Positing Worm as a Valuable Work
Independent superhero webfiction, like Worm by John C. McCrae, is worthy of support by virtue of their significant progressive values and passing grades on important diversity tests. These qualifications justify works like Worm as guidelines for the genre to follow. The first chapter of Worm is dialogue-light but sets a trend for the narrative by passing the Bechdel test.[1] Worm goes on to pass the racial Bechdel test by the ninth arc in a conversation between African-American hero Sophia and Asian-American hero Lily, and again later in that chapter in a conversation between Lily and the independent hero Sabah, who is of Middle-Eastern descent.[2] The same chapter passes the Vito Russo test, a metric to judge the representation of non-heterosexual characters in media created by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, by introducing Lily: a lesbian character who is both defined by far more than her sexuality and integral to the narrative.[3] Lily is explored later in the book as a character representing the complicated moral ethics of a turn to villainy, decidedly qualifying her as more than a “token” lesbian character.[4] Worm inherently passes the Mako-Mori test, featuring a female main character and a narrative deeply devoted to her personal narrative. Succeeding in meeting these metrics denotes Worm as narrative capable of driving further representation of positive, progressive values in superhero media and American society.
[1] John McCrae, “Worm,” (WordPress, 2011): Gestation 1.1, https://parahumans.wordpress.com/category/stories-arcs-1-10/arc-1-gestation/1-01/.
[2] John McCrae, “Worm,” (WordPress, 2012): Sentinel 9.2, https://parahumans.wordpress.com/category/stories-arcs-1-10/arc-9-sentinel-interludes/9-2/.
[3] “The Vito Russo Test,” GLAAD, accessed April 29, 2018, https://www.glaad.org/sri/2014/vitorusso.
[4] John McCrae, “Worm,” (WordPress, 2012): Colony 15.7, https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/11/06/colony-15-7/.
Addressing Concerns Regarding the Usage of Film-Focused Tests in the Above Analysis
The previous tests described are all traditionally applied to film analysis; applying them to analysis of Worm seems unfair in that Worm, as a work of writing, has far more time to include characters that pass these tests than film media like Black Panther. The usage of these tests is legitimized in analyzing Worm because the characters and interactions within Worm that pass these tests are integral to the extent that a hypothetical film adaptation of Worm would have to include them. To fail the Bechdel or Mako-Mori test, the narrative arc of the main character would have to be changed to a point that it would be unrecognizable. Lily is not the only character that passes the Vito Russo and racial Bechdel tests, but she is the most integral. Both her character and her relationship with Sabah play a key role in the narrative arc of the main character and the resolution of the final conflict.[1] The importance of these diverse characters and character interactions supports comparison between Black Panther and Worm and the subsequent conclusion that Worm is representative of a more progressive future for the superhero genre.
[1] John McCrae, “Worm,” (WordPress, 2013): Speck 30.5, https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/speck-30-5/.
Addressing Concerns Regarding Tokenism
Attempts to include diversity in media narratives often fall short of adequate representation. These failures of diversity are labeled as tokenism: the presentation of characters from marginalized groups in smaller numbers than proportional to the population. Token characters in narratives often result in what freelance writer Laura Sneddon refers to as “false inclusivity.”[1] Tokenism can be further understood as a pattern in works where singular representation is used to justify lacking more representative diversity. Tokenism opens works to portrayal of stereotypes or other misrepresentation. This false inclusivity is the presence of diversity within media with minimal benefit being conveyed to those viewing the media. Works with token diversity provide little benefit and cannot be justified through the consequential ethical argument. With works that aims for diversity, there are always those who argue that meaningful diversity is absent and tokenism has been found in its place. On internet forums, McCrae discussed his relationship to tokenism and his avoidance of diversity as a shallow means to an end. When questioned about the sexuality of the main character, McCrae, using the internet username Wildbow, responded that he wrote her as a straight woman because it is “very easy to have a lesbian relationship that’s just tacked on for story bonus points.”[2] This quote was taken from an ongoing forum conversation between McCrae and a few of his readers. The phrase “tacked on” is critical: McCrae identified that a portion of the audience desired to see the character portrayed in this way, but that McCrae felt that this inclusion would fail to give proper respect to the LGBTQ community. This response by McCrae was part of a conversation about sexuality representation in Worm and how he felt that defining the main character as lesbian would be too easily interpreted as shallow writing for his straight, male audience. McCrae put great thought into the groups to which his characters belong. Worm does include several gay and lesbian characters, including those referenced in the above section”Positing Worm as a Valuable Work,” but McCrae put effort into maintaining their character importance rather than condemning them to shallow, false inclusivity and pandering to a section of the audience.
[1] Laura Sneddon, “Women in Comics: Tokenism” last modified February 23, 2012. http://www.comicbookgrrrl.com/2012/02/23/women-in-comics-tokenism/#comments.
[2] Wildbow. (2014, January 16), Spacebattles [Online Forum Comment], message posted to https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/worm-web-serial-discussion-iii-after-the-end.274031/page-70#post-12862094.