We had a decent turnout on July, but a bit under the mark, so let's heat things up with a more polarizing topic, suggested in part by Brandon Rhea. Since the Americans are busy yelling at each other, spamming the internet with ads, and posting tacky signs everywhere in a hallowed ritual that occurs every four years, might as well join in and toss in a wink and a nod to the dear old political arena.
Give that this is a more hot-button issue, I'm going to be moderating this thread pretty closely. If it gets out of hand or strays too far off topic (as determined by me), I'll request it be closed faster than a Chick-Fil-A in Boston!
- *rimshot*
Just like the previous ones, we're going to talk about fan-fiction (yours). The basic ground rules are the same. Please restrict this to stuff from your fan-fiction, but aside from that, no pressure. You can suggest, make observations, but no condemning other people's work or opinions and "I don't know" is a perfectly acceptable answer.
August's topic: Do you allow political issues to infiltrate or influence your writing? If so, what? Are they central portions of the plot or subtle nods and digs to your country's hot-button issues?
August's topic was suggested by Brandon Rhea. If you have something you feel would be of interest for the café to discuss, post it in the discussion section below. Atarumaster88 
(Talk page) 21:55, August 1, 2012 (UTC)
Entries[]
C3PO the Dragon Slayer[]
The story for Star Wars: Avian Hunt was always focused on moral conflicts. Each character has what I consider to be a well-defined philosophy (even the minor characters). As I wrote in the discussion section, don't confuse politics with worldview, but many of the conflicts in Avian Hunt can reflect the real world in some way.
For instance, the main protagonist, Kaffman, very firmly believes in an individual's duty to protect other people, even if that means going to drastic means to do it. He takes up a life of crime in order to evade what he believes to be the pursuit from the Sith, and his ultimate goal is to rid the galaxy of the Sith while keeping the Jedi in the dark about their existence. This can be considered a heroic quality, but I use irony in many situations to show that Kaffman isn't always right. His entire plan hinges on the idea that the Jedi don't know that the Sith have returned, which every reader/player knows isn't the case. He could be considered an analogue for a paranoid conspiracy theorist because of his patently false conclusions about Mace Windu.
I think the closest thing to inserting my political beliefs has to be in the character or Ilmar Grmek, a commander who believes in the value of individual life and seeks to protect her troops first. I so believe in the value of individual life that I'm offended at the association of the word "casualty" with "casual." Every casualty is a tragedy, and this belief is what drives Ilmar's strategy.
There are slight nods here and there, too, though I urge you not to read too much into them. The Utapau fiasco hints at encouraging a pragmatic foreign policy (though in context of the canon Star Wars universe, it could go another way), and the backstory of Thracia Cho-Leem depicts the triumph of family values over free love (though it was really just a way to wrangle the canon character into the story and bring in some Force-sensitive children while I was at it).
But all this is in the interest of telling an interesting story with sympathetic characters that feel real. Fanfiction is a dumb way to advance your political agenda, and having the story conform to the objective of pushing your beliefs on someone else often gets in the way of telling a good story. Any semblance to a political narrative in my stories, fanfiction or otherwise, is in the interest of adding depth to the narrative and context to the conflict. But if there's anything I do believe in that I always use in my stories, it's that nobody knows everything; nobody's perfect, even if they're well-intentioned. --C3PO the Dragon Slayer 6,000,000 forms of communication | Dragons I've Slayed 01:06, August 8, 2012 (UTC)
Goodwood[]
Nope. In fact, I make it a point to develop characters naturally both according to their personality and the context of their historical period, if applicable. That's why you won't see me writing about a WWII or Korean War fighter pilot who happens to be the unit atheist, or a Muslim who fights in defense of the City of Vienna in the 17th Century. It's also why Laera Reyolé didn't want to be a Jedi at first—she distrusted the Order for so long, after all. You also won't see me writing any characters who happen to be LGBT, a vocal liberal and/or conservative (as expressed within the context of the GFFA), a campaigner for the criminalization, control and/or regulation of blasters, spice, or slavery unless it fits in with the story I'm trying to tell.
Given that, I also don't care to write stories with such obvious agendas. GoodwoodDebating Society11,988 Edits 17:40, August 8, 2012 (UTC)
Brandon[]
Sorry I’m late here.
I know a lot of people here think that political, religious, economic, etc. themes have no place in fan fiction, but I disagree. If it’s done right, it can be very compelling, very engaging, and very illuminating. To do that, you can use allegory—and I disagree with C3PO the Dragon Slayer when he said you shouldn’t use it. Allegory is frequently utilized in science fiction. While Star Wars is more science fantasy, there is still room for those sci-fi elements. One of the best science fiction allegories is Star Trek. For example, did you know that Klingons and their frequent disputes with the Federation are based on the Soviet Union and the Cold War, respectively?
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country drives that home, sometimes even very directly. When James Kirk is chosen by Starfleet Command to lead a rendezvous with the Klingons for peace talks, Spock makes it clear that Kirk was chosen because Kirk is the only one who can bring Federation legitimacy to it due to his history with the Klingons (a Klingon killed Kirk’s son, and Kirk had a long history of conflict with them). Spock quoted a Vulcan proverb that said, “Only Nixon could go to China.” That is a very direct allegory, as is the rest of the film, but the film did not suffer for it. It’s one of the best Star Trek films, in fact.
The key to allegory is asking the right questions about things that impact everyone. I don’t think that stories should be used to explore issues like gay marriage, abortion, or other social issues where there are clear and often tense divisions between different groups of people. You shouldn’t even use economic issues like taxation. You want to find underlying issues that impact everyone. For example, writing a story where you explore the idea of raising taxes on the super rich is not going to earn you points with a lot of your potential audience. If you’re a conservative, assume half your readers are progressive. If you’re a progressive, assume half your readers are conservatives.
What’s the underlying issue with taxation of the super rich, though? The underlying idea there, that most people can get behind, are ideas like the privileged have institutional advantages that can be exploited while the poor suffer—“the rich get richer while the poor get poorer.” You could also explore how the wealthy have undue influence over the institutions of government compared to the poor. So to sum up, your theme there is that money is power. That’s a much more engaging theme that you can do much more with than just “tax the rich.”
Go for nuance and a lack of specificity, and use those advantages to create your own issues for the galaxy.
Another example could be the exploration of corruption in government. If you’re going to explore scandal and corruption, don’t make it obviously based on a real-world politician, particularly a big name one that people would be aware of. Having a Supreme Chancellor be embroiled in a sex scandal with an intern or some sort of economic corruption is too transparent. Explore the underlying issues of corruption, such as what makes people corrupt, rather than the public scandal itself.
You also need to have something to say. If you’re just trying to be political for the sake of being political, don’t be political. It’s going to look stupid, and it’s going to feel forced—because it will be forced. Forcing political commentary gets dreadful lines like “Will you defer your motion to allow a commission to explore the validity of your accusations?” or whatever that awful line in Episode I was. It also gets you characters with names like Nute Gunray, supposedly named after Speaker Newt Gingrich and President Ronald Reagan (Gunray = flipped ray gun = Reagan). Other names would be Lott Dodd, supposedly named after Senators Trent Lott and Christopher Dodd.
Only use political themes and undertones if you have something to say, and if the story is well served by their use. If you have something to say, the odds of you being able to successfully say it are much better than if you’re saying that the taxation of trade routes is the catalyst for the rise of the Empire and the fall of Anakin Skywalker.
So how do I do it? There are a few socio-political themes I’ll be exploring in Star Wars: Episode I - The Chosen One and, assuming it’s ever finished, its sequels. On the political level, I explore the concept of dictatorship. Tatooine is a lawless place. There’s a very heavy-handed military presence of the government, yet at the same time there’s also not much in what you would think of Big Government programs—regulations on what businesses can do, social programs, etc. It’s big on military, not so big on promoting the general welfare of the people. I like to think of it as the exploration of how extreme stances of limited government result in that sort of lawless, military-state type of outcome, such as the country of Somalia. It just asks questions and explores general outcomes, though. You won’t see me talking about the Affordable Care Act or supply side economics.
Another thing I explore in The Chosen One is religion, particularly with the Ophuchi Clan. I explore the type of religious people who just go about their daily lives yet are associated with people who are religious extremists. What does that look like? What does that mean for those people? What kinds of outcomes can that lead to? You’ll see influences of both Christian extremism and Islamic extremism in that.
Should I ever finish The Chosen One and get to Star Wars: Episode II - The Princess of Ondos, another thing I’ll be exploring is the influence of large financial systems over government and how a democratic society can become oligarchies without intending it or realizing it. That’s my largest exploration of a more specific real world issue, but I plan to still keep it broad rather than doing things that make you think “oh well obviously he’s talking about America.”
The trick is not to promote an agenda, but to ask questions and ensure there be a point to the questions you’re asking. As long as you actually have something to say, there’s nothing wrong with politics, religion, or other societal issues. I just think that one of the reasons here people may tend to shy away from it is most people on this wiki are not informed enough to do this without it being terrible. An understandable concern, but I personally don’t want to restrict myself when it comes to that. I think that if I was to write a story where the characters lived in oppression and then another story where there’s a massive Republic governing everything, it would be a disservice to not explore issues that are relevant to those concepts. It’s one thing not to do it in a film—you only have so much time in a film—but if you’re writing a novel then you have all the time in the world.
That’s my two cents. - Brandon Rhea(talk) 23:39, September 4, 2012 (UTC)
Discussion[]
- Don't disappoint me by letting this one get out of hand. Stay on topic, be respectful, and no mudslinging please. Atarumaster88
(Talk page) 21:56, August 1, 2012 (UTC) - There's politics, and then there's worldview. If someone is honest with himself, and is self-consistent, the former is determined by the latter. One's worldview will inevitably show up in one's written work. I can't think of any way that one can completely avoid letting one's own worldview affecting a work of fiction. If you see the world a certain way, you are going to use that perception to guide you as you craft a fictional world, be it in fanfiction or other fiction.
- If, say, my worldview valued the needs of the many over the rights of the few, my fiction would probably depict some kind of conflict where characters make that kind of a choice. The characters depicted as protagonists won't necessarily make the same choice I would, but the fact that the conflict is framed that way in the first place will indicate something about my worldview. If you really tried, then, you could extrapolate that knowledge to guess at a consistent political stance on contemporary issues. If I value the needs of the many over the rights of the few, I'd probably support increased taxation on the upper class to pay for welfare programs, perhaps. Or I'd support the Patriot Act, seeing it as a necessary way to ensure the protection of the people against terrorism. Or whatever.
- This only works, of course, if the author has a self-consistent political beliefs that are derived solely from his worldview, and not from groupthink, cultural osmosis, or blind devotion to a party. Unfortunately, that's pretty rare. I don't even think I'm that consistent. So if an author with inconsistent politics nevertheless uses his worldview to frame a story, that's not really inserting their political beliefs.
- What I would not advise is making direct political allegories. Your first priority should be to tell a good story, one which engages the readers, invites them to care about the characters and events, and makes them feel satisfied or fulfilled in some way. If you let a political agenda supersede that goal, you won't please anyone except the people who can't tell the difference between a good story and a political message congruent to their own beliefs (e.g. everyone who thinks Atlas Shrugged is a good story.) Instead of making a fanfiction where Chancellor Palpatine introduces a bill that stands in for an anti-immigration bill, implicitly demonizing contemporary real-life anti-immigration bills, explore the issues underneath the politics, like the yearning for a better life for one's children, or the fog of war, or the Tabula Rasa ideal.
- However, I would never say to avoid letting your worldview help frame the story. It's important to at least keep the story consistent with itself, and having a concrete worldview to outline conflicts and characters that resonate with you is a great way to do that. What you should do, though, is learn how to really define your worldview, and then challenge it. Play your own devil's advocate. Try to think of other ways to look at things. That will help you understand how you can bring depth to your characters and tell a meaningful story, because it helps you define what you do believe and how these beliefs hold up to scrutiny. --C3PO the Dragon Slayer 6,000,000 forms of communication | Dragons I've Slayed 23:46, August 7, 2012 (UTC)