Meet Monday: Sydney Tracey
Genevieve Pilch | Staff Photographer
Sydney Tracey became interested in comics when a friend showed her Marvel movies last year. Tracey is concerned with how women are treated in the comic community.
While most people recognize superheroes for fighting crime and beating bad guys, freshman Sydney Tracey sees something they’ve overlooked.
Tracey, a television, radio and film major, is a comic fanatic. Her passion for comics is fairly new, although she said they have always fascinated her.
While pursuing her interest in comic books, Tracey has become concerned with the treatment of women in the comic community.
“I think women are viewed as that they’re almost doing it to get attention. They’re not seen as a viable aspect of that world,” Tracey said.
However, Tracey believes the role of women in comics is improving. She said strong female characters in comics can help repair the issue of gender stereotypes. She particularly hopes the character Black Widow, who is played by Scarlett Johansson in “Iron Man 2,” “Marvel’s The Avengers” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” will help bridge the gender gap in comics.
“Don’t get discouraged reading comic books if you’re a female,” Tracey said. “Do what you like and don’t worry what other people say about it.”
Her interest in comics took off last year after her friend introduced her to Marvel movies. She has since enjoyed comics by watching comic book movie adaptations, reading comic books and growing her collection of comic merchandise.
As a television, radio and film major, Tracey is also inspired by movie adaptations of comic books and hopes to make her own someday. In the short-term future, Tracey hopes to continue her involvement in comics by enhancing her collection, attending Comic Con and introducing comics to other people.
The moral lessons taught in comic books are especially interesting and powerful to Tracey. They set a positive example for people to live by.
“Even though these people are superheroes doing super human things, if you take that down a lot, it’s really just people helping other people,” Tracey said. “All of us have that superhero within us and can make the world a better place.”
Published on December 1, 2014 at 12:01 am
Contact Alex: aerdekia@syr.edu
