Space Racism, Oppressed Wizards, and Other Marginalized Fantasy Allegories

Rite Gud

Sci-fi, fantasy, and horror have always used speculative elements to express political ideas. HG Wells wrote War of the Worlds as a reaction to British colonialism, Tolkien explored his feelings about World War I and industrialization in The Lord of the Rings, and Mary Shelley had a lot to say about gender and modernity in Frankenstein. Many speculative authors use fantastic creatures–mutants, fairies, werewolves, androids, vampires, and so on–as allegories for oppressed people. Sometimes that can work. But sometimes, it falls flat in terms of storytelling and politics.

In the first episode of our second season, Ashely Adams joins us to talk about plant influencers, gay werewolves, and what House in the Cerulean Sea has in common with The Iron Dream.

Links:

• How Allegory in Sci-Fi Can Narrow Representation
• Interview with TJ Klune
• 48 Books by Indigenous Writers to Read to Understand Residential Schools
• Best of Super Best Friends play Detroit: Become Human
• A super-dark deleted scene from Zootopia
• Hijacking the Dead? Terry Pratchett and the Trans ‘Debate’
• Grey

About Rite Gud: Raquel S. Benedict is an author, appearing in Fantasy and Science Fiction and Gardner Dozois’ The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction. Matt Keeley, founder of Kittysneezes, is producing Rite Gud for KS Media, LLC. Rite Gud is a Kittysneezes production. If you have questions, comments and concerns, email ritegud – at – kittysneezes – dot – com. Rite Gud is also on Patreon, at patreon.com/ritegud. Patrons receive access to the official Kittysneezes Discord, exclusive episodes and more.

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