Strawberry Manbun Character Analysis in The City We Became

A tall, bearded white man with a “strawberry-blond manbun,” Strawberry Manbun is the unofficial leader of the Alt Artistes, a right-wing art collective that attempts to convince Bronca to exhibit their bigoted paintings at the Bronx Art Center. After she refuses, they unveil a painting full of anti-Asian racism that is also a portal to a dangerous parallel dimension. After Veneza saves Bronca from this painting, Bronca spies a white tendril infecting Strawberry Manbun and asks who sent him. Later, Strawberry Manbun and a few other members of the Alt Artistes attack the Center at the Woman in White’s behest. When Bronca cleanses the Center of the Woman in White’s tendrils with a Bronx-derived energy wave, she also destroys the tendrils manipulating the Alt Artistes, who collapse. Because Bronca knows the Woman in White can only infect and manipulate people who are “sympathetic” to her, she has no qualms about calling the police on Strawberry Manbun and his cronies. Though the police are reluctant to arrest Strawberry Manbun and the others—all of them are white men from privileged backgrounds—Bronca and Veneza provide video evidence of the Alt Artistes’ crimes, and the police take them away. Strawberry Manbun and the Alt Artistes represent both the dangers of bad, bigoted art and the protections that privilege affords white, affluent men.

Strawberry Manbun Character Timeline in The City We Became

The timeline below shows where the character Strawberry Manbun appears in The City We Became. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...pieces by an (almost entirely white) artists’ collective led by a man she dubs Strawberry Manbun. Jess, Yijing, and the Center’s assistant Veneza are there. After looking at the art, Bronca... (full context)

Manbun tells Bronca she hasn’t seen the collective’s best piece, “Dangerous Mental Machines.” When artists remove... (full context)

...Center won’t exhibit it. Though one of the artists looks “stunned that Bronca’s still talking,” Manbun claims to accept Bronca’s decision. The collective start packing up their art. (full context)

...have created the painting themselves. Examining them, she sees a white tendril sticking out of Manbun’s ankle. Though Bronca doesn’t know what it is, she guesses. As Manbun is leaving, she... (full context)

...to the reception computer and calls over her coworkers, showing them a YouTube video starring Manbun. Veneza explains that she image-searched the logo in his email and found it belonged to... (full context)

Three Alt Artistes, including Manbun, appear and block the exit. Defiantly, remembering the begging she heard, Bronca asks the Woman... (full context)