Can the main character of a story be a TokenMinority?

Even if they’re the only representative of their group, it eould seem impossible for the main character to have the attendant lack of development and marginal role in the plot of a Token Minority. Am I correct in thinking this?

It'd take a lot of convincing that a main character would fit, yes. I'm not going to say it's completely impossible, but I can say I've never seen anything close to it.

Mighty Whitey tend to be a Token Minority in their stories.

Not really. Just because they're a minority in the specific group they find themselves among doesn't mean they are a minority in the cultural context of the work itself. Both minority status and tokenism inherently require a disparity in cultural, social, or economic power between the "majority" group and the "minority" group. If you're a member of the majority, you don't become a minority just because you're placed in a fish out of water situation.

Further, you are most certainly not a token if the explicit purpose of the story is to focus on the differences between your cultures.

edited 31st May '18 6:45:02 AM by Fighteer

I don't think it's possible to play it straight, but it can be played with. For instance, a Token Minority character might get his Day in the Limelight, which means he'll be the main character of that particular story, but still a token in the main work.

Or, it can be a parody. Imagine, for example, a cartoon called "The One Black Dude" which is a parody of Archie comics, but from Chuck;s viewpoint. He's still technically a token within the show's universe, but we know he's the main character.

I've never seen either of those previous examples in the wild, but it could be done. What can happen is a character start out as a Token Minority and evolve into a popular enough character. Black Panther was pretty token-ish when he first showed up, and now he has his own movie...

If they get their own work, they're not really token anymore. Character Development is a thing that tends to take characters away from being tokens.

It would be more of an inversion of White Male Lead. Token Minority is generally referring to the supporting cast, which means anything from the best friend to an extra.

This is relevant as there's a TLP draft that talks about minority being main character/group leader.

The correct answer is no. A main character is by definition not a token.

Just what is a "token", then? I (and probably some others) think it's simply when there's someone who's different than others, added because there's some kind of required quota or something...

That's part of it. They're added to add diversity to the cast, but that's pretty much all there is to the character. That's their main thing. It's The Smurfette, or The Black Dude (Who Dies First because being there to be black is not interesting). Sometimes they have one more trait, often a Positive Discrimination trait (like some variation of The Smart Guy) so that no one can complain they're somehow portrayed as inferior for being the minority. But their main purpose for being in the work is to add diversity. That's important.

Then what does change when the "diversity addition" character is the protagonist?

The protagonist is pretty much by definition there for reasons other than diversity. Being The Protagonist is the obvious one.

Then there must be some other way of calling "a protagonist that's 'different' from others".

The protagonist being different or special in some way is fairly standard.

I think that race alone is the wrong lens to be using here. What's the narrative function of their race, exactly? Is it to make them a Fish out of Water? An Angry Black Man? A Mighty Whitey? We have all these tropes about characters being or feeling out of place in their setting or culture, so pick the one that's closest.

If I answer the narrative function with "could be anything", is that not enough?

Race and gender are not tropes in and of themselves. What effect does this character being a minority have on their role in the story, or their characterization?

I think you realize that when I said "could be anything", the race would have a function/be significant in the story. It's just that I'm not being specific because there'd be a lot of functions.

If I have to mention a few (for minority protagonist specifically), that'd be, like, demonstrating the strength/intelligence/cultural difference between the minority and majority, showing how the minority would deal with another race (as they're the focus character), etc.

Positive Discrimination, then?

The only way I see it happening is an inverted Mighty Whitey which I do not know if there has ever been a case of that.

^ like, a black or Asian in a white-dominated setting?

The whole premise of the "Token X" tropes is that they exist mostly for diversity's sake than for being individual characters where race/gender/sexuality isn't their exclusive identity. There is a lot of cynicism behind it where it is seen as a marketing ploy, a "put in a black character to attract the black audience" sort of mentality. Which reaches it's apex with the Five-Token Band, you have one of everything. If they are already the protagonist, that makes them a viewpoint character and the production is seen as targeting that minority group already (unless you're an actor with universal appeal like Will Smith or Dwayne Johnson).

The exception would probably be where the token minority is the viewpoint character in a specific scenario as an observer to the "white leadership", something along the lines of a Supporting Protagonist, and the fact they are there to bring diversity defines their relationship with the rest of the cast.

I could see it maybe counting if the show is otherwise exactly like every bland show with a token character, and the show absolutely refuses to address the main character's minority status in any way, shape, or form. Like, if it's a generic kids show that just never ever focuses on race or gender, the main character being the only minority character in the show might qualify them as a token.

Then again, it might be good to have a show that doesn't make a big deal out of its minority characters being minorities, especially with a minority protagonist.

Edited by PushoverMediaCritic on Jul 3rd 2018 at 2:22:13 AM

Yeah, isn't that the ideal goal — to have minority characters without anyone noticing or caring? Tokenism requires more than just, "This one dude is black, but it has no effect on the story."