Don't choose a different character just because you're afraid what people might say, because chances are it'll hit home with another group of people and it'll be so inpsiring to them that it'll even out.
I would say no it is not to controversial for example here in Britain the most popular soap on TV watched by people of all age ranges has a character who is a gay Muslim. the only thing I would say is if you are going to mention Islam or any religion for that matter make sure you do very very good research on that religion. The other thing I would say is where as it is not to controversial but maybe not the right audience aiming it at young adults and teens probably more the sort of thing adults maybe more interested in.
Don't be afraid to write what you want, especially since your aim is not to offend. Game changers are people willing to press the envelop. South Park takes shots at Muslims (like they do everything else), in response a radical Muslim group issued threats. Jon Stewart of the Daily Show told that radical group to go f-k themselves lol So I wouldnt worry about your character
I think it would be amazing if gay and religious teens had more role models of any kind, even minor characters. It's hard when you don't see any part of yourself in most books and movies. It can make kids feel invisible.
When reading this post, I wanted to reply that it depends on the context and can't be written in merely to create role-models. It needs to be honest, so it needs to be written as part of the character's natural identity. But then I realized that my current MC is a gay teen girl who is deeply spiritual, simply because that is her character. That's who she became as I wrote without any conscious construction.
I agree that in terms of writing that you shouldn't necessarily aim for just that, but if that's who the character already is and then someone is considering changing it to suit the generalized masses, that seems a shame to me. I mentioned teens who need role models as an argument for letting your characters be daring and out of the mainstream, not a reason to force it. The idea of normalizing for the sake of selling makes me itch. People are all different, and just because it doesn't always sell to show certain types of differentness in certain genres, whole groups of people get left out a lot of the time. It seems like a self fulfilling prophecy to me. Just explaining myself but then I rambled. I hope that didn't sound defensive or anything.
The first thing that came to mind for me as I read this was the TV show Shameless (US). Granted, the gay character who is a Muslim isn't a YA but the boy he's having an affair with is. The show manages to acknowledge the difficulties and pressure of homosexuality and religion but it doesn't focus solely on it. Other than this example, I haven't seen much on it but I'm sure there is literature on it you could research.
Looks like a great way to get free publicity. I probably wouldn't be interested but if you can upset a vocal person with your content you'll get a lot of free press. Maybe a price on your head too but you're an artist so who cares? Right?
Based on what you wrote it seemed like you agreed with me, rather than being defensive about it. We pretty much wrote the same thing, mine just more vague.
Write whatever feels natural. If you think he should be a gay Muslim, run with it. Let's be honest, you'd probably get more publicity because it's controversial anyway.
-really,I think you should talk to a gay muslim about it.granted ,finding such a person may not be easy to find.but that's probably the safest thing to do.it's a good idea.ironically,I have a character who is bisexual and he's muslim,so he's constantly at odds with the two,to the point where had stop going to the mosque among other things...
