Things I've learned On Wattpad

Lesson 12: Characters on the defence?

In my book "Sunrise", that I haven't updated in more than a year btw, there was a chapter where one of the characters, an old lady, tricks another character into committing a sin. To be specific, she cooks chicken and pork in the same dish and doesn't tell the Muslim boy who works for her that they had been cooked together and serves him lunch. Then when questioned by her granddaughter she replies that it is not a sin by her God but by his. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I was attacked by some readers that I was disrespectful, that it was not funny and that I should not have written it.
Nobody cared that the old lady's husband went missing in war when fighting Muslims, that she was an OLD foolish lady, that in the end she is a fictional character. A character we don't have to see eye to eye with.
I am not trying to start "holy war" here because I really doubt there is a God or that even the God that I was forced to believe in since birth is in fact the real thing. That is certainly not the topic I am trying to touch here.
The question that arises is: should all fictional characters be perfect? If that was the case then the evil stepmother witch that poisoned Snowwhite would have never existed, the big bad wolf would have become vegetarian and Cinderella would have gone to the dance with her sweet stepsisters who graciously gave her their own gowns.
My point is, these are fictional characters. They are flawed, they are passionate and stubborn, they are wrong and right and they are creations of our wild imagination and creativity. That doesn't mean we agree with them, although sometimes we might. I did not agree with the old lady tricking young Ahmed but I will not apologise for it either. The character wanted to do that and she did. I wanted to get a message across. That her life experiences made her somewhat petty and that she thought it was more important for her to feed him rather than take into consideration his beliefs. That is how she felt, what she believed. Not me.
The other day I read a comment by harryslovehandles_ about people leaving rude comments in her stories. Truth is, they are not for everyone but should she apologise and justify her choices? Should I? Should you? Her characters and thousands of others are different, they are victims of their passions and circumstances. If you disagree with their actions, well fine. Maybe that is the purpose of their existence. If you agree with them, well fine again. Being rude, being inconsiderate and hostile won't change anything. If you don't like what you read then just stop reading it . There are literally millions of choices, most of them for free.
Listen, we are not here to stir trouble. Frankly, most of us are here because we want to escape our daily routine and the trouble that goes with it. So if you disagree with a character is absolutely fine. Attacking someone for it though, isn't. So my wolf will remain carnivore and my evil stepmother will remain a fucking bitch!
Until next time...
Filia xxxx