A little while ago, David V. Stewart made a solid blog post about the concept of being “apolitical,” and I had something to add to it.
Namely, beware people who use their alleged “apolitical” nature as a virtue.
You see, as David pointed out in his post, being truly Apolitical is all-but impossible. Just the simple act of portraying true heroism is a political statement nowadays, whether you mean it to be or not. So, pushing a creator or a franchise to be “Apolitical” is useless.
That’s when you get to people who try and make that their brand. People like many in the movement (dumpster fire) formerly known as Comicsgate. One of the first signs something was terribly wrong there was when the mob bosses decided they didn’t like people in the “movement” making a pro-Trump parody comic. “We want to be Apolitical!” they said. And so they pushed out conservative after conservative, eventually even attacking some of these conservatives because of mean things they said about gays.
Attempting to cancel conservatives, promoting the LGBTQ agenda… starting to sound decidedly Political, and not the type of people you’d want leading a “culture war” against a mainstream that has been pushing that for years now. Everyone has an agenda, everyone. The difference is, some are more open about it. In that vein, I actually respect open enemies more than those who claim to be on “our side,” while trying to quietly (or not so quietly police people’s views.
As David say near the end of his post, support the people whose politics you agree with, and avoid doing so for those who don’t, if you want to see any serious change made.
People who wave the “Apolitical” banner as something virtuous and desirable are liars who ultimately do the work of the other side.
Politics in entertainment isn’t the problem. When it’s poorly done, and preaching at you, is when it’s usually a problem no matter what views it’s pushing. And besides, how do we mean to fight against the Left-dominated mainstream if we refuse to be at least willing to have clear political opinions (again, done well so they don’t overpower a good story)? We can’t. At least, we cannot win that way.
I, personally, like playing to win. And to win, you have to be Political, whether you like it or not.
In my Galaxy Ascendant series, whose last book is currently funding on Kickstarter, there are such views present, certain values promoted. They might not be obvious to everyone, as my main goal was writing a solid, fun, heroic story, but they are there.
In my next series, Light Unto Another World, thing will be much more explicit in that regard, though, again, it will all be in the service of any awesome story. Actually, it’s probably something that’s never been done before, at least not in a fantasy genre book series. But more on that at a later date. For now, head on over to Kickstarter to back Galaxy Ascendant 7: A Worthy Sacrifice, to help me ensure that I’m set up well to get it out on time, and that I’ll be able to keep more projects moving quickly along.
I’m just getting started.
Writing, Ascendant 