Non-white figures you'd like to see portrayed

[JakeyRolling]

Inspired by a combination of another AIBU thread and a pods cast I listened to recently, there's loads of BAME historical figures who would make excellent subjects for a tv show.

So who would you like to see on the small screen?

For me it's Zheng Yi Sao, China's pirate queen.

Forget Grace O'Malley and Anne Bonney, this woman commanded a fleet of ships and up to 60,000 pirates.

Also would like to see Mary Seacole and her sticking two fingers up at Florence Nightingale and going to the Crimea anyway.

So I have the Harriet Tubman and the Amina one to watch on Netflix. Any other Netflix gems?

Sadly I don't have a TV licence so won't be able to watch the Walter Till series.

The American Colonisation society and the establishment of colonies for free African Americans in what is now Liberia could make for an interesting (if challenging) drama. You have all the tensions in the US - abolitionists opposed the whole idea of colonization whilst slave owners supported it because they saw it as solving the "problem" of free African Americans working to free slaves. Then you also have the experience of the colonists in Liberia, most of whom were born and raised in the US - the mortality rate was horrific due to disease and, of course, it was a colony so they were settling where people already lived.

TheBBC miniseries from a couple of years ago is excellent -Black and British: A Forgotten History. It’s more documentary than drama, though. A lot of interesting historical figures in that.

Further to post by pp, if not BAME then what?

@LiterallyKnowsBest Doctor Who is rather niche isn't it, not sure if that would be walking round with your eyes closed I know she has been featured before on tv, in fact the first I really found out about her was from Horrible Histories. I just thought something about her whole life would be good.

Jung Chang , her family autobiography is both engaging and horrifying. Would like to see a film on her life.

@Hunderland

Further to post by pp, if not BAME then what?

Just nothing. Not labelling people at all - a person is a human being and that's all. HR will still ensure targets on race,sex, disability etc are worked on to ensure diversity in the work force and fairness etc but day to day we cannot be seen to label people. I completely agree actually and as a mixed race individual with also Irish romany heritage I did feel uncomfortable with having BAME tossed at me occasionally like they were paying me some kind of compliment.

It’s a fine sentiment, OP - but, as mentioned above, famous people who do not happen to be white or English are generally celebrated in their countries of origin. They don’t need to wait for recognition in the UK or the US to become significant.

So no one in the UK is allowed to or should learn about them?

Surely white ignorance of significant and interesting non-white people just helps perpetuate racism - the idea that PoC don't do anything of significance to warrant dramatisation?

It's making me really uncomfortable how you're trying to separate white and other races OP, it seems you have another agenda.

Actually fairly offensive considering the fairly light hearted topic of your thread title.

Agent Moses.

Tz'u-Hsi the dragon empress. I would definitely watch a movie about her. From what I've read a truly terrifying woman.

So no one in the UK is allowed to or should learn about them?

Do I care whether my ancestors across other continents have their triumphs and vicissitudes fetishised for the white gaze?

🤔

No, not particularly.

Obviously it’s important for people with non-white heritage (me, in other words) to know about great people in our heritage. There are vast continents where cultural creativity is based on those histories. I don’t need the BBC to validate me.

@SpellBounds

It's making me really uncomfortable how you're trying to separate white and other races OP, it seems you have another agenda.

Actually fairly offensive considering the fairly light hearted topic of your thread title.

I don't think it is the op who.is doing that,.I may have missed it though.

The op thinks the UK, which is very diverse (and I suppose the us because they import a lot of their art here) should do more diverse stories, not by tokenism, but by centering those people in their stories.

I don't think these stories should be confined to their country of origin (some of which are this.country anyway). Their stories deserve to be told to a global audience,.just as much as other stories of 'white origin".
The UK have a tradition of importing stories. So much so that some are more well known than our own. For.example, the fall of Troy is much better known here than the legend of Arthur.
Limiting stories by geography is a waste of a good story. Besides, it doesn't work. Look at the oral tradition of fairytales. Most countries have a version of Cinderella. It's crossed cultures because the narrative.appeals to people.
What op is.proposing is that these stories get told. The more these stories get put there the more people can be informed and inspired by them.

It might stop the retelling of the same stories over and over again. Do we need another film about The Tudors, mainly HenryViii and Elizabeth I?

@SpellBounds

It's making me really uncomfortable how you're trying to separate white and other races OP, it seems you have another agenda.

Actually fairly offensive considering the fairly light hearted topic of your thread title.

As I said in the OP it's inspired by another post (can Anne Boleyn be played by a black woman?) and I feel handing people from other races the roles of historically white figures is tokenism, effectively saying that other (non-European) cultures don't have anyone worthy of portrayal so "here, have one of ours"

It's interest, not fetishism. The fact there are stories beyond my borders that I've never heard of because the protagonists don't share the white part of my heritage.

Tbf, Henry the eighth and the split with Rome is as pivotal to our own history as some of the stories we are listing here are to their country of origin. I get why it's retold a lot. It's a shame that when it is retold it's full of half-truths and propaganda. But to tell the truth would be to confront quite a few ugly truths about our country, many like the demonisation of class and women which haven't changed.

But yeah I would welcome less poorly told familiar stories in favour of well told unfamiliar ones.

Mehrunnisa - amazing woman!

I watched a play on Chin Peng in his country of origin. It was very good, but rather uncomfortable sitting there as a white person whilst the colonial narrative unfolded. Obviously very good to watch from that perspective but would be good if more films did it from that point of view, being confronted by the awful things Britain did for the first time in company with the ancestors of victims is not a good introduction. England need to be more like Germany and admit our past mistakes.
There is a film about him but sounds like it might be more favourable to colonialism. Enough films do that already.

Well Empress Cixi obviously is top of my list.
Empress Suiko
Andromeda
Shaka Zulu overdue for remake
Askia the Great
Lucius Septimus Bassianus...African born black emperor of Rome
Yeshe Dawa- female bodhisvatta
Queen Lili'uokalani of Hawaii
Princess Noor Inayat Khan- spied for Allies, killed by Nazis.
Smita Naram
Empress Taytul Beru of Ethiopia who successfully stopped colonisation by French. Was also a warrior.

@LiterallyKnowsBest

So no one in the UK is allowed to or should learn about them?

Do I care whether my ancestors across other continents have their triumphs and vicissitudes fetishised for the white gaze?

🤔

No, not particularly.

Obviously it’s important for people with non-white heritage (me, in other words) to know about great people in our heritage. There are vast continents where cultural creativity is based on those histories. I don’t need the BBC to validate me.

Ideally we would all watch/read/view stories created in other countries. Especially now it is easier to do that (internet, subtitles etc) but in reality many people prefer to watch things in their own language/produced in their country. Although the popularity of Squid Game for example shows that may be changing. So, it is reasonable to discuss how we are presenting stories/history in this country, and which stories we are telling.

I suppose I also approached the question having read the thread the OP was inspired. So, I know that the issue was whether producers/directors are using colour blind casting of the same old stories to be diverse, rather than taking the trouble to find and tell some new stories. Plus, the implication that audiences are only interested in particular stories which is quite insulting. And whilst Henry VIII may be pivotal in English history, his reign is not the only pivotal moment amd has arguably been disproportionately focused on. Neither are the stories of kings the only ones that matter. We could probably survive a couple of years without an Anne Boleyn drama and tell some other stories.

[quote Knackeredmommy]Mansa Musa. Still one of the richest men to have ever lived.

allthatsinteresting.com/mansa-musa[/quote]
I clicked on this thread to mention him, so seconded!

Also, not an individual, but I'd love to see a film set in ancient Mesopotamia. The first cities! The invention of writing! I think it would be fascinating- certainly every bit as interesting as films set in ancient Greece or Rome.

his reign is not the only pivotal moment amd has arguably been disproportionately focused on.

Yeah I would agree with that. If you do any kind of humanism subject though you need an underpinning of it as lots of modern ideals and concepts have their origins there.

Also the men look sexy in tights

Maybe some African or Indian or any other country's soaps - so you find out about others' lives today. A good storyline and I don't think it matters much what colour or culture it is. Some of these are tucked away on odd channels but I'm sure it could replace some of the tedious day time quiz/ home improvements we get constantly.
BBC needs to try harder imv.