Avoiding disrespect to other cultures?

[carloswebcomic]

Nothing makes me groan more than when other cultures are misrepresented by worn out clichés or simply made up rubbish.
With that in mind, I find myself at an impasse with something I want to do with my comic.

Being raised in a Catholic/Christian household (now a faithful atheist), I know enough about that religion to feel confident in using elements from it like demons and angels, etc, etc, and take the piss out of it when needed.

However, I've always had a fancy for mythology around the world, specially Eastern.
So I had this idea to use one of the Hindu goddesses in my comic. Problem is, not being raised in that culture, I don't really want to show disrespect.
I always believed that if you're going to use something, you should do it with a great degree of knowledge and familiarity.

What are your views on this?

[phen]

I agree wholeheartedly with you about being respectful by being educated. Especially when dealing with other cultures' religious elements. That's a sensitive subject in itself mainly because religion is often a deeply personal thing. Research, experience, interplay with those active in the religion are crucial when it comes to trying your own hand at representing them. While it's almost impossible to come to a similar, full understanding as a person who's lived their life in a specific religion, it's definitely not outta the cards to learn as much as you can.

Dedicating a lot of time and energy to the subtleties of a particular religion is necessary because it can be extremely easy for you to overlook something and even easier for a person in-the-know to spot your misstep! Even if you have good intentions, you know all about blasphemy and how damning that can be (also raised Catholic, went to Catholic school a couple years here!).

So yes! I think, especially if you're interested in Eastern mythology, definitely start with reading some academic articles. I took several Asian philosophy and history courses while in uni (also fascinated with Eastern mythology and philosophy!), but I barely scratched the surface on things.

Concerning Hindu goddesses, personally, I'd look up on the symbolism and myth origins in tandem with historic icons and pieces of texts they're connected to. Your accumulated research should work like a spider, spinning a web out from the key figures themselves. It'll be really fun, though, the history of ancient myths are always amazing things to learn about. You'll probably be picking up on new ideas as you go!

[joannekwan]

I suppose this can apply to any "group" you don't identify as part of but want to depict in your art anyway.
My best advice is, especially if it can be a touchy subject, to do as much research as you can and if possible, consult with a person who has insight in that subject.
Of course you can only do so much research, I think you can take artistic liberties as long as you don't totally flip a 180 on the characters (like a pacifist god declaring war, something like that). And as always, avoid harmful stereotypes.

[Zannen00]

So I had this idea to use one of the Hindu goddesses in my comic.

I remember this article when I read that.

[Choosybeggar]

I agree with the above statements, and want to quote the title of an excellent book. Steal Like an Artist. It means to take a concept from someone else, make it yours, and once it's truly yours you don't have to worry about the obvious origins. If you put your own work beside the original, you'll find you made it different enough to be unique, even if there's familiarity to it.

So if you're worrying about offending people, yes, do the research. But if you make a character that's based off of an existing deity but ISN'T the same thing, but rather your personal interpretation, you'll do well. I'm not sure how clear I'm being, but simply ingest the character, digest it, and what comes out eventually will be your own creation that commands its own respect.

[phen]

But if you make a character that's based off of an existing deity but ISN'T the same thing, but rather your personal interpretation, you'll do well.

Ooo, this is a good thing to take into consideration that I hadn't even thought about! Take it and make it yours and if anyone asks, you can point them in the right direction, "Well, she's like this existing concept." Readers will have something to grip onto, like part of an equation, but you can balance it with your own side.

[Vikiro_Hop]

The fact is that if you are delving into religion of any type and representing that through your art there is a good chance someone somewhere will be offended. Some people are not going to like it, a lot of people will differ on what is mythos and religion, but if you are a bold writer you should not let that bother you. Some things need to be seen and some discussions no matter how uncomfortable need to happen. If you wish to do that through your art then do so!

That being said I agree with the above, if you want to cover something like that research will be your biggest ally. Unless of course you want to convey a purposefully ignorant view of that subject. (because of humor or satire.) Learn what you can about that Hindu goddess since she already has a precedent for her behavior it makes sense to want to represent her faithfully. At the same time taking various gods and parodying them is not a crime, it can be an interesting story mechanic actually.

In the end you do not have to be born in a certain culture to use parts of their live in your writings. The more research the more authentic and earnest it will seem though. It will show that you as an author have a healthy interest in other cultures and you are willing to adopt certain things to make an interesting story.

[winglesscomic]

Armchair research is good but honestly just find someone who is actually versed in the religion you're investigating. Hearing something out of the mouth of someone who has firsthand exposure to it is better than reading about it on the internet. Ask on Reddit or go to some forums related to what you want to study and ask there.

It isn't anywhere close to subtleties of religion but, when I needed to study armour I talked to people who actually made and wore armour so I understood why X or Y was made the way it was rather than just looking at a chart of armour pieces. It made me feel a lot more aware and have a better understanding of the specific way various armour is crafted, by consulting a person of firsthand experience instead of just passively browsing.

I think you can benefit much more in your research by doing this. (I also think this should be the standard go-to procedure for anyone trying to write a mental illness instead of reading a wikipedia article about a mental illness, but I digress.)

[carloswebcomic]

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.

[monotone_ink]

When it comes to implementing a concept from another culture, especially one you're not familiar with, do research.
A LOT of research.

[FixerTheWise]

I think this is the reason why most fantasy stories especialy the old ones like Tolkiens books, center around white people in medieval or ancient europe inspired settings. You write what you know, yknow?

I wouldnt worry about including Hindu dieties and such into a story, same way I wouldnt mind including Hades, or Thor, or Ra. No one owns these characters and you can feel free to put your own spin on them.

What's a different question all together tough is if you so choose, representing let's say Indian culture. I know next to nothing about it so I would be very hesitant to try. I know plenty about Japanese culture and I wouldnt tackle that either, I don't think my knowlage is vast enough. So yknow, I write what I know. Plus I think it's more fun to come up with your own fictional culture, more work definately but more fun. And if you take inspiration from other cultures for your fantasy culture, people shouldn't be offended.

Tough sadly we live in a time when everyone gets offended at something, I say screw them. It's your creation ultimately it's up to you.

[chanalli]

For me, my characters are from different countries (England, Australia, Russia, Japan and Korea) so I have to be careful with what they say about their childhood or the slang they use...
I have to go to google and do some searches but It doesn't always help...
I've been trying to meet people from those countries and use as reference but It is kind of hard 😰

[SpavVy]

Someone will always be offended no matter how much research or effort you put into it. Nowadays people bitch and complain about the littlest things just for the sake of bitching and complaining.

[carloswebcomic]

Well, yeah. There will always be whingers. I'm not particularly worried about them (OH NO! A BLACK PERSON IN STAR WARS?!! WHITE GENOCIDE!!!!!!!!!! OMFG SJW!!!! And so on....).

What I'm concerned about is actually misrepresenting a culture or an important figure within a culture. When you're not familiar with something, you don't know where the boundaries are or how much hurt you're actually causing.

[Kura]

There is very little you can do to avoid it (not saying not to do your research and do your best not to, just don't be shocked when people complain despite you doing that). I keep getting people 'correcting' me on how a culture / country / race / gender preference acts all the time DESPITE me being a part of the communities they are 'educating' me on. When people are looking for something to be pissed off and 'correct' people about they are going to find it (even when it's not actually there)

For fucks sake if I get one more American telling me that I do sloppy research because 'Canada does not have Jr. High Schools' or 'Canadians don't have milk cartons they get their milk in bags' 'You shouldn't have based you comic in Canada if you weren't gonna bother researching Canada and just make it like the USA' I am going to fucking snap. (I live in and was born and raised in Canada, I have visited the USA here and there, and the amount of time I have spent there would probably add to one and a half months. So I'm not entirely sure why people think I am not qualified to write Canadian characters or stories that take place in Canada and be more qualified to write American characters and locations)

[shazzbaa]

Someone will always be offended no matter how much research or effort you put into it.

I feel like the point isn't to avoid offending people, though; the point is to be respectful and fair. Some people will be offended even if you are respectful, but that doesn't mean there's no point in being respectful!

Being raised in a Catholic/Christian household (now a faithful atheist), I know enough about that religion to feel confident in using elements from it like demons and angels, etc, etc, and take the piss out of it when needed.

This is the thing that makes this tricky, to me. There's a guideline in comedy that's something to the effect of "never punch down," which is basically that if you make fun of someone at your level or more powerful than you, that's funny, but if you make fun of those less powerful than you, it begins to feel more bullying and uncomfortable.
If you just want a Hindu goddess to appear in your comic, I think you have the right idea in terms of the research and understanding you'd need to get it right. But if you're wanting to "take the piss out of" elements of that religion as well, it's a little tougher since it could feel like punching down? and I'm not really sure if there's a good way to mitigate that

[SpavVy]

@shazzbaa Well of course he should still be respectful of the subject, I never said there was no point in it, sorry if it came across as sounding that way.

And as for the star wars movie...ugh don't even get me started. I see so much of the WAAAH a black person!

[jacintawibowo]

Definitely as a lot of people have mentioned here, it's the big research. I even had to research my own culture sometimes to try to make an honest portrayal of it. That said, I don't let the research dictate the creative process too much. For some, I've twisted the legends from my culture to bring a different view point on it, that still pays homage to the original tale but with a new twist.