When I was in grade three my parents could not make me read. Reading to me, was an extension of school— a place that made me learn my times tables and made me ask to use the bathroom. That is until I inherited my cousin's most prized possessions. She had boxes upon boxes of these colourful strips of stories depicting idyllic teenage-hood. These stories transformed reading from a primary school chore into a window on what it meant to grow up, be in love, maintain friendships, and eat copious amounts of burgers at Pop Tate’s.
My cousin had given me the gift of Archie and the gang. I remember summers where I would hardly go a day without going through one or two Double Digests. I would have friends over and we would crack open my Archie boxes and read in the backyard. I would save up money to buy new ones; I raided my grandparents house to find the ancient copies my mom had saved. I was obsessed. Safe to say when I heard they were turning these comics into a T.V. show earlier this year I had high hopes. ...Also safe to say when I heard it was going to be a murder mystery these hopes were dramatically lowered. The preview had me cringing. Riverdale, Archie’s hometown, had become nothing more than an easy trope for idyllic America, and the perfect backdrop for the CW to unleash drama upon. I felt like they were bound to leave this huge contributor to my childhood imagination, defiled and broken with its audiences invested in this accessory drama and detached from the stories of growing up that had made Archie comics so important to me. However, looking back on this childhood roadmap to my teen years I can see ‘Archies’ had some holes. First off it was fundamentally white, heteronormative, and upper to middle class dominated. Archie was America’s sweetheart(fuckboy*), and Betty and Veronica were essentially plot devices to maintain his innocence, by being pitted against one another. Riverdale actually had a lot to work with, and a lot of work to do. And when January 26th rolled around and the first episode aired, I forgot my concerns about the murder mystery and fell in love with all they had done for Archie comics’ flaws. First of all it maintained the characters and setting perfectly. Second of all it completely disrupted the characters and setting perfectly. By maintaining the shape of each character, but bending what it meant to look and feel like these characters, Riverdale gives audiences something to relate to, rather than strive for. Gone are the messages of letterman jackets, homecoming dances and essentially white, middle class, straight teenage-hood as the poster child for ‘idyllic America’, and in it’s place is left an image of just straight-up teenage-hood -- a word that describes a time period, not a skin colour, class, or sexual orientation. Now of course Riverdale still has letterman jackets and homecoming dances. But what makes these symbols different in the T.V. show compared to the preceding comic is that they are purposefully disrupted of their historically coloured, classed, and sexualized nature. Moose within the Archie comic canon is the dumb jock. He’s blonde, assumedly middle class, and has a nice straight relationship with fellow caucasian Midge. In Riverdale, we learn Moose— while not openly anything other than straight— is experimenting, and definitely questioning those heteronormative parameters of the letterman jacket he couldn’t quite escape in the comic. The financial status of the characters in the comics is rarely meditated upon, however just as all fictional characters are assumedly white, and all babies, pop fictional or otherwise, are assumed heterosexual, Archie and the gang were assumedly middle class. This also plays into the trope of ‘idyllic America’: the land of opportunities, where families work hard and therefore get by comfortably. However in Riverdale Jughead is not middle class. We learn Jughead is decidedly lower class. Living essentially homeless after his mom leaves, his father is barely able to take care of him because of financial problems, gang involvement, as well as substance abuse problems. And well there are some stereotypes at play in Jugheads class story, there are also some very poignant connections between poverty and its cyclical nature. And while he deals with issues unique to his class, Jughead also attends Riverdale high, frequents Pop Tate’s, and high school dances, activities that in the comics contribute to Riverdales idealised culture and are exclusively attached with middle to upper class criteria. Lastly, the way the show plays with the character's race is exactly what this franchise needed. Riverdale exemplifies how race does not define character, and White does not define idyllic. While there are some problematic stereotypes at play in Riverdale (Chuck the angry Black harasser of women, and Dilton the Asian nerd to name a few), the show also does a lot to disrupt the concept of white idyllic America. Although the characters remain true to their canon form: Veronica is beautiful, rich and powerful, Reggie is a confident asshole, Josie is a badass musician; they also completely disregard the ‘canon’ colour of their skin. That being...white. This in itself dismantles the notion that while the idyllic American high school can vary in character types, there cannot be variation in skin colour. Riverdale takes the ‘teenager’ trope away from the straight, well-off, white kids, who have held claim on it throughout not only Archie comics but most of our pop culture. It demands we question narratives that have been around since the 50’s (**Archie comics**) and not excuse stories riddled with privilege as ‘canon’. This show has taken the Archie franchise exactly where it needed to go, murder mystery and all. And I cannot wait for season two. -Leah
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Waiting for your bus to arrive? Stuck in rush-hour traffic? Just out for a leisurely stroll? Instead of sitting in silence the next time you are trapped on the subway, with only your own thoughts and the muffled voice of the train operator reiterating that “the delay will be resolved soon” to distract you, take a moment to enrich your day, with a podcast. Educate yourself or laugh a little or get caught up on today’s news, or do all of the above; there are podcasts for every topic and every listener. And then later that night, at dinner with your parents or friends or a hot-date, you can impress them with how much you know about up-and-coming female politicians and crime in Rhode Island and Gina Rodriguez. Here are my nominations for the most binge-worthy podcasts: If you want chats and laughs… 1. Call Your Girlfriend - “A podcast for long-distance besties everywhere”, hosted by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman, covering everything pop culture, current events, and politics. Unapologetically feminist and unwaveringly hilarious, these two best friends are talk honestly and inclusively on topics such as menstruation, the cheeto-president, and the pros and cons of capitalism. Also, the podcast that inspired this blog! 2. Anna Faris Is Unqualified - Relationship and life advice from a one-time English major, now award-winning actress, and her equally unqualified celebrity friends. The interviews are consistently off-topic, but always relevant, with friend-guests like Chelsea Handler, Terry Crews, and Jenny Slate. 3. 2 Dope Queens - BFFs Phoebe Robinson and Jessica Williams, and all their favourite funny people dish sex stories, women’s rights, romance misadventures, hair journeys, obsessions with Bono, and lots of other knee-slapping shit. 4. Nancy - A new podcast on the block, which means you only have a few episodes of frank chats and interviews to catch up on. Hosted by another set of best friends, Kathy Tu and Tobin Low (“super queer and super fun”), this podcast aims to cover the LGBTQ experience with rad guests, provocative topics, and a few mentions of Albus Dumbledore. 5. Sooo Many White Guys - It’s Phoebe Robinson, round 2!! Produced by the brilliant and hysterical Ilana Glazer of Broad City, packed with guest appearances from slayers and dominators of every entertainment industry, all the while valiantly attempting to keep the white guy level at a minimum. If you need a dose of culture or science… 1. Science Vs - The perfect podcast to help you out during those heated holiday debates with that ultra-opinionated, but maybe slightly uninformed, relative of yours. Science journalist Wendy Zukerman takes on the hottest fads and the most contentious issues to unearth the hard-cold facts, the completely fabricated myths, and the in-between. 2. Invisibilia - A combination of science, storytelling, and investigation, this NPR produced podcast takes listeners on a self-reflective exploratory journey through the jungle of assumptions, emotions and constructions (the invisible forces), which may explain why we are the way we are. 3. Crimetown - Rhode Island is not the first place that comes to mind when I think of mobsters and gangs and all things crime, however Marc Smerling and Zac Stuart-Pontier tell a very different story. Each season will be an in-depth investigation into the crime culture of a different American city, starting with the quaint, east coast town of Providence. 4. Harry Potter & The Sacred Text - This weekly podcast allows all of us who have never really gotten over the magic of reading Harry Potter for the first time, to relive the splendor, the characters and the truly astoundingly crafted story, once more, while drawing connections to other literary works, current events, and history. 5. The Nerdist - If a Harry Potter podcast isn’t nerdy enough for you, try this one, hosted by comedian Chris Hardwick, wherein he and his self-proclaimed nerdy celebrity guest, talk comedy, nerd culture, politics, and being a human. The show is in its 7th season, and on its 866th episode, so there is a bit to catch up on, but it is well worth it! If you are craving critical discussion… 1. With Friends Like These - In the aftermath of a rather devastating and ultimately exhausting election season, Ana Marie Cox took to the podcast world to try to understand what caused and continues to perpetuate the divisive chasm between the left and the right. Candid conversations with writers, activists, politicians, and everyday people, work towards finding common ground, and understanding what the hell is going on.
2. Colour Code - The only Canadian-based podcast on the list, this Globe and Mail produced show is a bold and trailblazing series about race in Canada. Hosts Denise Balkissoon and Hannah Sung ask unflinching questions in the search for imperative answers on the topic of race and racism in Canada, which is something Canadians and the Canadian government is notoriously good at ignoring. 3. Another Round - Heben Nigatu and Tracy Clayton cover everything from gender to race to corrupt politics to the Dakota Access Pipeline, and then also mangoes and Nicki Minaj and good wine and what Barack Obama smells like. The show is produced by Buzzfeed, is insightful and hilarious, and the fact that Heben and Tracy drink booze the whole way through, only adds to the excellence. 4. The United States of Anxiety - Amidst the rather disconcerting, frightening, and somewhat hopeless political environment of America today (see: Planned Parenthood, public education, climate change, and police brutality, to name a few), this podcast introduces listeners to culture warriors who are influencing debates on religion, race, science, and sexuality, and fighting for what they believe in. 5. Code Switch - The tagline is: “race and identity, remixed”, and the show is tackling the falsely constructed societal idea that our world is “post-racial”, and that all of the issues associated with race, culture, and ethnicity are firmly behind us. A team of veteran journalists, headed by Shereen Marisol Meraji and Gene Demby, chat about how race and identity exist in our lives and communities, and how they are always changing. A podcast I have been recently engaging with as part of my anti-racism journey (which is so very far from over). And those are just a few of the many smart, creative, and groundbreaking podcasts out there on the internet. Happy listening! -Amy |