Anne Boleyn

Maybe - I can overthink ?

I think in this case that there is not a lot of thinking to be done, though. We have few facts about Anne (or, indeed, about many historical characters from so long ago), that so much of what we think are 'facts' could very well be wrong. This one just seems so irrelevant to her story that all the objections just don't stack up (for me, anyway).

welbeck

what about a school nativity play.
will the black children never get a chance at mary or joseph, forever consigned to being the black sheep.

Steady on! Using the expression 'black sheep' will set some people off.

It hasn't been mention yet - the actor playing George Boleyn (Ann's brother) is also not white.

Is that a problem for the some posters too?

Were the Boleyns black? If not this is just silly.

Its called acting folks- they will be using language that the real person didn't use, wearing clothes that are not 100% authentic and so on. Do we think AB s skin colour is the most important thing about her? What if someone with the "wrong" hair or eye colour was cast? would there be such an outcry? Surely its the story/ drama that is the important thing. Bring on diversity I say.

www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/may/23/jodie-turner-smith-anne-boleyn-interview-queen-slim-kaluuya

interesting interview with the actress about the role

Lol true!

The dresses from Disney do not match the historical eras at all.

"Reign", while very visually appealing, is more like a catwalk of models than a historical depiction of events.

To be honest seamstress if someone is playing a historical figure I do get annoyed if they have the wrong hair or eye colour. Just as I expect clothes and hairstyles to be correct.

If it's fiction people can do anything that works. Years ago I saw Athene Seyler on Wogan. I think she was in her 90s and she did one of Rosalind's speeches. She was instantly a young girl, it was beautiful.

As an addition to the what abouts- men dancing swan lake??? It was astonishing and fabulous. As many have said, it’s about the performance not the colour or gender.

I stand by what I said. We'll obviously not agree and I won't be watching that 'woke' nonsense.

Ah Aveline. I’m afraid it’s a new world and it’s not going away whether you want it to or not. Embrace or ignore. I guess it’s like the 50s when Elvis swivelled his pelvis. Cries of shock horror then. It’s the way of life. It grows and changes. We either accept or stay angry. I know what I choose.

Have you objected to the hundreds of white actors who've played Othello

They were blacked up. If this actress had white makeup applied that would redress the balance.

"woke nonsense" = a sneer at anything that is anti racist

Why is it that if someone criticises wokeness the response is not reason but accusation of racism?

25Avalon It’s designed to end the conversation. Used indiscriminately to stop further discussion. In other words - a ploy.

Criticising "wokeness" isn't criticising awareness of social problems and attempting to fix them . It is expressing annoyance at the implication, by giving it a bright new incomprehensible jargon name, that this new generation are the first in history to recognise that these problems exist and try to do something about them .That is an insult to the many who have worked for decades at changing laws and public attitudes, so that we no longer see, for instance, signs in windows of B&Bs saying "No Irish, Coloureds or dogs". It is also an insult to the many more, who would never have put up those posters to start with, who were never hostile to Irish or Coloureds, but are now told when they say something like that "the night was pitch-black dark" that they are racist.

Insulting people who were never hostile to you (meaning a general "who" here, not anyone specific) to start with is not furthering the cause at all - it sets up hostility where none existed and makes it seem that what you are seeking is actually revenge and it doesn't matter that it is not against the individuals who had previously attacked you.

I get your frustration but isn’t making up new words what every generation does? And, every generation tries to claim they’re the ‘first’ to do X or Y. And claims their predecessors were to blame? It’s just the youth of today doing what every generation has done for decades. Maybe try using the word? Once older people catch on to Woke it’ll go out of fashion faster than you can blink ?

Hithere

It hasn't been mention yet - the actor playing George Boleyn (Ann's brother) is also not white.

Is that a problem for the some posters too?

I was thinking that when using colour blind casting it might have been better to cast a white actor as her brother, to convince people , unless of course both of them were the best they auditioned for the parts.

Excellent post Elegran. As much as I love anything and everything about the Tudor dynasty I don't think I'll watch this particular production as for me, a black actor taking on the role of Anne Boleyn just doesn't fit.

I agree with a lot of what you said in your post Elegran, but IMO, 25 Avalon's criticism of 'woke' was not as well thought out.

It came across as assuming that because someone black has been cast in the role of AB, it must be because of some sort of 'race card' (dreadful term), or, as the OP suggests, is 'removing something from history'.

We haven't seen the series yet (it airs on June 1st, by the way), so we don't know what impact, if any, the casting has made on it, much less be able to second guess the motives of the casting crew.

Franbern

welbeck

what about a school nativity play.
will the black children never get a chance at mary or joseph, forever consigned to being the black sheep.

For more accuracy, then these black children should actually be in the front of the queue for obtaining the roles of Mary, Joseph, etc. Unless, of course, there are Arab children in the school. Always was fed up with the way the very pretty, blonde haired girl got the part of Mary!!!! Of course, for centuries European artists painted their Jesus pictures with little regard for skin colour accuracy.
Skin colour is pretty unimportant in acting any role.

Well for accuracy maybe the Jewish kids should get the parts?

If I was a cynic I would say that casting Anne Boleyn black was simply to draw attention and discussion to the production.
It certainly has done that!.

The casting of Anne Boleyn’s brother does rather muddy the waters. The focus changes from an actress chosen for her talent to a family cast to stand out from the rest of the Tudor court, with colour as the chosen distinguishing factor. It would have made more sense to sprinkle some non-white actors among the cast, so that colour was not an issue, rather than to define the Seymours as non-white, which they clearly weren’t.

But we haven't seen it yet, so we don't know what would have made more sense

I give up?

Doodledog you claim I am criticising woke. What I said was Why is it that if anyone criticises woke they are accused of being racist referring to Seamstresses response to Aveline.