Luther not being 'black enough'

[lovevlyt]

Head of diversity at BBC said Luther isn't black enough because he has 'no black friends' and doesn't 'eat Caribbean food'

Seriously, sometimes as a black person I feel like we are our own worst enemy.

We put so many strict boxes and enforce stereotypes on ourselves and then get annoyed/offended when other cultures do it to us?

I found it quite upsetting, actually and felt that we should as a community be more accepting of each other if we don't fit into the stereotype of 'blackness'.

Just sad really.

[lovevlyt]

Also just to add I've actually never watched Luther so maybe there were other things in it that contributed to the diversity head stating this?

But purely based on not seeing a character eat Caribbean foods and having white friends so he is not being considered black is just disappointing.

[GrumpyHoonMain]

I kind of agree. How can the BBC get away with tokenism by showing this about London, one of the most diverse cities on the planet?

I think the only time we actually saw him with a non-white person was when Indira Verma was on the show.

They did the same in Sherlock - turning London’s Arab Quarter into white central.

[GrumpyHoonMain]

@lovevlyt

Also just to add I've actually never watched Luther so maybe there were other things in it that contributed to the diversity head stating this?

But purely based on not seeing a character eat Caribbean foods and having white friends so he is not being considered black is just disappointing.

He (and Indira Verma) were the only people of colour on the show. Everyone else was white. Everyone. The BBC literally had to whitewash London so they could have a black male lead on the show and it is so jarring. IE is fantastic, a great actor, and that’s probably why they got away with it - had it been another lesser known or not as good actor they wouldn’t have.

[lovevlyt]

Ok that is a fair point but why didn't the head of diversity at BBC just say that? The point you raise is a much better point to her argument about representing blackness as opposed to him not having black friends or eating Caribbean food.

I agree though, they should represent the town of London for sure and it should be a multi cultural cast.

[GrumpyHoonMain]

@lovevlyt

Ok that is a fair point but why didn't the head of diversity at BBC just say that? The point you raise is a much better point to her argument about representing blackness as opposed to him not having black friends or eating Caribbean food.

I agree though, they should represent the town of London for sure and it should be a multi cultural cast.

I guess that’s what they were trying to say and failed miserably? He was the token black person (and after IV character left the token BAME) and he didn’t have black friends or any kind of cultural roots in Africa or the Carribean.

But yeah crap show except for IE performance. That was awesome.

[Fembot123]

I really like Luther, I’m just trying to rack my brain to remember if they’ve ever shown him eating anything!

[lovevlyt]

@Fembot123 someone else said the same - if he eats in most episodes and it was never Caribbean food then I'd have a little bit more understanding but I don't know, it just doesn't sit right with me her comments.

[Fembot123]

I really can’t remember him ever eating or having friends per se, he has colleagues but I think his character is supposed to be hardened loner (typical of most detective shows/books) He is a brilliant actor though, so versatile and I personally think he’d be a much suaver bond than Daniel Craig.

[SkedaddIe]

I get where Miranda Wayland is coming from. There have been a lot of times where I've watched a black actor and the script doesn't fit and the screenplay is lazy.

But sometimes I cringe when I see headlines like this because I can just imagine the hours of discussion on LBC it will generate with those barely in the closet racists.

Stuff like this is often used to undermine us because someone will point out how Scottish/Irish people don't get portrayed accurately by lazy screenwriters. And then it'll be a 'Aha black people race card moment' and set us back another step.

[debbrianna]

I knew mn would explain this better. I truly do not see the fascination with jerk chicken or rice and peas. Not every black londoner grows up eating it becusse within blackness we are diverse group. Idris is from West African origin. I am not sure on the Luther character if he has carribean roots.

The white washing of London is more of problem for me. Not just for tv shows but movies too.

I don't think I have seen a detective show with african roots on the bbc..none of that for Death in paradise..

Last note, sometimes it's nice to watch a show without thinking about when the next racial slur is going to be thrown in the mix. It's distressing and gives me anxiety. The show "this is is us" captures it really nicely and I really enjoyed watching it.

[lovevlyt]

@debbrianna completely agree and you couldn't have said it better. It is more the whitewashing of the cast here that I see as the issue for sure, and that I agree with.

[OverTheRainbow88]

I actually agree with the BBC Head of Diversity.

[lovevlyt]

Stuff like this is often used to undermine us because someone will point out how Scottish/Irish people don't get portrayed accurately by lazy screenwriters. And then it'll be a 'Aha black people race card moment' and set us back another step.

I would take this point if I was white saying it but I'm black - and for me I think it sets US back as a community because I feel we can sometimes be very divisive and unaccepting of other blacks that we feel don't fit into our idea of 'blackness' and I think it breaks our community up further.

As a community we should be uniting not dividing based on whether we pass our own standards of 'blackness'

As another posted mentioned we are a diverse group of people - being black does not mean I should behave in a certain way or else be questioned on how black I might be.

As Barack Obama put it - there is more than one way to be black.

[PompomDahlia]

I remember there being one of the police officers with a fairly major role who was a black woman in Luther?

She picked a bad example there - Luther is supposed to be a bit of an odd character. We don’t see much of his personal life and it adds to him being cool. He drives a battered old car and has a scruffy house and seems the type to be too concerned with solving crimes to eat proper meals. Seeing him going to his nans for chicken and rice or hanging out with friends wouldn’t fit with his character. That’s why he’s drawn to the weird murderer woman - he’s supposed to be a bit lonely and tortured IMO and it’s all a bit dark.

As someone who grew up outside of London and has a mix of African and Caribbean heritage, I’d be annoyed if all black characters were shown to have the same homogenous background. We are complex fully dimensional people

[HermitsLife]

I don't know. I've only ever watched one episode of Luther and it scared the life out of me so I haven't watched any others.

I think he falls into the same trope as many British TV detectives; scruffy, irascible, oddball loner, traumatised by his work. Subsists off booze, fags and take aways or service station junk food. You can smell him before you see him. Some how irresistible to women even though he has a string of failed relationships and more red flags that a parade. A quirky lone wolf who only keeps his job because he's so amazing at it 😴

It would be nice if screen writers could come up with something different, and it would be nice to see black and none white characters who just happen to be rather than chucked in as a plot device or to make up numbers.

[HermitsLife]

And yes it makes the generalisation that all British black people originate from the Caribbean and are hugely gregarious and popular people. So that doesn't make sense to me either.

[Lndnmummy]

I find the daily fail angle particularly irksome. That somehow this was Idris Elba’s fault. As if Idris Elba wasn’t black enough.You would have thought that the narrative should have been about why BBC is unable to truly represent people of colour in their network? Throughout their network...?

[Lndnmummy]

Idris Elba has often spoken about his disappointment in the roles offered to him. Often gang/crime related. I remember reading that when he played Nelson Mandela he thought that that was it. That he had broken the glass ceiling and would be taken seriously. Only to then realise that this was not the case. He explained with such painful honesty how crushing he found that experience. I’m doing a rubbish job of explaining this, I’m not at all doing it justice but it was such a raw read.

[NurseButtercup]

I'm struggling to believe that a black woman holding the role of the BBCs' Head of Diversity said this. I suspect that her comments were minimised and taken out of context in order to discredit her.

But if I'm being naive and I'm wrong and she did make this statement, then she needs to be sacked.

[Lazierdays]

I agree OP.
Why the assumption that all Black people eat Caribbean food? Not everyone who is Black is Caribbean for a start. Plus it only shows a small section of his life not every meal and every friend. I find it more ridiculous that Black people are all supposed to live up to some stereotype regarding eating and friendships.
Does every white person on TV have to have certain expected dietary habits or can they just say eat they like?

[lovevlyt]

Exactly, I'm glad I'm not the only one found this troubling. Honestly - I appreciate there are many oppressions black pepper face but just sad when the stereotypes are perpetuated by our own - it's not even the stereotype that is troubling it's the fact she is questioning his blackness because of it, and also like many ppl point out it isn't really the focus of the show it's his work as a detective. Quite frankly makes head of diversity of BBC look like a ignorant fool IMO

Here's her quote verbatim according to SKY news and other news sources;

[lovevlyt]

• black people face not black pepper face lol typo

[bunburyscucumbersandwich]

She's putting her personal experiences onto another (fictional) person and saying that he's "not black enough" not black enough for who? Not every black person is from one place, just the same way as not every white or Asian person is.

A friend of mine years ago, very bright, studious boy wasn't black enough for his black peers at school and too much of a geek for the white boys. He suffered because he didn't fit the stereotype, or even try to.

No one should be bound by stereotypes. And comments like this just put those ties back in place for all those that are trying to break free.

[C130]

@Lndnmummy

I find the daily fail angle particularly irksome. That somehow this was Idris Elba’s fault. As if Idris Elba wasn’t black enough.You would have thought that the narrative should have been about why BBC is unable to truly represent people of colour in their network? Throughout their network...?

The daily mail is a nasty, trashy racist rag. I would not give it any of my time.

[Sugarintheplum]

Hmm, I don't think she was saying all black people eat Caribbean food or call up their mates saying 'whaaatttttsss UUUPPPPP!' Like PP said, I'm pretty certain she was quoted out of context, and we all know the motive for that.

I think she is saying this black character, and many black characters are very 2D, when in reality they would be 3D people and diversity means showing the lives lived, too. Fr example, would a senior (maverick) black police detective's life really be anything like Luther's? Not at all. This is a fantasy programme, that's true, but to me it is very clear that Luther was likely written for a white lead originally, and then ID was cast and then nothing about the character was adjusted for that, and she is saying adjustments to make the character seem more real is what she would like to see.

I felt similar with Olivia Pope. In the earlier seasons anyway, I dropped off somewhere after season 2, she was not really a credible black woman in my eyes. I couldn't relate to her. Not that I hold the only valid standard of black womanhood, but she was just very deracinated. I thin later on her being black actually b=played out a little in the plot and supporting themes.