Whoopi Goldberg wears many hats—actor, director, writer, and co-host for The View. In a move no one saw coming or likely was asking for, Goldberg is trying her hand as a graphic novelist. Sweet.
When Whoopi isn’t going off the rails on The View or being vaguely racist toward Jewish people, she likes to write. In fact, she has written several children’s books. While I certainly wouldn’t let any of my own children read them, they nonetheless were very successful. Her latest endeavor? It is called “The Change,” and yes, it is what you think it is about. Check this out:
The story centers around Isabel Frost, a wife, mother, and grandmother who feels that life isn’t what she thought it’d be. Even though she’s got an amazing support network of family and fellow gamers, things have become stagnant for Isabel. But as her body adjusts to menopause, Isabel finds herself developing powerful abilities. With the assistance of her best friend and her comic book-loving grandson, Isabel decides to embrace the new direction of her life and become the Change.
I assume her powerful abilities include snapping at people for no apparent reason, getting really, really sweaty, and needing to stand outside in the cold.
Dark Horse To Publish Whoopi Goldberg Graphic Novel About A Menopausal Superhero https://t.co/HOTig3SeT8
— Bounding Into Comics (@BoundingComics) May 4, 2023
This is in no way meant to disparage menopause. Many women have no symptoms or side effects. However, many will stab you just for breathing wrong. It is what it is.
The Change seems to be an interesting start for Goldberg. Though many superhero stories focus on younger, physically fit characters in their prime, The Change features a woman going through menopause. Certainly a daring choice, but one that likely speaks to Goldberg. It might be rare for such a tale to center around a dramatic shift like menopause, but The Change could open up a new world in superhero storytelling.
It is no coincidence that the star of the graphic novel looks very much like Whoopi, whose menopausal days should be well in the rearview. It is unclear what superpowers the heroine in the story will have, but if the character is modeled after Whoopi, then we can expect subtle racism, the uncanny ability to make televisions shut off, and a tone-deaf take on culture and politics. And maybe she can fly. That would be kind of cool.
The last few years have seen an increase in characters in superhero fiction who represent people that were minimized at best or ignored at worst. And even though there may have been superheroes who experienced menopause, rarely has it been a huge factor in storytelling.
What isn’t mentioned is that most of those stories were poorly received and discontinued shortly thereafter. Does anyone else remember the gay Superman or the gay Spiderman? Probably not, and for good reason. People aren’t clamoring for a superhero that is just like your cousin or your aunt. People want graphic novels where the heroes are smoking zombies and doing cool stuff, not wheezing as they walk in the airport. Who exactly is clamoring for a menopausal Whoopi Goldberg fighting crime and stairs around Gotham City? Besides Whoopi, probably no one. We will see, maybe into the future, if Whoopi gives herself that superpower.
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