Tv or movies with non white heroes for a 5 year old boy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm looking for some tv shows -- animated or live action, that have non white heroes. This is for my 5 year old son.
Does anyone have any ideas? We've watched "the last airbender" the animated version. I'm having trouble
finding other material. (We're posted abroad from the dc area, so no American broadcast tv, but we can get Netflix.)
Thanks in advance.

Static Shock - Black superhero
rescue heroes - at least one or two of the rescue guys are non-white
Word Girl - Looks brown-ish. And she's a Superhero. ON PBS - so you can probably get it somewhere online.
Clone Wars (but probably not appropriate for 5 yo - but then again you're into last airbender, so probably ok)
Phineas and Ferb (title characters are white, but they have an Indian sidekick) - not sure if they count as "heroes" - can get eps online
The New Electric Company - not superheroes, but they have "superpowers" and very diverse cast - on pbs so go online

[Anonymous]

Ponyo -- five-ish Asian boy
Sid the Science Kid -- 4 year old biracial boy
Dragon Tales -- Latino boy and girl
Backyardigans -- hard to describe what race these kids (?) are, but I would say AA/biracial

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm looking for some tv shows -- animated or live action, that have non white heroes. This is for my 5 year old son.
Does anyone have any ideas? We've watched "the last airbender" the animated version. I'm having trouble
finding other material. (We're posted abroad from the dc area, so no American broadcast tv, but we can get Netflix.)
Thanks in advance.

As an Asian American, I personally won't buy or watch "The Last Airbender". Although the characters are supposed to be Asians, they cast Caucasians as the primary characters. It's like back in the 1930's with Charlie Chan. With the number of talented Asian American and Asian actors out there, they couldn't find one to play these characters. I don't ask others to ban the movie, but I do so for my own personal values. If your goal is to show non-white heroes, then you probably want ones that are also portrayed by non-white actors or it tends to lose some of the lesson.

I think she was referring to the animated version - which is so totally different and better (from what I've heard) than the non-animated movie.

[Anonymous]

There is a black super hero in the Incredibles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Jungle Book

Oh please, do not get this - at least not the disney version.

What is wrong with the Disney version?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:race labels are stupid. what does "race" even mean anymore? it means nothing genetically. how many races are there? how do you categorize races? do you need 2 or 3 grandparents of a particular "race" to be a member? Sounds like Jim Crow to me.

Just IGNORE race and focus on HUMANITY.
Colorblind.

So . . . nothing with animals as the main characters?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ponyo -- five-ish Asian boy
Sid the Science Kid -- 4 year old biracial boy
Dragon Tales -- Latino boy and girl
Backyardigans -- hard to describe what race these kids (?) are, but I would say AA/biracial

Backyardigans? They are animals...? Right? Pablo the penguin?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:race labels are stupid. what does "race" even mean anymore? it means nothing genetically. how many races are there? how do you categorize races? do you need 2 or 3 grandparents of a particular "race" to be a member? Sounds like Jim Crow to me.

Just IGNORE race and focus on HUMANITY.
Colorblind.

So . . . nothing with animals as the main characters?

LMAO

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm looking for some tv shows -- animated or live action, that have non white heroes. This is for my 5 year old son.
Does anyone have any ideas? We've watched "the last airbender" the animated version. I'm having trouble
finding other material. (We're posted abroad from the dc area, so no American broadcast tv, but we can get Netflix.)
Thanks in advance.

As an Asian American, I personally won't buy or watch "The Last Airbender". Although the characters are supposed to be Asians, they cast Caucasians as the primary characters. It's like back in the 1930's with Charlie Chan. With the number of talented Asian American and Asian actors out there, they couldn't find one to play these characters. I don't ask others to ban the movie, but I do so for my own personal values. If your goal is to show non-white heroes, then you probably want ones that are also portrayed by non-white actors or it tends to lose some of the lesson.

Did you also boycott Poyno?

Ponyo is animated and the original voice actors are Japanese, as are all this other movies.

[Anonymous]

I'm too lazy to go back and quote the post recommending it, but I'd take a pass on Fireman Sam. The messages coming from that show are terrible. At first I was delighted to find a show with a biracial family that modeled our own. Then I started noticing a theme: Norman.

He has no respect for rules or personal property and is never forced to deal with the consequences of his actions. He was too cheap to make a proper mother's day gift so he gave her a shitty candle holder that burned down his mother's store and got away with "I'm sorry". I can remember exactly one episode where he had to fix the damage he caused.

The worst part? He's the only kid being raised by a single mother.

[Anonymous]

Maya and Miguel on PBS

Word Girl on PBS

Sid the Science Kid PBS

Dora and/or Diego

Aladin

Up

Backyardigans

Handy Manny

[Anonymous]

Why? My kids aren't white, and I can't say I've ever cared about the race of the superheroes or cartoons they watch. Or that I've ever really particularly noticed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:race labels are stupid. what does "race" even mean anymore? it means nothing genetically. how many races are there? how do you categorize races? do you need 2 or 3 grandparents of a particular "race" to be a member? Sounds like Jim Crow to me.

Just IGNORE race and focus on HUMANITY.

Colorblind.

Are you serious??? Not OP, but I want my dc to see heroes who are not only white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:race labels are stupid. what does "race" even mean anymore? it means nothing genetically. how many races are there? how do you categorize races? do you need 2 or 3 grandparents of a particular "race" to be a member? Sounds like Jim Crow to me.

Just IGNORE race and focus on HUMANITY.

Colorblind.

Are you serious??? Not OP, but I want my dc to see heroes who are not only white.

who cares how much pigmentation a particular superhero has? I cannot think of anything more absurd or more of a waste of time. focus on what is inside, not the color of someone's hair.

[Anonymous]

maybe so kids can see people that look like them as heroes?