Fangirl of the Month: Noel Rivera

Profile by Teresa Jusino

Hispanic Heritage Month isn’t just about celebrating the greatness that has come before, but it’s about acknowledging our potential for greatness as a group, and supporting each other’s efforts.  Noel Rivera is an artist and writer whose sci-fi/fantasy work will be making waves in the years to come!  For now, though, she talked to me about being buried under schoolwork, her “love/hate relationship” with World of Warcraft, and why focusing on a character’s ethnicity can be just as detrimental as ignoring it completely.

Photo credit: Risingsun.net

TERESA JUSINO:  First of all, just to get the “boring” stuff out of the way, what do you do when you’re not geeking out?    Tell us a little about yourself!

NOEL RIVERA: Oh, asking the hard question first, I see? Well, at the moment, I’m taking my second bachelor’s degree in English Literature in preparation for entering the master’s program, which means I’m constantly buried in homework despite my best efforts. Studying is a huge portion of what I do on a daily basis—though, for some classes, you could consider that part of my geekery. As for work, I’m an assistant graphic designer for an organization chiefly concerned with promoting alternative forms of transportation. It’s not exactly the best use of my animation training, I admit, but the people are nice and the work is pretty straightforward. Other than that, I keep up with my friends back home, and my friend in town, and do more reading than is probably healthy.

TJ:  What do you geek out about?  What are your favorite genres, fandoms, etc?

NR: My God, what DON’T I geek out about?  I’m chiefly a science fiction and fantasy genre lover, though I’ve recently discovered a particular interest in late Victorian literature (which is only appropriate, really, since H. G. Wells, one of my favorites of the period, was something of a pioneer for the science fiction genre). I also enjoy anime and manga, though I haven’t been able to keep up with it, mostly due to lack of money and time. And then there’s World of Warcraft, with which I have a love/hate relationship, which is to say that I love it and hate that I don’t have time to play right now.  At the very top of the top, though, you’ll find books—it’s the one thing I can get excited about under any circumstances whatsoever.  My collection is easily reaching over 2000 volumes.

As for particular fandoms, well, I could give you a list and still forget half of them, but I’ll try to keep it simple. In books and manga, my top fandoms include Sherlock Holmes, Pet Shop of Horrors by Matsuri Akino, Monster by Naoki Urasawa, and the Doctrines of Labyrinth series by Sarah Monette, which include the books Melusine, The Virtu, The Mirador, and the up and coming Corambis.  In television, I’ve always been a huge fan of Babylon 5, Star Trek, and pretty much any science fiction show that I’ve been able to watch in its entirety. I also hang about in the Monk, Psych, and Due South fandoms. The list is longer, including any number of anime titles, but we’ll leave it at that.

TJ:  You attend conventions, and are involved in lots of geeky activities.  Do you feel like you get treated differently, either positively or negatively, because you’re a woman doing things that involve predominantly men?  How so?  Any particular anecdotes you’d like to share?

NR: No, I’ve never felt like I was treated differently than any other convention-goer as far as that goes. Really, all of the conventions I’ve attended have had just as many women there as men. I don’t know what it’s like in the primarily science fiction themed conventions versus the anime conventions (which I’ve attended) but it seems to me like all con-goers are considered equal for the most part. There is, however, a bit of a shock when I tell people about my interests, or when they find that I, too, know about geeky topics and enjoy them. I guess I don’t come off that way in my normal day to day activities. I once had a guy tell me how unusual it was for him to find a woman he considered both intelligent and attractive (in his opinion! I’m not inflating my ego here) who was willing to sit down and marathon Star Trek DS9 for an entire weekend. I think there’s this general misconception that “normal” women don’t like science fiction and the things related to it—like it’s only something for guys or girls who are “weird”—but it isn’t. There are so many cool people who love it.

TJ:  This is Hispanic Heritage Month!  What ethnicity are you?  Do you think you’ve had a particularly “Latina” upbringing?  How do you identify with being Latina?  How do you not?  Is it something that’s particularly important to you?

NR: Well, technically, I suppose I’m of Puerto Rican ethnicity. But honestly? I don’t identify with it. I wasn’t raised Hispanic, and I’m absolutely nothing like any of my Hispanic relatives. I have more familiarity with my mother’s side of the family, which is American Southern. But there are some aspects of the Hispanic heritage that I enjoy—like the food. If you’ve never have an authentic Puerto Rican meal, you should definitely try it. It’s amazing. But, just in general, I’m your average American woman, and that’s how I view myself.

TJ:  How do you feel about the state of Latino and Latina representation in pop culture – specifically in the forms of geekery that you enjoy?  Do you think there could be more?  Is it something that concerns you, or do you not consider it an issue?

NR: For me, personally, it isn’t an issue. I never watch television or read a book and think, “Man…there needs to be more ethnicity in this show/book.”  For me ethnicity is part of a person, but it’s not something that I, myself, view them by. So when I watch a show, I’m not thinking about whether or not that person is Hispanic or Asian. I just think in terms of character.  I understand how much that kind of thing can be important to other people, but in my opinion, the way it gets portrayed in media is a little bit over the top. They make ethnicity dominate the character, like it’s all that they are, and there’s nothing else beyond it. It gets a little stereotypical, and I don’t like that. It’s not quite so bad in science fiction, though.

TJ:  Among your many talents, you are an artist.  In art forms like comics or graphic novels, what do you think the artist’s responsibility is when drawing women?  Do you think it’s an artist’s responsibility to try and be true to things like race and body type?  Are these issues solely the concern of the writer?  Is an artist only bound by their style of drawing?

NR: Hmm…that’s an interesting question. I’m a firm believer in the artist reflecting as accurately as possible whatever the writer has written. Creative translation is a delicate thing, especially when it comes to characters. If a writer has specified that a woman is a certain race or body type, then I think it’s the artist’s responsibility to try their best to get as close to that race and body type as possible. Any artist’s style can be adapted to do this in some fashion. I myself have my own style of drawing women, but I do try to make my women different from one another, because in real life, women who are different are interesting, and that holds true for the comic book page as well. I don’t want to read a graphic novel full of cookie cutter women. Who would?

TJ:  You seem to be into all things J!  J-Pop, Japanese style clothing, anime, and you’ve even expressed interest in learning Japanese.  What is it about Japanese culture that interests/attracts you?

NR: I’ve wondered that myself for a long time. My interest in Asian styles and culture has been with me for most of my life, and it’s only grown with age. All I can say is that, when I look at a piece of Japanese art, or read about a type of Asian philosophy, I feel a connection with it. Something about it resonates with me. If I believed in past lives, I might think I had some old tie with the country. Who knows!

TJ:  I remember when we first exchanged letters, you used Star Trek stationary!  Would you consider yourself a “Trekkie”?  What’s your favorite Star Trek series?  Are you looking forward to the new Star Trek movie in 2009?

NR: Oh my gosh. A Trekkie? Well, I’d say that once upon a time, yes, I might have been considered a Trekkie (in fact, that stationery comes from back in my Next Generation heyday of loving all things Star Trek!). Much less so now, though. That won’t stop me from watching every rerun I see, though, or discussing it at length with somebody, but it’s not something I often think about.  As for my favorite Star Trek series, I have to say the original series still holds that distinction. I like the other series as well (Voyager least, I admit), but the original series is the one I used to fantasize about as a kid.  As for the new Star Trek movie – heck yes, I’m looking forward to that! And they better do a good job of it, too.

TJ:  Are there any projects you’re working on that you’d like to brag about?  Where can we find you on the intarwebz?

NR: At the moment? Not really, though I keep hoping to fall into some kind of interesting web or blog project. I do have my book review site, SpaceDragon Reviews, which I’ve been running for, oh, almost 10 years now, but at the moment it’s in an awful state of disarray. I’ve ripped it apart with plans to revamp the entire website, so at the moment, it looks like poo (to be perfectly honest). But I want to try and pull it together by the end of the year as well as find some new, permanent review contributors, so I’m planning on stepping up the pace for that site fairly soon if schoolwork permits it. Actually, part of me keeps thinking that I should just do the entire thing on a blog, but I haven’t quite given in to that idea yet.

**DO YOU, OR ANYONE YOU KNOW, QUALIFY AS A “CAREER GEEK”, OR TAKE FANGIRLING TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL? IF SO, WRITE TO ME AT teresajusino@pinkraygun.com.  PLEASE INCLUDE THE NAME OF THE NOMINATED GEEK, CONTACT INFO, YOUR/THEIR FANDOMS, AND WHY YOU/THEY SHOULD BE OUR “FANGIRL OF THE MONTH” IN 100 WORDS OR LESS.  IF YOU’RE GEEKY ENOUGH, YOU’LL BE SPOTLIGHTED IN OUR MONTHLY COLUMN!**

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TERESA JUSINO was born on the same day that Skylab fell. Coincidence? She doesn’t think so.  As a writer, her work has appeared in Elmont Life newspaper, and on the sadly defunct website, CentralBooking.com. She is currently at work on a collection of short stories. As a geek, Teresa loves Star Trek, Lost, comics, and anything Joss Whedon ever touched. She has a fangirl *squee-ing* crush on Brian K. Vaughan, which beat up her Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man crush in a fight proving once again that writing skill trumps gadget skill even when that gadget skill is attached to bulging biceps.  Teresa is also an aspiring fangbanger.

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