Feo Takahari
Auror
On another site, I'm watching a talented young writer not so much inch towards a nervous breakdown as bobsled towards it, just ahead of an avalanche of comments personally insulting his motives, his social skills, and the size of his penis. This is the fourth time I've seen something like this, and it always starts the same way.
One person decides to start singling out and criticizing writers who're racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. Because he's witty and clever, he acquires a small army of lickspittles who take his every word as absolute truth. The real bigots don't care--they love the attention--and at first, everyone's happy.
There's always some writer who's trying to counter the bigots, rewriting their plots and redesigning their characters to promote an anti-bigotry message. The critic finds him and goes "Hey, he's using the same plots as the bigots! Humiliate this bigot!" The writer actually cares that people think he's a bigot, because the bigots are what he stands against, and when he's bombarded with comments calling him a bigot . . . well, he doesn't take it well.
The next time some person you respect tells you an author you don't know much about is a bigot who should be shamed, read that author for yourself, and think about what he's really trying to say. Maybe he is a bigot. Maybe he should be shamed. But don't join in a witch hunt just because everyone else is doing it.
One person decides to start singling out and criticizing writers who're racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. Because he's witty and clever, he acquires a small army of lickspittles who take his every word as absolute truth. The real bigots don't care--they love the attention--and at first, everyone's happy.
There's always some writer who's trying to counter the bigots, rewriting their plots and redesigning their characters to promote an anti-bigotry message. The critic finds him and goes "Hey, he's using the same plots as the bigots! Humiliate this bigot!" The writer actually cares that people think he's a bigot, because the bigots are what he stands against, and when he's bombarded with comments calling him a bigot . . . well, he doesn't take it well.
The next time some person you respect tells you an author you don't know much about is a bigot who should be shamed, read that author for yourself, and think about what he's really trying to say. Maybe he is a bigot. Maybe he should be shamed. But don't join in a witch hunt just because everyone else is doing it.
