Today I’m taking a break from book reviews to talk about something that’s been bothering me for a few weeks.
I want to begin by saying that I’m 100% in support of diverse books. I think it’s important that all genders, sexual orientations, races, and walks of life be represented and I think that we need more. There’s not enough in the world. I’m not sure there ever will be enough. We, as artists, need to keep asking the hard questions. To stop before we create a generic character or plot and ask ourselves if we’re falling into a familiar pattern. Could we stretch our boundaries? Could we make someone have a different skin color? Could we ask about sexual orientation? Could we just be different?
But, are we allowed to make changes to the creations of the artists before us? Especially when an artist is not present to have a voice?
I do not condone the lack of certain voices in the past, but I’m not sure we are allowed to change what has already been created.
Leigh Bardugo announced that she would be changing characters in her TV adaption. She wanted to make the cast more diverse. Yes! A great example of making a difference. But the artist is the one making the choice. She is giving the go ahead.
Who are we to decide for an artist?
I recently came across one instance where the race of a character was changed in a story that was already diverse - extremely diverse. The creator was not there to say otherwise. By changing the race, the new production took away a very important character arc as well as diversity from another group. A group that isn’t represented either. I’m not saying they made this character caucasian…. They made him mixed in a story that is already half African American and half Caucasian. For me, this one act, took a huge part of the story away. A very important part of watching the average white, jewish male see himself as a part of the group, playing that he’s included, only to realize later that he’s always been apart by who he is. Wow. A message that’s so important. A message that is needed right now. Nope. It’s all gone because the new production didn’t see into the finer details that the original creator put into his creation.
This happens more times that I want to say. It breaks my heart. We need diversity but not at the cost of the stories already created. Elizabeth Bennet will never be black. T’Challa could never be white. Thor could never be gay. Starr Carter will never be white. And the Queen of England won’t understand the struggles of a drug addict on the street.
What would Harry be without his scar? Who would Anne be without her red hair? Who would Katniss be if she wasn’t a girl?
There’s a fine line. When a story isn’t specific on the details, I think we can bend the rules, pick the characters as we wish. Otherwise... Katniss could have had any skin color, but she had to be female. It was key. Hey, sometimes an artist does makes important decisions crucial to the story.
Let’s create our own stories. Take the premise of Pride and Prejudice and flip it on it’s head. Let’s build new super heros. Let’s write about the child poor and hungry. Let’s not ride the wave of popular fiction. Let’s create new popular fiction. Diversity can only come from our own mouths, not the mouths of the people who never understood it to begin with.
And if we start changing, messing with the work before us, are we setting a precedence to let those after us to do the same to our diverse creations?
Happy Reading
Love Kait
Reading Challenge: 13/100 (This isn’t going to move much because of all my critique reading)