Introduction
As I wrote in Fantastical Racism, the chosen one trope is a staple of the Fantasy genre, which more often than not puts allo, cis , het, white males in the position of the chosen one. Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, John Snow, they are all mediocre white males who are proven to be the chosen ones of their respected books. In each case there are infinitely more interesting characters supporting them, yet because they are the designated self-insert for readers, we have to follow their journeys.
But more than that, this has led to generations of white males feeling entitled to the world, because they’ve grown up saturated in media that’s told them they are special, when they are mediocre at best.
The White Savior
Arguable, Joseph Campbell’s monomyth is largely responsible for this, because the chosen one trope features prominently in it and is at its core Eurocentric and excludes most other cultures. In the stories and myths Campbell cites in The Hero with a Thousand Faces, The farthest he strays from European cultures is the “near east” and the story of Jesus. An often-repeated theme in monomyth is the hero’s saving the world. Now on the surface this seems wholesome, until you realize the only people shown to be the hero are allo, cis het, white, males, and more recently allo sis, het, white females. Now I don’t have to go into detail as to why this is problematic, seeing as how the push for diversity in the media has been a thing for decades.
And what we’ve seen when such attempts are made to expand the notion of who can be heroes is backlash from white male fans.
For example, there was such a reaction from The Star Wars fanbase when the sequel trilogy was revealed to be about Ray, a woman, and the inclusion of characters like Finn and Rose Tico, both people of color.
Likewise, in Gamer Gate, mostly allo cis, het, white male fans targeted a female game creator for the crime of not centering them in her game. You can read about the whole saga here. Similarly, in Comics Gate there were boycotts and harassment campaigns against attempt to diversify comics, which you can read about here.
There has also been pushback in the publishing industry regarding diversifying books. Most notably, in 2020 JK Rowling and several other writers and academics signed a letter published by Harper Magazine bemoaning cancel culture and the attack on freedom of speech and thought it posed.
In each case when white supremacy has been challenged, the response has been to demonize those who dare challenge the systems of white supremacy, privilege and entitlement.
The truth is any time white males aren’t the focus of media, they throw tantrum like five-year-olds.
And media that applies the chosen one trope to non-white characters have been met with harsher criticism than those that feature white male chosen ones. I already mentioned Rey from Star Wars; similarly, when The Legend of Kora, the sequel series to Avatar: The Last Airbender, was announced, the fanboys let be known they weren’t happy. And when Black Panther came out you had marvel fans and critics say it wasn’t that good, even though it followed the same origin story model as the other Marvel films, and they claimed it was only a success because of Black people seeing it.
Time and time again white entitlement and resent rears its head when marginalized folks try to tell their stories, as though centering their experiences are an affront to white people and whiteness. Talk about Special Snowflake Syndrome.
Generation Snowflake
For those unaware, the term snowflake evolved from special snowflake, which was coined by Chuck Palahniuk in his book Fight Club. This term has been thrown around a lot over the decades since the theatrical release of it and is now often used by those on the right as a slur against leftists. However, the real snowflakes are the allo, cis, het white males who are losing their shit over more women (all be it allo, cis, het, white women), people of color, and LGBTQ+ folks being included in media.
Now this doesn’t make sense, because western media has catered to them for decades and now that the focus isn’t completely on them, they can’t handle it. The truth is they are acting like spoiled brats. They don’t get their way, so they want to burn everything down. If they were Black or brown you can best believe they’d be called out on their behavior, but because they are white and male, they get a pass. Since they were born, they’ve been told they’re special and can do anything wrong. And this combined with little to no accountability for their actions has violent consequences.
A Brief History of White Violence
The January 6th attack on the Capitol was just the latest in a long line of white aggrievement. In 1921, white residents of Tulsa, Oklahoma carried out a massacre on the Black neighborhood, and bombs were dropped on the area. In the predominantly Black city of Rosewood, Florida white mobs carried out a massacre in 1923. And in 1985 the government bombed Philadelphia. And why? All because they dared challenge the cult of white Mediocrity.
The Cult of White Mediocrity
The chosen one trope has been used throughout history to prop up notions of white superiority. From Beowulf to King Author, stories abound about great white men saving the day, which led to the notion of the white man’s burden; that as white men ;being superior to all others, it’s their burden to civilize the world. This in turn led to the white savior trope, wherein the white characters save the day, often rescuing Black and brown folks.
This coupled with the chosen one trope has created an environment of white entitlement, which says even the most mediocre white person is better than the most talented person of color. We have to work twice as hard just to be seen as equal to a mediocre white person.
Moreover, we rarely get the same chances as the white dude who does the bare minimum. In fact, when it comes to publishing, Black, Latinx, Asian, and other writers of color are held to higher standards than their white peers. For example, a white writer can publish something like American Dirt, which appropriates the Latinx immigrant experience and not have end their career.
Yet, if Black or brown writers doesn’t get everything right, they will be dogpiled by internet mobs. Likewise, when they talk about issues like police brutality and the movement for Black lives, racist trolls flood their DMs as described here.
And god forbid a Black person is the one saving the day. As Chris Rock’s character Ruff in Dogma said:
White folks only want to hear the good shit: life eternal, a place in God’s Heaven. But as soon as they hear they’re getting this good shit from a black Jesus, they freak. And that, my friends, is called hypocrisy. A black man can steal your stereo, but he can’t be your Savior.
But it’s not just regressives who want to keep media whitewashed.
A Bipartisan Affair
Because all white people benefit from white privilege, they have incentive to uphold systems of white supremacy. This is done in several ways, First, they continue to center whiteness even when having marginalized characters in their stories. As I wrote in Not Too Black, having Black and brown characters is pointless if you a) whitewash them, and b) make them passive characters who are only there to support and advance the stories of the white characters.
Second, they appropriate the cultures of marginalized groups. It isn’t your job to speak for us; we have voices, and they deserve to be heard instead of a secondhand facsimile filtered through whiteness.
Third, they continue supporting problematic content creators, simply because they like their work. I’m talking about you Harry Potter fans who continue to support the franchise despite all the transphobic crap Rowling has said. And you Supernatural fans who continue supporting the show even after the writers pulled a bury your gays and engaged in bisexual erasure and queer baiting, when they weren’t erasing people of color altogether.
Fourth, by only talking up work by Black and brown writers during Black History Month, or when another incident of police brutality is in the news. Case in point, the recent shootings at massage parlors in Atlanta, GA. The parlors were predominantly staffed by those of Asian descent and the majority of those who died were themselves Asian. And following these attacks there has been a rush to promote Asian writers and other content creators. I see you and you’re on notice, clout chaser.
Fifth, they don’t call out the racism and hatred in their fandom because they don’t want to upset their friends. Sorry, if you’re not standing up to racists, you’re part of the problem.
Conclusion
Since its inception, the chosen one trope has been a tool of white supremacy used to uphold notions of white superiority and uniqueness, but this is a myth. White people are no more or less special than anyone else. White culture, if such a thing exists, has no monopoly on innovations, the arts and sciences. Their history is full of triumphs and trgedies likes any people. Yet despite recent trends , they are still catered to in most media.
Moreover, the problems with the chosen one trope is that’s it’s been overdone with white characters to the point of being stale. Put it to rest for a few decades and let Black, brown, queer, and other marginalized folks take it for a spin, like I’m doing with Palingenesis, my debut dark fantasy/sci-fi romance novel about a bullied Black boy who learns he’s evil’s chosen one. Then he must fight the devil to protect the boy and world he loves.
Look for it later this year.
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