Two links on racial representation in fiction

[annwfyn]

I meant to post these ages ago, but failed to do so.

This is a genius piece on visual shortcuts and what they mean to us. It's really interesting, especially the bit on 'blonde, skinny and blue eyed' being this automatic short cut for 'really really beautiful', although I disagree that the heroines are usually tall. Most fantasy heroines that I've encountered recently had been little and elfin. This actually used to be worse, once upon a time. I remember being little and being obsessed with Snow White for no reason at all other than that she had dark hair. In all the books I had of fairy tales, every heroine was blonde. There were no olive skinned, tall and dark haired heroines like me. So I hooked on to what I could get.

I'm not saying I understand what it feels like to be a PoC in the face of the horrific lack of balanced and positive images in fiction of people who look like you. But it is an issue that has a special resonance for me.

This is Charlie Brooker, who is almost always awesome, writing about the row that blew up with some moron producer at the 'Midsomer Murders' explained that having black people in the show about a village with a higher murder rate than mid '90s Sarejavo would make it unrealistic. Charlie Brooker's argument here makes me glow and can also be applied to almost any situation in which stupid people complain that racial diversity would make it 'unrealistic' (for example, the movie version of Thor in which having a black Heimdall ruined the otherwise documentary feel of the movie about a dimension hopping norse alien superhero, or Merlin, where a dark skinned Gwen made the film about wizards and dragons lose its credibility when it came to accurately representing 5th c. Britain).

You should all read both of them. And I should now go and eat tapas.

Comments

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

This is a genius piece on visual shortcuts and what they mean to us.

Dan does think some quite sensible thoughts sometimes. I'm still very grateful to him for my St Cyril's Day card :)

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Are you trying to subtly let me know that the first writer is a friend of yours? :p

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

I sense that my attempt at subtlety was somehow seen through...

But yeah, as far as I can tell ferretbrain appears to be run by a bunch of ex Oxford roleplayers :)

It is an interesting article though. Interestingly on the Earthsea thing, I totally registered that Ged had brown skin and still pictured him with entirely caucasian features...

[quisalan.livejournal.com]

That Dan Hemmens RPGSoc Dan Hemmens?

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

Given that he's hanging out with a Julian Lynch, a Jen Spencer and an Arthur B, I'm thinking yes :)

[quisalan.livejournal.com]

That dates it - she's been Jen Lynch for at least a year! :)

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

I thought that too :)

[suave-steve.livejournal.com]

Yeah I liked the Brooker article.

[lslaw.livejournal.com]

My guess would be that Midsomer, having cast an all-white core, lives in terror of casting anyone non-white as a guest victim.

Also, Merlin is totally set in a post-Apocalyptic land, rather than 5th Century Britain, hence - for example - the total lack of a Christian church.

[kiffkin.livejournal.com]

The first article, the one on visual shortcuts? Hmm. The writer spends most of his time making assumptions about what other people think, thus entirely missing his own point. There's a leap in logic from "I assume x" to "everyone without exception assumes x" that's not backed up by anything even closely resembling fact. It's an interesting article, but not for the reasons he's proposing. Oh well.

I saw Derek Griffiths live when I was a wee kid. He was indeed awesome.

[blane-firewing.livejournal.com]

Hmm, this is interesting.

Whilst I get (and can agree with) a number of points I do wonder at once thing. Perhaps one reason why a lot of Fantasy writers shy away from using non-white characters may have more to do with fear of portraying them badly.

I mention this because as someone who writes it is something that has prayed on my mind. I have no idea what it is like to be black, or any other nationality than white, so what if I do it badly? What if I write in such a way that offends them?

I am not saying that it is the reason that most authors do not use so much racial diversity but it might factor for some of them.

But certainly I would like to see more main characters in TV and in books who were more racially diverse. I would also like to see main characters who are strong women in shows that traditionally would have a male lead.

Society and its views are shifting in the right direction I think, but changing views is never quick or easy and sadly does not happen as quickly as we might like.

[pmp.livejournal.com]

You could argue that the fear of portraying someone of another race "wrong" is part of a racist worldview. The assumption that because someone has different ethnicity that they'll act differently to a "normal" human being

I think that this forms part of the point the first author was trying to make, that we all carry our own image of normal and without physical discriptors to contradict them, we fit characters into that view.
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As a seperate point, is it still racist to seperate appearance from culture?

I personally am a xenophobe, I dislike and fear other cultures. I don't care what someone looks like, or their religious beliefs (as long as they keep it to themselves) nor their sexuality. What I do veheremently object to is people living in this country who refuse to intigrate into our culture and language.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Dude, I think saying you hate and fear other cultures puts you pretty clearly in the 'racist' bracket.

[pmp.livejournal.com]

Fair enough, I keep a distinction between "race" and "culture" but yes, I find it very hard to accept other cultures

[blane-firewing.livejournal.com]

I was not meaning to suggest that this was because they were not "normal" people. But cultures are different and we strggle to understand ones that are not our own.

I know how much I can get irritated when people portray the Scottish culture wrong and I am not talking for comedy, that's different, but serious attempts to show "Scottishness" that make me want to beat my head off a wall.

The idea of accidentally causing someone else that pain by not portraying their culture properly is not something I would ever wish to do. Tis nothing to do with thinking they are not "normal". Our culture is just as weird to others who are not used to it.