Pom in Oz with Derek Goforth: Have we reached saturation point with ‘wokeness’?

Am I woke? Are you woke? To be honest, what on earth is woke? It’s a term thrown around a lot nowadays, but I’m not sure when it started. But it seems the buzz word around films, TV and music is “woke”. Take the new Marvel TV offerings She-Hulk and Thor Love and Thunder. Two additions to the franchise that have been reviewed as being “woke”, both in a positive and negative light. But what does it even mean? Does woke simply mean awake? But awake to what exactly? We all know what the old meaning of the word is. But in a modern sense, in 2017, a new meaning was added to our lexicon. These days, woke refers to being aware or well-informed in a political or cultural sense, especially regarding issues surrounding marginalised communities. In essence, someone who is awake to issues of social injustice. So far, so good. Being woke simply means being aware of and responding to social issues, doesn’t it? So when She-Hulk is talked about on Twitter for being incredibly “woke”, that’s a good thing isn’t it? To be honest no, it certainly isn’t. Not from a Marvel fan’s perspective anyway. Marvel should be fun, funny and action-packed. Those are three things that both Thor and She-Hulk are lacking in spades. Yes, I get that Marvel projects have a wide appeal and they are good platforms for getting messages out there, but not the point where they are rammed down our throats constantly for hours at a time. Isn’t the fact that She-Hulk is a hero enough? Isn’t the fact that the main stars of the series are female and are performing feats beyond imagination enough? Do we need to be lectured on woke issues? Or can we simply detach from reality and enter the realm of fiction and fantasy? I don’t feel the need to be represented. There are no middle-aged, overweight, Pommy superheroes and you know what? I am fine with that. I don’t need to get my social cues and moral lessons from my Iron Mans and Doctor Strangea. I really don’t feel the need to base my perception of reality on what a large green gamma radiated superhero does or says. I am aware there are issues with women in the workplace, injustice surrounds us. I know that a proportion of our population don’t fall into the straight white male bracket. But I honestly don’t need to see this in every film and TV show I watch. I don’t think this makes me bigoted or prejudiced, but I know some will accuse me of that. For those things, I believe sport stars, pollies and community figures are so much better placed. I show that to my children and my students and hope, just hope, they take me a little more seriously than the God of Thunder. Derek Goforth is a teacher at Geraldton Christian College