I Don’t Understand the Hate for Amber
The hate for Amber from Amazon Prime’s Invincible is weird. I had seen the hate for Amber across Twitter and was expecting a terrible written character, to see a stereotype, or just for her to be annoying. Yet, when I watched the series I couldn’t see where the hate was coming from. People were calling the character annoying and uncaring for Mark’s daily dilemmas, immature, and that the writers had set Amber up to be the angry black woman stereotype. Even with watching the series twice, I still couldn’t see where these comments where originated from. If anything Amber’s anger and disappointed overtime was understandable. Same as Mark’s inability to find balance between being a superhero, high school, dating, and hanging out with friends.
In the show, the two date from episode three to episode seven, which the writers let us know that through Eve and William, that the two had been together for five to six months and that Mark is in the wrong. Even Mark relents that he was a horrible boyfriend and friend for the past six months when talking to William. Which leads to William telling Mark to stop sulking and that “You were a terrible boyfriend to Amber, and you got what you deserve. Sorry, not sorry….You got dumped weeks ago, you just didn’t realize it.”
Mark, who doesn't like this answer goes on to find Eve, thinking she would have a better understanding seeing as she’s Atomic Eve. But Eve even tells him “I didn’t tell you to string her along for five months, while being an asshole about it. I thought you’d figure that part out yourself.” Both characters show that Mark was in the wrong for not upholding to his girlfriend’s need and that Amber getting fed up over time makes sense. Well, Mark may be a superhero and have new superhero responsibilities; it doesn’t means that you have to let other things slide to the sidelines.
But to for fans to call Amber immature because she got tired and frustrated with Mark failing to make time for her is concerning. It just feels like people are not understanding the difference between not having a lot of time but still making the time versus not having a lot of time and not making the the effort to make time. For Amber’s character, viewers are shown that Amber values being on time or being able to spend time with her boyfriend. Teenagers or not, her needs/wants for a relationship should be meet and her partner should try to meet that. Relationships shouldn’t be one sided just because one person has more responsibilities and no one should have to stay in one where it feels like that. And it feels like the fans are putting Mark’s superheroes responsibilities into the relationship and onto Amber, which makes no sense. Mark’s responsibilities and inability to balance isn’t on Amber, but Mark to figure out how to balance his time. In this season, one of the lessons Mark learns is that people don’t have to wait for someone to make time for them and that people won’t always be there just because you’re busy.
Yet, that lesson seemed to go over the fans’ head, as they tried to put this as a reason as to why Amber should have stayed white, because the show’s characterization of Amber gives into the angry black woman stereotype with her as a darkskin black woman or that Mark shouldn’t have gotten with her in the first place. First let start off with one of the creators, Robert Kirkman stated as saying that the racebending was with the intent of adding more representation. For instance, Mark is biracial, Debbie is Korean American, Amber is Black, all of which were depicted as white because their race was essential to their characters. (paraphrased from this article: https://www.cbr.com/invincible-why-mark-grayson-biracial-superhero/)
Next, Ferris State University’s “The Sapphire Caricature” by Dr. David Pilgrim, states that the angry black woman or sapphire stereotype is depicts a black woman, normally a darkskin black woman as someone who is aggressive, emasculates their male counterparts, and loud. This differs from the quiet and submissive societal gender norm of woman expected, which is also deeply connected to whiteness. The piece goes on to say that “The black woman who expresses bitterness or rage about her mistreatment in intimate relationships is often seen as a Sapphire; indeed, black women who express any dissatisfaction and displeasure, especially if they express the discontentment with passion, are seen and treated as Sapphires. The Sapphire name is slur, insult, and a label designed to silence dissent and critique.”
Which is exactly what we are seeing in how the fandom is reacting to Amber’s expressing her discontentment in her relationship with Mark. Their reaction shows that angry black woman stereotype being pushed by them, not the writing. In the writing, the show is encompasses the real struggle of being a new superhero in high school through Mark, juggling that new responsibilities with his other ones in his normal life. While Mark seemingly, has it all, he still struggles with things like training with his Super Saiyan dad, being a superhero and the realities of being one, doing homework, hanging out with his best friend, and going on dates with his girlfriend. But he fumbles on those responsibilities and rightfully gets called out for it; which one of those ways is in Amber’s continuous discontentment in their relationship.
Even with rewatching the series, I couldn’t see what other fans saw as the angry black woman stereotype for Amber, who was just expressing her discontentment with Mark always being late or having to cancel last minute on her. While we as viewers do see him try to make it up to her and get second chances, he still continues not making enough time for her or trying to make an more of an effort. And that effort isn’t enough to keep her, which made fans mad. Its like they expect her to be grateful to even be in relationship with a superhero, which isn’t far off for fans of superhero shows because there’s this notion that normal people/non-superheroes should be happy to be in a relationship with a superhero. That notion of gratefulness is what is pushed on to Amber’s character from the fans making her out to be the angry black woman when she’s not. Then to add fans were saying that the character should had stayed white to avoid that stereotype, a stereotype that the fans fed Amber’s character into. And again, the fans reactions at Amber’s discontentment and wanting her to stay white is very telling because all of that encompass the angry black woman stereotype; that looks at a black woman express disappointment as just an overly angry woman but will allow white woman the space to show discontentment and be taken seriously.
Going on to I want to compare Amber’s characterization to an actual angry black woman stereotypes and how the other characters around them acts. One example that Dr. David Pilgrim gives is the mother, Rochelle from Everybody Hates Chris. In Everybody Hate Chris, Rochelle is matriarch of her family, who is depicted as always angry when she expresses emotions. This is clearly shown when all the other characters around see her emotions are just anger. For example, when her husband does the home cleaning and cooking and dismisses it as something not as hard her reaction is showcased as loud and furious. It doesn’t focus on the fact that Julius doing her work as a house husband, is dismissing how draining it can be for her and only sees it as something not that hard. It just shows Rochelle as someway aggressive and dominant in her marriage with Julius. This differs from Invincible’s writing of Amber, who is seen as right in her discontentment by the other characters around her, i.e.: William and Eve.
To be short, fans are using Amber’s discontentment in her relationship with Mark to paint her as the angry black woman stereotype.
Sources:
“Invincible: Robert Kirkman on Why the Main Character Is Biracial” by Sam Stone https://www.cbr.com/invincible-why-mark-grayson-biracial-superhero/
“The Sapphire Caricature — Anti-black Imagery — Jim Crow Museum” by Dr. David Pilgrim, Professor of Sociology. Ferris State University, Aug 2008. Edited 2012. https://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/antiblack/sapphire.htm
