Hi! I'm a writer and I'm currently working on a retelling of Sense & Sensibility where Marianne is polyam and ends up in a triad with Willoughby and Brandon. But since Marianne is very dramatic and overemotional in the original, I was wondering if I would play into harmful stereotypes with that?
Polyamorous people can be dramatic and overemotional. Monogamous people can be dramatic and overemotional. People are complex and unique, and we always have been.
The current online culture around media consumption and criticism is, in my opinion, bizarre and unhelpful. Don’t worry about being attacked or shamed for “playing into harmful stereotypes” because you want to write a specific character a specific way, especially since it makes sense with the source material.
It’s good to be conscious of problematic tropes as a writer or creator, and as a polyamorous person I do appreciate your attention to this, but I don’t think this is a problem here. Of course, I don’t speak for all polyam people, and someone else might be offended by your work, but since you asked me, my answer is: nah, it’s whatever. (And your project sounds cool!)