Is this offensive or not and comments on characters.

Don't worry about offending people. As long as your intention is not to offend, it's not a big deal.

They're your characters. Have them behave the way they're meant to behave. If that's what the story is then so be it.

"You can't blame the writer for what their characters do." - Truman Capote

In the end, no matter what you write, you'll have people who don't like your work. Understand that, and accept it. Then, write the story as it is meant to be written.

If you're not honest with your story, preferring to play to some middle ground, no one will like it. I'd rather create strong reactions than no reactions at all.

 

As a Catholic, I think it would take a lot for something like that to come anywhere close to offensive. Just saying "A drunk archangel," I would say, instantly detaches your work from real-world religions, rather than conflate some sort of negative message onto them.

In Catholicism, angels are considered to have been created with complete or nearly complete knowledge (although, to what degree of infallibility we hold that, I couldn't tell you). Since their salvation is knowledge-based instead of experience-based like humans, they don't change or "become" anything.


Geesh, talk about getting ninja'ed.

 

I'm not sure this is entirely accurate.
Some people may be able to shurg criticism off if they feel it's misplaced or misguided, but for others it's not that easy.

If you're writing something that you're worried might be offensive to some people, make sure you understand why and how it's offensive, and then ask yourself if that's something you can live with. My thinking is that as long as you know what you're aware how and why you are offensive to some people, then that's okay - even if you are.
If you're unintentionally offensive, without being aware of it, then to me, that's somehow worse.

 

I see your point, and I agree. My comment may be a bit too brief. I was trying to illustrate the idea that honesty in writing is important, and if you're constantly worried about how someone might be offended, it can hamper your writing because your efforts will be too inhibited.

I meant to say that your character should behave in a way that's consistent and true. A character who swears all the time may offend some people. A character who is racist, or sexist, may offend. However, that doesn't mean the character should be watered down.

In terms of representation, like making sure a homosexual character is portrayed as an individual and not some stereotype that would be offensive, I agree with you Svrtnesse. We need to be mindful of how we portray characters and balance that against story need.

 

It's guaranteed someone will be offended. It's also guaranteed that others will cheer. The only one you probably should be sensitive to is the agent to whom you send the query letter. If that one cheers, you're golden; if that one is offended, you're sunk (at least on that particular boat).

For myself, as an example, as soon as I see angels, I put the book down. They're on my short list, along with vampires and zombies. Not My Cuppa. So you see, there's just no pleasing everyone. Which is good, because pleasing everyone would be _exhausting_.

 

I hear you, and your point is valid too: it's important to stick to your vision and not try to alter it to try and avoid displeasing the unpleasable.

 

So, I'm going to say that while most people have at least a simple understanding of angels (even me), by imparting your own lore and structure to your world/ mythology/ religions, you're deviating from what is commonly thought of as "religious propaganda" (defaming a particular religious concept, etc.).

I wrote a pretty detailed story about the Norse pantheon, from the POV of Munin, and I absolutely intended it to be sarcastic rather than glorious, but that's because I'd like to think if the Norse gods are real, they'd have a great sense of humor. Sometimes it's just about taking a calculated risk. In my story, the only people I can fathom offending are the hard-core heathens out there, which is a small group, and again, I'd like to think they have a sense of humor, because the gods I'm writing about are flawed characters who had their own issues. By changing the archangels from those named figures, you're already taking it to another concept, and that alone makes it less offensive to those who might call it sacrilegious (is that the right word?) Anyways, I think you're good to go. :confused2runkenness wouldn't even be a flaw in the Norse pantheon. HA!

 

I'm Catholic, and serious enough about my religion that I literally scoured the Earth to meet my devout Catholic wife.

However, the first time I wrote an angel into my story, he was a philanderer and he told the MC the God only has one law: "Don't be an asshole." John Travolta's Michael inspired me to have this angel abuse his mortal form. Not showing sex scenes, but he bragged about his conquests: "I've ben with lions, man! Lionesses." Well, he didn't brag well, but my story wasn't meant as serious. I didn't find Michael offensive so much as it was ridiculous. Maybe the same could be said for my first novel, but still…

I think making your characters fun will result in a more interesting story, and not necessarily offensive.


Also, I don't want this thread to get political, but there is a comment I feel compelled to respond to. If you're on the political left, please don't assume people on the right are humorless racists. There are racists on both sides of the political spectrum, but I tend to assume most people aren't racist/sexist/bigots even if their opinions differ greatly from mine.