The new Murakami book Colorless
Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimmage came out this week. I haven’t
read it. Full disclosure.
I have already seen multiple people on the internet
disgusted by this novel because the main character is a man who was falsely
accused of rape by a crazy woman. While I obviously have major suspicion about
any rape case involving a woman people dismiss on the vague and usually sexist
grounds of “crazy,” it does happen.
From time to time. It’s obviously the worst thing ever because even one instance
of a false accusation is all anyone can remember every time someone is
legitimately asking Help. Please.
Perhaps we don’t need more stories about evil-rape-fiction
people. They permeate bigoted brains. Why add fuel to the fire? Well, maybe if
it’s a good story. Or an important story to the author. Writers have
responsibilities to their audience and culture as a whole, yeah, but they are
still artists and get to do what they want.
Hey, I for one think it would be really really hard to be a
man falsely accused of rape. Just because many men lie about a woman lying
doesn’t leave the truthful ones in any less pain. Metaphorically, be wary. In
considering what the world has already heard, use care. ALL STORIES ARE VALID.
