Generic Title

Eleanor & Park rant

Tw for discussion of racism and mention of the R slur(r*tard)

Eleanor & Park is literally the most disgusting book I've ever read. I had to stop reading it because of how upset it made me. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish it one day, so that I can form an even more complete opinion(which I know will probably be hating it more). As a biracial Asian Canadian teen, this book was terrible in so many ways. It angers me to no end, and the fandom makes it even worse. I try not to hate on people for liking problematic media so long as they acknowledge it's problematic, but there is a line, and Eleanor & Park definitely crossed it. The fact that a white author thought she could write the struggles of being Asian American as well as biracial without any research as far as I know and definitely no sensitivity readers is infuriating. The racism practically leaps from the page, and I wonder at the fact that not only do people actually like it, but it won awards and is now getting a movie. Clearly, nobody involved in that decision cares at all about actual Asian Americans. I do not trust a single person who gave this book a good review.

I was under the impression that Rainbow Rowell had issued an apology for writing Eleanor & Park, perhaps due to a post I read online, but seeing how excitedly she announces the movie and how she talks about the characters shows me that she has learned absolutely nothing from writing the most racist book I can remember reading. She has to have seen at least one person criticize it for how racist it is, and yet she doesn't care at all. She goes ahead talking about it, she goes ahead approving the movie. There is no way she hasn't seen the criticisms, and yet she carries on. Even if she has apologized, that apology would be not only null and void but laughable considering how excited she is about the movie. It is hailed as an incredibly romantic book, having somehow won a staggering 21 awards, and yet Eleanor acts and thinks racist things multiple times without facing any consequences or learning from her ignorance. Some of the book's defenders argue that this is all fine because it takes place in the late 80s, but it was published in 2012. There are plenty of ways to realistically depict the racism of the time without making the book itself racist. And no matter when it takes place, it is still a romance novel. In an interracial relationship, no one involved should be looking down on the other race(s) or thinking things akin to the things Eleanor thinks. It doesn't matter that it takes place in the 80s, Eleanor can educate herself.

While we're at it, so can Park. Park has a plethora of issues, and his internalized racism is probably something many mixed kids deal with. Showing that portrayed in a realistic way, although it might not be Rowell's place as a white woman, would have improved this book tenfold. Or she could have done away with it altogether and found something better for Park's personality and arc instead of relying on his race and the issues tied into that, something she as a white woman clearly has not even a shadow of an idea about. The things she wrote in that book and got away with is flabbergasting. Park criticizes his mother's accent and ridicules her for not assimilating more into American culture. Eleanor thinks incredibly racist thoughts, and if they are acknowledged as racist, she says "Well, that's racist." and then moves on. Rowell was clearly incredibly ignorant when she wrote this book and remains so to this day. Her book has hurt so many people, but does she give a fig about them? Not at all. She didn't even stop at Asian Americans; she kept going. Black people have discussed how stereotypical and offensive the black characters in Eleanor & Park are. The book also contains a variation on the R slur(r*tard) at least once, although I recognize that the way we react to words now is different, and at the time it was used to mean 'stupid' and although that is still what people use it for, fewer people thought of it as a slur.

And in case you thought Rowell has improved, I'd like to remind you how in Carry On, one of her more recent books, she has a character who was Egyptian as a child yet, somehow, when he gets turned into a vampire, he also turns into a white person. European features and all. What a diversity queen. People act as though Eleanor & Park reminds you of what it is like to be young and in love, that it perfectly encapsulates what it is like to be a teenager. To those people, I say that this book shouldn't do neither of those things. It should remind you of what it is like to read a book by a racist, ignorant author who has no idea what she's writing about, similar to someone who tries to prevent climate change by driving their car for 10 hours every day. In Park's case, it perfectly encapsulates what it is like to be a character of colour written by said racist, ignorant author. In Eleanor's case, it perfectly encapsulates not only what it is like to be written by the racist, ignorant author, but it also perfectly encapsulates what it is like to be racist without knowing or caring that you are racist, similar to Rowell herself.

The movie is probably going to be hailed as an excellent coming-of-age story in the same way the source material is. It'll also probably be celebrated as a win for representation, biracial people, and Asian Americans, as well as plus-size people(although it is highly unlikely they'll cast anyone a pound more than vaguely chubby). Although I cannot speak on the last part, seeing as how Eleanor's struggles with her weight are made completely irrelevant by the book's racism, it is, if anything, a loss for biracial people and Asian Americans. This book does not deserve to be a movie. This book does not deserve to have a fanbase. This book does not deserve to win awards. This book deserves to be a prime example when talking about racism in fiction, and nothing else. This book deserves to be utterly hated by everyone. I sincerely hope the movie is cancelled, although I highly doubt it will be. We'll just have to deal with people praising it for hopefully only a short while.