The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven discussion


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Perpetuating stereotypes or presenting the truth? Should an author, especially a minority author, be concerned with political correctness

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message 1: by Jon (new) - rated it 4 stars

Jon Adcock In his introduction to the book, Alexie addresses the fact that his writings have been widely critizied from certain circles for perpetuating the commonly held stereotype of Indians: that they are poor and alcoholic (much like the criticism Frank McCourt received for writing about an alcoholic Irishman, his father, in "Angela's Ashes"). As Alexie states: "I can only respond with the truth. In my family, counting parents, siblings, and dozens of aunts, uncles, and cousins, there are less than a dozen who are currently sober, and only a few who have never drank. When I write about the destructive effects of alcohol on Indians, I am not writing out of a literary stance or a colonized mind's need to reinforce stereotypes. I am writing autobiography." Political correctness seems to dictate that minority authors advoid writing the truth of their experiences to advoid perpetuating commonly held stereotypes.

Should stereotypes be a valid concern for minority authors?


Donna I think that avoiding stereotypes should be a concern for every author, whether or not he or she is considered part of a minority. Presenting well rounded characters with depth is in the best interest of any author and his readers when it comes to telling the truth, even in fiction. But if the author is writing from personal experience and stereotypical behavior is a part of what he has observed, should he censure himself? Does political correctness apply as much to those within a minority or is it more for those outside that minority?


message 3: by Duane (new)

Duane well... It depends on their market, right?

If they're selling into the "Dumpy Over-the-hill Leftist New-Age Moonbat Marin County
Women" market, then yeah they need to be totally PC, with lots of Caucasian guilt and self-loathing mixed in.

But if they're selling to the (probably even smaller) "Think For Themself" demographic... different story.


message 4: by Renee E (new)

Renee E I think a writer should write True.

Whatever it is. True for the characters, true for the time in which it takes place, true for the story.

There is too much laundering, lancing and outright lying out there already . . . taught as history.


message 5: by Jon (new) - rated it 4 stars

Jon Adcock While Frank McCourt wrote about his own personal experiences (the drunk, good for nothing Irishman in his book was his father), Alexie's stories, while influenced by actual events in his life, are works of fiction, so I guess there might be some merit to the criticism: if you're writing fiction, why can't you write about an Indian that ISN'T poor and drunk instead of validating racist stereotypes. Yet, if the racist sterotype is the life you lived growing up, you should be able to say "this is what life on the reservation was like"


message 6: by Jon (new) - rated it 4 stars

Jon Adcock and what about books that are purely fiction? Alice Walker and her novel, "The Color Purple" have gotten a lot of criticism over the years:

"Tony Brown, a syndicated columnist and the host of the television program Tony Brown's Journal has called the film THE COLOR PURPLE "the most racist depiction of Black men since THE BIRTH OF A NATION and the most anti-Black family film of the modem film era." Ishmael Reed, a Black novelist, has labeled the film and the book "a Nazi conspiracy."

a Black columnist in The Washington Post, Courtland Milloy, who wrote that some Black women would enjoy seeing Black men shown as "brutal bastards," and that furthermore, the book was demeaning. Milloy stated:

"I got tired, a long time ago, of white men publishing books by Black women about how screwed up Black men are."[4]

I remember watching an Oprah show way back when where a number of African Americans in the audience were calling the book and movie "racist" which seemed odd for a book written by an African-American. I've read the book and I've seen the movie and my take on it is that the male characters are "brutal bastards", but it's because they are male and not because they are black. The book is far more sexist than it is racist.


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