This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the
current talk page.
The title character of Rebecca in the
Acts of Xanthippe, Polyxena, and Rebecca is the only significant
Jew in the story, but nethertheless, despite being a title character, has very little to do, briefly appearing and just as quickly disappearing from the tale.
The character
Debbie Love on
Sealab 2021 is the only prominent female character on that series (and one of only two women, period) and is a parody of tolkenism with her portrayal of a semi-stereotypical female
science fictionscientist: intelligent, but also vain, vindictive, condescending and
histrionic when under stress. Since both female characters on the show are named Debbie, she is often referred to by other characters as "Black Debbie," in fact, the Sealab bathrooms are labeled "Men" and "Debbie."
The character
Franklin in the Peanuts (who is
black, while most of the characters are presumably
white) is sometimes considered to be an example of tokenism among newer fans, although
Charles Schulz, responding to controversy early in Franklin's appearances, insisted he had no political message and treated the character no different than the rest of the cast.
The character Diana in the
Dungeons & Dragons TV series. The only black member of the cast, and one of the only two females.
The self-referential character
Tolken Black on
South Park, the only black friend of the main cast except the adult
Chef. He was originally named Tolken Williams, though his first name still makes his role fairly clear.
The cast of Ghostwriter has been called into question as an example of tolkenism.
The African-American character "
A.J." on Fairly OddParents is the only prominent black character on the show. He is portrayed as being the smartest kid in school and more affluent than most of the main characters, which may be an example of using tolken characters to offset traditional stereotypes.
The character of Zoey from The Proud Family can be considered to be the tolken white character, often appearing helpless and the "goodie goodie" white girl among more brash black and hispanic characters in the show.
Juba on the Academy awarded film Gladiator is sometimes regarded as an example of tolken character, because he is the only black character in the entire film, but also as an example of
Afrocentrism. The character has a North African (
Mauretanian) name and, according to other character, he is from
Carthage, but he is black instead of the expectable North-African
caucasoid. Something strange given that the only well known black population in the ancient
Roman Empire was made of
Nubians and other East-African
slaves.
The "tolken black" character is ridiculed in the movie Not Another Teen Movie. In the movie, one character, when asked a question, answered: "Sure, I am the tolken black guy! I'm just supposed to smile, stay out of the conversation, and say things like 'damn!', 'shit!' and 'that is whack!'". Later, he does just that.
In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,
Zack Taylor is the only black main character in Season 1 and
Trini Kwan is the only Asian main character in Season 1. This changes in many seasons/incarnations of Power Rangers.
Winston from
Ghostbusters is the only member of the Ghostbusters who is black. While he is a member of the Ghostbusters, his character played a very small role in the plot. The actor who played him, Ernie Hudson isn't billed in most advertising for the movie.
The character Chelsea from That's So Raven is believed to be a tolken white character.
Ajihad from
Eragon is also a token character. The author does not explain where black people came from, and Ajihad and his daughter are the only black people in the entire book. Ajihad is in about 1/6 of
Eragon, and dies at the beginning of
Eldest.
David in the marvel series new Xmen may be considered a Tolken character he is the only black character to be spotlighted and is also the only one without any powers
Bennett in the movie Think Like A Man is an example of someone set apart because of his personality that is derived from his identity as a white male.
Kville23 (
talk)
01:56, 24 July 2017 (UTC)
Include critique and opposing view of Kanter's work?
A number of other research following Kanters work shows there may be other reasons for why Tokens she identifies experience heightened pressure in their work environments. As Kanter focused on women, Yoder (1991) mentions that sexism may have been the root for any isolating circumstances, and not the due to Token identity. In addition, when focusing males, Williams (1992) makes mention of the fact that they are given opportunity due to their token status and not impeded by it.
Kville23 (
talk)
02:24, 24 July 2017 (UTC)
This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the
current talk page.
The title character of Rebecca in the
Acts of Xanthippe, Polyxena, and Rebecca is the only significant
Jew in the story, but nethertheless, despite being a title character, has very little to do, briefly appearing and just as quickly disappearing from the tale.
The character
Debbie Love on
Sealab 2021 is the only prominent female character on that series (and one of only two women, period) and is a parody of tolkenism with her portrayal of a semi-stereotypical female
science fictionscientist: intelligent, but also vain, vindictive, condescending and
histrionic when under stress. Since both female characters on the show are named Debbie, she is often referred to by other characters as "Black Debbie," in fact, the Sealab bathrooms are labeled "Men" and "Debbie."
The character
Franklin in the Peanuts (who is
black, while most of the characters are presumably
white) is sometimes considered to be an example of tokenism among newer fans, although
Charles Schulz, responding to controversy early in Franklin's appearances, insisted he had no political message and treated the character no different than the rest of the cast.
The character Diana in the
Dungeons & Dragons TV series. The only black member of the cast, and one of the only two females.
The self-referential character
Tolken Black on
South Park, the only black friend of the main cast except the adult
Chef. He was originally named Tolken Williams, though his first name still makes his role fairly clear.
The cast of Ghostwriter has been called into question as an example of tolkenism.
The African-American character "
A.J." on Fairly OddParents is the only prominent black character on the show. He is portrayed as being the smartest kid in school and more affluent than most of the main characters, which may be an example of using tolken characters to offset traditional stereotypes.
The character of Zoey from The Proud Family can be considered to be the tolken white character, often appearing helpless and the "goodie goodie" white girl among more brash black and hispanic characters in the show.
Juba on the Academy awarded film Gladiator is sometimes regarded as an example of tolken character, because he is the only black character in the entire film, but also as an example of
Afrocentrism. The character has a North African (
Mauretanian) name and, according to other character, he is from
Carthage, but he is black instead of the expectable North-African
caucasoid. Something strange given that the only well known black population in the ancient
Roman Empire was made of
Nubians and other East-African
slaves.
The "tolken black" character is ridiculed in the movie Not Another Teen Movie. In the movie, one character, when asked a question, answered: "Sure, I am the tolken black guy! I'm just supposed to smile, stay out of the conversation, and say things like 'damn!', 'shit!' and 'that is whack!'". Later, he does just that.
In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,
Zack Taylor is the only black main character in Season 1 and
Trini Kwan is the only Asian main character in Season 1. This changes in many seasons/incarnations of Power Rangers.
Winston from
Ghostbusters is the only member of the Ghostbusters who is black. While he is a member of the Ghostbusters, his character played a very small role in the plot. The actor who played him, Ernie Hudson isn't billed in most advertising for the movie.
The character Chelsea from That's So Raven is believed to be a tolken white character.
Ajihad from
Eragon is also a token character. The author does not explain where black people came from, and Ajihad and his daughter are the only black people in the entire book. Ajihad is in about 1/6 of
Eragon, and dies at the beginning of
Eldest.
David in the marvel series new Xmen may be considered a Tolken character he is the only black character to be spotlighted and is also the only one without any powers
Bennett in the movie Think Like A Man is an example of someone set apart because of his personality that is derived from his identity as a white male.
Kville23 (
talk)
01:56, 24 July 2017 (UTC)
Include critique and opposing view of Kanter's work?
A number of other research following Kanters work shows there may be other reasons for why Tokens she identifies experience heightened pressure in their work environments. As Kanter focused on women, Yoder (1991) mentions that sexism may have been the root for any isolating circumstances, and not the due to Token identity. In addition, when focusing males, Williams (1992) makes mention of the fact that they are given opportunity due to their token status and not impeded by it.
Kville23 (
talk)
02:24, 24 July 2017 (UTC)