Comments on: Where Are All The LGBT Characters?

By: Sacha Black

Sacha Black — Wed, 05 Oct 2016 11:20:17 +0000

oh god no. I wouldn’t want 2D or clichéd characters either, that would be not the point at all. And yes, of course, any character, regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, race etc etc would have a range of characteristics like any other character, I guess the point I was making is that, like any sector in society, we all have our own quirks.

For example, say I wrote a book about black slavery – there would be tropes I needed to use, and include that would be unique to their experiences otherwise the story would have no authenticity. The same can be said for LGBT characters, and I would love to see more books and more genres include LGBT characters, but certainly not token ones.

Thanks so much for the thoughtful comment.

By: twiningivy

twiningivy — Sun, 02 Oct 2016 00:41:04 +0000

I am late to this post, sorry! What you wish for would be nice, but I wouldn’t want a bevy of 2-dimensional characters to fill that out for me. Our LGBT characters should have the same range of possible characteristics as any other, and not simply veer between tropes like ‘evil freak’ or ‘helpless immaculate victim’. Right? And maybe if they were one or the other, it should be plain that anyone might be so, regardless of their identity. I realise that the genre might sometimes determine how nuanced characters may or may not be, but I find complex characters more engaging. Token LGBT would feel just as empty to me as none at all.

By: Sacha Black

Sacha Black — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 09:23:52 +0000

In reply to AnonymousProclamations. Thank you

By: AnonymousProclamations

AnonymousProclamations — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 08:26:36 +0000

Very insightful post.

By: Belinda Crane

Belinda Crane — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 10:07:47 +0000

Sadly … after I pressed send I remembered you were asking for mainstream books and I just jabbered on about movies… LOL!

By: Belinda Crane

Belinda Crane — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 10:00:00 +0000

Hi Sacha. The first one that popped into my head was The Color Purple. The love between Celie and Shug. There is also Fried Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café with the love between Idgie and Ruth. It’s interesting to note that both these movies were originally novels. Both novels delved a lot deeper into the love relationship between the women. It was almost non-existent in the movies compared to the depth of the original written words. This has really made me think Sacha! I loved these movies. Adored these books. But I was racking my brain trying to think of mainstream movies with LGBT characters. I suppose you could throw in Sharon Stone’s character, Catherine from Basic Instinct … even though she was a psychotic killer! I just asked my partner and she said the two I first mentioned! Great post girl … I’m going to keep trying to think of some!

By: Annecdotist

Annecdotist — Fri, 27 Nov 2015 13:18:27 +0000

In reply to Sacha Black. Well, because I prefer literary fiction, I might end up reading some popular books within that genre, but they rarely achieve bestsellerdom in the way that commercial novels do. And I'm very much looking forward to your verdict on my own novel.

By: Sacha Black

Sacha Black — Thu, 26 Nov 2015 13:14:09 +0000

In reply to Eric Klingenberg.

Ok well maybe not friends – friends of friends? :s

Ah I didn’t know that it had been confirmed that’s great news then ? love Harry Potter

By: Eric Klingenberg

Eric Klingenberg — Thu, 26 Nov 2015 13:11:09 +0000

In reply to Sacha Black. J.k Rowling outed Dumbledore. I'm not sure I want to ask friends out their love lives!

By: Sacha Black

Sacha Black — Thu, 26 Nov 2015 10:47:36 +0000

In reply to Annecdotist.

That’s interesting to know you don’t read best sellers – I didn’t know that – you’re so prolific too.

I haven’t heard or read his books so off I trot to look at your review – I have yours in my TBR pile too :D.