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Why Does Inclusivity Matter to Sci-fi and Fantasy?
Because even as niche genres — inclusivity literally includes everyone.
Lots of the “fanboys” love to whine and/or moan about all the ways how newer takes on older sci-fi and fantasy properties are ruining them.
How many people are unhappy over gay, transgendered, and non-binary characters in Star Trek: Discovery? What about all the people who’ve thrown tantrums over Rey, Finn, and Rose in the last 3 Skywalker trilogy Star Wars movies? How about a black elf in the upcoming Lord of the Rings TV series?
Frankly — this is preposterous. Getting upset over “woke culture” and inclusivity in sci-fi or fantasy is inane.
Why? Because in fantasy and sci-fi, you tend to get non-humans with varying degrees of skin color, fur, scales, feathers, and what-have-you. And many stories match the cultural situation of their day and age regarding political situations, rights struggles, and so on.
The real world is not monochromatic. No matter how much some people want there to be One True Way — there isn’t, and there never will be.
There will always be men, women, and non-binary people. Likewise, there will always be black, white, brown, and other variations of skin tone among people. And that’s just…
