"Get Out" portrays the literal mayhem that ensues when an African-American man accompanies his white girlfriend home to meet her parents. Another movie with a multiracial cast that is sure to rake it in at the box office is "The Fate of the Furious." The latest installment in "The Fast and the Furious" franchise opens April 14.
"Get Out" and the "Fast and the Furious" movies represent two very different approaches to storytelling and race relations. "Get Out" confronts race head-on. In "The Fast and the Furious," the race of the characters is almost irrelevant.
I took a path that is somewhere in between these two approaches when writing my novel, "The Chloe Chronicles." The story centers on the globe-hopping adventures of an exotically beautiful, multiracial young woman named Chloe Bareaux.
Like "Get Out" and "The Fast and the Furious," "The Chloe Chronicles" features characters of different races. In the novel, the issue of race comes up whenever it's relevant, but it's not the central theme of the plot.
Here are some challenges that I encountered in telling a story with characters from different cultural backgrounds and how I tried to overcome them:
Walking in my characters' footsteps. The first part of "The Chloe Chronicles" takes place in Paris, where Chloe's African-American mother, Maxine, moved before giving birth to Chloe. To accurately portray the details of Parisian life, I studied travel guides and French phrase books, watched travel shows and feature films set in France, and even took a trip to Paris.
Walking down the actual streets and visiting the landmarks where my characters interact helped me in visualizing the action, and hopefully makes the story more vivid for readers.
Revising as needed. Chloe eventually moves to New York and becomes a famous fashion model. Before her career takes off, she shares an apartment with several other models from around the world.
One of Chloe's roommates is a Latina named Graciela. Like Chloe, Graciela is using modeling as a steppingstone to realize her real ambitions. Whereas Chloe has always been in love with the movies and aspires to act, Graciela's pipe dream is to become a singer.
Graciela was originally supposed to be Brazilian. But while researching, I realized Portuguese is spoken in Brazil. If Graciela's native language was Portuguese, she most likely would not sing in Spanish and wouldn't be able to become a Latin pop star, as the plot goes. So I changed Graciela's country of origin to Venezuela.
Addressing race in a culturally sensitive way. When Chloe's mother, Maxine, meets a wealthy French entrepreneur named Jacques, who eventually becomes Chloe's stepfather, their cultural differences are apparent. Jacques is smitten with Maxine when she attends a charity ball he throws. He flirts with her and finds a culturally sensitive way to ask this black woman who speaks with an American accent about her background.
This excerpt shows how the interaction between Maxine and Jacques plays out:
“‘Maxine Bareaux,’ that’s a lovely name,” he said in his sexy accent,
looking at her with his light brown eyes, which glinted with flecks of green
and gold in the twilight.
She fanned herself, starting to feel a little warm in spite of the chill in the air. “Merci.”
“It sounds French, but your accent is American?”
“Yes. Louisiana Creole. I’m originally from New Orleans.”
“Ah, New Orleans,” Jacques said, as if fondly recalling the name of a lover.“I used to go there often as a young man when I was in the navy. That city gave me many good times and a lot of great memories. It’s such a vibrant city, with its jazz and great food and beautiful women.” He looked at her pointedly.
She fanned herself, starting to feel a little warm in spite of the chill in the air. “Merci.”
“It sounds French, but your accent is American?”
“Yes. Louisiana Creole. I’m originally from New Orleans.”
“Ah, New Orleans,” Jacques said, as if fondly recalling the name of a lover.“I used to go there often as a young man when I was in the navy. That city gave me many good times and a lot of great memories. It’s such a vibrant city, with its jazz and great food and beautiful women.” He looked at her pointedly.
A new, updated edition of "The Chloe Chronicles" is due out later this year, and I'll post details soon.
(In addition to penning "The Chloe Chronicles," Chris Bournea is the co-author, with Raymond Lambert of the acclaimed non-fiction book "All Jokes Aside: Standup Comedy Is a Phunny Business." Bournea is also the director of the forthcoming documentary Lady Wrestler: The Amazing, Untold Story of African-American Women in the Ring.)
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