Opinions please: Do modern authors have any "social responsibility" in terms of their characters?

Question

For example, if any minority is an antagonist (bad guy) should there be a similar minority on the good side? Or, if you want to play with stereotypes, what if you had an "angry black man" as the protagonist and the "pretty blonde airhead" as the evil mastermind (somehow, lol)?

Does it matter as long as quality literature is produced?

Answer 1

Hollywood panders to the PC agenda, most authors don't.

to the questioner--ha, you're right. although a lot of times you'll see hollywood change the screenplay to fit PC parameters. but more often, authors refuse to allow their work to be adapted (good example: JD Salinger, author of Cather in the Rye).

Answer 2

the only time that race ever seem to be mentioned in a book is when it's integral to the story. otherwise the race of the character - and subsequently the balance of race - is unimportant. so my answer is if the author feels its necessary to specify a character's race then s/he had a reason & it's worth examining to discover their motivation for doing so.