Sound
from Azusa, CA is reading Greener Pastures by Michael WehuntMarch 8, 2013 - 11:49am
I haven't experienced any disadvantage for being non-white, and networking hasn't been a problem here on this site. Most of the writing I've workshopped has been well received, and if it wasn't, the reasons for it are always reasonable and backed up. I guess I'm still just a little perplexed as to what the problem is (in your opinion), the staff or the members?
Just my two cents.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 8, 2013 - 11:50am
I always thought this commercial seemed racist.
what are we talking about?
Strange Photon
from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyricsMarch 8, 2013 - 11:53am
Avery, that commercial isn't racist at all, white guys are often that dumb. ;)
(entered the smiley there so you know I was being playful)
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 8, 2013 - 11:55am
what are we talking about?
We've been having a discussion about how WASP Mr. Photon is.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 8, 2013 - 11:55am
Though, so long as she didn't sing, I wouldn't mind putting Taylor Swift to good use from time to time.
Dude...don't say that. Unless you mean something along the lines of...I don't know...you think she'd be an excellent upper level manager at the company you work for.
It's International Women's Day, for God's sake!
Strange Photon
from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyricsMarch 8, 2013 - 11:59am
Avery, that was exactly WHY I said what I said the way I said it. I wanted her to know that she has other assets outside of her musical milieu.
'Cause, ya know, she reads LitReactor obsessively.
Class Facilitator
ReneeAPickup
from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck WendigMarch 8, 2013 - 12:05pm
I have so many feelings about the last few comments...
But... rather than getting into that... I'll post this:
Class Facilitator
ReneeAPickup
from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck WendigMarch 8, 2013 - 12:15pm
ha! double post.
Strange Photon
from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyricsMarch 8, 2013 - 12:10pm
Not entirely sure how to take that, Renee... especially since I've proven myself unable to recognize humor lately.
Besides, I was totally just playing around with the whole Taylor Swift is my sex slave thing. I mean, really, blondes aren't my type in the least.
Also, the only part I am sure about in regard to your GIF just then, is that Smallville is all new, and on Friday evenings at 8pm. Which is fucking rad, I love Superman!
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 8, 2013 - 12:13pm
I love you, too.
Strange Photon
from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyricsMarch 8, 2013 - 12:14pm
Oh thank god! I have been vomiting incessantly for months because of how uncertain I was as to the nature of your feelings for me.
Class Facilitator
ReneeAPickup
from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck WendigMarch 8, 2013 - 12:15pm
I don't think it was supposed to mean anything, it's just kind of weird, right? Like this thread is kind of weird? But the gif is more amusing than some of the thread was... and that's from Supernatural. The rub here, is that the guy with the phony mustache is the angel Gabriel, which I think makes it funnier.
Strange Photon
from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyricsMarch 8, 2013 - 12:19pm
Hell yeah it makes it funnier, I mean, if the guy with the mustache were young Stalin, then the humor would be lost on all Eastern Europeans.
And yeah, the thread's genesis was indeed quite, dare I say... odd. Though, I hope I'm not the only one who feels it is certainly looking more bright and sunshiney lately.
Jonathan Riley
from Memphis, Tennessee is reading Flashover by Gordon Highland March 8, 2013 - 12:21pm
@Utah,
I first thought the tiff started on the page you refer to and that Todd was indeed reffering to you as the higher up on the points leaderboard. So that wasn't just your egotism assuming as such. However, there was an uglier tiff on another page in which Moon appeared and now I am quite certain Todd was referring to that one.
Because Dicks got thrown arround.
Class Facilitator
ReneeAPickup
from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck WendigMarch 8, 2013 - 12:24pm
Because Dicks got thrown arround.
That sounds fucking terrifying!
Sound
from Azusa, CA is reading Greener Pastures by Michael WehuntMarch 8, 2013 - 12:29pm
Very weird visual. Thanks, JR.
I thought the tiff he was referring to was with Ian, which was why I was completely confused how that led to this.
OtisTheBulldog
from Somerville, MA is reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DiazMarch 8, 2013 - 12:33pm
Superman is the ultimate Bro. Good looking, sweet hair style with the curl, all powerful, knows how to play it cool with Louis when need be, always wins in the end, has a sweet writing gig and doesn't have to take shit from the boss if he doesn't want to, a cool prankster who can heat the water cooler with his eyes. Just, really, a sweet Bro.
If some of you can wrap your heads around Superman, then I think you'll be able to identify with some of the work I'm currently putting out.
Ian
from Texas is reading Low Down Death Right Easy by J. David OsborneMarch 8, 2013 - 12:33pm
Not it.
Sound
from Azusa, CA is reading Greener Pastures by Michael WehuntMarch 8, 2013 - 12:37pm
Thanks Ian. So apparently, there's a lot of tiffs going on.
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 8, 2013 - 12:38pm
Superman is the Elvis of superheroes.
I was not aware of this uglier tiff. Now I feel slighted.
*shoves Jon McClane Riley*
*walks off in huff*
Strange Photon
from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyricsMarch 8, 2013 - 12:40pm
Louis? How big a Supes fan can you be when you accidentally insinuate that the last son of Krypton is gay?
Lois was his love interest's name, but that's only in the hetero versions. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
And, OMG, thinking through that water cooler gag made me just that, gag. That'd be some classic shit, seeing the faces of Jimmy Olsen and Cat Grant when they downed some refreshing, warm water. I see a kryptonite thumb tack on Clark's seat in the future.
Sound
from Azusa, CA is reading Greener Pastures by Michael WehuntMarch 8, 2013 - 12:41pm
You just barely returned, Utah. You can't just leave again. Why can't people just take it out on eachother in a Thunderdome battle?
Strange Photon
from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyricsMarch 8, 2013 - 12:46pm
WTF???
You did not just compare the Man of Steel with the man of drugs, odd sandwiches, blue suede, and bad music!
Oh Utah, your professed love for me isn't enough to repair the harm you've just done...
*buries head in hands, weeping uncontrollably*
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 8, 2013 - 12:49pm
And now I've found that other critique battle and must conclude that, probably, it was R.Moon he was stalking and not me. What a blow to my pride!
It makes sense now, too. Because I look at Moon's avatar and I go, "Now that's one white mothafucka." Whereas people looking at my avatar come to the obvious conclusion that I satisfy the "disembodied skull" portion of your typical diversity quota and have to think, "Man, this is one inclusive site if they have people like that here. And as a moderator, no less!"
Moon, JR, I bow to your conclusions that Moon was the object of stalking.
Sorry about the shoving, guys. I get excited sometimes.
OtisTheBulldog
from Somerville, MA is reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DiazMarch 8, 2013 - 12:51pm
Louis Lane. Probably my greatest typo of all time. Or was it?
Ian
from Texas is reading Low Down Death Right Easy by J. David OsborneMarch 8, 2013 - 12:53pm
Easy mistake to make. Superman and Elvis both wear capes.
Strange Photon
from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyricsMarch 8, 2013 - 12:55pm
Ya know, Otis, that slip of the metacarpal could very well be your way in to the wide world of gay comic book heroes. When life gives you typos, make effeminate superheroes - that's what I always say.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 8, 2013 - 1:15pm
Will someone show me the tiff?
I love fights.
R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestMarch 8, 2013 - 1:16pm
@Utah: Dammit. So that's the reason you didn't show up after school. You know how awkward it looks for a 5'7" guy to stand around with a 6' trident? I'm going home, and I'm taking my ball with me. And to quote a guy named Justin I went to high school with, 'I'm white, with a black soul.'
So, anyone have any racist jokes they care to share?
Strange Photon
from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyricsMarch 8, 2013 - 1:20pm
A white guy I once knew had great rhythm and could really jump...
badumppum!
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 8, 2013 - 1:24pm
You know how awkward it looks for a 5'7" guy to stand around with a 6' trident?
That was pretty funny.
wavedomer
from Boise is reading Rum PunchMarch 8, 2013 - 1:28pm
Me reading this thread.
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 8, 2013 - 1:34pm
^^ I suddenly think jnorrett is awesome.
Moon, sorry to leave you hanging. But you already beat me once, and I don't know if I could withstand another brutalizing.
R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestMarch 8, 2013 - 1:37pm
While I may have beat you, I still had to be stitched and casted. Good to see you back, though.
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 8, 2013 - 1:54pm
I'm only here intermittently. Doing my best to walk away from electronic social networking in general. It's too immersive.
Devon Robbins
from Utah is reading The Least Of My Scars by Stephen Graham JonesMarch 8, 2013 - 1:56pm
I don't really understand the whole race issue. None of the content in the essays or columns have anything to do with race. Writing is pretty universal. We all run on the same set of emotions. I usually don't even specify the color of a character's skin in my own writing.
Stephen Graham Jones' essays are just as helpful as Richard Thomas', and Jon Gingerich, Taylor Housten and Chris Rosales, and Criag Clevenger, and Chuck's. I really don't think race has anything to do with any of it.
iamsnaggletooth
March 8, 2013 - 2:03pm
The racism issue, to me, is ignorant. I'm fairly certain that nobody here is blatantly racist. The name issue you brought up is ignorance on the part of other people. If the novel is set in China, why wouldn't the name be Chinese?
As with most things, as long as there's a reason other than 'I'm ignorant' behind whatever a person does, I don't really care what they do.
sean of the dead
from Madisonville, KY is reading Peckerwood, by Jed AyresMarch 8, 2013 - 2:03pm
I want to facebook "like" Devon Robbins' post
Devon Robbins
from Utah is reading The Least Of My Scars by Stephen Graham JonesMarch 8, 2013 - 2:58pm
That video is great. When I'm a real boy, I'll have a man beard like that guy.
Jack Campbell Jr.
from Lawrence, KS is reading American Rust by Phillipp MeyerMarch 8, 2013 - 3:43pm
"Now, many of the people behind the scenes may claim open-mindedness, but actions speak louder than words, and as I stated before, I'll state again, it's odd how, in the course of the years of this site's evolution, the people behind the curtain numbering 25 to 40 or 50, are almost all white. This begs the question of how open minded were they really?"
I am really sort of offended by this. Open-mindedness has absolutely nothing to do with race.
"Unless, like I said, it's simply been my experience to meet many more insightful nonwhite writers than those who are affiliated with this site got the chance to meet in their lifetimes."
I am also offended by this.
I would go into further argument, but I'm afraid or saying something I will regret later since I am a little pissed off. Honestly, these two comments might be the most racist thing I have read on LitReactor, and they are from the guy that's claiming some sort of racism.
iamsnaggletooth
March 8, 2013 - 3:48pm
Me, too, Devon. Me, too.
I agree, Jack.
Nobody's barring anybody.
Renfield
from Hell is reading 20th Century GhostsMarch 8, 2013 - 4:47pm
I usually don't even specify the color of a character's skin in my own writing.
Do you write a lot with black or latino or whatever characters in mind? I bet it would be pretty interesting to compare the actual ethnic influence in a writer's story to what the readers perceive or misperceive.
Does anyone approach ethnicity as a topic or theme in their stuff? Aside from whatever accusations the o.p. has here, I can't think of a thread before where we've actually discussed writing about race, and why not? Or does nobody care?
Devon Robbins
from Utah is reading The Least Of My Scars by Stephen Graham JonesMarch 8, 2013 - 5:02pm
Most of my characters are white in my mind. I'm a white guy surrounded by other white guys though. I've written colored characters before, and specified just for specific qualities in the character.
I've never really thought about it a whole lot.
Mess_Jess
from Sydney, Australia, living in Toronto, Canada is reading Perfect by Rachael JoyceMarch 8, 2013 - 5:03pm
@Ren -- I think that's a really interesting discussion to be had. I've tried writing from a completely different cultural/socio-economic perspective to mine, and man, is it hard. I wrote a story as an Indian female, and even though I know a lot about Hinduism and Indian culture, I'm almost afraid to go back and look at it for fear of some culturally imperial tone I may have injected into it. I also love Australian Aboriginal dreamtime stories and I've been keen to write a Koori horror story based on stories from Dharug country in the blue mountains in Australia, but I'm utterly afraid of writing something white and offensive sounding.
R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestMarch 8, 2013 - 5:09pm
I wrote a story about a older black man in jail who is passing on his 'wisdom' to a young white man. Ethnicity wasn't really the theme or topic. I wrote the story from personal experience and not because I felt it would be 'cool' to write a first person narrative about a black man. The experience had a profound affect on my life and I felt that I needed to get the story out of me. I did use slang and street lingo, but again, it stems from experience. It got good reviews on here, although I'd say that that the majority, if not all, of the reviewers were white. But, I did write about half of it when I was incarcerated and let a few of the black inmates read it and they had no problem with it, understanding that I was writing from experience. The narrator is loosely based on a guy I met in jail, the younger white man is loosely based on me and any side characters are based on real people. Some may call it racist (a white kid from suburbia writing about a black guy from the ghetto), but I don't see it that way. We all have life different life experiences and this was one of mine.
Jonathan Riley
from Memphis, Tennessee is reading Flashover by Gordon Highland March 8, 2013 - 5:45pm
I'm not even sure if you hadn't had those experiences Ryan, that writing that story would make you a racist. Is Quentin Tarentino a racist, or just a great story teller and director that likes to tell stories with racist characters and or gangsters that talk with racial slurs. I don't know. Spike Lee thinks he's racist. I think he's just a dorky white guy that likes to write badass stories.
R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestMarch 8, 2013 - 5:58pm
I don't know, Jonathan, this may change your mind. Tarantino is a huge influence on me, but this? This is just painful to watch.
R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestMarch 8, 2013 - 6:00pm
For the record, I loathe Spike Lee simply because everything to him is about race. I think he's a whiny little bitch and the best thing he ever put on screen were those old Jordan commercials.
Jonathan Riley
from Memphis, Tennessee is reading Flashover by Gordon Highland March 8, 2013 - 6:05pm
Actually Ryan, I've seen that before and I wondered if maybe he's just trying to be cool or if it's all a bit. I still don't think he's trying to put anyone down. Like I said. Dorky white dude.
But yeah, very uncomfortable to watch.
R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestMarch 8, 2013 - 6:14pm
Yea, dorky white guy. It would've been funny if Sam Jackson stood and said, 'Shut the fuck up!' Think I might watch Inglorious Basterds tonight.
I haven't experienced any disadvantage for being non-white, and networking hasn't been a problem here on this site. Most of the writing I've workshopped has been well received, and if it wasn't, the reasons for it are always reasonable and backed up. I guess I'm still just a little perplexed as to what the problem is (in your opinion), the staff or the members?
Just my two cents.
I always thought this commercial seemed racist.
what are we talking about?
Avery, that commercial isn't racist at all, white guys are often that dumb. ;)
(entered the smiley there so you know I was being playful)
We've been having a discussion about how WASP Mr. Photon is.
Dude...don't say that. Unless you mean something along the lines of...I don't know...you think she'd be an excellent upper level manager at the company you work for.
It's International Women's Day, for God's sake!
Avery, that was exactly WHY I said what I said the way I said it. I wanted her to know that she has other assets outside of her musical milieu.
'Cause, ya know, she reads LitReactor obsessively.
I have so many feelings about the last few comments...
But... rather than getting into that... I'll post this:
ha! double post.
Not entirely sure how to take that, Renee... especially since I've proven myself unable to recognize humor lately.
Besides, I was totally just playing around with the whole Taylor Swift is my sex slave thing. I mean, really, blondes aren't my type in the least.
Also, the only part I am sure about in regard to your GIF just then, is that Smallville is all new, and on Friday evenings at 8pm. Which is fucking rad, I love Superman!
I love you, too.
Oh thank god! I have been vomiting incessantly for months because of how uncertain I was as to the nature of your feelings for me.
I don't think it was supposed to mean anything, it's just kind of weird, right? Like this thread is kind of weird? But the gif is more amusing than some of the thread was... and that's from Supernatural. The rub here, is that the guy with the phony mustache is the angel Gabriel, which I think makes it funnier.
Hell yeah it makes it funnier, I mean, if the guy with the mustache were young Stalin, then the humor would be lost on all Eastern Europeans.
And yeah, the thread's genesis was indeed quite, dare I say... odd. Though, I hope I'm not the only one who feels it is certainly looking more bright and sunshiney lately.
@Utah,
I first thought the tiff started on the page you refer to and that Todd was indeed reffering to you as the higher up on the points leaderboard. So that wasn't just your egotism assuming as such. However, there was an uglier tiff on another page in which Moon appeared and now I am quite certain Todd was referring to that one.
Because Dicks got thrown arround.
That sounds fucking terrifying!
Very weird visual. Thanks, JR.
I thought the tiff he was referring to was with Ian, which was why I was completely confused how that led to this.
Superman is the ultimate Bro. Good looking, sweet hair style with the curl, all powerful, knows how to play it cool with Louis when need be, always wins in the end, has a sweet writing gig and doesn't have to take shit from the boss if he doesn't want to, a cool prankster who can heat the water cooler with his eyes. Just, really, a sweet Bro.
If some of you can wrap your heads around Superman, then I think you'll be able to identify with some of the work I'm currently putting out.
Not it.
Thanks Ian. So apparently, there's a lot of tiffs going on.
Superman is the Elvis of superheroes.
I was not aware of this uglier tiff. Now I feel slighted.
*shoves Jon McClane Riley*
*walks off in huff*
Louis? How big a Supes fan can you be when you accidentally insinuate that the last son of Krypton is gay?
Lois was his love interest's name, but that's only in the hetero versions. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
And, OMG, thinking through that water cooler gag made me just that, gag. That'd be some classic shit, seeing the faces of Jimmy Olsen and Cat Grant when they downed some refreshing, warm water. I see a kryptonite thumb tack on Clark's seat in the future.
You just barely returned, Utah. You can't just leave again. Why can't people just take it out on eachother in a Thunderdome battle?
WTF???
You did not just compare the Man of Steel with the man of drugs, odd sandwiches, blue suede, and bad music!
Oh Utah, your professed love for me isn't enough to repair the harm you've just done...
*buries head in hands, weeping uncontrollably*
And now I've found that other critique battle and must conclude that, probably, it was R.Moon he was stalking and not me. What a blow to my pride!
It makes sense now, too. Because I look at Moon's avatar and I go, "Now that's one white mothafucka." Whereas people looking at my avatar come to the obvious conclusion that I satisfy the "disembodied skull" portion of your typical diversity quota and have to think, "Man, this is one inclusive site if they have people like that here. And as a moderator, no less!"
Moon, JR, I bow to your conclusions that Moon was the object of stalking.
Sorry about the shoving, guys. I get excited sometimes.
Louis Lane. Probably my greatest typo of all time. Or was it?
Easy mistake to make. Superman and Elvis both wear capes.
Ya know, Otis, that slip of the metacarpal could very well be your way in to the wide world of gay comic book heroes. When life gives you typos, make effeminate superheroes - that's what I always say.
Will someone show me the tiff?
I love fights.
@Utah: Dammit. So that's the reason you didn't show up after school. You know how awkward it looks for a 5'7" guy to stand around with a 6' trident? I'm going home, and I'm taking my ball with me. And to quote a guy named Justin I went to high school with, 'I'm white, with a black soul.'
So, anyone have any racist jokes they care to share?
A white guy I once knew had great rhythm and could really jump...
badumppum!
That was pretty funny.
Me reading this thread.
^^ I suddenly think jnorrett is awesome.
Moon, sorry to leave you hanging. But you already beat me once, and I don't know if I could withstand another brutalizing.
While I may have beat you, I still had to be stitched and casted. Good to see you back, though.
I'm only here intermittently. Doing my best to walk away from electronic social networking in general. It's too immersive.
I don't really understand the whole race issue. None of the content in the essays or columns have anything to do with race. Writing is pretty universal. We all run on the same set of emotions. I usually don't even specify the color of a character's skin in my own writing.
Stephen Graham Jones' essays are just as helpful as Richard Thomas', and Jon Gingerich, Taylor Housten and Chris Rosales, and Criag Clevenger, and Chuck's. I really don't think race has anything to do with any of it.
The racism issue, to me, is ignorant. I'm fairly certain that nobody here is blatantly racist. The name issue you brought up is ignorance on the part of other people. If the novel is set in China, why wouldn't the name be Chinese?
As with most things, as long as there's a reason other than 'I'm ignorant' behind whatever a person does, I don't really care what they do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_N-CS_f4AEA
I want to facebook "like" Devon Robbins' post
That video is great. When I'm a real boy, I'll have a man beard like that guy.
"Now, many of the people behind the scenes may claim open-mindedness, but actions speak louder than words, and as I stated before, I'll state again, it's odd how, in the course of the years of this site's evolution, the people behind the curtain numbering 25 to 40 or 50, are almost all white. This begs the question of how open minded were they really?"
I am really sort of offended by this. Open-mindedness has absolutely nothing to do with race.
"Unless, like I said, it's simply been my experience to meet many more insightful nonwhite writers than those who are affiliated with this site got the chance to meet in their lifetimes."
I am also offended by this.
I would go into further argument, but I'm afraid or saying something I will regret later since I am a little pissed off. Honestly, these two comments might be the most racist thing I have read on LitReactor, and they are from the guy that's claiming some sort of racism.
Me, too, Devon. Me, too.
I agree, Jack.
Nobody's barring anybody.
Do you write a lot with black or latino or whatever characters in mind? I bet it would be pretty interesting to compare the actual ethnic influence in a writer's story to what the readers perceive or misperceive.
Does anyone approach ethnicity as a topic or theme in their stuff? Aside from whatever accusations the o.p. has here, I can't think of a thread before where we've actually discussed writing about race, and why not? Or does nobody care?
Most of my characters are white in my mind. I'm a white guy surrounded by other white guys though. I've written colored characters before, and specified just for specific qualities in the character.
I've never really thought about it a whole lot.
@Ren -- I think that's a really interesting discussion to be had. I've tried writing from a completely different cultural/socio-economic perspective to mine, and man, is it hard. I wrote a story as an Indian female, and even though I know a lot about Hinduism and Indian culture, I'm almost afraid to go back and look at it for fear of some culturally imperial tone I may have injected into it. I also love Australian Aboriginal dreamtime stories and I've been keen to write a Koori horror story based on stories from Dharug country in the blue mountains in Australia, but I'm utterly afraid of writing something white and offensive sounding.
I wrote a story about a older black man in jail who is passing on his 'wisdom' to a young white man. Ethnicity wasn't really the theme or topic. I wrote the story from personal experience and not because I felt it would be 'cool' to write a first person narrative about a black man. The experience had a profound affect on my life and I felt that I needed to get the story out of me. I did use slang and street lingo, but again, it stems from experience. It got good reviews on here, although I'd say that that the majority, if not all, of the reviewers were white. But, I did write about half of it when I was incarcerated and let a few of the black inmates read it and they had no problem with it, understanding that I was writing from experience. The narrator is loosely based on a guy I met in jail, the younger white man is loosely based on me and any side characters are based on real people. Some may call it racist (a white kid from suburbia writing about a black guy from the ghetto), but I don't see it that way. We all have life different life experiences and this was one of mine.
I'm not even sure if you hadn't had those experiences Ryan, that writing that story would make you a racist. Is Quentin Tarentino a racist, or just a great story teller and director that likes to tell stories with racist characters and or gangsters that talk with racial slurs. I don't know. Spike Lee thinks he's racist. I think he's just a dorky white guy that likes to write badass stories.
I don't know, Jonathan, this may change your mind. Tarantino is a huge influence on me, but this? This is just painful to watch.
For the record, I loathe Spike Lee simply because everything to him is about race. I think he's a whiny little bitch and the best thing he ever put on screen were those old Jordan commercials.
Actually Ryan, I've seen that before and I wondered if maybe he's just trying to be cool or if it's all a bit. I still don't think he's trying to put anyone down. Like I said. Dorky white dude.
But yeah, very uncomfortable to watch.
Yea, dorky white guy. It would've been funny if Sam Jackson stood and said, 'Shut the fuck up!' Think I might watch Inglorious Basterds tonight.