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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

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

[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.

[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

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.

[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.

[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.