I have a complicated relationship with Storm. On one hand, I admire her as the baddest baddie of all the X-men heroines and I recognize her cultural importance as one of the first leading Black woman superheroes in mainstream comics. On the other hand, I am perpetually concerned and usually disappointed with almost all of her on-screen adaptations. After years of different live action and animated depictions of Storm, it feels damn near deliberate that not a single one is dark-skinned or has coily textured hair. (Storm with a cloud afro is a gorgeous eye-catching design that writes itself! C'mon!) No, this is not the responsibility of the actresses, but WHO gets casted is a more than valid critique of the executives of each respective project.
Additionally, although I love Storm, as a Black woman, I don't find her to be relatable in most adaptations. Other X-men characters have flaws, get character development, and have on-screen stories lines centering primarily around them, their goals, struggles, and growth. Think about the level of care that has gone into writing characters like Professor X, Wolverine, Magneto, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Rogue, and others. Storm however is practically a goddess. She exists in static perfection (while also simultaneously being suspiciously less powerful on screen than her comic counterpart). Every time Storm opens her mouth (especially in the 90s show and X-men '97) it's like she's giving a speech to the audience rather than just talking naturally and experiencing her emotions. I feel like Storm being elevated to this symbol of regal Black womanhood robs her of her relatability to audiences. On teams, she is distinctly the "other" or the "exotic" one rather than the "just like me" type of character. We're not encouraged to put ourselves in Storm's shoes. This is a greater problem with the writing of Black female characters in general, who were only allowed to be supporting cast members that fell into recognizable stereotypes for such a long time.
I know many of my complicated feelings towards how Storm is depicted are because there are so few Black women superheroes that the weight of getting ideal representation is disproportionately piled onto the few characters we have.
I have a complicated relationship with Storm. On one hand, I admire her as the baddest baddie of all the X-men heroines and I recognize her cultural importance as one of the first leading Black woman superheroes in mainstream comics. On the other hand, I am perpetually concerned and usually disappointed with almost all of her on-screen adaptations. After years of different live action and animated depictions of Storm, it feels damn near deliberate that not a single one is dark-skinned or has coily textured hair. (Storm with a cloud afro is a gorgeous eye-catching design that writes itself! C'mon!) No, this is not the responsibility of the actresses, but WHO gets casted is a more than valid critique of the executives of each respective project.
Additionally, although I love Storm, as a Black woman, I don't find her to be relatable in most adaptations. Other X-men characters have flaws, get character development, and have on-screen stories lines centering primarily around them, their goals, struggles, and growth. Think about the level of care that has gone into writing characters like Professor X, Wolverine, Magneto, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Rogue, and others. Storm however is practically a goddess. She exists in static perfection (while also simultaneously being suspiciously less powerful on screen than her comic counterpart). Every time Storm opens her mouth (especially in the 90s show and X-men '97) it's like she's giving a speech to the audience rather than just talking naturally and experiencing her emotions. I feel like Storm being elevated to this symbol of regal Black womanhood robs her of her relatability to audiences. On teams, she is distinctly the "other" or the "exotic" one rather than the "just like me" type of character. We're not encouraged to put ourselves in Storm's shoes. This is a greater problem with the writing of Black female characters in general, who were only allowed to be supporting cast members that fell into recognizable stereotypes for such a long time.
I know many of my complicated feelings towards how Storm is depicted are because there are so few Black women superheroes that the weight of getting ideal representation is disproportionately piled onto the few characters we have.
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