Diversity in KOTLC
[While commenting on this post please don’t post spoilers for Unlocked just yet. Thanks. This post may contain legacy spoilers. This post is a repost of my Wattpad post that I made in Sunflower Crown called Diversity in KOTLC, so if you’ve seen this already please feel free to skip it. This post lines up with MLK day, but it was originally posted in reaction to Shannon Messenger announcing the live action movies.]
[Edit: Okay, after typing this post up I realize that there are a few more characters that are POC, but they’re not prominent at all, so the representation is still miniscule. They were mentioned, like, twice throughout the entire series. So, my point still stands.]
What’s one thing you notice about the photo above?
Oh, yeah. All the characters are white, expect for the last three in the photo, which are all conveniently tacked onto the end.
Let’s address the elephant in the room for everyone in the Keeper of the Lost Cities fandom. Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about how little diversity there is within the cast, especially within the main group. I’ve been meaning to make a post about this since the #BLM movement started up, but I never got around to it.
I’ve found that a lot of the people in the fandom have been incredibly shy about having this conversation, but I think it’s really time we have it. The cast contains very little diversity.
Disclaimer: Before anyone comes at me for this post, I’d like to first say that I’ve  been a huge KOTLC fan and a big fan of Shannon Messenger’s work for a  long time. This isn’t meant to be any sort of hate post, but instead a conversation I think we all need to have.
Let’s start with the format of the art up above^.
First of all, out of eight characters 3 of them are POCs (or not white). Wylie isn’t even in the main group/doesn’t really enter the story until much later in the series. The same goes for Linh and Tam. They’re all tacked onto the end of the photo, like they’re just add-ons.
These three characters are the only characters I know the race of that are POC characters. Out of the entire series. Yes, the entire series. [And I would say that’s the case for most people that aren’t superfans or recently phased out of the series before art was starting to be released.] I wouldn’t say I’m the biggest fan out there, but there aren’t that many prominent characters in KOTLC, and just about every single one of them is white.
It feels like a last-ditch throw in when Shannon Messenger went *oops I forgot about diversity entirely!!*. I mean, think about it. Tam, Linh, and Wylie entered the series later on than everyone else.
The lack of diversity, quite frankly, I find ridiculous. And not even just because there are three characters out of eight in that photo (one of which that is POC isn’t even in the main group, nevermind the original main group) are POC, and prominent characters. Not only is there a lack of diversity when it comes to race/features that aren’t white, but Shannon Messenger also includes exactly zero LGBTQ+ representation throughout the entire series. There is nothing hinted, nothing said. Gender norms are never addressed in the story, and that’s fine. But for there to be no gay/pan/aro/ace/freaking anything on the spectrum representation?? No trans representation? Non-binary? Hello??? I get that when she started the series LGBTQ+ characters might not have been something you saw in every single book, but even as new characters are added in we see absolutely no LGBTQ+ representation still. There’s not even anyone questioning their sexuality or their gender identity. Nowadays, that’s not only a huge part of being a teenager (I would know, I’m one), but also just something you would think is key in the identity of a character.
As a writer, when I start writing a book, one of the first things I do is make sure I know who I want my characters to be. Gender identity, race, sexuality, all of this - these are such fundamental parts to a character. Truthfully, i don’t understand how you could just overlook them whatsoever. It’s a choice you have to make, not a default setting that’s already been turned on for you. I think - even to someone incredibly racist - that as an author writing a book, one would be aware of the outward appearance of their characters? Or the fact that all of the characters had one very certain thing in common? It’s hard to miss, frankly, and it looks really bad.
There’s really no excuse for it at the end of the day. You can’t explain away the facts, and the facts are that the lack of diversity within KOTLC is concerning.
With KOTLC as well, the book doesn’t even center around identity for the most part. It’s fantasy, and that’s what runs the plot, not someone’s struggles with race. It really would’ve been just that easy for Shannon Messenger to throw in a few POC characters or people that weren’t straight, maybe mention it in passing, and be done with it and we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.
Another thing I’d like to bring up is the microaggressive character arcs of Linh and Tam song, the only two out of the entire central friend group that are diverse characters. (they appear to have some sort of asian heritage, in case you never caught that. But I bet you did with their very distinctly Chinese last names.) When Tam and Linh first appear in the book, they’re suspected delinquents and exiled for crimes to a school of people that have been outcasted from society. They’re seen as outsiders. During the story, we see the both of them climbing their way up in the ranks through hard work & connections. unlike everyone else who is going to Foxfire from the start, and we don’t see them as nobility at first at all. Not only do the twins come into the story late, but they start out being pinned as supposed criminals (for going to their school which they were wrongly exiled to) and being the underdogs.
Twins are also scorned and families in the Lost Cities with twins are highly stigmatized. Same thing, the only two Asian characters in the entire series and they’re the ones who have to be scorned instead of the white ones.
I’m sorry, but that rubs me the wrong way. it seems incredibly microaggressive to me. You’re telling me that the only two characters of color [in the main group] are portrayed this way by accident? You couldn’t have chosen any one of your fourteen white characters to play the role? Please.
Also, this might be a reach, but is there colorism also present in the KOTLC cast? The type of Asian that Linh and Tam seem to be (Eastern - Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc) have a very light skin tone. Throughout all of KOTLC, the only skin tone darker than white is Wylie’s character, who is obviously African-American. There is no one that looks Latina [okay, there is, it’s Jensi who was mentioned twice in the first two books and never again], a different kind of Asian,  Romanian, Indian, Middle Eastern, nothing. Actually, you know what, it’s not a reach. You’re telling me that objectively based on facts, there is only one character out of the entire KOTLC universe that’s skin tone is darker than paper? That’s the standard?
To that I say: get outta here.
I’m not convinced that Shannon Messenger - as much as I love and adore her writing and her book series - ever truly cared about diversity and inclusivity among her characters. There’s no representation other than straight, white, male, female, two Asians, and a single African American character (out of anyone who actually matters). That’s it. Statistically speaking.
That’s ridiculous.
[This is a later edit: someone in the comments also pointed out that the Lost Cities are located all over the world, meaning that having a mainly white cast also is whitewashing? This only gets worse the more you think about it, ugh.]
I understand that the majority of the KOTLC fanbase is very young. Believe me, I do. I’m probably one of the older fans that has been here for a while/still is here. Most people my age have moved on to fangirling over the Umbrella Academy or something. I get it. But I do believe that even twelve year olds can understand what I’m saying, stay informed, spread awareness, and think critically. Â
One of the reasons I think Shannon hasn’t been called out nearly as much for the lack of diversity and representation in her stories is because she has such a young readerbase. That’s fine. I don’t expect people that are ten and twelve to be thinking about any of this. It never occurred to me at the age, so why would it occur to you unless someone else brought it up first?
That said, now that I have brought it up, I think that the least you can do is have conversations with your friends, tag a few people, and think critically about the casts of your favorite books/people you stan. If you’re not speaking up, it makes you look like you don’t care that there’s absolutely zero representation and diversity in the KOTLC series. And you should care.
Keeper of the Lost Cities is a very white, straight series. What does this mean? It means that it’s inherently racist, likely colorist, and not currently supportive of any LGBTQ+ people on any LGBTQ+ spectrum. People out there just like you (if you’re white) aren’t seeing themselves in stories or media. Instead, they’re being told that only if you have European heritage or a lighter skin tone can you be a hero. It’s harmful. And we need to speak out against it.
[Not to mention that there are no different body types. This post was just on core character identity, and nothing else. As my friend StickyCarpet put in a conversation, what about religions? Do all elves believe the same things? There’s very little identity variation between characters beyond their personalities.]
The reason I want to speak out so strongly now, is because as you may know, KOTLC is being made into a live-action series of movies. On screen, it’s going to be even more visible and in-your-face that there’s no representation. You know what that says to everyone who wasn’t represented at least a little bit (or well)? It says we don’t see you because we don’t approve of who you are, which is just such an awful message to send. In the movies, it’s going to be super important for especially younger readers to see themselves on screen. I don’t want these movies to just be another movie chock-full of straight white people. It’s time for change. This was never something that should’ve been the standard, so we need to try extremely hard to change it.
By no means will that magically fix or amend the fact that Shannon Messenger chose to put just about zero diversity into the story in the first place, but it will at least show that she’s trying beyond throwing a few new characters with different skin tones in after people start calling her out for it.
Keeper of the Lost Cities is my favorite or second favorite series, and it was (and always will be) a huge part of my childhood. I’m a huge fan of the series myself, but I want to make my opinion on this subject very clear and encourage you to form your own opinion on it. I don’t have instagram or socials, but I do have a large platform on Wattpad to spread awareness with. Please spread the message.
Please, if you can, tag people from the fandom in the comments. Share this post. Reblog it on tumblr or post it on instagram. We need to get the conversation started. It’s not enough to just sit here and pretend like we’re all okay with the fact that the series we all love is grossly unrepresentative/not diverse.
In the external link, you will find a carrd leading to Ways to Help & be a part of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, including ways that don’t involve money. In my bio, there’s a link that goes to all crisis resources around the globe with links to causes. Please feel free to share and utilize both links.
Thank you very much for reading & (hopefully) spreading the message/awareness with me! Your favorite series and author(?) possibly being racist is something that’s harder to come to terms with, even for me at my age, so please don’t blame yourself for everything and just try to help as much as you can ♡
[Please feel free to reblog and repost on any platform anywhere as necessary. Spreading the message regardless is much appreciated!]
