Saw a message on BlueSky that resonated with me just now, about how autistic characters should be allowed to be villains.
And it made me realise. Someone’s gender, race, disability, gender identity etc shouldn’t be a factor as to if they’re a hero or villain in a story.
The issue with many forms of media is that it seems to go to two extremes:
1. Every member of a group is evil because [writer prejudice]
2. No member of a group can be evil because it could be offensive
But both are ridiculous. People are people. Some are kind hearted and have good intentions, some have good intentions but do awful things, some are just jerks all around.
And these identity factors have nothing to do with any of that. Anyone of any gender, ethnicity, age, disability type, etc could be the nicest or worst person you ever met.
So fiction should reflect that. Let characters be good or evil regardless of identity traits. Don’t stereotype people or put groups on a pedestal.
Don’t do what RTD did with Doctor Who and make Davros suddenly not disabled because it might be seen as in bad taste to have a wheelchair using villain:
I get the idea, but it feels misguided. Instead of the stereotype ‘disabled = evil’, we get another one which is basically ‘disabled = always good’.
It’s just flipping the usual problem with representation in media.
