(Apologies if this comes across as harsh. Iâm not trying to jump down anyoneâs throat, but I think my point needs to be put across.)
âSo if the writerâs white Iâm sure if easier to relate to someone who looks a little like yourselfâ
Thatâs not an excuse to have nearly every single character white. We have Neena, Baden Trains, Elise Whisks and Queen Amberly. Baden was eliminated in the Heir and never seen again, Elise was the stereotypical âAsian searching for honourâ, and Neena was a stereotypical âworking black womanâ. Thatâs it. When there are seventy Selected characters and a whole host of other supporting characters. How hard would it have been to make Natalie, Kriss or Celeste non-white, or two girls in Maxonâs Selection gay, or even Lady Brice mixed-race?
We had two confirmed LGBT+ characters in the entire series of five books. Two. Hale was the âgay best friendâ stereotype. There was also the troubling âLGBT+ people were ostracised in IllĂŠaâ, but I wonât even go into that because that speaks for itself.
It would take one sentence to say âI could tell they were black/ New Asian/ clearly had Native American routes somewhereâ or have a character say they were bi, or gay, or asexual. Heck, even have a woman character groaning about how her wife cooks badly would be enough. Itâs not difficult.
And itâs great that the black writer writes an entire cast of black characters, because the white writers arenât. There are thousands upon thousands of books about white people, and certainly with white people as the protagonist, but nowhere near as many about black people. Do you see the difference?
You can relate to a character and not share their race or sexuality. What about Neena? Or Hale? Canât relate to them because sheâs black, or heâs gay? Of course, you probably ask, why donât POC and LGBT+ people do that, then? Because weâve been doing it for our entire lives, across every single medium. I donât want to always have to headcanon characters to be like me. I want characters like me to be full on stated in the text, like they are for every single white/ straight character in existence. Again, not hard to say âher skin was darkâ or âhe told me he was aceâ.
I love the Selection and itâs world but I can still understand and criticise itâs flaws. Itâs not diversity for the sake of variety, itâs diversity for the sake of not being hetero or racially normative, because non-white and non-straight people exist.
(Not to plug my FF either, but the main character and his sister are mixed New Asian, his valet is gay, his bodyguard is black and gay, the Capital Report host is a black woman, the Selection organiser is Indian, his main advisor is New Asian, and there are as many non-white and non-straight girls for the Selection submitted by readers as there are white and straight characters. Thereâs even a deaf Selected. If I, a fanfition writer, can do it, so can published authors.)
