So I'm in an Asian phase, and what do I possibly mean by that? Well, it means I become deeply obsessed with all things Asian. I listen to my anime theme songs. I name characters Asian things. I raid the Oriental Store. I spontaneously buy chopsticks. I drink aloe vera leche juice. I eat chile mango pops (those things are ugh). I speak random phrases in varied Asian phrases. I spout random Asian culture facts that are probably wrong.
But now I'm taking it on a different level. I read an article on it recently, and it has bugged me a lot lately as well: cultural diversity in entertainment.
Now yes, there are a lot of characters in shows and things now that are black. That's great. Thanks Obama (for once). But there aren't any MAIN characters that are of different cultures and races. It's always side characters or supporting characters that are of another race.
So in my most recent stories and now in my roleplays, I'm making Asians. This includes Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans. Others here and there, but those are the main three that I choose from. Yah. I love Asia! Whoot! I'm so jelly of Asians. I don't know why. Mostly it's their ninjas and samurai and awesome FLAWLESS hair and anime. Yah. And sushi and stuff. Yah. I'm really making a fool of myself with this paragraph right here, but this is what happens when the Niitari decides to make a blogpost on two hours of sleep :3
I'm also making a bunch of other cultures. I am not racist for Asians, okay. I am also sticking by French, Italians, and Russians. Russians are kick butt.
The point here is that my characters are not going to be English. If that sounds racist, I really don't care. I'm not English. My characters will speak English since I can't speak any other language except enough German to be a tourist.
So how does this affect my stories? Well, it doesn't. Race should never affect a character at all.
I also think how stupid it is that people get all worked up about race. They act like if they change the race, they have to change the character.
Here's a hint: no. I used to think this too. At one point, I wanted to make a character in a story black. I thought it would be cool if the main character in my book was black for once: probably my first step towards real racial diversity in my writings. The problem was that I felt I hit a roadblock. My mind spat this question at me: what are black people like? What do they do? How do they act around other people? What everyday things, like TV shows or sports, do they enjoy?
Suddenly I felt bogged down, like I had to do research before I could write this character and it was "all because I made him black."
Then I realized how BS that was. We are PEOPLE. Believe it or not, we're all the same. We like what we like, hate what we don't, and in between.
Well, then, there's the issue of culture. I think that's another reason why books with MCs as other races don't work out when they're written by English people. The author gets so bogged down about getting the culture right that they lose sight of the fact that they're writing a book. They go into the whats and the whos and the whys and the do this and do that and don't eat that on this day when that sun is there.
But when we look at an anime show, for instance, they hardly talk about their culture. Only the basic, everyday stuff is there, like calling people with the proper honorifics (-san, -chan, -sensei, etc), bowing, removing shoes when entering a private dwelling, drinking tea like Iroh, and those simple things. Can you write a short list of the most common things you see in anime that aren't typical behavior of American culture? You can? Good. You have all you need to know to go write a fiction novel with an all-Japanese cast in Japan.
Does this mean you are safe from those whining, conniving know-it-alls who will nit pick your story and point out all the cultural habits you missed? No. But the world is full of little shits, so just brush them off like the dirt they are and move along. If someone tells you something that you ACTUALLY did get wrong that is VITAL, then go thank them and change it: don't get on your high horse. But just be confident in your writing. You're writing about characters. You're writing about adventure and magical swords and chicks with gravity defying boobage and gun slinging motorcyclists. If you forget about the festival where all the females where kimonos and the children get to set fire to their teachers, that's perfectly fine. This is not an anthropology document, it's a story. I'll bet you were so wrapped up in your favorite anime show anyway that most cultural things slipped your notice. Well, it'll be the same with your writings. The readers will be so wrapped up in the flying elephant laser battles that they'll probably ignore or just hardly notice when you slip a cultural reference in there. Kudos to you if your story is so enthralling, the reader both forgets and doesn't seem to care that they forgot where your story takes place.
So go ahead and write a story with somebody who isn't your a-typical white kid. If they're white skinned, make them Russian. Russians are awesome.
I really want to promote racial diversity, and this probably isn't the BEST way to do it, but I thought I'd throw it out there.
I myself am following my own advice. My HOTD site is full of characters from different countries. Hunger Games site, I have a Hispanic kid and three Asians. My story-in-the-works called The Secret is about Chinese people in China. Through Struggle has a female Asian character (a side character, but whatever. She was originally going to be white).
Another thing: when you write red head characters, don't always make them these bubbly, free-spirited, sexy, adventurous people. Three TV shows I've seen have these darn red heads in them that are all the same and rather boring. The first was Charlie in Supernatural. Then there was that red head in Beauty & the Beast (or whatever it's called). There was a third one, but I forget where she was. But you know what I'm talking about! Whatever happened to gingers being soulless? Or how about making them shy and cute or strong and proper (Ginny Weasley: little and older versions). Red heads can be diverse too.
Yah, that's my rant for today.
ONE WEIRD THING!
Dawny showed me this site www.mortalitatis.weebly.com . What does this page remind you of?
Yah, coincidence? A clue: no.
No, the owner (kshi) has not stolen anything. Her site is purely original and purely awesome. She has been known to make intense sites. I just thought it was the creepiest thing ever and almost fainted, I swear. I got these weird heart palpations and had the urge to sit down (already was). So yah, really creepy.
That's all for tonight minions. Adieu.
WAIT! Fooled you! There's a bit more.
Aisthesis revampire-ing! (revamping but with a vampire cause I missed Halloween). Gonna go through some major changes with more info added to make things clearer, some actual stuff will bed added to the other pages, lots of graphics, and maybe some new ranking systems. Not totally sure yet, but it will be awesome.
Evanescent Penumbra will also be updated. I will finish Cuprumbria. I will add more graphics and site content to those empty pages. New characters will be added to the database.
Lots of fun to be had by all. Cheerio minions, and I mean it this time.
I'm leaving this time.
I'm serious.
Stop reading this.
:P
Alright seriously, goodbye.
STOP READI-
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