In modern films, video games and books, many people are calling for increased diversity. Instead of having a romantic subplot between a man and a woman, some suggest they should be replaced with a gay couple. Alternatively, instead of a protagonist being a male, perhaps they should be a female instead. However, what many different shows and brands have done is promise diversity, force it into places where there is preexisting lore and then demand applause for it.
The biggest offender is J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books. She claims certain characters are homosexual, namely Albus Dumbledore, while, during the actual books, there was no indication on whether he was. The only actual “hint” given was his flair for the dramatic, which in itself cannot be indicative of his sexuality. Rowling did confirm, after the books finished being released, that Grindlewald and Dumbledore were romantically or sexually involved to a certain degree. The question is whether Dumbledore being gay was intended, or when fans asked her if there was someone gay in the books, she panicked and said, “Yeah! Dumbledore, probably.” Another question fans asked was whether there were Jewish people at Hogwarts. She could have admitted to not including them, but instead she said there are Jewish people at Hogwarts; we just did not see them. It is rather disconcerting that, if you are a fan of the franchise and wanted to see some representation, Rowling decides to say, “Yeah, sure,” and then everyone applauds her for progressiveness.
Overwatch is an online multiplayer video game that was released in May 2016 by Blizzard Entertainment. The game, too, has made some choices that have been questioned by its players. Since the game is not at all story based, lore and additional information surrounding the characters and the world are released intermittently. The world that was built was so interesting that fans became increasingly interested and invested in the comics and the animated cinematics that were released in the world of the game. Through these comics, two characters, Soldier: 76 (Jack Morrison) and Tracer (Lena Oxton), were confirmed to be homosexual. Many of the people who play the game claimed the characters gave no indication of their sexuality beforehand, and therefore the announcement of their homosexuality was out of nowhere and inorganic.
With the case of Rowling, there was plenty of room to give indications of sexuality. The Harry Potter books, in total, had over 1 million words that could have been used to describe or add additional information. Blizzard, however, could not afford this luxury and therefore could only release lore outside of the game. Some argue that Soldier: 76 could not be homosexual or did not appear to be, at first, because of how hypermasculine and edgy he is. This only shows ignorance surrounding how little aesthetics bleed into sexuality. There was no need for any indication beforehand, as there is virtually no dialogue proving everyone else straight, either.
Diversity in media matters. Every child and person who is of color, LGBTQ, Jewish or any other underrepresented minority in media deserves to have someone to look up to and relate to. If films, books or video games have the opportunity to make their characters fall into one of these categories, good on them. If they do not, they should not try to force them into these roles post-production. Consumers can tell, and it is not charming.
Photo from Manseok via Pixabay
