Midsomer Murders race 'row'

[Eki]

Yes and the old people would be miserable gits like our nextdoor neighbours....

You live next door to Victor Meldrew?

[Tazio]

I've noticed that in British TV shows there often are mixed-race couples but in American TV shows it's not so common and the couples are usually of the
same race. Am I just imagining, or is my observation really true?

The short answer is you are correct. However it is changing rapidly. I have a conspiracy theory that think tanks study demographics and make decisions that are based on the bottom line economics

Captain Kirk and uhura shared the first interracial kiss in a 1968 episode of Star Trek







However Captain Kirk demonstrated in the same season that he was an equal opportunity horn-dog as he was also into Green Aliens

[Mark]

I agree that having all white all the time probably isn't realistic, but tokenism isn't the answer either.

[BDunnell]

I agree that having all white all the time probably isn't realistic, but tokenism isn't the answer either.

I'm not sure that having a black character in Midsomer Murders would be tokenism, though. After all, it's not just white people who live in English villages.

[Mark]

I'm not sure that having a black character in Midsomer Murders would be tokenism, though. After all, it's not just white people who live in English villages.

True, but now they would be introducing a black character just for the sake of having one, and that's tokenism!

[MrJan]

I agree that having all white all the time probably isn't realistic, but tokenism isn't the answer either.

I love how South Park have a character called Token Black.

Of course it would be tokenism, Ben, to suddenly put a black character in purely off the back of all this fuss is exactly what tokenism is. And for the most part the English villages down this way are very much an all white afair.

[Hazell B]

Hmm, because other than that the programme is just SO realistic....

Exactly - it's just a bunch of characatures anyhow. It's set in a time and place that don't, and never have, existed.
Adding coloured actors is adding realism, something that has no place in murderous Midsomer :

The impression I'm getting is that some hack went out looking for exactly this story, asking the right questions to get a decent set of nasty sounding quotes from somebody stupid enough to give them. And now the media are baying for blood .....

One of my horses is named Midsomer Madness (Somer) after the show and a quote from my favourite play. Another is called India. Diverse enough?

[MrJan]

The impression I'm getting is that some hack went out looking for exactly this story, asking the right questions to get a decent set of nasty sounding quotes from somebody stupid enough to give them. And now the media are baying for blood .....

It's funny how, amongst untold tragedies in Japan (just the nuclear thing alone would be terrifying, let alone along with the other disasters) and numerous uprisings and riotings in the middle east, the British media are making a huge fuss over some white guy saying that he doesn't see what would be added by bringing a black character into the TV programme he writes. The human race is ****ing ridiculous.

[Dave B]

It's funny how, amongst untold tragedies in Japan (just the nuclear thing alone would be terrifying, let alone along with the other disasters) and numerous uprisings and riotings in the middle east, the British media are making a huge fuss over some white guy saying that he doesn't see what would be added by bringing a black character into the TV programme he writes. The human race is ****ing ridiculous.

Not really - the media are still covering the Japanese situation as well, it's not binary.

[Hazell B]

There's a disaster in Japan, yes. But you're still here talking about Midsomer Murders, calling it ridiculous to be talking about it