I’m writing a story about a biracial superhero. He’s in his 20s, and his dad is a extremely wealthy Black businessman. His mom is Japanese, and she comes from a wealthy family. I don’t want to give too much away, but there is something about his family’s history that resurfaces, and it connects to his powers. He is basically trying to find out what it is. My friend says the story is stupid and no one would want to read it.
Well I can say with some certainty that no matter what your idea is, something stupider has made it to print in Marvel or DC probably both.
On top of that, I’ve found that people tend to be more critical of things they perceive as amateur efforts, even if the quality is the same. If you watched a movie scene by an incompetent director and catch a mistake you’ll probably be derisive, but put the same mistake in a movie by a renowned director you’ll probably wonder if it isn’t intentional and serves some artistic purpose and might not react as negatively even if it is genuinely a mistake.
For your issue what I would say is that you should consider what you want people to find compelling in your story and then ask yourself if this detail serves that vision. Its possible your friend is reacting to something undercutting the draw of your work, but it is just as possible they just aren’t getting it. Seek more opinions if you want to understand how others are reading it, but ultimately you have to trust your vision.
You mean Marvel, the company that created such notables as:
Credit where it’s due, they were willing to throw everything at the wall to see what stuck.
Starfox sure activates my brain’s pleasure centre.
Barrel roll intensifies