It can be from any angle. Presently, I’m pondering what kind of context various LGBTQ+ characters can be written without making any kind of political statement, or rather, simply making a statement through normalization in a natural way. In other words, how do I empathize like the cool kids clique?
a much deeper explanation and context
The only example that comes to mind is the Star Trek Discovery pilot. I tried watching it but it felt cringe to me, like overt feminism without normalization or balance. I had recently finished all of the primary Dune series and absolutely loved Siona and the Fish Speaker army of women (that rapes men at one point) in GEoD; Sheeana, Darwi, and Murbella in Heretics/Chapterhouse; the Bene Gesserit, Honored Matre, etc. I never thought twice about these roles being a statement in of itself. These were simply great characters that happened to be women.
Another example is R. Daneel Olivaw in many of Asimov’s books. They are normalized AGI without the dystopian bias message and fear mongering.
Tell me about your favorite characters or how some niche and underrepresented group is/can be done right please. I’m not just asking about the diversity of those that tend to stand out as targets for conservatives. I want to know about that aspect of your life that very few people are aware of.
For instance I am an ex Jehovah’s Witness. I know what it is like to be raised in social isolation even within a city and suburbia. I know about the artificial mental wall and duality of ‘us versus them’ and how facts are subjectively ignored and filtered. I know how social network isolation is reinforced and used to manipulate. I also know how the brainwashing is achieved both intentionally and unintentionally. Then there is the misogyny, and unique forms of prejudice, and conventional forms with the normalization of hate. I can write this kind of character well, or rather how it feels to escape such a system, the loneliness, the intellectual insecurities, the ungrounded curiosity and the unbounded feeling of escaping the oppression while building a moral and philosophical ethos from scratch after rejecting everything your life was built upon. It is a tragic character that is stuck in the middle; very capable, but very difficult to realize their potential.
Tell me about your secret character like I have revealed mine please. How do I write them in a way that feels natural in their triumphs and vulnerabilities?
I’m not sure I totally get what you’re asking, but I’ll take a stab at it and you can let me know if it’s helpful or not.
Gus Fring. Not even confirmed as gay in Breaking Bad that I remember, but I see it was confirmed in Better Call Saul. He’s also black and in an interracial relationship. The while situation was crucial to the plot of those arcs of the story, but his race or sexuality was never explicitly central to his narrative. He was never stereotyped, and none of those attributes were plot points in and of themselves.
Noho Hank and Cristobal from Barry. Many of the same things as for Gus Fring. All 3 of them were what I’d consider serious characters. Their stories would be largely the same if they were all white and hetero.
Pretty much everyone in The Woman King. I loved the heck out of this movie as I was watching it. These characters couldn’t be much more opposite of me personally, but the story fleshed them out as all unique individuals and their race and gender were important to the story, but that is just a matter of fact. The characters were black and were women. Some were tougher, some were quieter, etc, but they all worked together to help their people. They were all just great characters. I’m out he was gay made a few things make more sense, but it’s not like it changed our relationship. He was worried it would, but I liked him all these years, this was just a part of him, it wasn’t all of him. To me it mattered as much as what hair color he was.
If you write characters with these things as accents to who they are rather than say, starting with the attributes and creating a character from that, in think you’ll avoid what you’re worried about.
Gus Fring. Not even confirmed as gay in Breaking Bad that I remember, but I see it was confirmed in Better Call Saul.
i’ve heard that fring was gay; but was never aware of it until recently. where was it confirmed?
i’m gay; i watched better call saul; and the only example i could think of was his relationship to his business partner; but if that’s all there was it was waaaay too subtle to be realistic.
‘Better Call Saul’ showrunner confirms Gus Fring’s sexuality
Is 'Breaking Bad’s Gus Fring Bisexual? Giancarlo Esposito Answers
These 2 articles look to cover it pretty well.
It was a long time since I watched Breaking Bad and I haven’t watched Better Call Saul, but my brain really remembered Gus being gay. And the fact that I couldn’t remember it being confirmed is what made that the first thing I thought of for OPs question.
I was a bit hesitant to answer this as I’m not of any minority group, so I didn’t want to cite something that people that were would feel isn’t a good representation of them. Like when it first came up that, oh, Dumbeldore’s gay, it was so out of left field it felt pandering. And many gay characters are portrayed very flamboyant or effeminate, which is what OP seems to want to avoid. Most of the LGBT people I’ve met have been very organic experiences where their sexuality isn’t at the forefront, and honestly there aren’t many situations where that would ever be appropriate to learn of someone’s sexual preferences out of context. That’s why I picked those 2 shows. If you would never see any of those people with their partners, you would never think anything about it. They’re not portrayed as “gay characters” but rather as characters that so happen to be gay. That to me is how I’ve experienced real people, and that’s because there’s much more to a real person than who they sleep with.
