When the creators of the live action Teen Titans TV series announced the cast members, DC fans gave mostly positive responses. Some fans shared negativity and due to the nature of the internet, there were a fair amount of racial comments and slurs which will not be repeated here. But among the detractors of Anna Diop, cast to play Starfire, some accused the creators of “race lifting” or “inclusiveness for the sake of inclusiveness.” These commenters seemed to think Starfire was white in the comics when in fact she is an orange-skinned alien from Tamaran.
One talented fan artist known as Bosslogic silenced all but the most unpleasable of Diop’s detractors with the following image.
If a fan artist could make Diop look so dope as Starfire, surely she’d blow us away after some time with a professional makeup and wardrobe crew under the pay of a professional studio, right?
- “Let me see that picture before you post it!”
Set photos released on April 11 revealed Diop, Teagan Croft and Ryan Potter in their (presumed) costumes for the show. Fan reaction has been largely… ahem- negative. It should be noted that although most of the memes are directed at Diop, fans are no less salty about Croft and Potter.
- Next time on Degrassi
As was the case during the announcement of Diop as Starfire, racist trolls attempted to hijack the conversation with racist comments. Group and subreddit moderators quickly banned those they saw. Even so, DC fans are frequently the target of accusations of racism and some have had to defend themselves against these allegations, made only worse with each actual racist troll.
The fans (the non-racist ones) further made their point by posting beautiful cosplays of the characters. Amateurs with limited budgets have created excellent outfits which, most would agree, blow these set photos out of the water.
But even so, there were those among DC fans who defended these pictures. Not that they liked the outfits, but because they believe the finished product will be better. While these pictures were taken on set, they were not taken during actual shooting. The coats (including the infamous fur coat Diop wore) may not show up in the finished cut.
That of course leaves the issue with the Halloween wig, makeup and generally inferior outfits that seem to mirror the costumes of the comics, but optimists among the fans believe these issues will be improved in postproduction with CGI.
This theory has its share of doubters.
But the more positive fans also presented a photo released from the creators which shows Brenton Thwaites in his Robin outfit.
Although clearly a heavily altered promotional picture, this has given fans some reason to hope. If Thwaites appears this way in the actual show rather than just in the promotional material, it is possible that the actors will change into more stylish costumes as part of their story arcs during the formation of the team.
But whether the costumes improve or not, there’s still one more way to look at the bright side.
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