I saw your post about writing diversity and I’m wondering where you’ve seen the “sweet Indian boy” stereotype? I’m not doubting you, I just want to know what to avoid when writing a character similar to that since the main protag of one my stories could be described like that in a way..
I’ll admit this is a newer trope… and what really kinda sucks is I tend to like these kinds of characters even though it’s clear to me that a new stereotype is forming.
I… actually really adore Baljeet’s character, but he seems kinda emblematic of this type. Raj from Big Bang Theory also appears to fit this trope (though I don’t watch that show, and just speaking as an outsider… it seems very bad in almost every other way too). Really, I’m just talking about this trope here.
A less extreme version of this character (and one who I think is written really well actually) would probably be Connie from Steven Universe
She’s sweet and she’s dorky… but she’s also a bit more. Like, at some point in the series, she literally loses the glasses and gains a sword, all without ever turning away from who she actually is.
I also think Dopinder from Deadpool is an interesting self-aware version of this character.
Like Baljeet and Connie he’s sweet and nerdy and probably one of the more empathetic characters in the film… But this being a Deadpool film, of course, he’s not completely saccharine. He’s definitely written with the stereotype in mind, but it’s also kinda subverted in that he’s just as terrible as everybody else in the film? On one hand, I kinda love him and hope he makes the jump to the comics. On the other hand… wow these writers are walking on very thin ice. Deadpool kinda works in that the ice never breaks, and the characters never actually go too far (in my own personal opinion)… but get the Epic Movie guys or Seth Macfarlane on the staff, and suddenly the film feels a lot more racist.
It’s worth noting, though... I’m not Indian myself, and I really don’t speak for anyone other than myself.