Demonstrating the Importance of Diversity

diversity

As writers in this modern day and age, we have a social imperative to be more diverse in our work. When a conversation I had with a family member over the dinner table sparked into a heated argument over whether or not James Bond could acceptably be cast as anything other than caucasian and male, I knew that it was time for a change in the way we approach not only diverse casting (shoutout to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s excellent production, Hamilton) but also the writing of diverse roles.

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What Happened to Our Optimism?

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I’ve been sitting on this gripe for years, but enough is enough. It’s ranting time. Today’s subject: pessimism in Science Fiction. Buckle up everyone.

Back in the good old happy days of Star Trek: The Original Series, the future seemed like a bright and hopeful place. Humans were set to find peace and unity, striving as a race to create a better life for the species and a greater world to live in. Now, thanks to basically every contemporary Science Fiction novel, movie or TV show currently popular, it seems like the future is destined to be a bleak, gloomy, desolate wasteland. What happened to thinking the best of humanity? Why is there not more popular fiction extolling the virtues of our species? Is there simply no good drama left to be had in a technologically advanced future without everyone being oppressed, controlled or enslaved?

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