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copping out
Jun. 18th, 2010 12:01 pmI wasn't really going to talk about this, because... a lot of other people have and have done so more eloquently than I. But an offshoot of this is bugging me.
That J2 fic with the racial issues (full info here in case you missed the discussion)-- the one set in post-earthquake Haiti with racial stereotyping and bonus colonialism? The author has since apologised, and said something to the effect of: "I didn't see/think about race when I wrote this".
I've seen a few isolated comments in the wake of this conversation: "I'm now afraid to write characters of color in my story". And that's sad. There's no reason to be afraid to write any characters or create OCs who aren't exactly like you. There is a reason to think about it and to be sensitive and ask other people for guidance. To avoid writing about characters of color is copping out.
How about this instead: "I'll continue to write characters of color in my stories, but will work hard to avoid tropes and stereotypes."
or "When I write about characters of another race/ethnicity/gender/orientation/social class/religion, I won't write them as if they're tokens or exotic background decoration instead of individuals with rich inner lives".
I ran across this article in the Onion's AV Club the other day, 13 Movies featuring Magical Black Men (and of course there are many more), but one of them leaps out: The Matrix.
Lawrence Fishburne's Morpheus, is. undeniably. fucking. awesome. But he turns up out of nowhere with all the answers, he focuses all his energies on helping (Keanu) Reeves, even though Reeves seems like an ungrateful, useless, vapid schlub, and he has powers that no one else can match, but that essentially only get used to help a white boy find himself. Once said white boy does start finding himself, Fishburne immediately becomes an utterly disempowered victim, desperately in need of his former student's aid. But none of that is as annoying as the degree to which Fishburne, initially the Matrix series' strongest figure, really has no past and no character of his own.
(Not to mention the Oracle! Who isn't mentioned in the article since it focuses on male characters, but you know.)
Keanu Reeves, I liked you fine as Neo, but I really wanted to know what the hell Morpheus was thinking about things, and his backstory. And this article reminds me of all the films and TV shows where characters of color appear in the cast and the creators pat themselves on the back for being so inclusive, but the characters are STILL background characters. And this even happens when the writers aren't white, because: Hollywood. And it's a bummer that it took stumbling on an article to remind me of this, because I don't think about that as much as I should.
Of course a J2 fic is going to be about Jared and Jensen's relationship and not focus on an original character who also appears and drives the plot, but audiences like and crave diverse and interesting three-dimensional characters. We really, really do.
ETA: I was going to f-lock this, because I don't think I have the bandwidth to have a conversation with a bunch of strangers this weekend; it's been a heavy week of reading and reflection. I'm leaving it open, but I'd rather not be linked by metalink aggregators.
That J2 fic with the racial issues (full info here in case you missed the discussion)-- the one set in post-earthquake Haiti with racial stereotyping and bonus colonialism? The author has since apologised, and said something to the effect of: "I didn't see/think about race when I wrote this".
I've seen a few isolated comments in the wake of this conversation: "I'm now afraid to write characters of color in my story". And that's sad. There's no reason to be afraid to write any characters or create OCs who aren't exactly like you. There is a reason to think about it and to be sensitive and ask other people for guidance. To avoid writing about characters of color is copping out.
How about this instead: "I'll continue to write characters of color in my stories, but will work hard to avoid tropes and stereotypes."
or "When I write about characters of another race/ethnicity/gender/orientation/social class/religion, I won't write them as if they're tokens or exotic background decoration instead of individuals with rich inner lives".
I ran across this article in the Onion's AV Club the other day, 13 Movies featuring Magical Black Men (and of course there are many more), but one of them leaps out: The Matrix.
Lawrence Fishburne's Morpheus, is. undeniably. fucking. awesome. But he turns up out of nowhere with all the answers, he focuses all his energies on helping (Keanu) Reeves, even though Reeves seems like an ungrateful, useless, vapid schlub, and he has powers that no one else can match, but that essentially only get used to help a white boy find himself. Once said white boy does start finding himself, Fishburne immediately becomes an utterly disempowered victim, desperately in need of his former student's aid. But none of that is as annoying as the degree to which Fishburne, initially the Matrix series' strongest figure, really has no past and no character of his own.
(Not to mention the Oracle! Who isn't mentioned in the article since it focuses on male characters, but you know.)
Keanu Reeves, I liked you fine as Neo, but I really wanted to know what the hell Morpheus was thinking about things, and his backstory. And this article reminds me of all the films and TV shows where characters of color appear in the cast and the creators pat themselves on the back for being so inclusive, but the characters are STILL background characters. And this even happens when the writers aren't white, because: Hollywood. And it's a bummer that it took stumbling on an article to remind me of this, because I don't think about that as much as I should.
Of course a J2 fic is going to be about Jared and Jensen's relationship and not focus on an original character who also appears and drives the plot, but audiences like and crave diverse and interesting three-dimensional characters. We really, really do.
ETA: I was going to f-lock this, because I don't think I have the bandwidth to have a conversation with a bunch of strangers this weekend; it's been a heavy week of reading and reflection. I'm leaving it open, but I'd rather not be linked by metalink aggregators.
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