Sometimes I stumble across things like A Second Judith's comments on male appropriation of Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (found via alg in her post on the matter), or the multitude of posts and commentary on the offenses of Twilight. And I think to myself, well, yes, that's true and you have a point there, except I like both of those things, so what does that say about me?

I love Jane Austen and I love zombies, so why wouldn't I love a book that incorporates the two. I also enjoy romance novels involving vampires. I am quite fond of entertainment for the sake of entertainment, which means that the book or movies doesn't have to be deep for me to enjoy it. Furthermore, I am quite capable of ignoring all kinds of factors (bad writing, weak plot, cardboard characters, problematic themes) for the sake of my ability to enjoy. And yet.

And yet, I can't help but be simultaneously aware that there are messages in that come across in movies and books whether or not the creator intended them or not. As a person who wants to feel and think about things like this, who wants to see the world change for the better, I do actually care what those messages are.

The result is that I end up in a state of guilt for enjoying movies and books that I recognize as deeply problematic thematically (wow, that's a mouthful of a phrase). And I begin to feel that I am somehow a bad person for enjoying movies or books like those above, even though in my everyday life I strive to be conscious of the feelings of those around me.

In approaching my own writing, this subject comes up again in that I do not want to duplicate these mistakes. I want to write books that are both entertaining and that challenge peoples assumptions. But sometimes I read the commentary like those mentioned above and I start to panic. I start to think, what if I'm one of those writers, just writing another shallow story full of stereotypes and ugliness, and then I freeze up and I can't write, because in the end I want to be weighed and measured and to be deemed good.

Not a good state to be in.

While I think its important to actively think about these kinds of themes and subjects as a reader and viewer, a writer cannot. A writer writer needs to hold their social consciousness in the background as they work toward presenting their characters as real people.

I strive to make characters as real as possible, since I'm of the belief that true to life characters are at the heart of avoiding stereotypes. I also try to push this (all of this) out of my head when I face the page (I clearly do not always accomplish this), since it's hard enough just getting a decent sentence and eventual story down without the information overload.

So, because I'm curious, how do you approach writing while maintaining your sense of social responsibility? Or do you ignore it and just deal with the process of writing? Do you go back in the editing stage and consider what messages are being portrayed then?

Here is an open letter to Elizabeth Bear, and here is Elizabeth Bear's (a.k.a., matociquala) response.

I find the internet fascinating for this very reason. It opens these kind of discussions to the public in a way that really couldn't be done before.

I always feel a bit shy about having an opinion on issues of race. I am a white woman, and am somewhat ashamed of the supposed cultural privilege that entails. An asian friend of mine has had this discussion with me many times. She is very passionate about politics and culture. I love her for it.

I have heard various people of color talk through the internet and in person that white people constantly steal and appropriate culture: rap, reggae, etc. And maybe that's true, I don't know. But I love world music, and rap, and reggae, and I don't fully understand how people sharing in something universal as music (or poetry, movies, art, literature, dance, etc.) is a bad thing.

I personally have included characters of color or gay in my as yet incomplete novels. I am neither of these things. And I try to think about what I'm implying or not implying when I do this. I question my motives for including a character that runs the risk of fitting a stereotype.

I personally try to not make a big deal out of someone being gay or of color. It bothers me reading a book when that becomes an issue, when that gets thrown in your face, unless the point of the story is to talk about race, sexuality, religion, or culture, in which case, fine. I like to have my assumptions questioned as much as the next person. But if we are looking at these characters as people instead of that guy whose black, then the fact that he or she is black should not be the focus per se. I want to know what they do, and who they are on a deeper level than that.

Do I succeed in this, in writing people who are people instead of categorical objects? I don't know. I don't know if I can even succeed in completing a novel, let alone making it something meaningful. But I'm going to try. I am definitely going to try.

ETA: Read deepad amazing post on the same subject. I need to hear these things.

It reminds me of something that my mother always says: "The more I know I don't know, the closer I am to god." I don't know what it's like to be you, and you are probably right, in that I shouldn't assume that I can even pretend to.