Petition against whitewashing to change the Marco model for the 'Animorphs' 2011 re-release
K.A. Applegate's popular young-adult book series, Animorphs, is being re-released starting May 2011 with updated pop-culture references and brand new cover models. Wisecracking comic relief character Marco is described as taking after his Hispanic mother in appearance, with "a dark complexion (Visitor, p. 11)". The current model for the re-releases; however, is significantly paler and does not match the actual descriptions of the character.
Too often in the media today, when a character’s race can be fudged because they are of mixed race – like Marco – a preference is always given to someone who is whiter, and with paler skin. Particularly since Marco is specifically described as having darker skin, we cannot help but see this casting as whitewashing.Not only does Marco provide a humorous contrast to some of the darker parts of the series, but he is intelligent, confident, and the group's main strategist, and is looked up to as a role model by many. The whitewashing of his appearance sends the wrong message to the youth that make up the series' target audience. While Marco is only half Hispanic he is explicitly described as having darker skin and hair, and most first-time readers will base their personal views of the characters on their cover models, whether or not those models match their written descriptions.
We hope that Scholastic will no longer participate in the erasure of characters of color and will continue to provide memorable characters spanning a wide variety of races and ethnicities.Many long-time fans of the series will not support the re-release if this model is used. In addition, a visibly Hispanic character on the cover will help to reach out to Hispanic and Latino children. Scholastic, please do the right thing by the books and character we all love and change the model to one that more closely resembles the actual character.
The model is viewable here:http://www.scholastic.com/animorphs/characters/Marco.htm
Updates
March 22, 2011
I have been reading through your messages about how much Marco meant to you as a young reader. It is heartbreaking to see how many people felt invisible because the books they loved failed to represent their own heritage accurately.
March 22, 2011
Seeing this level of support reminds me why I fought so hard for Marco to be represented accurately. I grew up loving this series and it hurts to see his identity stripped away for a cover shoot. Thank you for standing with me to demand that Scholastic honors the diversity written into these stories.
Reached 100 supporters
March 22, 2011
7 Comments
TRUTH. why ignore the books description? stick to what the author wrote
it matters to see yourself in the books you love. dont erase him.
its not hard to find a model that actually looks like the character descriptions. lazy casting.
really disappointed in scholastic for this. do better.
i grew up reading these and this is just disrespectful to the character
Why change the world from how the author intended? Keep it all the same.
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Petition against whitewashing to change the Marco model for the 'Animorphs' 2011 re-release
K.A. Applegate's popular young-adult book series, Animorphs, is being re-released starting May 2011 with updated pop-culture references and brand new cover models. Wisecracking comic relief character Marco is described as taking after his Hispanic mother in appearance, with "a dark complexion (Visitor, p. 11)". The current model for the re-releases; however, is significantly paler and does not match the actual descriptions of the character.
Too often in the media today, when a character’s race can be fudged because they are of mixed race – like Marco – a preference is always given to someone who is whiter, and with paler skin. Particularly since Marco is specifically described as having darker skin, we cannot help but see this casting as whitewashing.Not only does Marco provide a humorous contrast to some of the darker parts of the series, but he is intelligent, confident, and the group's main strategist, and is looked up to as a role model by many. The whitewashing of his appearance sends the wrong message to the youth that make up the series' target audience. While Marco is only half Hispanic he is explicitly described as having darker skin and hair, and most first-time readers will base their personal views of the characters on their cover models, whether or not those models match their written descriptions.
We hope that Scholastic will no longer participate in the erasure of characters of color and will continue to provide memorable characters spanning a wide variety of races and ethnicities.Many long-time fans of the series will not support the re-release if this model is used. In addition, a visibly Hispanic character on the cover will help to reach out to Hispanic and Latino children. Scholastic, please do the right thing by the books and character we all love and change the model to one that more closely resembles the actual character.
The model is viewable here:http://www.scholastic.com/animorphs/characters/Marco.htm
Updates
March 22, 2011
I have been reading through your messages about how much Marco meant to you as a young reader. It is heartbreaking to see how many people felt invisible because the books they loved failed to represent their own heritage accurately.
March 22, 2011
Seeing this level of support reminds me why I fought so hard for Marco to be represented accurately. I grew up loving this series and it hurts to see his identity stripped away for a cover shoot. Thank you for standing with me to demand that Scholastic honors the diversity written into these stories.
Reached 100 supporters
March 22, 2011
7 Comments
Marco is hispanic and should look like it. Stop changing characters to fit a certain look.
TRUTH. why ignore the books description? stick to what the author wrote
it matters to see yourself in the books you love. dont erase him.
its not hard to find a model that actually looks like the character descriptions. lazy casting.
really disappointed in scholastic for this. do better.
i grew up reading these and this is just disrespectful to the character
Why change the world from how the author intended? Keep it all the same.
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Marco is hispanic and should look like it. Stop changing characters to fit a certain look.