I love y’all. I believe in y’all. Your stories are complex and worthy of being shared and heard, first and foremost by you. ✨ [Image description: white writing on black background with white and yellow floral edging that says: One day I will teach more people how to tell their stories, stories of harm, stories of healing, stories of surviving it all, stories of laughter and joy. We deserve more beautiful stories, more telling of them, more sitting with them, more loving our own stories fully. End image description.] ✨ #storytelling #shareyourstory #yourstorymatters #storyteller #learningtolisten #listeningtostories #listentolove #storytellers #goodstories #writingcommunity #journalingcommunity #tellyourstory #tellyourtruth #healingthroughstorytelling #narrativetherapy #traumarecovery #traumacare #iamhealing #iamwhole #healingincommunity #thehealingcollective #thehealingcollectiveAL #newstories #healingstories #thegoodstoriesproject #spreadlove #sharethelove #storytellerscafe #lifestory #tellyourselfthetruth https://www.instagram.com/p/CY7UIM9ProI/?utm_medium=tumblr

forever changes your own.

I honestly have never understood the big deal about diversity in tv, stories, and video games. When I turn to any of those mediums I have never cared or even thought about the physical characteristics of the people playing the roles. I take that back. I care about what the character looks like only in a few situations. A) does it makes sense for either the time or the setting. Like if I was watching a show following the Americans in WW1 I would be pulled out of the experience if all of a sudden there were female American soldiers fighting along side the men because it doesn't make sense historically ( yes I know there were some women that fought in WW1 but not in enough numbers to make it a common sight). B) if the movie is an adaptation from a book I want generally consistent characters so that I can easily recognize them from the second they are on screen. Otherwise I literally dont care at all what the main characters look like, as long as that isn't their only defining feature and they are not given exemption from criticism just because of their characteristics. For instance take Rey from starwars, when I saw all the ads back before the first movie came out, I was excited, not because she was a female but because I love star wars. When I saw the movie I felt I had some valid issues with the way the character was written. I think it doesn't make alot of sense that she was able to beat kylo (a highly trained force user) just days after she found a lightsaber for the first time. However when I raised these points on my previous account I was nearly crucified for hating on women. I dont care what gender Rey is I just wanted a great story. If it had been a guy playing her I still would have had the same issues. I think that's my biggest problem with the way diversity in entertainment is being handled. It seems like writers are making characters come from some under represented group and using that as an excuse to have lazy character design. I want a good story first and foremost and when writers make the defining feature of a character their physical appearance then most of the time it comes at the expense of good story. Like I don't care when the main guy is gay but if that is all you thought of when designing him and so instead of having meaningful character development you decide to just throw in a bunch of gay makeout scenes of course i will be mad, not because of what's happening on screen but because of what is not happening, a compelling story. If I am going to spend money buying a movie or a game I want to be captivated by a story, not be constantly reminded that the protagonist is a black female. I don't think diversity makes up for lazy storytelling. Now before I get hate here too, I can think of countless diverse characters that I love, princess leia, asoka, the entire cast of jumanji 2 and so many more. As long as your character has something else to offer the story other than the statement "I am *fill in the blank with whatever diversity option available," then I am all in on the story.

Finish

Bad Choices Make Good Stories!! Quick calligraphy of this perfect adage. #calligraphy #sketch #wall #choices #goodstories #goodtype #typetopia #typespire #designinspiration

Away

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