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Ray Bradbury's take on censorship and inclusivism
I just reread Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (first read in high school). The edition I had included two afterwords, one of which discusses some letters he received from readers in this and other books of his. A number of these letters, he says, criticize his treatment (or lack thereof) of blacks and women. Bradbury harshly rebuts that this is the first step of censorship, and that changing his works to appease the many different minorities present in a large and populous society such as ours would be changing the essence of his pieces and would destroy his artistic creation. Unfortunately the afterword is still under copyright so I'm not easily finding the relevant text - anyone happen to have a link?
I'm disappointed by this attitude. Bradbury lumps underprivleged minorities (such as blacks and women) with privileged or neutral "minorities" such as dog lovers. He doesn't show understanding of the distinction between elective special interest groups, and minority status imposed upon one by society, and he also doesn't show understanding of the privilege/status/power involved in the involuntary minority statuses. He also doesn't show any interest in increased inclusivism in future works, applying the criticisms only to past completed works - altering completed works wouldn't be right IMO, but I do feel it is worthwhile to portray a more ideal society in pieces one writes in the future, without as many boundary lines of privilege between different members of society.
I'm disappointed by this attitude. Bradbury lumps underprivleged minorities (such as blacks and women) with privileged or neutral "minorities" such as dog lovers. He doesn't show understanding of the distinction between elective special interest groups, and minority status imposed upon one by society, and he also doesn't show understanding of the privilege/status/power involved in the involuntary minority statuses. He also doesn't show any interest in increased inclusivism in future works, applying the criticisms only to past completed works - altering completed works wouldn't be right IMO, but I do feel it is worthwhile to portray a more ideal society in pieces one writes in the future, without as many boundary lines of privilege between different members of society.
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Granted a lot of people are coming from the fanfic POV and they aren't quite reaching Ray Bradbury's level of fame. :P But even so they sure to seem to share some of the same ideas!
http://community.livejournal.com/fandomsecrets/516771.html?thread=321119395#t321119395
For the people who say, "But my reality only includes white people! That doesn't make me racist!" I think they're kind of missing the point of what people are saying when they say they'd like to see more diversity...
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He doesn't show understanding of the distinction between elective special interest groups, and minority status imposed upon one by society, and he also doesn't show understanding of the privilege/status/power involved in the involuntary minority statuses.
I would also have to dig out The Martian Chronicles, but I do believe there is one story where he does show it - one character goes a little nuts about the extinct Martian society and in trying to recruit another crew member to his cause, appeals to that crew member's mixed Cherokee heritage. All in all, though, he's pretty much stuck in whitey world. His stories are really a product of their time and seem so anachronistic - I never understood how science fiction authors couldn't imagine a world where women would go into space. Most could imagine the technology, but not the social changes at all.
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Hm, interesting. On the one hand, that makes sense, you would want to be authentic and not offend anyone by doing it wrong. On the other hand, professional writers can take the time to do the research and write them authentically and have someone relevant edit it after; if you're writing about the future, what's to say that people of your own ethnicity will be the same as we are today, so why should a different ethnicity be any harder than your own; I think in the short term as we colorize SF that yes, lots of writers will try and fail, but in the long term the writing profession will learn from those failures as well as the individual writers learning to broaden their minds as well.
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I think I'm a little more sensitive to things that seemed like forced diversity from years of taking in American media that hasn't been reflective of Canada's population and sense of multiculturalism (East Asians and Chinese people are the top two visible minorities here). Multiculturalism in American media has always had this taint of obligation to it. It wasn't an organic growth and growing up I sensed it wasn't the will of the people at the time. I recently watched a Free to Be, You and Me clip on YouTube and I tried to think of how groundbreaking it must have been to have white and black kids dancing together in the 70s, but I can't truly feel it, just as I can't quite appreciate that Mom couldn't get a credit card because she was a single woman.
if you're writing about the future, what's to say that people of your own ethnicity will be the same as we are today, so why should a different ethnicity be any harder than your own;
Society changes very slowly over time although that might not be true anymore. I'll get back to you in 20 years :-D
Looking at the past through the present is always a problem. Looking at the future through the present hasn't always worked either but it's probably the better option as you say. You should really submit this idea or story to IO9 - I'm sure you would get lots of responses.
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As a composer, I actually like that some composers did not embrace the modern mvt that hit music in the early 20th century. Their conviction to stick to the Bach/Beethoven/Brahms harmonic traditions have created some great works (alongside other great "modern" works). Too bad they're so Germanic in harmonic progression, but so what? I enjoy them anyway.
For that matter, do we actually limit diversity by wanting everybody to think, respect, and even produce diversity? (ie., we will only tolerate one thinking/production style.) In English or on the western tonic scale system, of course. :)
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