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When creating a story with minority protagonists, is it better not to create white male characters? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 week ago by Hickak@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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I may not be 100% wrong, but I noticed a pattern. Whenever a story is led by minorities and white male characters are secondary, most of the time right-wing ideological white men start complaining and attacking the story. So if someone is starting to create a story, is it better to focus on a certain audience and not create white male characters? Or is that an exaggeration?

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[–] wewbull 11 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

<sigh> stop with the "right-wing ideological white men" thing. It's not political at this point.

A lot of "racially aware" writers seem to have ended up in a headspace where they can't write white without making them a punching bag. It's obvious. It's childish. It's racist. People of all races will be angry when their only representation in a piece of work is a lazy stereotype. You don't need to be right-wing for that.

You can say "well now they know how it feels", but that just means you've also sunk to the lowest level.

Unless race is critical to the plot, there's no need to lean into it. Emphasising division breeds division. Just write a good story.