#read American Born Chinese if u haven't yet. The GN not the show. haven't watched that

[jesncin]

Hi Jesncin! Long-time appreciator of your Supes fanart, first-time anon. As someone that also has a lot of love for American Alien, Smashes the Klan, and thought MAWS was pretty ok/good, my vibe is that the generally warm response to the show stems from it being a consolation/reprieve to the dour state of non-comic Supes media from the last decade, though certainly as you’ve pointed out it could benefit from being less cowardly about what it wants to say politically and taking advantage of that less restrained Adult Swim label. 

I really like your assessment of immigrant solidarity between a proudly Asian Lois and Supes being the factor that makes him appealing to her. However, I'm also curious how you think that would change if you specifically throw in conflicting generational statuses into the mix, and perhaps remove that aspect of cultural pride from Lois' character while maintaining her immigrant status. 

While I certainly don’t think it was the authorial intent, part of me wants to read the downplaying of MAWS Lois’ heritage as possibly reflective of a contradictory feeling of disconnect, intentional or otherwise, to one’s native culture as an early-generation immigrant—similar to how Tommy Lee is presented as eagerly assimilative at the start of Smashes the Klan. As someone that is native Chinese but spent most of my childhood and adolescence abroad in predominantly English-speaking countries (without being subjected to excessive prejudice), I’m personally in a similar boat as Tommy of not possessing an innate fondness for my heritage beyond the occasional surface-level ornamentation and even sometimes even having derisive things to say about it. In my own experience this inverse difference in valuing cultural identity between first and second gen immigrants can be a real obstacle in forming relationships between them.

As Clark was wholly raised Kansan and typically knows so little about Kryptonian culture yet wants nothing more than to understand it, I think it makes for a more dramatically contrasting dynamic if he disagrees with a first generation immigrant like me or (theoretically) MAWS Lois on the value of discovering/retaining heritage. If the show had the stones to more concretely define her generational status, I think a Lois that shamelessly couldn’t care less about valuing her native cultural identity would have a more tangible angle for why she isn’t able to initially empathize with what Clark goes through in MAWS, despite them having that commonality. That by itself could be something that upsets the Clark/Supes/Lois dynamic in the beginning but could be reconciled with time and dialog going forward.

Anyways, I really appreciate your art and your thoughts on MAWS. Girl Taking Over is also on my list to check out now, thanks for the reco!

Why hello there! Welcome happy to have you here. Yes, read Girl Taking Over! It's very good.

Yeah, I've said before that things like the Snyderverse has burnt a lot of Super fans out into the habit of celebrating and fixating on the shallowest characterizations. But again, we've got to ask ourselves what story are we celebrating! Because it's bizarre that even the radio show arc Superman Smashes the Klan is based on (in the 40s) is way more political than this supposed Adult Swim show is in 2023. Never mind that shows like Supergirl didn't have nearly as warm a reception, and it's a far better written show.

I feel there's a misunderstanding here, never in my essay did I say I wanted a "proudly Asian Lois". In fact, my suggestions leaned towards her dealing with some manner of assimilation, cultural distance or even shame. I praised this aspect in Girl Taking Over, and I've written her that way for Indonesian Lois too- because I think that's a stronger parallel to what Clark allegorically represents. It'd make the hope they give each other meaningfully go both ways. At most in my essay I've said MAWS!Lois should at least be sentimental to her hanbok, and that her reactions to things should be informed by her Asian American experiences. Nothing to do with cultural pride. A desire to see an Asian Lois inspired to connect to her culture again sure, but not pride.

While I see where you're coming from, I caution projecting a read where no effort was made to tell that kind of story. I've said in my essay that it isn't impossible to write an Asian American character with internalized issues regarding how they perceive themselves and other marginalized groups, but that requires community specificity and time to explore that specificity because otherwise you've got the optics of Black Character Is Racist to The Blue Elves. The show failed to express that with Sam Lane, so we can't project that being the case for Lois. In Smashes the Klan, Tommy's actions are a result of following his dad's desire to assimilate. Gene Yang made it a point that Roberta and her mom still cling to their culture and cope with it differently.

I think ultimately even if you try to repurpose Season 2 with this dynamic, it just doesn't work with what S1 set up. Lois isn't detached or resentful of her culture, she's just whitewashed. If she had complicated feelings about her heritage, you'd think that would be explored when she chose to wear a hanbok to a party- or when her dad came over they'd showcase the generational divide they had. MAWS wrote a white character pizza and sprinkled Asian toppings on top, with no intention to create any kind of narrative.

I get not having the desire to connect with some aspects of your heritage, I feel that way towards my East Asian ancestry. And I've certainly met Asian Americans who can be viciously judgmental of more culturally connected Asians. But unless that kind of thinking is unpacked, especially with how cruelly xenophobic it can be to other immigrants- I can't help but reject it as a dynamic. Let alone a romance.

Girl Taking Over is largely about the dynamic between Lois and her frenemy roommate Niki- someone loud and proud of her Asian identity (that it makes Lois uncomfortable). The story works because it unpacks both of their resentment towards each other as foils. I don't see that happening in MAWS. Clark and Lois don't have that foil, Lois is just allegorically bigoted towards a guy who's trying.