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Old 07-09-2014, 01:50 PM   #1
neatoman
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Black April



So wanna talk about it?

See every time I bring up the depictions of April O'Neil as a black woman on the internet someone always pops up snarling, insisting that she never has been depicted as a black woman outside of fanfics and when I give concrete evidence like this they make up some excuse like non-canonicity or that's it's just a colorised version and does not count or something else like.

Now I know these arguments usually come from rather unpleasant people and I'm not one of the people who claim she was always intended to be black (the details behind her creation are fuzzy) and thus she should always be depicted as black.
But I still find it a bit confusing why it would ever really be a big enough deal to either rage against or demand everything else to correct itself after it.

April O'Neil is a fictional character and nothing about her suggests that she'd have to belong to one racial group or another so what's the problem?
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Old 07-09-2014, 01:56 PM   #2
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I seem to recall that when Eastman and laird were first coming up with April, they toyed with the idea of making her black...either that, or they named her after a black friend(?)...or something else. I can't place it exactly, but I do know for certain that there is something in the past that connects April with a black woman, just for the life of me can't remember the details right now
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Old 07-09-2014, 01:59 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Punky Poo Pie Head View Post
I seem to recall that when Eastman and laird were first coming up with April, they toyed with the idea of making her black...either that, or they named her after a black friend(?)...or something else. I can't place it exactly, but I do know for certain that there is something in the past that connects April with a black woman, just for the life of me can't remember the details right now
I may be wrong, but I think Mirage April was based on the girlfriend Eastman had at the time. Or something like that.
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Old 07-09-2014, 02:09 PM   #4
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could be...but I just can't shake this thought about a black friend, or classmate, or something when they were first thinking her up....
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Old 07-09-2014, 02:52 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by neatoman View Post
But I still find it a bit confusing why it would ever really be a big enough deal to either rage against or demand everything else to correct itself after it.

April O'Neil is a fictional character and nothing about her suggests that she'd have to belong to one racial group or another so what's the problem?
I dunno, "ruined childhoods" and threatened loss of fanboy lust if the April they know and love lust for is "changed" and no longer the "same person"?

Harmless imo. Hell, Baxter has been both black and white, right? Though I suppose few people are too emotionally attached to him to really care.
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Old 07-09-2014, 02:56 PM   #6
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The world isn't ready for a black April.
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Old 07-09-2014, 03:01 PM   #7
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The world isn't ready for a black April.
And you know this how, exactly? If it were pulled off well, I wouldn't be opposed to it.
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Old 07-09-2014, 03:06 PM   #8
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After suffering through a white Eric Sachs Shredder, you really think we can handle a black April?
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Old 07-09-2014, 03:08 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by CyberCubed View Post
After suffering through a white Eric Sachs Shredder, you really think we can handle a black April?
If we can handle Stockman being a white guy in the OT, we can deal with April returning back to being an African American.
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Old 07-09-2014, 03:12 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by CyberCubed View Post
After suffering through a white Eric Sachs Shredder, you really think we can handle a black April?
Shredder being asian is part of his background, April's race isn't very important to her character.
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Old 07-09-2014, 04:21 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by CyberCubed View Post
After suffering through a white Eric Sachs Shredder, you really think we can handle a black April?
TBH, Mirage April always came across as mixed to me with the way her hair was.
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Old 07-09-2014, 03:06 PM   #12
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Alright, found the reference I was thinking of...

In Eastman's "Artobiography" he says that April was concepted in Pete's notes as an Asian character and then named after a black woman that Kevin once knew. So I think that's about as black as she's going to officially get.

The idea of an Asian April, however, seems like it would've fit nicely with the whole Japan/martial arts angle. Though thinking about it, that may have been exactly why they opted not to go that route - perhaps it'd make the book even more "asianish" then they were looking for.
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Old 07-09-2014, 06:41 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by Punky Poo Pie Head View Post
Alright, found the reference I was thinking of...

In Eastman's "Artobiography" he says that April was concepted in Pete's notes as an Asian character and then named after a black woman that Kevin once knew. So I think that's about as black as she's going to officially get.

The idea of an Asian April, however, seems like it would've fit nicely with the whole Japan/martial arts angle. Though thinking about it, that may have been exactly why they opted not to go that route - perhaps it'd make the book even more "asianish" then they were looking for.
?????Where is this source???? I swore April was suppose to be hispanic, I thought Eastman and Laird noted it in the Ultimate collection notes??
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Old 07-09-2014, 10:05 PM   #14
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The only skin color I'm concerned about when it comes to the TMNT is green! The skin tone of any other character changing wouldn't phase me at all, though I will admit I have a thing for redheads, so the original animated April will always be my crush.
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Old 07-09-2014, 10:14 PM   #15
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Obviously it's not set in stone or anything, but "O'Neil" is a VERY Gaelic, Irish-Protestant name with a long history (although it later spread into some Scottish families as well). At the very least, it's about 99% most likely that anyone with that last name would be of Celtic descent. Obviously, names get legally changed, passed around through marriage, things like that. But statistically speaking, a non-Caucasian with that name would be super-rare.

Stranger things have happened. I worked for a white Irish guy whose last name was Juarez. Still no idea how THAT happened.
Yeah, I've got an Irish surname and the vast majority of my ancestry is Irish... but I actually look more Italian (due to my great-grandmother on my mother's side having a fling). Go figure. I have to work so hard at staying pale; if I get the slightest bit of sun, I go olive in an instant!
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Old 07-09-2014, 10:29 PM   #16
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Everyone knows her ethnicity is "paper and ink".
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Old 07-09-2014, 11:55 PM   #17
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Everyone knows her ethnicity is "paper and ink".
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Old 07-10-2014, 12:07 AM   #18
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Good one.
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Old 06-16-2016, 01:27 PM   #19
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I wonder how people would've reacted if Whoopi Goldberg was cast as April instead of Megan Fox in the PD movies.
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Old 06-23-2016, 07:20 AM   #20
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I wonder how people would've reacted if Whoopi Goldberg was cast as April instead of Megan Fox in the PD movies.
At least it would have better acting.
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