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looking for non-Causasian pulp roles


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Re: looking for non-Causasian pulp roles

 

Again a "Nordic Ox" is sort of by definition Nordic, but a big bruiser could come from almost anywhere. Even Japan, stereotypically not a land of giants, is home to sumo wrestlers.

 

 

I know he is a martial artist but Bolo Young a.k.a. the Chinese Hercules would be a great example of the Nordic Ox.

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Re: looking for non-Causasian pulp roles

 

The "the Avenger" pulp series gave the title character several assistants, including the African-American couple, Josh and Rosabel Newton, who frequently went undercover as servants and played on Black stereotypes. The Wikipedia article may mistakenly suggest that these characters were created prior to the 1973--4 revival, however.

 

Perhaps I'm misreading what you're saying, but the Newtons first appear in The Sky Walker, first published in 1939.

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Re: looking for non-Causasian pulp roles

 

In the American South of the period, blacks had doctors, lawyers, preachers, and so forth; who just operated within the African-American communities. Almost anything a white could be, you could find a black doing the same thing 'under the radar'.

 

In addition to Voudou, Hoodoo could be considered a separate, more Eastern (US) mystic tradition, less of a religion and more 'practical magic'. Hoodoo emphasized the role of will in getting mojo hands and the evil eye to work; and a great Trick Doctor would undergo great austerities to develop their willpower to incredible levels. At least that's what they say.

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Re: looking for non-Causasian pulp roles

 

I looked up Ottoman Empire and Turkey, and it looks like the entire regime was overthrown in 1925, exiling all royalty.

 

It's an obvious tie-in - an exiled Ottoman prince.

 

But it's got me realizing that it's REAL hard to write up a character who's supposed to be a stereotype when you know noting about the history - let alone the stereotypes - of a nation. I foresee some tremendously clumsy and naive characterization.

a

 

Normally I am not in favor of ignorance, but ignorance of stereotypes does not strike me as necessarily that disadvantageous.

 

And I expect relying on stereotypes to result in clumsy and naive characterization.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary claims the stereotype of Turks included naivity but not clumsiness

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Re: looking for non-Causasian pulp roles

 

I have in my pulp game a young female Aussie grease monkey character. A complication she has is being chased by rich son of the sheep ranch next door who wants to marry her for the land that her dad has. Fun character....

Another idea is a USA black airman Hubert Julian, the Black Eagle of Harlem

http://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/The-Black-Eagle-of-Harlem.html

That would be sheep STATION "Barton". We don't go in for "ranches " over here. On another track a "faithful Indian manservant" possibly with a knowledge of martial arts, or even some mystical abilities might make an interesting non Caucasian character.

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Re: looking for non-Causasian pulp roles

 

Karamaneh, Fu Manchu's Egyptian slave/agent who repeatedly rescues Petrie and Smith in The Insidious Doctor Fu Manchu could be a heroine in her own right. She certainly saves the heros far more than they save her. She's sneaky, resourceful, hot, brave, intelligent and hot. About the only thing she lacks is the ability to fight her way out of a paper bag.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Re: looking for non-Causasian pulp roles

 

Another idea would be an African (or Australian aboriginal) "tracker" who had worked with the police in his native country.

 

As a long-time fan of the series, I would point out the 'Bony' character, from the detective novels by Arthur Upfield, as well worth consideration. He is not really a Pulp character as such, but the books start in the same era.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bony_(fictional_character)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Upfield

 

The Wiki doesn't do the character justice, oddly enough. As written, Bony owed more than a little to Sherlock Holmes. Except that, instead of the opium problem and misanthropic leanings, Bony was constantly striving for balance between his European and Aboriginal ancestries. He cheerfully (and often) admitted that he was a terrible policeman, but he valued his success as a detective which kept him employed as such. Without that success, he also often said that he would probably revert to traditional Aboriginal ways and return to the bush. By European standards, he was an extraordinary tracker (though not nearly as good as "full" Aboriginals), and this usually featured in the stories.

 

The novels themselves are set in the Outback or less accessible / well-known parts of Australia. The author himself had done a lot of travelling around, and knew his material well. I highly recommend the books for the detective stuff (excellent), the vivid descriptions of strange (but true) landscapes and the portrayal of a bygone era.

 

OK, the character is PART-Caucasian (and he himself would openly admit as such). But I still think him worthy of mention here.

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Re: looking for non-Causasian pulp roles

 

Non-whites were a lot more prominent in real life than in movies. The rodeo sport of bulldogging, for instance, was introduced by a black cowboy named Bill Picket, and Will Rogers was have a Cherokee Indian. Also the Redtails of WW2 were an all black fighter squadron. Native Americans have served in every war the US has fought in. Though unappreciated, there were several real life examples of non-whites that would translate well into pulp heroes, and when you consider that pulp tends to be high fiction, it would be easy to expand the role of non-whites into heroic pulp molds.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Re: looking for non-Causasian pulp roles

 

As many have already mentioned, the media of the time tends not to spend time on many non-whites. To make things even more difficult to track now though, it was very common for people of other races to pass themselves off as white if they had the looks to pull it off.

 

Lists of people (and links to more info) who appeared on the covers of Time Magazine in the 1920s and 30s. Most are caucasions but not all are. If they made the cover they usually are rather interesting, maybe some real people might be of some help to create fictional ones.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_on_the_cover_of_Time_Magazine:_1920s

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_on_the_cover_of_Time_magazine_(1930s)

 

 

 

Remember that just because the fiction of the period' date=' or the media of the period, or even the history books, don't mention non-European or Euro-American people, doesn't mean they weren't there. For example, take that American icon of the Old West, the cowboy. About 1 in 7 were African American, mostly former slaves who went west after the Civil War. You wouldn't know this from old Western movies or novels or tv shows, but you'll know it if you look at the records of the Census for 1880 1890 and 1900. [b']Lots of 'em were also Mexican[/b], and I've read a great many were English immigrants, and amazingly enough, lots of Cowboys were really Indians.

 

In fact the popular image of the western cowboy came from Mexico.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaquero

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