On Blackwashing history

Last night I watched the first episode of 'The Great' on Channel 4. This show is described as a 'comedy-drama'  and the first episode is summarised as follows:

'Catherine marries the Emperor of Russia, Peter. However, her hopes of tying the knot with a great love are dashed as she learns that he is a selfish, spoiled brat who stands against everything she values.'

Anyone wanting historical accuracy should look elsewhere, as the Wikipedia entry for it states (the writer) 'had jotted down some names, relationships and a few historical bullet points, torn up the paper, and started writing'.

What we are left with is a typical current year Woke agenda-pushing piece of feminist fantasy, Catherine is strong and enlightened while the male characters are all weak idiots. What I found most off-putting though was the casting, in the 18th-century Russian imperial court there would not have been much diversity yet we had two nobles played by a Black and Indian actor. 

There seems to the latest trend to have in any major production, the other week my suspension of disbelief was shattered by, of all things,  All Creatures Great and Small's Christmas special, which featured an elderly mixed-race couple in 1930's rural Yorkshire. At least when Downton Abbey showed a character having a relationship with a black man it was plausible (an American Jazz Singer working in a London club), but this set of by BS meter.

Mention also has to be made of the forthcoming Channel 5 production that will have a Black Anne Boleyn, and Netflix's Bridgerton also features Black nobles in Regency England. 

Defenders of these casting choices will claim present-day diversity casting is more important than historical accuracy, but if that is the case why bother spending a lot on getting the sets, props, and costumes as historically accurate as possible. If diversity is the key goal why not just make a contemporary drama?

Finally, my biggest problem with this is the lack of recprocity, can you imagine the outcry if the situation was reversed, for example having white people in tribal African gear wandering around in Wakanda? 



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