Invincible Creator Robert Kirkman Talks Diversity

Television

The Amazon animated series Invincible is, at least in part, an apology for past sins. That’s what Robert Kirkman, executive producer of the show and the writer and co-creator of the comic book on which it’s based, said. In an interview with TV Guide, Kirkman was asked about the show’s diversity push – the lead character Mark’s mother has been changed from white to Korean, making Mark half Korean and half white (or, technically, half Korean and half alien that resembles a white Earthling, but let’s not split hairs), and Mark’s girlfriend Amber has gone from white to black. Kirkman’s answer is the usual representation ramble that gets him a pat on the head from the interviewer:

“That’s something that’s been really important to us. We have to recognize that a couple of dumb white guys made this comic book in the early 2000s. And there was a real lack of diversity in that series. And also, with the Invincible character himself, we talked to fans at all the conventions and places we would go, and because his ethnicity was ambiguous in the comics, everyone identified with him. We would have Filipino fans come up and say, I’m so excited that you made Mark Filipino, we would have Mexican fans come up and say, we’re so excited that you made Mark Mexican. And it was just amazing to see how important representation is on a personal level when you’re face-to-face with a person. Because I grew up at a time where I went to see Rambo, and Die Hard, and Terminator, and every movie that came out when I was a child, and I watched a bunch of tough white guys do cool stuff. And I was like, this is a lot of fun. And you end up being in this bubble where you have no awareness of what it’s like to live in a world where you’re not seeing yourself reflected and all of these other things. So to be able to, in any small part, work against that is a tremendous honor.”

My history with Invincible is somewhat limited. I love the show, but I never read the comics, so I don’t have a big frame of reference on the race swaps. But some of Kirkman’s explanations are strange. For example, he talks about people of different races saying they saw themselves in Mark and that Mark’s race was perceived as somewhat ambiguous (though intended to be white), so he decided that definitively making the character of a particular race would help that. How? Wouldn’t this undo the magic of all those people seeing themselves in your superhero? This feels like it’s intended more for Hollywood accolades than to help fans who told him in person they didn’t need any help; sure, the Mexican fans he speaks of who saw Mark as Mexican are now being told they can’t do that anymore, but at least the entertainment media interviewer gives his stamp of approval.

And Amber is a bigger issue because it appears her entire personality changed with her race. According to Bounding Into Comics, the original Amber was a sweet girl who was supportive of Mark’s career as a superhero; on the show, she’s abrasive, ungrateful, insulting, and doesn’t even seem to like Mark. What was the point of this? Combined with the race change, it suggests some ugly thoughts about black women. I don’t think that was the intention; she’s probably just supposed to be the usual modern-day independent woman that we’re expected to cheer on as she acts like an insufferable brat. But the people who make everything about race can’t have it both ways.

But more than all of that, Kirkman’s opening comment about when he wrote the comic annoys me. It isn’t enough just to do this stuff; he’s got to mewl and grovel and supplicate himself over his race. It’s pathetic. To his credit, Kirkman – at least in this interview – never insults his fans or calls them racists or anything; he seems appreciative of them, even the ones who disagree with or criticize his decisions. Nowadays, that’s commendable, and I don’t want to give a guy who probably had at least some of this forced on him too hard a time. (Fellow executive producer Seth Rogen has made it clear how he feels about race in his work – aside from himself, of course.) But have a little dignity, and stop apologizing when you did nothing wrong.