Midsomer Racist?

Pross

I see the creator of Midsomer Murders has been suspended after saying that he deliberately doesn't have black characters in the show. I've only heard his quote second hand and whilst it appears his wording was a bit clumsy all he seemed to be saying was that the programme is set in a characterture middle England environment full of eccentric sterotype upper middle class types and black characters would not be in keeping with that setting. As I say it comes across a bit clumsy and I'm surprised he didn't realise he would get accussed of being racist but if race relations groups find this the most pressing matter then race relations in this country must be in a far better situation than I had realised. Surely they would have more grounds for complaint if a black character was introduced and then either murdered or committing murder (and all of the characters in that over-the-top series tend to fall into one of those categories other than the police). I would have thought there are plenty of rural villages in that part of Oxfordshire and Bucks where there are no ethnic minority groups.

Weejie54

I've only heard his quote second hand and whilst it appears his wording was a bit clumsy all he seemed to be saying was that the programme is set in a characterture middle England environment full of eccentric sterotype upper middle class types and black characters would not be in keeping with that setting.

True-May, the drama's co-creator who has been with it since day one, said: "We just don't have ethnic minorities involved. Because it wouldn't be the English village with them. It just wouldn't work.

"Suddenly we might be in Slough. Ironically, Causton (one of the main centres of population in the show) is supposed to be Slough. And if you went into Slough you wouldn't see a white face there.

"We're the last bastion of Englishness and I want to keep it that way," he added.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media ... 42250.html

Doesn't seem to be talking about eccentricity.

I would have thought there are plenty of rural villages in that part of Oxfordshire and Bucks where there are no ethnic minority groups.

You might be wrong...then again, you might just be stereotyping. Does "English" mean "white"?

Mr_Cellophane

So why don't they suspend the producers of Eastenders where there is also too high a proportion of white families compared to the real East End :roll:

rick_chasey

It's well known that casts with predominantly non-white actors get worse ratings. (in the US and Europe)

The wire in particular suffered from it (apparently). I know people who I tried to get to watch it, only for comments like "they all look the same, I can't tell who's who" etc.

I'd imagine this issue is more accentuated with the murder mystery genre which, at a guess, probably has more older viewers, who, by their very age, are likely to be more racist, or at least, will not necessarily appreciate the ethnic diversity of their TV viewing.

Edit; Perhaps also - the writers didn't want race to become part of the issue. Murders involving different ethnicities always carry that element, at least at the suspicion stage.

After all, it's not a political programme.

Weejie54

So why don't they suspend the producers of Eastenders where there is also too high a proportion of white families compared to the real East End

Have the producers of Eastenders made stupid comments too?

I've never seen Midsomer Murders, but it appears to be set in a fictional county.

It appears that the town of Wallingford has been used for filming. It also appears that Wallingford has at least three Indian Restaurants.

The guy is an arse. Good riddance.

daviesee

Who decided that fiction had to reflect reality?

Was the Bill Cosby show racist because there were no white people?

Will the Hobbit be true to reality?

People need to get a grasp of perspective.

Pross

You might be wrong...then again, you might just be stereotyping. Does "English" mean "white"?

So me being correct isn't an option then is it? I don't know that part of the country well but (as you go on to admit you've never seen the programme you may not realise) most of the villages used are little more than hamlets (church, pub and a couple of dozen houses) and it wouldn't surprise me in the least to find that many of them do not have any non-white residents in real life. That would certainly be the case in comparable villages in my part of the world and areas of the south-west that I know quite well. I would agree on the main town being unlikely to be all white though although I'm amazed to discover it is based on Slough!

As you haven't seen the programme by your own admission you might not realise that it is completely over-the-top, bordering on camp in some ways with the sort of characters you would have found in early British TV programmes so I'm amazed that anyone even thought to question the creator on the lack of black characters in it. Yes, his response is badly worded but I'm not sure it is racist.

Weejie54

People need to get a grasp of perspective.

People need to get a grasp of reality. Deliberately not employing non-white people because of some half-baked notion of a "bastion of Englishness" is racist. End of. That's why the guy has been booted out. Making feeble excuses for him is pointless. I don't see what Bill Cosby has to do with it.

Weejie54

So me being correct isn't an option then is it? I don't know that part of the country well but (as you go on to admit you've never seen the programme you may not realise) most of the villages used are little more than hamlets (church, pub and a couple of dozen houses) and it wouldn't surprise me in the least to find that many of them do not have any non-white residents in real life. That would certainly be the case in comparable villages in my part of the world and areas of the south-west that I know quite well. I would agree on the main town being unlikely to be all white though although I'm amazed to discover it is based on Slough!

As you haven't seen the programme by your own admission you might not realise that it is completely over-the-top, bordering on camp in some ways with the sort of characters you would have found in early British TV programmes so I'm amazed that anyone even thought to question the creator on the lack of black characters in it. Yes, his response is badly worded but I'm not sure it is racist.

I think you've missed the point. See above. The guy made a deliberate decision not to hire non-white actors based on his own stereotyping. Did he research "the villages and hamlets in Middle-England"? I doubt it. I don't need to watch the programme. It is the opinions of the idiot who was suspended that matter. He was suspended for his comments, not the recruitment policy.

tarquin_foxglove

Rick Chasey wrote:

I know people who I tried to get to watch [the wire], only for comments like "they all look the same, I can't tell who's who" etc.

Makes a change from 'some of my best friends are black' I suppose.

verylonglegs

Having had a quick read of the BBC article it doesn't sound racist to me, usual storm in a teacup. There are plenty of villages in Norfolk which fit the profile of the one portrayed in the show, I think the whole population of the county itself is 99% white, it's just how things are. So you have a murder series set in such a backdrop...*shrugs*

Weejie54

There are plenty of villages in Norfolk which fit the profile of the one portrayed in the show, I

I don't watch the show but even I have ascertained that "Midsomer" is a county, not a village.
So, do you know of any "all white counties"?

daviesee

Weejie54 wrote:

People need to get a grasp of perspective.

People need to get a grasp of reality. Deliberately not employing non-white people because of some half-baked notion of a "bastion of Englishness" is racist. End of. That's why the guy has been booted out. Making feeble excuses for him is pointless. I don't see what Bill Cosby has to do with it.

One show is all white, the other is all black. That makes them equal in my eyes.

CiB

You're just playing at it. Have a look The Telegraph's coverage - sensible, reserved... - and then compare & contrast with the comments below the story. Marvellous, that there is an outlet for some of these people.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/crist ... o-instead/

guinea

There were no black kids in my town when I grew up. You'd probably have to get a train to meet one.

If there was to be a realistic TV show made on my home county up to the year 2000 there would be no black people in it.

Should Midsomer Murders have black people? Sure, if the director or writer wants them. Otherwise, no. Not every programme on TV has to have an agenda or a social purpose.

Weejie54

One show is all white, the other is all black. That makes them equal in my eyes.

One show is American, one is British. One show had a producer making silly comments, that if turn out to be true (policy of hiring only white people), could fall foul of legislation in Britain. The guy was sacked because of his comments - which were that the show only had white people in it because it was "the last bastion of Englishness". Comparing it to an American sitcom has no relevance whatsoever.

Weejie54

If there was to be a realistic TV show made on my home county up to the year 2000 there would be no black people in it.

Where do you live? South Africa?

bearfraser

"Xenophobia", sponsored by "Persil" ????????????

thegreatdivide

the film looks good

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/arts ... 103153624/

MichaelW

In my small Suffolk village in the 1980s we had one black farmer and one black farmer's-daughter (adopted by a white farmer). There were quite a few Eastern Europeans around (Hungarians, Poles, Czech refugees rather than recent migrants), some Italian's left over from POW days.
Most of the black faces were from USAF personnel.

So not entirely Persil-White but maybe whitish.
I am more suprised by the high murder rate in Midsommer than the Lack-Of-Blacks. Its not like any real village I know. I can't even remember seeing a police-person EVER, let alone a violent crime. Why cant they make it more realistic and have nothing happen all the time.

The most bizzare Lack-Of-Blacks on TV has to be that African vet nonsense on Sunday evening.

Weejie54

Why cant they make it more realistic and have nothing happen all the time.

Isn't that known as axing the series?

Ben6899

Weejie54 wrote:

Why cant they make it more realistic and have nothing happen all the time.

Isn't that known as axing the series?

No. It's known as "Lark Rise to Candleford", the tripe which my mum watches.

snailracer

Ben6899 wrote:

Weejie54 wrote:

Why cant they make it more realistic and have nothing happen all the time.

Isn't that known as axing the series?

No. It's known as "Lark Rise to Candleford", the tripe which my mum watches.

This series interests me - my life is so spectacularly dramatic and action-packed, the concept of boredom seems quite the novelty

beverick

verylonglegs wrote:

Having had a quick read of the BBC article it doesn't sound racist to me, usual storm in a teacup. There are plenty of villages in Norfolk which fit the profile of the one portrayed in the show, I think the whole population of the county itself is 99% white, it's just how things are. So you have a murder series set in such a backdrop...*shrugs*

Lets face it. If the series had been filmed in Norfolk the cast would have had to have shared the same surname.....

BTW, do I take it the producers of 'The No1 ladies detective agency' will be sacked because it doesn't portray a representative ethnic mix.....

Bob

Weejie54

BTW, do I take it the producers of 'The No1 ladies detective agency' will be sacked because it doesn't portray a representative ethnic mix.....

I seem to recall there being some British people in that series - even the odd white one, considering it was set in Botswana. Moreover, I don't think the producers ever came up with such a crap line as "last bastion of African-ness" and made a point of not employing whites on that basis. Nobody was sacked for not portraying an ethnic mix - just for making comments when challenged for not doing so.

Then again, trying to justify blatant racism by comparison with other shows is pretty shallow.

Jez mon

So...

A show had a predominately/exclusively white cast. This to me seems realistic based on the fact that whilst midsomer might be a county (OK a fictional one) most of the crimes (if the few glimpses i have seen are representative) take place in the stereotypical English village.

Having lived in a village for the last 10 years, I can safely say, the vast majority of people are white British. In fact, I think the only black person I have ever seen in the village was my friend, when he visited!

Ditto the surrounding villages, and those further afield I have cycled through.

(Unfortunately?), when the producer came to reflect on all this, he did come across as a bit of a BNP fan.

ravey1981

Jez mon wrote:

So...

A show had a predominately/exclusively white cast. This to me seems realistic based on the fact that whilst midsomer might be a county (OK a fictional one) most of the crimes (if the few glimpses i have seen are representative) take place in the stereotypical English village.

Having lived in a village for the last 10 years, I can safely say, the vast majority of people are white British. In fact, I think the only black person I have ever seen in the village was my friend, when he visited!

Ditto the surrounding villages, and those further afield I have cycled through.

(Unfortunately?), when the producer came to reflect on all this, he did come across as a bit of a BNP fan.

I would have to say this is my experience too, living in the Yorkshire Dales. There are very few black people living here. So, if a TV series were to be based here, then to be "realistic" there would be no black characters. This wouldn't be racist but just a true reflection of rural life...

fast as fupp

Lets face it. If the series had been filmed in Norfolk the cast would have had to have shared the same surname.....

.

and one eye

Homer J

If i make a film about tigers it aint going to have any feckin lions in it.- Deal with it.

Weejie54

Having lived in a village for the last 10 years, I can safely say, the vast majority of people are white British. In fact, I think the only black person I have ever seen in the village was my friend, when he visited!

OK, so now it's a platform for declaring who lives in the most white village. FWIW, I have lived in Scottish Highland and Island villages, and at present am in a quiet rural area in a small village. Every place I have stayed in has not been exclusively white (and never could be).

All irrelevant to the fact that the richardhead made racist remarks. He deservedly got the heave-ho.

Weejie54

If i make a film about tigers it aint going to have any feckin lions in it.- Deal with it.

Lions and tigers are different species. Deal with it.