I think that when I start to contemplate my own sort of self-insert or OC, they are not only the people who would most look like me, but is greater in being and in performance. Not 'being' as in something supernatural or spiritually ascended, but that happens too. It's more like this wish-fulfillment would have this amazing dynamic with the world, where anybody can be their partner in crime or dastardly villain to flip the bird against, to be competent in wit and social standing to the point she would flip that kind of familiarity on its head into a kind of Marx Brothers' level of flippancy while getting away with it slyly.
And my wish fulfillment self-inserts is going to be racialized because these people are not only going to look similar to me but also bear my ethnicity and cultural indicators. It'll also be specifically a diaspora narrative, because it's not going to be just this person living in their country of ethnic origin but someone aware of the shaky balance between wanting to be a part of the cultural mindset of their country of birth and finding the identity in their country of ethnic origin because it's so tied into family and their own historical personal narrative. This person won't have to be misidentified or to have their placement be questioned due to being othered, or to be diminished in her gamut of emotions and desires.
Also, as much as I think the image of the Asian Model Minority is harmful and othering, a lot of those attributes are things that I want: super good at studying and being fluent in Chinese along with native English and to be talented in musicality and martial arts. But my Mary Sue is going to transcend that because she's going to play with the world with all the candor and aplomb that a Marx brother could have, flaunting away the social norms in order to rise up in competency so that they are not so much going about their fictitious lives unquestioned, but to be accepted as a kind of force of nature with a distinct type.
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branchandroot
probably a long response
Date: 2014-02-14 09:51 am (UTC)And my wish fulfillment self-inserts is going to be racialized because these people are not only going to look similar to me but also bear my ethnicity and cultural indicators. It'll also be specifically a diaspora narrative, because it's not going to be just this person living in their country of ethnic origin but someone aware of the shaky balance between wanting to be a part of the cultural mindset of their country of birth and finding the identity in their country of ethnic origin because it's so tied into family and their own historical personal narrative. This person won't have to be misidentified or to have their placement be questioned due to being othered, or to be diminished in her gamut of emotions and desires.
Also, as much as I think the image of the Asian Model Minority is harmful and othering, a lot of those attributes are things that I want: super good at studying and being fluent in Chinese along with native English and to be talented in musicality and martial arts. But my Mary Sue is going to transcend that because she's going to play with the world with all the candor and aplomb that a Marx brother could have, flaunting away the social norms in order to rise up in competency so that they are not so much going about their fictitious lives unquestioned, but to be accepted as a kind of force of nature with a distinct type.