the world's first unmanned flying desk set: Quoting myself because it's relevant to an argument going on on my dash...
Where is it that your piece is set that there just aren’t any POC there? I mean, I’m sure there are places like that. Wherever it is that white people fly to when they take white flight comes to mind. Maybe you’re writing a story set in a gated community in the suburbs of…
While I agree with most of your argument, I feel it necessary to point something out. In Japanese animation, it usually appears as though the vast majority of characters are white. But even though characters are sometimes depicted with blond hair or blue eyes, it is used as a design choice to differentiate between characters that are all native Japanese. They are not drawn to look caucasian, but rather depicted the way the Japanese view themselves. Blond hair in an animated character would be used to illustrate that someone has a lighter shade than most of the other characters. The reason I wanted to say this is that while I agree with your statements on Disney films, which could be more racially diverse, I would argue that animation is style, and therefore can be interpreted by the eye of the beholder. An asian, a caucasian or a hispanic could (and in my opinion should) be drawn exactly the same, if it’s done in a stylized way. I loved Disney’s Mulan, but I didn’t see the need to make every character have narrow eyes. As far as I’m concerned, narrow eyes are something a caucasian would see as different, but an asian wouldn’t notice about another asian. To draw attention to such little differences creates racial boundaries, rather than blurs them.