three things

[harborshore]

Regarding the recent SPN Big Bang racist fail:

1. People who speak a language you don't understand do not gibber or jabber, they talk. You just don't understand them. ETA: This post is more detailed concerning this point.


2. If your story has a major tragedy whose victims are portrayed as somehow less than your protagonists, if said victims have no agency (as in, they don't do anything, they get things done to them), and if they (and their deaths) are there only to provide angst for your heroes, then you are doing it WRONG.


3. If you're considering writing a fic about a tragedy that is still going on, then tread carefully. Very carefully.

Note: the link above goes to an extensive collection of the offending quotes from the story; there's a full roundup at Unfunny Business.

Comments

[harborshore.livejournal.com]

The 'long and great tradition' makes it sound like something that's perpetuated on purpose; in most cases it's not.

Right, no, I know that. I know privilege is invisible to those who have it a lot of the time, I also know what it takes to point it out. The very first story I ever sent off to beta came back with a note about a line that was FULL of gender stereotype fail. But she called me on it. Of course they didn't see it, that's how this shit works. The thing is, at this point we kind of have to look, you know?

When I say "long and great tradition" I'm (sarcastically) referring to the tendency to think only the stories of one kind of person matter, and that is a sometimes straight, usually white, usually male. That is, what we think of as "normal." And people don't realize that seeing stories this way also means seeing the people who are not (in this case) white Americans as less than human. But people should realize, and when they miss it, other people should point it out to them. Like people are doing.