I finally had a kid explain why my favorite book genre is 'problematic'

I was chatting with my 17-year-old nephew last weekend at his grandma's house in Austin, and he told me my beloved '90s fantasy series is full of racist tropes I never noticed. He pointed out how the dark-skinned bad guys were always described as savage and animal-like, and I felt kinda dumb for not seeing it sooner. Has anyone else had a younger reader call out something in your favorite book that made you totally rethink it?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_nina27d ago

I used to roll my eyes when people called out older books for being racist, figured they were just being overly sensitive. But then my niece handed me a copy of one of my favorite childhood series and pointed out how the only fat character was the comic relief who never did anything useful, and the desert people were all described as "swarthy and untrustworthy." It hit me like a ton of bricks, because I'd read those books dozens of times and never once questioned why the good guys all looked like they stepped out of a Renaissance painting. Now I can't unsee it, and it honestly makes me wonder what else I've been missing all these years.

gray_smith6727d ago

Whoa, that's a really powerful moment @the_nina. Kinda makes me wonder if the whole "timeless classic" thing is just code for "we grew up with these flaws so we normalized them." Are there any books you still feel totally safe rereading, or do you second-guess everything now?