Unfortunate Implications/Literature: Difference between revisions

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== J. R. R. Tolkien and his works (''The Hobbit'', ''The Lord of the Rings'', ''The Silmarillion'', etc) ==
== J. R. R. Tolkien and his works (''The Hobbit'', ''The Lord of the Rings'', ''The Silmarillion'', etc) ==
* [[J. R. R. Tolkien|J.R.R. Tolkien]] struggled for his entire life with how to reconcile his strict Catholicism (which viewed evil as an inherently uncreative force, and emphasized personal free will) with a race that was [[Always Chaotic Evil]] - namely the Orcs. He never found an answer that satisfied him and apparently [[Hand Wave|Hand Waved]] the issue by saying that the halfway-decent Orcs are just not the ones we see.
* [[J. R. R. Tolkien|J.R.R. Tolkien]] struggled for his entire life with how to reconcile his strict Catholicism (which viewed evil as an inherently uncreative force, and emphasized personal free will) with a race that was [[Exclusively Evil]] - namely the Orcs. He never found an answer that satisfied him and apparently [[Hand Wave|Hand Waved]] the issue by saying that the halfway-decent Orcs are just not the ones we see.
** Looking broadly, some critics charge Tolkien was racist because of the trend in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' for western and northern "white" people (Gondor, Rohan) being "good" in opposition to eastern and southern "non-white" people (Harad, Rhun, Khand) being "bad". But a closer and [[Fantastic Racism|thorough reading]] reveals the former aren't all or always good and neither are the latter all or always bad. His views on race and evil, both in and out of universe, are better understood after reading ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' and [[All There in the Manual|assorted supplementary material]] like ''Unfinished Tales'', ''The History of Middle-earth'' and especially his ''Letters''.
** Looking broadly, some critics charge Tolkien was racist because of the trend in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' for western and northern "white" people (Gondor, Rohan) being "good" in opposition to eastern and southern "non-white" people (Harad, Rhun, Khand) being "bad". But a closer and [[Fantastic Racism|thorough reading]] reveals the former aren't all or always good and neither are the latter all or always bad. His views on race and evil, both in and out of universe, are better understood after reading ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' and [[All There in the Manual|assorted supplementary material]] like ''Unfinished Tales'', ''The History of Middle-earth'' and especially his ''Letters''.
** More specifically, some critics have claimed Tolkien was racist because of [http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/External.html his description of Orcs] in ''The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien'': "... they are (or were) squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes; in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types." Other critics have noted Tolkien's modifier "(to Europeans)" meant he recognized different cultures have different standards of beauty (being that Mongolians are the "least lovely" to Europeans). The statement isn't "Orcs ''are'' Mongolians" but "Orcs ''look like'' degraded and repulsive versions of to-us-unpretty Mongolic physical shape." But any way you slice it, that statement isn't [[Politically Correct]] by modern standards.
** More specifically, some critics have claimed Tolkien was racist because of [http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/External.html his description of Orcs] in ''The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien'': "... they are (or were) squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes; in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types." Other critics have noted Tolkien's modifier "(to Europeans)" meant he recognized different cultures have different standards of beauty (being that Mongolians are the "least lovely" to Europeans). The statement isn't "Orcs ''are'' Mongolians" but "Orcs ''look like'' degraded and repulsive versions of to-us-unpretty Mongolic physical shape." But any way you slice it, that statement isn't [[Politically Correct]] by modern standards.
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* A generally patronizing sense of "that's no good for a girl" pervades discussions of Lucy and Susan's participation in battle. Even though in practice, Lucy and Susan are powerful warriors (on par with their male counterparts), a sentiment which becomes more pronounced as the series went on.
* A generally patronizing sense of "that's no good for a girl" pervades discussions of Lucy and Susan's participation in battle. Even though in practice, Lucy and Susan are powerful warriors (on par with their male counterparts), a sentiment which becomes more pronounced as the series went on.
* There seems to be racist implications in ''Prince Caspian'' that are possibly worse than the portrayal of the Calormenes.
* There seems to be racist implications in ''Prince Caspian'' that are possibly worse than the portrayal of the Calormenes.
** In the scene in Aslan's How, several creatures generally considered [[Black and White Morality|"evil"]] in mythology are brought in to assist Caspian's [[The Revolution Will Not Be Villified|band of rebels]]. The fact that they are killed without ever having done anything overtly evil<ref> other than try to kill Caspian, Doctor Cornelius and Trufflehunter out of hand as soon as they are denounced for necromancy</ref> implies that certain races are [[Always Chaotic Evil|always going to do something bad]].
** In the scene in Aslan's How, several creatures generally considered [[Black and White Morality|"evil"]] in mythology are brought in to assist Caspian's [[The Revolution Will Not Be Villified|band of rebels]]. The fact that they are killed without ever having done anything overtly evil<ref> other than try to kill Caspian, Doctor Cornelius and Trufflehunter out of hand as soon as they are denounced for necromancy</ref> implies that certain races are [[Exclusively Evil|always going to do something bad]].
** There is an uncomfortable sequence earlier in the book where Caspian first meets the Narnians and some dwarfs offer to introduces him to a couple of ogres and a hag. Caspian flatly refuses and the "good" Narnians agree, saying they don't associate with those sort and wouldn't have Aslan for a friend if they did. (Keeping in mind that in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, "those" sorts were the Witch's minions, and in attendance at Aslan's humiliation and murder.)
** There is an uncomfortable sequence earlier in the book where Caspian first meets the Narnians and some dwarfs offer to introduces him to a couple of ogres and a hag. Caspian flatly refuses and the "good" Narnians agree, saying they don't associate with those sort and wouldn't have Aslan for a friend if they did. (Keeping in mind that in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, "those" sorts were the Witch's minions, and in attendance at Aslan's humiliation and murder.)
** The dark-haired Black Dwarfs are also depicted as being less honorable and nastier than their redheaded Red Dwarf counterparts.
** The dark-haired Black Dwarfs are also depicted as being less honorable and nastier than their redheaded Red Dwarf counterparts.
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{{quote|"[She] was faintly, subtly, yet to the eyes of genius unmistakably the scion of Zimbabwe's most primal grovellers.... [T]hough in deceitfully slight proportion, Marceline was a negress."}}
{{quote|"[She] was faintly, subtly, yet to the eyes of genius unmistakably the scion of Zimbabwe's most primal grovellers.... [T]hough in deceitfully slight proportion, Marceline was a negress."}}
* ''[[Redwall]]'':
* ''[[Redwall]]'':
** The "good guy" species all speak perfectly civil, upper-class English... except for the moles, who have an accent that sounds like that of the West Country, an English region more associated with rural life and stereotypes (and, hence, the working class). The [[Always Chaotic Evil]] vermin? Lower-class, mostly Cockney, slang, for the most part, with the exceptions of mustelids. There are perhaps four vermin who pull the [[Heel Face Turn]] in the entire series. [[Redemption Equals Death|Only one of them survives]]. The upshot is not so much "lower class = bad", but that being working class is okay as long as you have the decency to be a nice, earthy country-type and not some inner-city urban thug.
** The "good guy" species all speak perfectly civil, upper-class English... except for the moles, who have an accent that sounds like that of the West Country, an English region more associated with rural life and stereotypes (and, hence, the working class). The [[Exclusively Evil]] vermin? Lower-class, mostly Cockney, slang, for the most part, with the exceptions of mustelids. There are perhaps four vermin who pull the [[Heel Face Turn]] in the entire series. [[Redemption Equals Death|Only one of them survives]]. The upshot is not so much "lower class = bad", but that being working class is okay as long as you have the decency to be a nice, earthy country-type and not some inner-city urban thug.
** There's also an incident in ''Loamhedge'' that is... less than sensitive to wheelchair-users. Martha, who has been confined to a wheelchair all her life, {{spoiler|gets up and walks}} to save the Abbot; she says afterward that {{spoiler|''she was only impaired by a lack of willpower''}}.
** There's also an incident in ''Loamhedge'' that is... less than sensitive to wheelchair-users. Martha, who has been confined to a wheelchair all her life, {{spoiler|gets up and walks}} to save the Abbot; she says afterward that {{spoiler|''she was only impaired by a lack of willpower''}}.
** A majority of the ''Redwall'' books are not too bad, but the most recent, ''Eulalia'', has lots of Unfortunate Implications. Let's see, an innocent vole is forced to dress up like a vermin and used as a trick and the Redwallers badly hurt him. This would be fine if it acknowledged that it was an accident, that because of the disguise they thought he was an enemy, but they justify it because the vole was rude to a protagonist earlier. So even when the Redwallers realize that the vole had no choice he gets treated horribly, and then when he tries to steal the Sword of Martin as revenge for his ordeal... he quickly gets killed off.
** A majority of the ''Redwall'' books are not too bad, but the most recent, ''Eulalia'', has lots of Unfortunate Implications. Let's see, an innocent vole is forced to dress up like a vermin and used as a trick and the Redwallers badly hurt him. This would be fine if it acknowledged that it was an accident, that because of the disguise they thought he was an enemy, but they justify it because the vole was rude to a protagonist earlier. So even when the Redwallers realize that the vole had no choice he gets treated horribly, and then when he tries to steal the Sword of Martin as revenge for his ordeal... he quickly gets killed off.
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** And then there's the spanking...
** And then there's the spanking...
** And the fact that most of the women are openly misandrist. Is it any surprise that everyone is dancing [[The Masochism Tango]]? The [[Witch Species]] Aes Sedai at least have a [[Justified Trope|justification]] for that: they're members of a [[Lady Land]] ivory-tower organization which has dominated the continent for 3,000 years. It'd be just as much a problem if they ''hadn't'' lost touch with the common man and made the world more misandrist. (But you'd also think that some of the ''non''-Aes Sedai female characters would have their heads on straight, which is where the [[Epic Fail]] comes in.)
** And the fact that most of the women are openly misandrist. Is it any surprise that everyone is dancing [[The Masochism Tango]]? The [[Witch Species]] Aes Sedai at least have a [[Justified Trope|justification]] for that: they're members of a [[Lady Land]] ivory-tower organization which has dominated the continent for 3,000 years. It'd be just as much a problem if they ''hadn't'' lost touch with the common man and made the world more misandrist. (But you'd also think that some of the ''non''-Aes Sedai female characters would have their heads on straight, which is where the [[Epic Fail]] comes in.)
** And the [[Contemptible Cover|cover]] of the second book, in which the artist depicted the [[Always Chaotic Evil]] half-animal half-human Trollocs as black men, while the heroes are all very white. Lovely.
** And the [[Contemptible Cover|cover]] of the second book, in which the artist depicted the [[Exclusively Evil]] half-animal half-human Trollocs as black men, while the heroes are all very white. Lovely.
* ''[[Gone with the Wind]]'':
* ''[[Gone with the Wind]]'':
** The white people speak the King's English and all the black people speak in in a highly stereotyped dialect. Especially considering the dialect of the southern aristocracy wasn't even the King's English in [[Real Life]], and while the accents between slaves and the elite would have been different, but not ''that'' different. In this case, the book was written by a Southern US author, so to her, the white-southerner accent '''was''' standard "unaccented" English,
** The white people speak the King's English and all the black people speak in in a highly stereotyped dialect. Especially considering the dialect of the southern aristocracy wasn't even the King's English in [[Real Life]], and while the accents between slaves and the elite would have been different, but not ''that'' different. In this case, the book was written by a Southern US author, so to her, the white-southerner accent '''was''' standard "unaccented" English,
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*** A lot of female characters have had family members brutally murdered in front of them. Some were even forced to watch. Men in the Voyager program typically enter because their families reject them for either [[Why Couldn't You Be Different?|not being able to fit more mundane roles]] or for [[Have You Tried Not Being a Monster?|getting turned into things against their will]]. So women are primarily motivated by deprivation and men are primarily motivated by rejection.
*** A lot of female characters have had family members brutally murdered in front of them. Some were even forced to watch. Men in the Voyager program typically enter because their families reject them for either [[Why Couldn't You Be Different?|not being able to fit more mundane roles]] or for [[Have You Tried Not Being a Monster?|getting turned into things against their will]]. So women are primarily motivated by deprivation and men are primarily motivated by rejection.
** '''Sexuality''':
** '''Sexuality''':
*** This series attempts to reconstruct the [[Depraved Homosexual]] and [[Depraved Bisexual]] tropes, accepting a lot of the criticisms those tropes have received. However, since the Crooked Rainbow are a bunch of [[World of Ham|rabid]] [[Always Chaotic Evil]] mobs who want to [[Disproportionate Retribution|kill the Voyagers]] just for [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|refusing to endorse gay marriage]], it takes a lot of [[Fox News Liberal|Fox News Gays]] to keep the arguments balanced.
*** This series attempts to reconstruct the [[Depraved Homosexual]] and [[Depraved Bisexual]] tropes, accepting a lot of the criticisms those tropes have received. However, since the Crooked Rainbow are a bunch of [[World of Ham|rabid]] [[Exclusively Evil]] mobs who want to [[Disproportionate Retribution|kill the Voyagers]] just for [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|refusing to endorse gay marriage]], it takes a lot of [[Fox News Liberal|Fox News Gays]] to keep the arguments balanced.
*** Which bears an even more unfortunate suggestion: That in the Voyagers' universe, being too fanatical about any social cause will automatically reduce you to thinking, speaking, and acting exactly like an Internet [[Troll]] [[New Media Are Evil|in your everyday life]].
*** Which bears an even more unfortunate suggestion: That in the Voyagers' universe, being too fanatical about any social cause will automatically reduce you to thinking, speaking, and acting exactly like an Internet [[Troll]] [[New Media Are Evil|in your everyday life]].
** '''Race''': Mantithians are only fully compatible with Mantithians sexually. Mosquatlons have dated them, but most attempts to have interspecies children end in failure. Whiteouts are likewise only compatible with other Whiteouts. Ooze Pens with Ooze Pens, etc. Meaning that sometimes, [[Family-Unfriendly Aesop|segregation is good]]! Although, Pens and Pencils of varying subspecies can interbreed, with mixed results.
** '''Race''': Mantithians are only fully compatible with Mantithians sexually. Mosquatlons have dated them, but most attempts to have interspecies children end in failure. Whiteouts are likewise only compatible with other Whiteouts. Ooze Pens with Ooze Pens, etc. Meaning that sometimes, [[Family-Unfriendly Aesop|segregation is good]]! Although, Pens and Pencils of varying subspecies can interbreed, with mixed results.
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** Zoey has two male friends who are gay, which is all fine and dandy, except between the two of them, [[Camp Gay|they demonstrate every single gay stereotype out there.]] Not to mention that both gay characters are described as being very soft-spoken, doe-eyed, and generally submissive. The straight men are pretty much all dominant and outgoing. We never see any heterosexual men who are quiet or reserved, and we never see any gay guys who are masculine or forward.
** Zoey has two male friends who are gay, which is all fine and dandy, except between the two of them, [[Camp Gay|they demonstrate every single gay stereotype out there.]] Not to mention that both gay characters are described as being very soft-spoken, doe-eyed, and generally submissive. The straight men are pretty much all dominant and outgoing. We never see any heterosexual men who are quiet or reserved, and we never see any gay guys who are masculine or forward.
** No matter what's going on, if it's mentioned that a character smokes pot, [[Author Filibuster|Zoey and her friends will pause to rant about how nasty and uncool pot-smoking is]]. In ''Betrayed'', we find out that Neferet specifically chooses students to feed to the red-eyed vampires just because Zoey ratted them out to her as having used pot. When the police confront Zoey about the deaths, Neferet tries to blame it all on the victims falling in the river after being high, which sounds uncomfortably like "they were asking to die a brutal death!" And while Neferet is the bad guy, Zoey in no way ever contradicts or debates that argument.
** No matter what's going on, if it's mentioned that a character smokes pot, [[Author Filibuster|Zoey and her friends will pause to rant about how nasty and uncool pot-smoking is]]. In ''Betrayed'', we find out that Neferet specifically chooses students to feed to the red-eyed vampires just because Zoey ratted them out to her as having used pot. When the police confront Zoey about the deaths, Neferet tries to blame it all on the victims falling in the river after being high, which sounds uncomfortably like "they were asking to die a brutal death!" And while Neferet is the bad guy, Zoey in no way ever contradicts or debates that argument.
* The first ''[[Flora Segunda]]'' book seems to paint its [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture|pseudo-Aztecs]], the Huitzils, as [[Always Chaotic Evil]] cannibals. Not great, but the book ''is'' from Flora's point of view, and she's a military brat whose parents fought against them in a war (her father, particularly, was a POW and was subjected by them to largely undefined horrible things that left him an unstable alcoholic), so maybe she's an [[Unreliable Narrator]]. Besides, at the end she finds out that at least one of them is not so bad ... Then comes the second book, in which the single not-so-bad Huitzil proves to be just as evil and manipulative and untrustworthy as any other (if not even worse, since he ''pretended'' to be good rather than being outright [[Eats Babies|baby-eatingly]] evil), so we're left once again with a race of entirely horrible people. Also, the war crimes on the Califan (i.e. culturally pseudo-European) side were totally justified and necessary, whereas the war crimes on the Huitzil side were just undeniably awful. Again, this ''might'' be a question of getting it all from Flora's POV, but there's really no indication that the reader is supposed to disagree with her.
* The first ''[[Flora Segunda]]'' book seems to paint its [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture|pseudo-Aztecs]], the Huitzils, as [[Exclusively Evil]] cannibals. Not great, but the book ''is'' from Flora's point of view, and she's a military brat whose parents fought against them in a war (her father, particularly, was a POW and was subjected by them to largely undefined horrible things that left him an unstable alcoholic), so maybe she's an [[Unreliable Narrator]]. Besides, at the end she finds out that at least one of them is not so bad ... Then comes the second book, in which the single not-so-bad Huitzil proves to be just as evil and manipulative and untrustworthy as any other (if not even worse, since he ''pretended'' to be good rather than being outright [[Eats Babies|baby-eatingly]] evil), so we're left once again with a race of entirely horrible people. Also, the war crimes on the Califan (i.e. culturally pseudo-European) side were totally justified and necessary, whereas the war crimes on the Huitzil side were just undeniably awful. Again, this ''might'' be a question of getting it all from Flora's POV, but there's really no indication that the reader is supposed to disagree with her.
* Frank Herbert clearly had serious issues with homosexuality; [[Big Bad]] Baron Harkonnen in ''[[Dune]]'' is a [[Depraved Homosexual]] who even lusts after his own nephew, and even his henchman Piter is briefly said to have a vaguely feminine personality. Then ''The Dosadi Experiment'' features the omniscient narrator discussing how gay people make ideal suicide bombers, an aside that comes right the hell out of nowhere and [[Big Lipped Alligator Moment|never even has any impact on the plot]].
* Frank Herbert clearly had serious issues with homosexuality; [[Big Bad]] Baron Harkonnen in ''[[Dune]]'' is a [[Depraved Homosexual]] who even lusts after his own nephew, and even his henchman Piter is briefly said to have a vaguely feminine personality. Then ''The Dosadi Experiment'' features the omniscient narrator discussing how gay people make ideal suicide bombers, an aside that comes right the hell out of nowhere and [[Big Lipped Alligator Moment|never even has any impact on the plot]].
* ''[[Blubber]]'', by [[Judy Blume]]. Poor Linda gets mercilessly bullied and tries to [[Actual Pacifist|solve the problem by dialogue]], not by punching back. This attitude show her maturity and yet she is considered to be a weak person who deserves no compassion. Even when [[Designated Hero|Jill]] has learnt the hard way that being bullied hurts, she still seems to think that Linda somehow deserved what she got. Oh, and [[Complete Monster|Wendy]] [[Karma Houdini|got no punishment]].
* ''[[Blubber]]'', by [[Judy Blume]]. Poor Linda gets mercilessly bullied and tries to [[Actual Pacifist|solve the problem by dialogue]], not by punching back. This attitude show her maturity and yet she is considered to be a weak person who deserves no compassion. Even when [[Designated Hero|Jill]] has learnt the hard way that being bullied hurts, she still seems to think that Linda somehow deserved what she got. Oh, and [[Complete Monster|Wendy]] [[Karma Houdini|got no punishment]].
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* ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'':
* ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'':
** R.A. Salvatore's novel ''Gauntlgrym'' contains one of the first, if not ''the'' first openly bisexual character in the ''Forgotten Realms'' novels. The character, Dahlia Sin'felle, was the [[Rape as Backstory|victim of rape when she was a child]], is a sexual sadist, a serial killer, and a rapist in her own right.
** R.A. Salvatore's novel ''Gauntlgrym'' contains one of the first, if not ''the'' first openly bisexual character in the ''Forgotten Realms'' novels. The character, Dahlia Sin'felle, was the [[Rape as Backstory|victim of rape when she was a child]], is a sexual sadist, a serial killer, and a rapist in her own right.
** Salvatore's most popular character, Drizzt Do'Urden, is a heroic dark elf who ventures to the surface world and experiences racism. However, ''every'' other dark elf in Salvatore's story is [[Always Chaotic Evil|pure evil]] (With the exception of the [[Neutral Evil]] mercenary Jarlaxle). Though Salvatore's intent is to criticize racial prejudice, the [[Broken Aesop|Aesop becomes broken]] when racists are still right 99% of the time.
** Salvatore's most popular character, Drizzt Do'Urden, is a heroic dark elf who ventures to the surface world and experiences racism. However, ''every'' other dark elf in Salvatore's story is [[Exclusively Evil|pure evil]] (With the exception of the [[Neutral Evil]] mercenary Jarlaxle). Though Salvatore's intent is to criticize racial prejudice, the [[Broken Aesop|Aesop becomes broken]] when racists are still right 99% of the time.
* ''[[Sea of Trolls|The Sea of Trolls]]'' and its sequels:
* ''[[Sea of Trolls|The Sea of Trolls]]'' and its sequels:
** All full-fledged Christians are at best, good but slightly stupid, and at worst, [[Complete Monster|complete monsters]]. Only pagans (or pagan/Christians, like Jack) are truly good.
** All full-fledged Christians are at best, good but slightly stupid, and at worst, [[Complete Monster|complete monsters]]. Only pagans (or pagan/Christians, like Jack) are truly good.
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