Discover Top Posts Tagged with #wealthy characters

My "villain" (I aim to humanise her) is the leader of a massive family-owned company that supports militants. Her son has disowned her and joined the protagonist. She also happens to be Jewish. I'm worried that this will perpetuate the "money-loving" Jewish stereotype, but I’d prefer her family to remain Jewish to discuss religious themes outside of a solely Christian (and Agnostic) perspective. I've tried to make it clear money isn't her motive. She believes she is moral, and later becomes (1)

obsessed with power and security. Her son has flaws, but is a good person and isn’t stereotypical to my knowledge. Her father wasn’t motivated by money, starting the company to develop medicines. She also had a sister who was company heir, but declined it to fight in the navy. She is VERY rich. Her company is probably worth billions and she owns a mansion. Besides her family the cast is Romanian, except for two Germans and two Russians (all of these by nationality at least). Is this a problem? 2

Reducing the tropey effects of your villain being a wealthy, company-running Jewish mom

“I’d prefer her family to remain Jewish to discuss religious themes outside of a solely Christian (and Agnostic) perspective.”

Wanting to avoid the dominant paradigm and actually treating a specific minority group respectfully are not the same thing. They’re related, but avoiding Christianity is only the first step of a two-part process that needs to include both elements. If the whole reason you’re picking her to be Jewish is to avoid Christianity rather than representing Judaism, how accurate are those religious conversations going to be? We have our own distinct approach to these things that’s not just Christianity without Jesus.

Putting it bluntly: yes, a fabulously wealthy Jewish woman can be dangerous to write, especially from the outside. There are a variety of ways one can make up for the place many gentiles’ minds will go when reading her: having less rich Jewish walk-ons or secondary characters, making her a total warm and cuddly peach of a woman (obviously not an option in this particular plot), outnumbering her with wealthy gentiles, etc. If she has people to cook and clean for her in the mansion or drive her around either have her pay them appropriately and fairly (preferable) or have someone else Jewish call her out on not doing it.

In the case of your specific character the key would be to show her as a distinct character rather than a walking star of David carrying a designer purse. What books/movies/foods does she enjoy? Does she have any quirks like comically misquoting famous expressions, reading the comments on news articles even though they make her angry, distracted from literally anything and everything to go say hello to strange cats (hi, this one is me), or having a weakness for Disney collectibles? She has a lot of money, so what is her philanthropy like–ballet/opera/symphony, art museums, children’s illnesses, supporting political candidates (which side?) That can be a window into her philosophy as well. Are there any buildings at the local college named after her or deceased members of her family?

But other than that, I’d urge you to revisit your initial motivations, or at least put in the research to make sure that those discussions “outside of a Christian perspective” sound right. Representation doesn’t do anyone favors when it’s inaccurate, and it’s totally valid not to represent a specific group, in an individual story by story basis, if the work seems a little intimidating.

–Shira