Race in Fiction
Race - it’s a hotbed issue these days. It seems like every other week, some race-based crisis rears its ugly head. Recently, a video game called Assassin’s Creed: Shadows was released. The game is set in 16th century Japan, and one of the main characters is a black man named Yasuke. Even before the game’s release, it received heavy criticism online for being “woke” and was panned for trying to shoehorn a black character into a setting where no black people should exist. There’s just one problem with that criticism: Yasuke was a real person. That’s something some Japanese people noted in confusion as some Westerners tried to convince them that Yasuke’s inclusion in the game was disrespectful to them. At least, the game is set in a real historical setting, where the accuracy of character depictions could be important. We’ve also seen uproar over race in fictional worlds (e.g., The Lord of the Rings series) and with fairy tale creatures (e.g., mermaids), where there should be no expectation for real-world racial conventions to hold. It all sounds pretty crazy, and it should because racism is pretty crazy.
There’s nothing wrong with a story only featuring people of a certain race, especially when it contextually makes sense. That said, I think people who always see themselves represented in the media they consume don’t really understand how it feels to never see yourself represented. I’ve never cared that much about the race of characters in the media I enjoyed. A lack of black characters never made me dislike a movie, TV show, or video game. That said, the lack of representation didn’t go without notice. As a fan of fantasy related media, I loved role playing games when I was younger. It didn’t escape my notice that in all these fantasy worlds the game developers were creating, I never saw anyone that looked like me. It was like black people simply didn’t exist in the fictional worlds they conceived. That might make sense for creations coming from a very ethnically homogenous society like Japan. However, it’s puzzling to see in products that come from a melting pot like the U.S.
Along came Final Fantasy 7. It featured a black character, not just as a throwaway side character, but as a member of the main party. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t part of the draw for me. Barrett’s not my favorite character in the game, but I always appreciated his inclusion. Cowboy Bebop is one of if not my favorite anime. It doesn’t have any black main characters, but it does organically include black people throughout the series. The creators of that series envisioned a future where black people actually exist. I appreciated that too. I don’t need black people to be present in a story to enjoy it, but seeing black people represented can make stories more enduring to me. I think that goes for people from any group, particularly those that are underrepresented. Representation matters, despite some wanting to deny that fact.
Does that mean I wholeheartedly support shoehorning characters of every race into every story or constantly raceswapping characters so that every cast is diverse. No, I actually think that’s pretty silly. I’d much rather the inclusion of black characters feel natural rather than having them used as tokens in stories that were never meant to include them. Ideally, our society will get to a point where organically including various types of people in stories is the norm Maybe then diversity and inclusion in stories will no longer be seen as pushing an agenda. For my part, my stories all have diverse casts. It’s not something I forced myself to do. It was natural. I live in the U.S. Every day I step out of my house, I’m sure to see black people, white people, Asians, and Hispanics. So, if that’s my my normal life experience, why wouldn’t the world I create reflect that? To me, that’s only natural.
Today’s world is more connected than it has ever been. With that comes exposure for everyone to different peoples, cultures, and viewpoints. As a result, I believe we will see more stories that reflect the world as it truly is. Maybe, those stories will play a part in bringing us all together rather than just being fodder in the efforts by some to drive us all apart.
