Stuff We Email About: Across the Universe’s Cover Racefail
One of the things I love about having a writing group is that I now have people with whom I can chat about “the biz”–you know, all of the upcoming books I’m excited about, the blog controversies and the forum drama, the book deals and my own wishes-for-a-book-deal-chat that people I love but who are not writers just don’t understand (I can’t tell you how many times my husband has asked me what the difference is between a very nice and a nice deal). I mean, our loved ones may hear about some of this stuff anyway, but it’s always nice to have more people with whom we can babble about the stuff we’re obsessive about, you know?
Beth Revis has come up several times on our Interrobangs listserv. We all pretty much adore her–her personable and upbeat blog, the story of her long-sought-after book deal (ten trunk novels! With four under my belt, I can relate), not to mention the fact that her debut Across the Universe is fairly clearly, and unabashedly, sci-fi. Three of us Interrobangs are YA sci-fi writers ourselves, and so we’re always excited to stumble across rare stories of science fictional success.
I received an ARC of Across the Universe in the mail about a month ago, having quite forgotten that I’d requested one from her publicist at all. There was a lot of oohing and aahing among the group; we were all itching to read it. I dove in and ended up staying up until 5 a.m. to read it. And I really, really enjoyed it.
One of the things that I loved, but didn’t manage to squeeze into my review, is the fact that the primary romance is an interracial one. All of us are really interested in issues of diversity in YA, and so we definitely champion books with diverse portrayals of teens, and relationships, and sexualities, and identities. Interracial relationships in particular are so rare in YA (I can think of only one other off the top of my head–Astrid and Giovanni in Diana Peterfreund’s Rampant and Ascendant), and so when I realized that the primary relationship in Across the Universe was between a pale redhead and a dark-skinned boy, I let the Interrobangs know. I knew they’d be interested.
“You can even tell it’s an interracial relationship from the cover!” I told them, “Well, if you squint! But still!”
I was particularly excited about the cover because I knew that frank reflections of character race often don’t extend to cover art. I mean, you really can’t be part of the YA world and not know about the cover whitewashing controversies that have come before–of Justine Larbalestier’s Liar, of Jaclyn Dolamore’s Magic Under Glass, of Cindy Pon’s softback version of her debut Silver Phoenix.
But, looking at the cover of the ARC-version of Across the Universe, I thought that a publisher (Razorbill, in this case) had finally gotten it. Here was a cover where one of the characters (a romantic lead, no less!) had features that made it clear that he was a person of color. Sure, this was subtly communicated–it’s only a silhouette, after all. But (hooray! I thought), it was a step in the right direction.
I knew that there was a second version of the cover–I’d seen Beth’s announcement of it in her blog–but it looked like the only difference was a smattering of stars behind the couple. I didn’t think anything of it. Not until a few weeks after I finished Across the Universe, when I went to become a fan on the book’s facebook page. And saw a large image of the book’s new cover.
Something seemed off. I clicked back and forth between the different cover versions, frowning. I got out my ARC version, and held it up for comparison.
Shit! I thought to myself, because there are some times when only cursing will do. They whitewashed Elder.
Don’t see it? I’ve put together a little image for comparison.
The curves of his face have been minimized; his big, lush lips shaved down. Even his forehead is now badly photoshopped into a harsh straight line, and the coarseness of his hair is obscured.
Ugh! Yuck! Blargh! I thought That looks more like Jason, Amy’s ex, than Elder!
The changes are subtle, so it’s no wonder that no one’s noticed this yet, but then, the original cover was subtle, too.
I can already hear the excuses that apologists might make for the new cover. After all, in Across the Universe, Elder isn’t black. He is, however, distinctly not-white. He’s a member of a mixed, monoethnic race, and is described at several points in the novel as looking much more as he does in the ARC-version of the cover than the final version. Here are a few excerpts (page numbers are from the ARC):
Everyone on board has the same deep olive skin, the same dark brown hair and eyes (29).
and
Dark olive skin; milk-chocolate eyes with flecks of cinnamon that are narrow at the ends, almond shaped. It’s a handsome face, one I want to trust (78).
and
His face is soft, but has an edge to it that belies the innocent appearance he has while sleeping. I’m not sure what race he is–not black, but not white; neither Hispanic nor Asian. It’s a nice color, though–dark in a creamy sort of way that compliments his almost-black hair. The high cut of his cheekbones and the strong curve of his forehead make him look instantly trustworthy, maybe even kind . . . his face is narrow but inviting, with almond-shaped eyes that pierce (86-87).
and
He’s so tall, it doesn’t feel fair to call him a boy, but at the same time, he’s got a bit of a baby face, as if he’s never seen or done anything to make him grow up, to make the angles of his face sharpen with the harshness of age (88).
I don’t see the baby face in the new cover. I don’t see the muddle of ethnicities. I see someone whose face has been changed to look exactly like every other boy on every other YA book cover. I see someone who has been made to look white.
What makes this particularly upsetting is that the racial differences here are important. The fact that Amy and Elder, the book’s dual narrators, don’t look alike forms one of the novel’s central conflicts and actually sparks much of the book’s action. Because Amy looks different from Elder and from all of the people on his spaceship, her presence is seen as a danger. The leader of Elder’s community threatens to throw her out of the airlock because her pale eyes and bright hair will inevitably cause discord (and they do). Across the Universe is about many awesome things, but there’s also an underlying message about the importance of diversity and of tolerating differences. It’s significant that Amy is white, and Elder is not. Elder himself tells us:
She is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, but also the strangest. Her skin is pale, almost translucent white, and I don’t think it’s just from the ice. I lay my hand on top of her glass box, above her heart. My skin is a dark shadow over the luminescence of hers.
This girl is definitely not monoethnic. She’s not like anyone else on Godspeed. Her skin, her hair, her age–my age!–her very shape . . . short, but slender with an enticing curve to her breasts and hips.
How can this girl fit into the monoethnic no-differences-at-all world Eldest says provides perfect peace? (57)
This disappoints me. No, that’s not quite right. It makes me really angry. Revis was doing something important and brave here–including an interracial couple in her book, talking frankly about their differences, talking frankly about the importance of their differences. But you wouldn’t know it from the new cover, even if you squint. And, man, after the hub-bub over Liar and Magic Under Glass and Silver Phoenix, I can’t help but wonder what Razorbill was thinking: Was it that the boy on the previous cover wasn’t seen as handsome enough, as if a boy of color can’t be handsome? Didn’t anyone think it might be problematic to alter the identifying racial characteristics of the existing cover model, or to dangle an accurate cover in front of reviewers but not the teens who will ultimately buy it? Did anyone really think that a parent wouldn’t buy this book for their kid because the silhouette of a person of color is floating suggestively above the female lead? Why are we still catering to these really messed up, racist perspectives? Why did Razorbill throw Elder–the real Elder–out the airlock?!
One thing I feel certain of: this wasn’t a change made thoughtlessly. Razorbill has put a lot of money and care into the presentation of the hardcover version of Across the Universe–they’ve even changed their logo to match the fictional spaceship’s insignia. Luckily, this offers an easy solution to people who want to buy a copy of Revis’ debut. Because, as Revis has shared, they’ve printed a second cover inside the dust-jacket, one with a map of the ship, and without the whitewashed silhouette of Elder. And so, when Across the Universe is released, I’m planning on turning my cover around, as a form of protest.
After all, I wouldn’t want to dissuade anyone from picking up a copy. I have a big ol’ writer crush on Revis; I love what she’s done with her book, and I think that the things she discusses within it are, in fact, awesome and brave. Even if her publisher’s choice of a final cover was not.
But still, these things matter; they’re worth speaking up about; they’re important. I think Justine Larbalestier said it best:
This is not about the accuracy of covers on books.
It’s not about blonde when the character is brunette, it’s not about the wrong length hair, or the wrong colour dress, it’s not even about thin for fat. Yes, that is another damaging representation, but that is another conversation, which only serves to derail this conversation.
The one about race and representation.
Sticking a white girl on the cover of a book about a brown girl is not merely inaccurate, it is part of a long history of marginalisaton and misrepresentation. Publishers don’t randomly pick white models. It happens within a context of racism.
ETA 1/21/11: Thank you, everyone, for your responses to this post.
One response that I’ve been surprised to see over and over again is that, in the original picture, Elder doesn’t “look black.” People are arguing, instead, that he looks 1. Like a fat guy. 2. Like a fat, white guy. 3. Like an unattractive person. The publisher was just trying to make him look pretty, you see?!
I kind of don’t want to touch the racism and value judgments about beauty in those statements with a ten-foot pole. But I will say this: a few weeks after posting this, I spotted someone’s ebook cover in their signature on AbsoluteWrite. It looked very, very familiar. I ran it through a TinEye search and was able to find the source for the original image–it’s a stock photo from Getty Images. The full-sized photo has since been removed from Getty, but it still comes up on search. In it, you can more clearly see the fact that Elder is a person of color. He even has an afro.
62 comments
Ugh! That’s really gross. Not only is it racially ignorant, but it also touches on the ‘if you ain’t pretty, stay home’ mentality – that EVERY YA character has to be good-looking in a paperdoll way.
Great post Phoebe.
Thanks for the comment, Michelle. I agree that this (as well as a host of other things–magazine airbrushing and the like) really limits socially acceptable definitions of beauty over time.
Although it is very possible that they strong-armed the author into these cover changes, the author ALWAYS has say in cover designs; in fact, before covers are placed on books, authors review multiple designs and give input. When I worked in publishing, a cover an editor didn’t like would often end up on a book because the author chose it; and the author win … it’s the author’s book, after all.
Now, I know I didn’t work in YA, nor did I work in fiction. But I find it interesting that it is automatically completely out of the question that the author has anything to do with this decision … do you know that for a fact?
Hey Tiff,
I’ve heard quite a few debut authors talk about the pressures they felt to just accept the covers they were given–YA author Karen Healey has a great blog post about it here (http://www.karenhealey.com/2010/01/cover-talk/). While it’s possible that the author played some role in the whitewashing here, I’d rather give her the benefit of the doubt; it’s far more common to hear accounts of authors who are pretty much told that they should be grateful that they’re being published at all–sometimes well-known authors, too! This is something that Ursula LeGuin had to deal with for years, for instance.
Tiff, you are wrong when it comes to fiction, and even deader wrong when it comes to YA. SOME authors get SOME input. Most authors get NO input. You must have worked for a special, magical place because I’ve had three books out now, and had ZERO input into my covers.
All the authors I know, only ONE had input, and even that was ignored. I know many, many lead title authors who have sobbed because of the terrible, ugly, non-representative, racist, sexist covers that ended up on their books because the house refused to listen to ANY of it.
Non fiction for adults must be a magical place, because we have no say over our covers in YA.
Oh man, Hope, I can practically hear your frustration in your comment. I think that most readers don’t realize how little control authors of fiction have over this stuff, and how powerless writers can feel.
What makes me the most sad with situations like this is not just that these publishers are displaying racist tendencies but they are assuming that young people today only want to buy books with white people on them. People that look like themselves. So basically they are saying that they don’t expect anyone who is not white to buy their books. And that is the truly disgusting nature of this issue. That if you are a non-white person or mixed race person (like myself) you are not expected to be interested in reading :-/
That’s probably the most damaging undertone to this whole thing – that white readers are the only readers who matter, so why not cater exclusively to them?
What’s particularly frustrating is the difficulty you’ll often encounter when you try to make people realise this. Even faced with shelves entirely filled with ‘white’ covers, many people will still insist that there’s no problem.
Good analysis, Phoebe.
I just wanted to point out that white is often seen as neutral — not that it’s what people want to see, but that any other choice is making a choice, drawing attention to itself.
That’s at least one of the problems here: The idea that using a model of color on a cover is somehow more dangerous than using (pretty much exclusively) white models for covers.
If you read up on the theories of ‘privilege’ as it relates to race and other issues (white privilege, male privilege, etc.) you’ll see that that’s one of their main themes. In any binary opposite, the more privileged aspect is always seen as neutral or default – so having a character be white isn’t making any statement about race, or anything else for that matter, but having them be not-white suddenly is. (Or to use another example, having a character be heterosexual isn’t making any statement or pushing any ‘agenda’, but having them be homosexual is.)
The frustrating part is that people in the privileged group are often completely oblivious to all of this, which is why some people claim that whitewashing isn’t a problem.
One other interracial relationship I can think of is Jacqueline Woodson’s gorgeous If You Come Softly, but it’s horribly tragic.
(And wow, that Photoshop job on the cover is all the more insidious because of its subtlety.)
I should preface this by saying it really sucks how authors end up with cover art they hate. I read a lot of sci-fi/fantasy and half the time the covers were clearly done by someone who hadn’t even read the book.
But to play the devil’s advocate, maybe the publisher or author isn’t entirely to blame here. Several of the earlier comments pointed out that the covers seems to assume that white readers are the target audience and more interested in white characters. For better or worse, that’s partly true. In the English speaking world, Caucasians are by far the largest group and human beings naturally empathize with the physical characteristics they saw growing up. Let’s assume/pretend that Revis had 100% control over the cover and that the interracial romance was the most important theme of the novel to her. If your marketing team says “you can 1) sell X number of copies with the current cover, or 2) have the same story with a whitewashed cover and sell twice as many copies” which are you going to choose?
Admittedly I don’t know a thing about marketing novels and I’m just making up those numbers as an example, but some number of people will choose to read or not read the book depending on the cover. As someone who cares about diversity, would you rather have your preferred cover art even if it meant that fewer people would be exposed to the themes you’re trying to convey? And that doesn’t even get to the financial incentives for both the author and publisher.
All that being said, I do sympathize with that frustration. There’s a point where catering to the public’s biases is the wrong thing to do. And I think sometimes companies underestimate people’s willingness to accept change and diversity.
That’s probably the exact argument that most publishers would make about whitewashing – that it ends up being an economic necessity (or at least a significant advantage) because it positively affects sales.
But we don’t *need* to be in a situation like this. If it became common to see non-white people on book covers, this problem wouldn’t exist, and that will only happen if both publishers and readers as a whole start to see past their own narrow-mindedness. I honestly don’t think that would be as difficult to achieve as people think, but it needs to start somewhere. Why not with a high-profile YA novel?
Oh, and about authors accepting whitewashing so that their message will be read by more people: that’s something that any author would have to decide on their own. I don’t think it would be enough to make me anywhere near comfortable with it, if only because I suspect that visual representations like book covers probably have more of an immediate impact than the cultural message of a novel.
Just popping in to say I totally agree with you Sean. I think most of us can understand why publishers whitewash but we shouldn’t just take it an dismiss it as an econnomic necessity. There’s no reason any book should be whitewashed and I’m so past sick and tired of it.
Thank you Phoebe for writing this post and drawing my attention to this!
Came across this via http://www.jaimieteekell.com/ —Hola, Jaimie.
I came to this post expecting it to be something else entirely—from the picture Jaimie posted on her blog, I assumed you would be talking about how the publishers changed the cover so this chubby dude would be skinny. Even though the link clearly says “white-washing,” I still didn’t realize that the model wasn’t white. I just thought he was a little bit overweight.
So I came over, expecting read something about weight, and the messages we’re sending teenagers regarding their bodies. Surprise! It’s about race. I had to go back and take a look at the orginal cover to see what you were talking about. And you’re right. If you’re looking for it, you can see that the model in the orginal isn’t white, and that is lost in the updated cover.
But I, having not read the book, wouldn’t have known race was at play here if you hadn’t pointed it out. And I imagine the bigwig at the publisher who gives the OK on book covers probably was in the same position I was—make a judgement call on the cover having never touched the book. And I imagine he took a look at it and saw a pudgy white dude and said “Hey, photoshop 10 lbs of that kid and stick some stars in there and we’ll be good. Next.”
I’m not saying that any of the issues you’ve raised aren’t true or important, but I also can’t say this is a good example of institutionalized racism. I think we just want to see thin people, and that effects people of every race.
Now that you pointed out this aspect I need to agree with you… could only be a chubby guy in that picture (expect for the forehead). I can imagine the professional saying to photoshop the model and done.
Wish they would have reshot it instead :/
I’m not sure the publisher is as blameless as you’re making out. The model was very obviously altered to appear more white, not just more thin (and I’m not sure I agree that the unaltered model counts as ‘chubby’, either). To me, this looks as if it was a very deliberate attempt to make a non-white person appear white. It would be a very big coincidence if that was an unintended side-effect of something else.
Just to reiterate, before I make fun of you, that I think a lot the ideas here are REALLY good, and I’m glad these issues are being discussed. But this is a REALLY bad example of institutionalized racism. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that most of you writers have heard about the boy who cried wolf. When you (you being us, as human beings) make a case for something that could go either way, you lessen the impact of calling people out when it really matters.
So here’s an exercise for you—stop reading, relax you face, and look down, parallel to the floor, like the guy on the cover.
If your face is like mine, which is it, your lips bulged out and your neck chub made you chin look bigger. WHOA! You’re magically still you, but with ten pounds you need poorly hacked off your face. They should have had the guy lie on his back, like the girl. It’s a more flattering shot, and it’s not like they weren’t going to photoshop their faces together anyway.
I’m not sure what you’re trying to describe here, but my facial structure doesn’t radically alter itself every time I look down at the ground.
By claiming that even small examples of institutionalized racism don’t matter, you’re contributing to the larger landscape which tells people of color, repeatedly, that stories aren’t about them or for them–that they can’t be heroes or love interests. It’s also cyclical: every altered or whitewashed cover contributes to an environment where depictions of heroes of color are less welcome.
In other words, this is a case where it “really matters.”
And your thesis that this is just someone chubby or looking down is pretty convoluted. If you have support for that–like knowledge about the shooting process or the actual model used–I’d like to hear it.
Did you try it?
Alrighty, here’s a picture of me looking straight, here’s a picture of me looking down.
http://web20.twitpic.com/img/223038954-91bbb2f309ce25b86cc2264ab50fd201.4d2b10e0-scaled.jpg
See how it changed the shape of the chin, lips, and cheekbone? I’m not saying he wasn’t black, I’m saying it was a crappy picture. Still is, in the hacked photoshop version.
Small things are worth fighting over when you’re right, but you’re wrong, so it’s just annoying. Re: wolf-calling, etc.
I hereby reiterate my request for proof of “wrongness.”
I see your point about the fat-face downward-lookingness, but to me, the forehead and especially the hair rule out that theory.
I think this was just about money. Nothing so villainous as intentionally hating African Americans, just a matter of market. Which makes it more sad than criminal.
I received a short message today pointing out that I was being a troll. This was actually quite polite—I think I’d have called my self something different if the roles were reversed.
I’m sorry. The community you guys have set up here is really neat, and you’re attacking some tough issues. I’m not sure why I popped in and decided to play devil’s advocate. In all sincerity—I hope you continue to bring up these issues as you run into them. You guys are great for seeing and calling these things out. I’m apologize for being a such a douche.
Bye.
Hey David,
I don’t know if you’re still following this, but I wanted to thank you for your apology; that takes balls, and it’s deeply appreciated.
However (because I love being right? maybe . . .) I must add that I was on a writing site tonight and stumbled across this self-published book cover here, and was like, ooh, stock photo. So I ran it through Tin Eye and came up with this. So the image is from Getty, and as you can see in it, the guy is pretty clearly a person of color (with an afro, at that!).
Anyway, thanks for making the debate more interesting.
Phoebe when I tried to click on the Tin Eye link above it didn’t go through
Do you have to be a member of Tin Eye to see it? I think if you can show that the model or whatever is a poc originally (with an afro!) it makes for an even stronger case. From a marketing perspective, why waste all that money to change a cover in such a minor way? ughhh
“Hey, photoshop 10 lbs of that kid and stick some stars in there and we’ll be good. Next.”
Almost spewed out my tea.
This is an interesting idea. I would address it, but I feel racist simply entertaining the idea that a person of color is like a white guy who’s 10 lbs heavier. Kinda. But you called me racist last year SO I’M PARANOID.
I totally do not remember calling you a racist. I am so glad my memories of scarring people fade quickly!
But I thought it was a fat white dude, so I think it’s OK.
Wait… I see what you did there…
Oh and out of curiousity, has the author responded? I’m not so sure if it would be wise for her to do so since she is a debut author.
No, she hasn’t responded. But as well as her being a debut author, the book also comes out in a few days, so I’m sure she’s probably swamped right now. Even if we were going to get a reply, I’d expect it to be well after all the launch-day commotion has died down.
Thanks for stopping by!
First off, I completely agree. I enjoyed that the original boy was very hard to place when it came to ethnicity.
However, I do have to say, I *hated* the profile of the boy on the ARC.
Why? Because the half-lidded, mouth-hanging-open gaze of this guy just looks sleepy and stupid.
To me, Amy’s open mouth and somewhat arched neck read almost as a profile of pain, and seem appropriate… but, and perhaps it’s because he’s the one in the ‘downward’ position (which causes features to hang a bit slack), it just looks like Elder’s face is slack and emotionless… which for me, doesn’t fit with the character at all. He seems completely unaware.
I would prefer an open-eyed, close-mouthed Elder on the cover, but still retaining his monoethnicity. Heck, I’m not even saying they should change models… but for goodness sake, give the boy an expression of awareness.
Thanks for stopping by!
I think it’s a bit of a problem when publishers put any model on the cover of a book, to be honest. There’s the usual ‘you can imagine it better in your head argument’, but it gets much worse when they decide to get a 20-year old model to represent a 16-year old…
Case in point: http://readthisbook.wordpress.com/2010/06/25/the-replacement-uk-cover/
Gee, I wonder why they went with a cover like that?
No doubt… at least it didn’t have praise from Stephanie Meyer on the cover.
I listened to Carrie Ryan talk about the girl on the cover of her books, The Forest of Hands and Teeth and The Dead Tossed Waves, and she went through a long, detailed explanation of how the models were wrong for the character… and how they still aren’t perfect, and the girl on the cover of the paperback Forest of Hands and Teeth has a tad much in the eye makeup department for a zombie apocalypse.
It was fun to listen to her talk about it, but her discussion really pointed out that they’re selling sex appeal. (one of her major complaints was giving a very young character a very large bust)
The interesting thing would be to take a poll and see how many people only remember the character depiction on the cover… vs. how they’re actually described in the book.
What struck me about those covers for The Forest of Hands and Teeth was how inappropriate they were for the story. I mean, I haven’t read any of the books in the trilogy, but everything I’ve heard suggested that ‘vaguely goth-ish girl with a lot of eye makeup’ was the absolutely last look you’d want to go for while marketing them.
I’m glad to hear that the author disapproved, though. It must be disheartening to have something that crass on the cover of your book.
(Was she talking about all of this on a podcast or recored interview, btw? I’d be interested in hearing it if so.)
And I should specify, the half-lidded, mouth open description has nothing to do with ethnicity… Amy’s profile is also half-lidded and mouth open… but to me, filled with a lot more expression.
[...] thing’s first; I have yet another review of Beth Revis’ Across the Universe up on the Best Damn Creative Writing Blog. I feel [...]
I just found this post and wanted to thank you for bringing up this discussion. It makes me sad to see that the publisher clearly altered the look of the African American model in the cover. As an African American YA writer myself, I hope that by the time I get a book published, I won’t have to deal with similar whitewashing.
Thanks for the comment, Ghenet. Unfortunately, I think it’s something we all have to be on our toes for; it doesn’t seem like publishers have learned anything from authors speaking out, which is a real shame.
[...] and this time the culprit is Razorbill. There is an in-depth report by the folks over at The Interrobangs blog, with quotes from the book which suggests that that’s exactly what has happened; and it is [...]
Um, Elder isn’t supposed to be of African decent. He’s so racially mixed that there is no predominate race to identify:
From p. 86 of the ARC:
“I’m not sure what race he is – not black, but not white; neither Hispanic nor Asian. It’s a nice color, though – dark in a creamy sort of way that compliments his almost-black hair. The high cut of his cheekbones and the strong curve of his forehead make him look instantly trustworthy…”
While I believe BOTH versions look caucasian, I always thought that the first elder’s features were pulled down by gravity, like he was actually bending over. I was not surprised to see that it was photoshopped (or seemed to be) but did note that Elder was not supposed to be straight up white.
I don’t think anybody said he’s supposed to be of African descent…?
As for the second point, I’m not sure how you can argue that the model in the first picture looks caucasian. Because to me, he really, really doesn’t. (Although if anybody has information about who that model is that contradicts me, feel free to post it!)
I agree that it looks as if his race was erased — but I also wonder if it was purely a design issue? Because the thing that stands out to me the most is how symmetrical the two faces are now after the Photoshopping.
For the ARC, there was no starry background with that focus point of bright light, and so the asymmetry wouldn’t have been an eyesore. But stick that sun between them, and yes — it would be, because it creates an uneven frame. As it is now, though, the frame made by the two faces is, aesthetically, much more pleasing.
Again, that’s from purely a design standpoint. I do think that if we’re going to ascribe motivations to the publishers/artists, though, we should consider that race wasn’t the reason. Undeniably, the change of the design had the unfortunate effect of erasing those features (and so he looks just like the white girl) but the motivation might have been aesthetic, not racism.
I’m not pretending to know what they were thinking. But if I were creating that cover, I’d have left the non-starry one alone … but, yes, I’d have made and effort to create as much symmetry in that sun-frame as possible with the new background.
I really am tired of YA novelists and cover apologists using the ‘mixed race’ angle to bypass issues like this. When a person is mixed race, you can bet the person will try his or her best to find out what she or he is.
Why do novelists always make mixed race characters so indifferent or so unaware of their ethnic heritage? This is nothing like mixed race people I know including myself. It’s a cheap cop-out to get what they want. Exoticize characters without the baggage that comes with being mixed race.
It has to stop.
I really, really, am tired of seeing us mixed race people being used this way. We DO care about our ethnic heritage, we DO accept what we are and we ARE happy with what we are, and we DID experience identity crisis at least once in our life because of people’s questions like ‘What are you?’ and ‘Where were born?’
Novelists, if you want to have a mixed race character, please don’t be so lazy with vague details “not black, not white”. Please, enough because it’s making our job hard. It’s tiring to deal with it every day and we don’t need you to make it harder for us.
To An Abundance of Books: “He’s so racially mixed that there is no predominate race to identify.”
Uh huh, that makes him a person of color. Amy wouldn’t comment on his appearance if he was white like her, would she? FYI, the guy in the first cover is certainly a person of color.
Thank you for your comment. This really touches on something that’s been bothering me lately, because I also feel that a lot of (white) authors tend to give their characters ‘exotic’ attributes like being mixed race without dealing with the complexities of those attributes.
Another example would be a white authors who has a POC for a main character, yet goes out of his or her way to declare that ‘race doesn’t matter’ or that they’re ‘colorblind’. Well, sure, race doesn’t matter if you’re white and rarely have to think about it. From what I’ve seen, though, it certainly does matter to people who’ve had to deal with the effects of racism all their lives. You can only blithely ignore it from a privileged position.
This would actually be a great topic for a future post…so thanks again!
Hey, I just finished read the book, and commented on The Book Smuggler’s Blog. I just wanted to comment on the notion that the author is being “sloppy” about Elder’s background by saying that he’s of mixed racial heritage.
The reason why Elder doesn’t know his race is that he is on a spaceship and the whole notion of race has been eradicated through genetic breeding programs. I won’t say any more because it would be a spoiler, but I have to say that when the truth of how the entire notion of racial heritage has been erased comes to light, it gave me the chills. This is part of the dystopic element of the story: that everyone has been made the same, that Elder has been constructed and lied to so that he has no notion of where he comes from. It’s not presented at all in the book as a lack of awareness, or breezy unconcern on his part. It is something that has been stolen from him, along with the truth, hope, and the sight of the stars.
Yes, Amy notices Elder’s darker skin. But when you’re in Elder’s point of view, he only comments on racial characteristics when the person differs from him and the norm he is used to. He notices Amy’s whiteness, and another defrosted woman’s blackness, but never comments on his own skin color or the color of those around him.
What bothered me most about this cover after I read the book was that when told the protagonist wasn’t white, they picked stock photo with a black man on it. It’s quite clear that Elder isn’t black. He doesn’t have an Afro; the people in the story who have long hair have hair that seems to behave more South-Asian than kinky. He just isn’t white, and conflating “not white” with “black” really bothers me. 70% of the world is neither white nor black, y’know, and there are more races than “white” and “other.”
Thanks for stopping by, Courtney.
It’s an interesting question, and one I thought about pretty hard before I sat down to write this post. When it comes down to it, though, I truly feel that the original model’s facial features are a much better match for the way that Elder is described in the book. Which is part of what I think makes the photoshopping especially problematic: regardless of racial issues, he’s been changed to look less like the person in the book. I don’t think the fact that the original designer reached for an image of what was likely an AA man is any more problematic than the fact that designers almost always reach for white models unless race is otherwise specified. Why should the altered features–which again, read “white” according to our societal standards–be the default? Why not soft features and lush lips? Why not the curved forehead? Surely the image in the first cover is closer to the description than the image in the second, afro or not.
I don’t think either model looks like Elder. I’m hapa (with my “other” half being Chinese) so I look at those eyes and just do not see any kind of almond shape in them. My point isn’t that either model is acceptable. My point is more: Why on earth could they not get someone who actually looked like Elder?
I guess picking a black man to stand in for “other” is not quite as bad as picking a white man to do so–at least one of those *recognizes* the concept of other. But they’re both obnoxious.
Fair enough, Courtney! I think what you’re saying gets down to the crux of a lot of cover problems*–they’re not representative of the people within the pages of the books, of the real racial diversity present in both fiction and in real life.
*Though, perhaps, I still think that this case, when PoC was ‘shopped to look less so, has other thorniness embedded in it. It happens all the time, of course, but there’s still something about the act that makes me deeply uncomfortable.
No doubt about that, and when the “thorniness” comes out as people saying, “Oh, they’re just photoshopping it to make Elder look more handsome!” I cringe–as if the characteristics they changed are inherently aesthetically unpleasing. Ugh.
I do want to add, though, that I absolutely loved this book.
@SeanWills
You got it.
@CourtneyMilan
It’s not only about this book. It’s about many books and covers. Have you noticed White Cat, Liar and Magic Under Glass feature mixed race characters or have vague descriptions of these characters?
It’s upsetting to see people saying she’s not black enough or he’s not Asian enough, or that it’s okay for the model to look white because he or she is so racially mixed. Authors ARE responsible for this. The author of Across the Universe too. It’s them who make it vague enough for commenters to debate about how mixed race people should look on covers. I’m tired of it.
You say “Why on earth could they not get someone who actually looked like Elder?” but what does he look like? No blogger has excerpted a part to show he ISN’T mixed race black. Is it any wonder there is confusion? FYI, some mixed race people of black ancestry do have straight hair. Wentworth Miller, actor of Prison Break, is partly Jamaican and he has straight hair.
FYI, the first cover model isn’t black. He’s a person of color or mixed race. It’s not up to you to decide whether he’s black or not.
“Authors ARE responsible for this.”
Authors have little to no control over cover art. They can make suggestions, and if they’re lucky they’ll get a good team who will work with them, but the final say rests with the publisher. Which is their job, after all, the writers write and the publishers publish. By all accounts, authors don’t have the time, energy, skill or training to do all the work of making and marketing a book.
But substitute “publishers” in for “authors” and I’ll agree with that statement 100%. It really bothers me when people use the excuse of “oh, but s/he’s mixed race!” as an excuse for why a model of color is as light-skinned as they could away with. It’s like, they’re mixed race 50/50, not 90/10. >.< And it contributes to the issue of beauty in our society, why Whiter features and tones are considered more desirable.
I do want to add, though, that I absolutely loved this book.
Agreed. It was terrific, and I wish Beth all the best despite my reservations about her cover.
[...] and this time the culprit is Razorbill. There is an in-depth report by the folks over at The Interrobangs blog, with quotes from the book which suggests that that’s exactly what has happened; and it is [...]
[...] over at ?Interrobangs! notes the cover changes on Across the Universe by Beth Revis, a book about interracial relationships at the YA level. The initial ARC had a person of color [...]
[...] best-selling list. It’s cover was revamped between ARC and release. This was first exposed at The Interrobangs, and further discussed today at Dear Author. This brings up marketing, racial attitudes, and white [...]
Hi Phoebe,
Thanks for informative article.
The photoshopped final cover looks as if the young man is white.
It’s interesting that nothing much was done to to young lady, even though it’s a stock photo. More than anything, it reinforces what profiles are considered “attractive”
I’d like to comment on what was taken away when the photo was altered.
because now, the young man and woman look as if they are from the same cultural group. Had I not read this blog, I wouldn’t even know that he was supposed to represent someone of mixed race and that he was brown while she is “white”.
That was possibly the point, but now the cover looks much like all the other YA covers with white protags. That’s too bad, but it’s one of the reasons I create multicultural paranormal web comics. Because we should see more couples, like African with Asian or Asian with Hispanic or White with Black.
@Sylvia Sybil
“Authors have little to no control over cover art.”
I wasn’t talking about cover art. I was referring to text. They use vague descriptions in their stories. This vagueness causes confusion in discussions about cover art.
[...] out this post if you want a good examination of the cover model and how his face was adjusted for the final [...]