Colour blind casting - am I being thick?

[ImJustMadAboutSaffron]

I'm watching Sherwood that was on recently, am up to episode 4. What I don't understand, and was told it was colour blind casting when I discussed it, is why actors of obvious Asian heritage are given characters with names like Fraser, Andy and Neil Fisher.

Diversity in drama is one thing but I see this as taking the mickey and denying someone's heritage. Or am I overthinking it?

It has taken the OP several weeks to think of something to be offended about the almost universally lauded Sherwood, and even when she does it's a completely ignorant attempt. Did your drama get passed over the the BBC, OP? Has James Graham pissed on your chips or something?

I think it depends on whether you want accuracy or entertainment from the programmes you watch. I drive my family mad by pointing out the inaccuracies in anything based on true stories or books from a certain period whereas they just watch them for the art and entertainment value. The black Ann Boleyn really irritated me for example - making entertainment out of the tragic life of a young (white) woman just didn’t sit right at all, just as white people playing

Of course you aren't 🤔

Back in the day many people were given the surname of their plantation(for example) owner.

If they now live in the UK after a few generations why wouldn't they have names like Andy and Neil

Who said anyone was offended? I didn't. I have only started watching it this week so I am late to the party.

And your post is completely ridiculous. "Ignorance" means not knowing something. If you don't know something, you often seek answers. Hence my OP.

I wasn't aware that Asians were plantation owners back in the day.

And you're right, of course I'm not (trolling). Thanks for the support on that 😉

OP "I wasn't aware that Asians were plantation owners back in the day."

i can't tell if this is a "joke".

But there is a big difference currently between, for example, an asian person playing a 'white' character and a white person playing an 'asian' character.

The parts written for asian characters are far fewer than the parts written for white characters

For years now white people have been taking parts written for asian etc characters, leaving the very small amount of roles available greatly diminished

If we had truly colour blind casting then yes a norweigian person could play a character with the name Faiza Salim. Given the asian population in Norway constitutes a similar percentage of the population as they do in the UK it might even be an asian Norwegian.

But in the meantime lets just get to the place where there are enough parts for everyone to be respresented

Neil is an Indian Hindu name.

Anyway, when a script is written, the character is already created, why would you then want to change their name no matter who you cast? Making anyone who isn’t white have a non-white name for their character would be odd.

Would you rename Simon Bassett with a Zimbabwean name in Bridgerton, or is he allowed to have a typically English name as Rege is half English?

When I was at school in the early 60s I had a friend who was born in India but came to England as a young baby. She had a beautiful Indian name but her aunt in India had just had a baby and was planning to come to England so had written to my friend to ask for suggestions for a beautiful English name for her baby as she thought it would make life in England easier for her. I think they chose Angela. Of course her surname would have been her family name so she had an English first name and an Indian surname so not quite the same.

To be fair they did rename the Sharma sisters in the second season, they were originally the Sherwoods in the book. Not that its particularly relevant just showing my level of Bridgerton geekiness 😁(it gets much much geekier!)

But the difference to what the Op is going on about anyway is that Bridgerton isn't claiming to be colourblind casting, there were asians in the Georgian ballrooms, so actually having them in as asians is not even historically inaccurate.

No, not a joke at all. I am not aware of that. You clearly are, so perhaps you'd like to enlighten those of us who aren't, to stop those of us who don't know, being such horrid people. Or maybe I will go off and Google. It is, after all, our friend.

Your second paragraph is exactly what I was trying to understand. Thank you.

I have never watched Bridgerton, so I have no idea who Simon is.

Yes of course. The phrase "Taking the mick/mickey" can be offensive to Irish people. You can Google it to find out more.

We got told this in diversity course about 15 years ago ( alsotold " nitty gritty" was offensive but cant remember why)
I keep mentioning the "taking the mick" being offensive when my Irish family and friend say it but I'm told not to be so fucking stupid with made up upset!!
🤷‍♀️

My great grandparents were indentured slaves. Went from India to Jamaica. They would have been given the plantation owners surname, or the name of the plantation, as their surname.

I don't imagine a Norwegian type actor (hope that is not racist) auditioning for or playing a part of a character named for example Faiza Salim. Feel free to correct me without insults.

Surely it very much depends on the story? All the characters that you have mentioned just happened to be of Asian heritage but were English. There are plenty of non-white people who were born and raised in the UK and have English names.

Presumably a Norwegian-looking actor could audition for a part with the name you gave if they had been born and raised as part of the culture in question.

So Mr Smith, who owns tate & lyle plantation may have have slaves named

John Smith née chidozie abimbola
Paul Tate
Matthew Lyle

Often firstnames were anglicised too, often from the bible.

Not hard to understand really, if you're not being goady or troll-ey

Not hard to understand at all, once someone explains something to you that you didn't know, no.

Apologies OP

my experience of all this "curiosity" is it's a precursor to racist abuse.

I don't expect people to know particular things but I do expect to be accepted as British, my skin colour is not linked to whether I am called Emma or Constance or Aoife.

I watched a drama a while ago about a lesbian couple in 1940s England. One of the couple was black. I kept thinking how awful it must have been fighting two prejudices. I have a friend whose parents were an interracial couple in the 50s and I am part of an interracial couple since the 80s. I could not understand why the film wasn't addressing the racial prejudice they must have faced. Eventually the penny dropped. The actors were chosen for their acting skills.

I asked my Irish workmate about this today, he just laughed and said he couldn't care less and wasn't offended in the least.

The thing about Sherwood, though, is that they cast an Asian actor to play the son of an Asian man. He may, of course, have done the best audition but that doesn't seem like colour blind casting to me - if they weren't worried about racial accuracy why not cast someone black, Chinese, white?

It wasn’t colour blind casting though was it? It was a series with a load of white characters and a family with Asian heritage