Recently, someone asked me if, off the record, any of the characters in my RPG/fiction were gay.
Now, for all the troubles I had with my old bosses, this shit wasn't one of them. I knew that the bosses wouldn't let me say the obvious in public - Sir Hairdo of the Perfect Profile might have a craving for cock - but for once, they were right. The game was aimed at an early teens on up crowd, and while I disagree strongly with the politics of much of America's parents, it's not my place to tell kids that their hero swings his sword by day, but catches by night.
The other aspect being, of course, that 90% of the gay characters in gaming and comic fiction are terrible. I got into an argument with someone the other day about the new Batwoman, and about how I didn't care for her. I was immediately accused of being homophobic. Nevermind that I like guys sometimes, too - I must be one of them self-hating queers. After all, look at all the rich characterization Batwoman has to offer - she's just like Bruce Wayne, except she's a gay chick.
Renee Montoya, Batwoman's ex, came out the hands of a lunatic guy who thought she'd go for him after he did that to her. She lost her job as a cop indirectly because of the outing, and her family's estranged last I checked. Renee's a damn interesting character, partly because she had
ten fucking years of stories before someone noticed that she was behaving like a closeted dyke.
It's a shitty damn thing, but most of the times I've read someone writing a minority character, they thing stereotyping's all the characterization needed. To be fair, I'm a fan of racial humor, but there's a world of difference between social satire and just cribbing notes off whatever that funny minority-of-the-week comedian said.
PS: The best gay relationship I've ever seen in fiction is that of Wolverine and Sabretooth. No way two people hate each other that much without fucking first.
Now, for all the troubles I had with my old bosses, this shit wasn't one of them. I knew that the bosses wouldn't let me say the obvious in public - Sir Hairdo of the Perfect Profile might have a craving for cock - but for once, they were right. The game was aimed at an early teens on up crowd, and while I disagree strongly with the politics of much of America's parents, it's not my place to tell kids that their hero swings his sword by day, but catches by night.
The other aspect being, of course, that 90% of the gay characters in gaming and comic fiction are terrible. I got into an argument with someone the other day about the new Batwoman, and about how I didn't care for her. I was immediately accused of being homophobic. Nevermind that I like guys sometimes, too - I must be one of them self-hating queers. After all, look at all the rich characterization Batwoman has to offer - she's just like Bruce Wayne, except she's a gay chick.
Renee Montoya, Batwoman's ex, came out the hands of a lunatic guy who thought she'd go for him after he did that to her. She lost her job as a cop indirectly because of the outing, and her family's estranged last I checked. Renee's a damn interesting character, partly because she had
ten fucking years of stories before someone noticed that she was behaving like a closeted dyke.
It's a shitty damn thing, but most of the times I've read someone writing a minority character, they thing stereotyping's all the characterization needed. To be fair, I'm a fan of racial humor, but there's a world of difference between social satire and just cribbing notes off whatever that funny minority-of-the-week comedian said.
PS: The best gay relationship I've ever seen in fiction is that of Wolverine and Sabretooth. No way two people hate each other that much without fucking first.