Man that was a tortured pun for a title! But I'm a Lovecraft fan, and I think that Lovecraft is a fascinating way to lead in with this conversation: People of Color and their depiction in science fiction and fantasy.
I mean, for all the amount I love Lovecraft (heh) for, I can't even hope to ignore the fact that the guy was...pretty racist. Then we move on to some other authors who are luminaries of the field: Heinlein, with his casts-made-up-almost-entirely-of-white-Iowans, or Niven, with his...again, mostly white, mostly male, all straight cast.
Great storytellers, but lousy when it came to multiculturalism and really acceptance.
And when we turn away from speculative fiction to, say, fantasy...you have again, most of the luminaries being mostly white (at least to start with!) LoTR, anyone?
And this bring us to today! We've made huge breakthroughs (Earthsea springs immediately to mind), but some equally baffling steps backward (the less we say about Star Trek: TNG, or Voyager...or Enterprise, the better). I think there's still a whole hell of a lot of work to be done.
Need I remind anyone of the disgusting reaction to Cinna and Rue being played by...<gasp> Black people!? Or the whitewashing of Avatar: The Last Air Bender? Or...or...or...
Obviously, spec-fic and fantasy writers need to keep beating people with this fact: The future isn't going to be a bunch of Caucasians, and dragons don't get slain only by blond, blue eyed knights.
And thus, this thread!
This is a thread to discuss your POC characters in your spec-fiction or fantasy novels! You can talk about how their color influences the character (Or doesn't), your reasons behind including them (beyond the obvious: Because POCs exist and that's all the damn reason I need), the hurdles and challenges...or you can air questions, concerns, and hopefully get some good answers...or at the very least, some good discussions.
And...go!
I mean, for all the amount I love Lovecraft (heh) for, I can't even hope to ignore the fact that the guy was...pretty racist. Then we move on to some other authors who are luminaries of the field: Heinlein, with his casts-made-up-almost-entirely-of-white-Iowans, or Niven, with his...again, mostly white, mostly male, all straight cast.
Great storytellers, but lousy when it came to multiculturalism and really acceptance.
And when we turn away from speculative fiction to, say, fantasy...you have again, most of the luminaries being mostly white (at least to start with!) LoTR, anyone?
And this bring us to today! We've made huge breakthroughs (Earthsea springs immediately to mind), but some equally baffling steps backward (the less we say about Star Trek: TNG, or Voyager...or Enterprise, the better). I think there's still a whole hell of a lot of work to be done.
Need I remind anyone of the disgusting reaction to Cinna and Rue being played by...<gasp> Black people!? Or the whitewashing of Avatar: The Last Air Bender? Or...or...or...
Obviously, spec-fic and fantasy writers need to keep beating people with this fact: The future isn't going to be a bunch of Caucasians, and dragons don't get slain only by blond, blue eyed knights.
And thus, this thread!
This is a thread to discuss your POC characters in your spec-fiction or fantasy novels! You can talk about how their color influences the character (Or doesn't), your reasons behind including them (beyond the obvious: Because POCs exist and that's all the damn reason I need), the hurdles and challenges...or you can air questions, concerns, and hopefully get some good answers...or at the very least, some good discussions.
And...go!