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Token Love Interest

Revision as of 00:49, 21 December 2019 by Virvar (Message Wall | contribs)
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”Hi there! Want the appearance of more diversity on your white show, now that the audience is savvy (because they weren't before, it's not like they just didn't have the means to spread awareness)? Look no further! In casting a minority as your white lead's love interest, you'll get the appearance of diversity without having to put in any work! Who is this love interest? What do they want, what motivates them? Who cares! As long as they're around to cheer the hero on when necessary, no need to fuss. Come Season 2, you can start leaving them in the background, their sole existence based on their white romantic partner (or, if all else fails, the other men in the narrative!)”

It's a tendency that's cropped up recently, notably in superhero television, seemingly as a way to finally give main roles to characters of color... only, it doesn't pan out that way. It's more of a In Name Only second billing, but the character gets neither the screen time nor the independent development afforded the lead, nor, importantly, the independent characterisation afforded their white counterparts, sometimes even the other supporting characters. If they do, it's usually in an otherwise all-white cast which isn't exactly reflective of the real world communities the shows are supposedly trying to depict.[1]

Compare Black Best Friend. Subtrope of Token Minority and Love Interest.


Examples of Token Love Interest include:


Literature

  • Harry Potter — Cho Chang, criticised for being a character named with two last names as an indicator of not taking care to properly represent a non-white culture.[2]
“She’s written mainly as Harry’s love interest, which means that we learn absolutely nothing about her, apart from the fact that she plays quidditch and joins Dumbledore’s army. Despite a brief comment by Hermione on how much Cho is going through in "The Order of the Phoenix," we learn nothing about her. She does not get the challenge the stereotypes that Rowling has placed upon her.”[3]

Live-Action TV


  1. ↑ Agent Carter Adds Superhero TV’s Newest Trope (January 2016)
  2. ↑ Talking Back to White Creators: Rachel Rostad’s “To J.K. Rowling, From Cho Chang” (October 2013)
  3. ↑ Let's Talk About Cho Chang (June 2017)
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