Villainous racism in fantasy

[Matthew Bishop]

Nah :\ I mean, I have a genocidal king in my series, so I hope racism isn't too bad of a turn-off, because if it is, I am wrecked completely. I see it this way: The wider diversity of characters in a story set, the higher is the level of unique characterization (per individual) that can be attained. The wider the spectrum is, that is, the more points you can have on that spectrum. Racism can even be necessary for the realistic characterization of villains, in certain contexts.

==
MatthewRBishop.com
The history of our world is yet to be written

 

[BWFoster78]

Jabrosky,

One of the fantastic things about speculative fiction is that we can create new worlds. Think about Alien Nation. That did a great job of addressing racism. By creating an alien race that was subjected to prejudice, it removed a lot of biases from the audience so it could speak directly to the root problem.

I wonder if you might find it liberating, given all the concerns you've expressed in this and other threads, if you were to create fantasy races and show discrimination against them. You may also find it more effective than your current course.

Just a thought...

More directly on point, I don't feel you've really gotten inside your villain's head. Why does Ishtar have these thoughts? Write something from her POV that makes the reader believe her side is the correct one. If you can't do that, having a cardboard character is far worse, imo, than the character's words and attitudes.

Hope this helps!

Brian