AOC, Amber Rose & The Struggle To Flesh Out Minority Characters In Storytelling

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

I really like both Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Amber Rose. The two women could not be more different, but I want representation in the novel I’m writing and as such I think I’m going to at least _try_ to base two POV characters on these two women.

One of the characters I want to base on a woman who isn’t black, but half-Singaporean, but I fear that’s just not going to work. The trouble getting the audience to understand why she would be that given the situation involved is too much. So, I think I’m just going to make the character black and be done with it. And, given that, in a sense, she’s the “MacGuffin” of the story and someone the villain is directly, well, villainous to, I think that would resonate with audiences in an visceral way. Her character is very much in flux right this second and I have to find a balance between her being someone you like and someone who is sufficiently passive that the villain could hurt her and make us have the catharsis of revenge against him.

Meanwhile, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is likely going to be the basis of a much stronger character, one who helps move the plot along by her dislike and opposition to the Hero. I’m not saying I’m the greatest writer in the world, but I definitely need someone to inspire the character of a strong, young Latina who doesn’t take shit from anyone. The issue is fleshing her out in such a way that she’s both believable and yet butts heads with the Hero enough that there’s conflictin an empathetic fashion.

I guess the whole point of this is I have a lot of work to do.

Author: Shelton Bumgarner

I am the Editor & Publisher of The Trumplandia Report

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