An article about the wonderfully gifted actor Sophie Okenedo in The Guardian (4th July 2014) mentioned that in order to find good parts she has to travel to the USA. She said, “I think a lot of it is [due to] costume and period drama, which must be, what, at least 40% of what we do here? Which means 40% of opportunities are closed to me already.”
Now this statement bothered me and not just because one of our best and brightest actors can’t find enough work in the UK. What’s really troubling is the apparent assumption amongst programme makers that costume and period drama is a Whites-Only zone. Peter Fryer’s Staying Power – the definitive history of black people in Britain – really ought to be required reading for anyone who produces period drama in the UK. Africans, Asians and their descendants have shaped British Culture and society from Roman times until the present. So why isn’t that represented on TV? Are programme makers in the UK simply ignorant? Or is something more sinister at work here? Have we whitewashed our history the way Hollywood has whitewashed it in the USA?
I grew up on a steady diet of B-movie Westerns in the cinema. On TV you just couldn’t get away from the things – Bonanza, The Virginian, Alias Smith and Jones, Rawhide the list goes on and on. The cowboys were always white, clean-shaven, morally upright and remarkably clean for men that lived a roving life on the open prairie.
When I started researching Buffalo Soldier I came across some startling statistics. Around 25% of cowboys and 25% of the US army during the “Wild West’ period were black.
I must have seen John Ford’s 1954 classic The Searchers for the first time when I was around five years old. I have a very clear memory of watching it with my father. Starring John Wayne it tells the story of Ethan Edwards, an ex-Confederate soldier who swears revenge after Comanches kill his brother’s family and abduct his niece, Debbie. The film made a huge impact on me at the time: I remember finding the idea of being captured by the Indians absolutely terrifying. But what was more terrifying was what happened when – after 5 years of searching – Ethan finally…
Food & Wine
~ my everyday life through the lens of my camera ~
Helping Improve Lives
Vintage Inspired Paper Crafts & Digital Design
A journey through life in Southwest France
Historical Fiction with a French Flavour
It isn't being John Malkovich, but it is being me
Writer + Poet + Mythologist + Translator: Researching East Asian Literature, Folklore, Storytelling, Narrative Design, Game Studies & Pop Culture Studies.
Daily Reflections from My Home and Garden
The Power of Story
Unlocking the Door to Your Past
Not just a blog, a philosophy
by Jack Monroe, bestselling author of 'A Girl Called Jack'
Realist, writer, reader, reviewer and rocker.
The Real England is a concise, direct, and not-so-gentle window into the depths of the leftovers of the world’s once greatest empire. It is told from the perspective of one lone (or not so lone) long term visitor. It informs one of the dregs of the country and helps to explain quaint British oddities such as the crack addicted chav.
home and away...
Artists, Writers and Visionaries Blog on the Unique and Ordinary
Collected works and other excuses from a textile obssessive
Defending Scientism
has random thoughts
Airborne, Seadwellers and Landlubbers Lives
Working with dead people
Writing - Loving What I Do and Doing What I Love!
the darker side to sedge808
Photographs, music and writing about daily life. Contact: elcheo@swcp.com
Creative Intuitive from New Zealand
Family Saga Fiction by Adrienne Morris
Burgers, Books, Music, Movies, Offbeat Adventures & Pop Culture!
Freelance journalist
theatre, film & tv past and present 2001-2008 & 2013...
Candid cultural comments from the Isles of Wonder
Horror, Science Fiction, Comic Books and More
Traveling the World Through Others
A trip through life with fingers crossed and eternal optimism.
Art, Literature, Poetry, Politics and a little History
Travel and Wildlife Adventures
Writer & Author
it's all about the story, possums...
Observations of the illusion through the eyes of wonder...
Adventures in Watercolor Painting and Sketching, Watercolour Magazine, with Charlie O'Shields
Memoir, poetry, & writing theory
The Bridge between two countries
A lifestyle blog with a little bit of everything.
A personal exploration of autism from a brother’s perspective, including family relationships, philosophy, neuroscience, mental health history and ethics
Author
Entertainment, travel and lifestyle blog
Reblogged this on First Night History.