BBC Exec says Idris Elba's "Luther" isn't black enough to be real.

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   Lone Wolf Primeposted 3 years ago

   
   According to various sources, the BBC Chief Diversity Officer says that Idris Elba's character in "Luther" wasn't black enough to be realistic.    According to them, they claim that while it was great to have a show being headlined by Idris Elba, as he portrayed  a strong black male lead character in a TV series, but they said by season 2, they noticed that his character didn't seem black enough to be real.   Uh...okay...  Anyways, this person goes on and says the reason why he wasn't black enough to be real was his character's lack of black friends, and how he didn't eat Caribbean food....   So if you don't have a set number of black friends, then you ain't black?   Even if you were born black?   Uh...didn't know that your ethnicity depended on who you were friends with but okay.   
   
   Also this person is aware not all black people eat Caribbean food right?   Seriously, I'm half Chinese, part Native American and Part Hispanic, yet I eat Caribbean food sometimes so does that make me black?  I don't get where this person is coming from, but they sound racist.  Just stating a personal observation.   
   
   
   However, what are your thoughts on this?  Are they right that Idris Elba's character wasn't black enough because he didn't have enough black friends on the show, and he never ate Caribbean food?   Please discuss.  Oh here's a link to know more.  Enjoy. 
   
   https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/idris … r-BB1fEYkJ

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      Credence2posted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Gee whiz, what is "black enough"?
      
      I don't particularly favor Carribean food  as I lean more toward an Asian cuisine, where does that put me?
      
      No one likes to be typecast.

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         gmwilliamsposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Credence2, the statement "Black enough" is a limited stereotypical paradigm.   Black enough is an antiquated concept regarding "what it means to be Black.  Blackness isn't a monolith.   I am Black & I WON'T BE LIMITED by inane, antiquated paradigms of what is "defined" as being Black.  OH NOO....  I am Black but I am also a UNIVERSAL being who intends to experience MANY ASPECTS of the world.   I also love Asian cuisine, particularly sushi.   I love opera.  I love foreign movies, especially German & Russian movies.  I HATE Good Times which I feel is stereotypical.   
         
         As a child & adolescent, I was called a white girl because I liked rock'n'roll music & music beyond the Motown genre.  I grew up in a middle class environment at a time when the average Black was working class or below that.   My world/environment wasn't theirs.   I happen to love Caribbean food & some soul food except for chitlins, pig's feet, etc. which I find disgusting.    Credence2, you & I are what would be classified as assimilated Blacks.  We aren't stereotypical Blacks.   Most solidly middle, upper middle, & upper class Blacks aren't what would be classified as archetypal or stereotypical Blacks-those labels would apply to Blacks in the 4 lower socioeconomic classes-(1) underclass, (2) lower, (3) working, & (4) lower middle class.  Blacks in those 4 socioeconomic categories  exhibit characteristics that are Black stereotypes.

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            Credence2posted 3 years agoin reply to this

            Yes, i am liberal, progressive in both my politics and thought who just happens to be black.
            
            Whites and Blacks contribute to the existence of this paradigm.  Stereotypes robs one of his or her individuality. Stereotypes are for the lazy and pedantic folks that rather judge people as a part of a component subset rather than take the time to learn of the individual. We all do it and it is lazy.
            
            With the noted exception of "Roots" during that period, it was hard to find TV with Black characters in serious roles.
            
            And I do remember being ostracized for not listening to the right music or not wearing the right clothing or not having the appropriate swagger. Peer pressure is always powerful stuff among the young, but Blacks moved it up a notch or two.
            
            I wouldn't use the word assimilated, as it denotes blending in to a standard set by the dominant culture. We went through periods of hair straighteners and bleaching cremes in an attempt to model after the dominant culture. I don't care about "a standard", I do as I like. A lot of that has come with advancing age and changed expectations and values. The 21st century and the progressive model requires that differences between people be embraced, and not used to ostracize. However, there is a "black" standard for such assimilation within our group, that I resist as well.
            
            I don't "blend in" but standout. I won't conceal my differences from the "standard" to be more palatable to others.

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               gmwilliamsposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               Definitely.   Solidly middle, upper middle, & upper class Blacks have a purview FAR different than that of their underclass, lower, working, & lower middle class brethen.  More affluent Blacks have been exposed to different milieus than the lower class categories of Blacks who have more limited exposure.
               
               Lower class categories of Blacks are what one would call ghetto or today hood.  They live in a Black world.  They are suspicious of anything which is not deemed Black.  They believe in keeping it so-called real(whatever that means).They are the thugs & the ratchets.  They have that ghetto fabulous mindset.   These are the people that I AVOID.  These are the people whom Red Lobster would be considered upscale.   They comport themselves in a different way than Blacks in the solidly middle, upper middle, & upper classes do.
               
               Sadly I hate to say that many of our solidly middle, upper middle, & even upper class young people conduct themselves in a hood fashion.  They imitate the worst/lowest aspects of what is deemed Black culture.  Some of them are adopting the mentality, outlook, & philosophy of the lower class, ghetto/hood Black.

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                  Credence2posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  We have to ask who set the standard? It has been sustained and reinforced in so many places, both explicitely and implicitly.
                  
                  White culture is not identified based on the Appellachian model of its poorest members. I don't see Italians American identified based on the Mafia and crime families. Media sort of has this tendency to portray Blacks in the negative, inextricably associated with crime and violence. One would think that it is the dominant culture, but it is not.
                  
                  Even in the sit-com, "Fresh Prince of BelAir", Will Smith plays this hip kid from the hood while his adopted family, the "Judge" and his family, clearly affluent and successful, come off as "nerdy" and out of touch. Definitely, outside of the "norm". There was never a Black version of  "The Brady Bunch", a normal middle class family with normal middle class family problems. I have to remind myself how "The Beverly Hillbillies" were received in BelAir, this once poor family certainly was not the norm and was the butt of all the laugh tracks. If you think that was ridiculous, the poop would have really hit the fan if a Black family had moved in.

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                     gmwilliamsposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                     Exactly, there is no ETHNIC/RACIAL cultural monolith.  Each ethnic & racial groups have varied cultures & even subcultures.  Within each ethnic & racial groups, there are socioeconomic, educational, & other variants.  The show ALL IN THE FAMILY portrayed a Caucasian family who was in the lower socioeconomic realms although the series indicated that the family was so-called middle class.   In the same series, the Jeffersons, a Black family, was more socioeconomically affluent than the Bunkers were.    There were many Caucasian families in abject socioeconomic conditions portrayed on television e.g. the Waltons.

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                     Lone Wolf Primeposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                     One could argue that the Cosby show might be a "black" version of the brady bunch considering both shows were wholesome clean family comedies about middle class families, but sadly due to recent events, I'm not sure anyone really wants to look back at the Cosby show with fond memories though.   Of course, there's always "Family Matters", but that show seems to be forgotten as time goes on, as I view that show as more of a fad for it's era than being an all time great sitcom.  At least, that's my opinion on it.  It has nothing to do with the fact that it's cast was majority black, but mostly because the show relied too much on tropes and cliches that were popular for that era of TV that it's slowly being forgotten about.

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                        Credence2posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                        How can I forget about the "Cosby Show", America's favorite family during the 80's. I was living in an isolated spot in Montana at the time and white workmates always asked me if I followed the latest episode, sort of letting me know that they were interested and followed every installment. I shocked them when I told them, "no", that it was too wholesome, I was watching "A Team".
                        
                        Nice people as a whole, but I had to tell them that I was not Michael Jackson's personal valet and did not know why he wore the sequined glove one hand.
                        
                        Your opinion is good, I have forgotten "Family Matters". But, I do remember a ridiculous character named "Urkle". For the most part, it was a just another minstrel show.

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