting than he’s ever been in the comics.

[-] spacedancer@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I’m not well versed in the comic history, but I thought Apocalypse was the first mutant. I didn’t know Namor came first.

[-] Eric_andre311@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Ah yeah you’re right, I think Namor was at one point the first mutant in the original x-men comics but now there is Apocalypse and a few other mutants that came before him.

[-] Can_you_change_your_username@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

You are correct. Namor was one of the original 3 main title Marvel Superheroes along with Captain America and the android Human Torch (different from the Fantastic 4 Human Torch) and first appeared in 1939. After X-Men became popular he was retconed into being a mutant and has sometimes been called the first mutant because he was created first despite the in universe timeline having him be younger than Xavier and Magneto. When Apocalypse was created as a functionally immortal mutant from Ancient Egypt he took on the in universe title of the world's first mutant but the Submariner still occasionally gets the title out of universe.

[-] exohuman@programming.dev 1 points 1 year ago

I second this. They did an excellent job of tying real South America with the fantasy of Atlantis and Namor.

this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2023

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