A Guide to Representation
I've seen people in comment sections complaining about Rick criticism/rants accusing them of not being "constructive" enough. I don't think every criticism or rant needs to be constructive in order to be valid, especially on Tumblr which is, at the end of the day, a glorified public diary. But! I thought of making a post about how Rick could've written better representation, basing myself on the mistakes I believe he has made.
1. Be Specific
In my opinion, representation has better odds of being accurate, genuine, and respectful when the author values depth and specificity over range and generalisation. Mainly because:
It avoids dehumanisation. When an author attempts to be specific (e.g. the difference between writing a character who is Arab and writing a character who is a Christian Kabyle), it kind of forces them to avoid generalising large groups of people as the 'same' and promotes more individualisation.
It feels more sincere. When an author wants to use the diversity trump card to appeal to a wider audience (or simply pat themselves on the back for being such an inclusive person), you can easily spot it. It's these 2000s shows with the mandatory Token Minority. When an author tries to be specific on the other hand, it usually means they will appeal to a smaller audience. The more specific you get, the less likely everyone will be able to identify to a character to the same degree... but hey, maybe if shows can create a main cast with a blond white guy and a ginger white guy then maybe it's time to create several representation instead of placing that burden on one character just to meet the quota.
It encourages more in-depth research. The more specific a character is, the less inaccuracies an author can get away with. That means there will usually be more research involved, because the author has a stronger incentive to get it right. It may become discouraging if they get it wrong but it will limit the issues that I'll talk about in Section 2.
I'll give him that, Rick has been quite specific a couple of times, for example with Hazel who he seems to have a very clear picture (though perhaps a little stereotypical) of her upbringing. A Black-American teenage girl from 1930s New Orleans? Not everyone may relate to her at the same degree or for the same reasons, but that makes her feel a little more authentic and genuine than... other of Rick's representation.
It might be ironic, but I believe characters who were never meant to represent everyone (e.g. Hazel wasn't meant to singlehandedly represent every Black person) are those who end up giving the most satisfying representation. Because they aren't vague, quasi-blank slate that act as vessel for anyone that the author wished to represent (e.g. The Gay, The Lesbian, The Asian Kid).
Specificity does not always, automatically, make great representation though. Other factors can make it or break it.
But specificity over ambiguosity will always be a good start. So congrats to Rick for the few times where he attempted that... and may he do this more consistently with his future representation (this includes the PJO show).
2. Research, Research, Research
Extensive resesarch is and always will be a green flag.
No one can deny that Rick has done some degree of research, but if there is anything I can reproach this guy, it's either not doing enough or believing he did enough. You never research enough.
To write Piper, for example, Rick cites Myths of the Cherokees by Mooney (who was not Cherokee himself but lived with the Cherokee people for many years) and Cherokee Nation by Conley. Which are both very valid sources and bravo to Rick for taking his time to read these.
Yet... the extensiveness of his research is quite unequal. You can't convince me that Rick spent as much time researching for Leo as he did for Piper.
Which is why I think Rick would have benefitted from being a little more specific about Leo's upbringing. Yes, he is Mexican and grew up in Texas, but there are so many vastly different groups of Mexicans. Is he Mestizo? Afro-Mexican? White Mexican? Indigenous Mexican? And from which state is Sammy or his parents from? If you played a game of spot the differences between someone from Michoacán and, say, Jalisco, the game would never end. It's like saying someone is from the US... that's not helpful at all when you research and write them! You're bound to create an inaccurate at best, stereotypical and offensive caricature at worst. Just the tiniest bit of specificity could have helped Rick write Leo! I swear!
Same with Rick's obvious bias towards Hazel despite Frank being, too, a POV protagonist. I mean, Rick did not even bother to write his full name in the correct order! It was a small mistake that I spotted on my reread of SoN, but it's the details that make the difference. If you don't know what I'm talking about, there's a memory where Frank's grandmother calls him "Fai Zhang" rather than "Zhang Fai". Which was... so avoidable? All Rick needed was bare minimum research about surname conventions. Like, it's common knowledge that the surname goes first in most East Asian countries?? Especially since this is Frank's grandmother we're talking about, who is proudly Chinese and would not make this mistake had Rick know about this.
This is what I mean by assuming you've done enough research. You've never done enough research. If Rick was to write his characters all over again, I'd expand his definition of "enough research" from history books to... :
Stereotypes, stigmas and myths debunking sources. (Always important to check your own biases as early as possible!! More on this in Section 3)
Unofficial blogs and social media posts created by the people (this is faciliated today with the unprecedented accessibility of online blogging and content creation).
Struggles that the people could be going through (even if you're not intending to write about these battles in the story, it's always useful to practice empathy. More on this in Section 4).
Reaching out to someone from that group of people (if possible, some barries like geography, time, money, opportunity or language may factor in).
Hire a sensitivity readers (which weren't a thing in the 2000s-2010s but still).
Looking up and appreciating artworks created by the people (why did Piper choose to sing Summertime instead of the rattlesnake song which grandpa Tom had announced almost prophetically that she was born to sing?)
Anything else that might get you to appreciate the people more. Fashion trends, traditional cuisine, slang and expressions, historical heroes, etc...
[Note: to avoid redundancies, I wrote "the people" instead of "the people you're trying to represent". Also, I may have used Piper as an example but this applies to all of Rick's representation, whether it concerns race, culture, sexuality, mental or physical disability, mental health disorder, religion, or even subculture such as being punk.]
3. Check Your Biases
If Rick did so much research... how come he still ended up writing so many stereotypes and inaccuracies with his characters?
How come Leo is the overly flirtatious Latino guy who calls girls "mamacita"? How come Hazel is both adultified and infantilised at the same time? How come Frank is the only demigod with no learning disability? How come Piper's body is so sexualised compared to other female characters from Rick's series?
Where did Rick go wrong in his research, and why did he end up reinforcing stereotypes instead of breaking them? Because, surely, if he had done his research right he would've known that eagle feathers are sacred to the Cherokee people and can't be worn by anyone at anytime, and he sure would've known about the negative implications of adultifying and sexualising Native American girls and women (trigger warning for this link: discussions of s*xual v*lence).
He would've known about the (positive, but still) stereotype of smart Asian kids, he would've known about the abusive family stereotype of Latin American households, he would've known better than to write a bisexual boy with a wandering eye (death to Will "bisexual chaos" Solace).
4. Practice Empathy
... I think the title of this section speaks for itself. I would recommend to avoid representing a group of people that you passionately hate for some reason or another, or that you cannot see as humans. You should definitely investigate why you hate them and check your biases but preferrably not begin to write a character from that group with your hatred towards them still in your heart.
A good substitute (or formula) for empathy would be a combination of curiosity and admiration. Curiosity will drive you to see research as a hobby rather than a necessity or a chore. Admiration will drive you to seek to represent that group in a positive light.
That's also where I think looking up the struggles that a community or group is facing (even if you don't intend to write a story about that or touching on that) could be helpful. Usually having a clearer idea of what someone else might be facing can help build sympathy for them, whether you can recognise your own struggles in theirs or not.
Conclusion
In the absolute unlikeness of Rick ever reading this post, I still hope someone found it insightful or helpful. I definitely enjoyed researching and writing this post a lot (took me four days to complete!) and I feel like it helped me practice empathy for Rick of all people. Anyways. This was fun.
