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Turning white characters black

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LaCrepescule Tue 01-Jul-25 06:54:16

This is going to be controversial no doubt but what do you all think of turning white characters (in books and history) black in screen adaptations? Personally I find it patronising to people of all colours.

Imagine the backlash if a black character were turned white? There should be more adaptations from books and history where the real characters are black in the first place. I’ve just read Cover Her Face by PD James which was written in 1962 and is set in rural England so not surprisingly all the characters are white. I was excited to see that C5 have made a series based on the Dalgliesh books but disappointed when I saw that it looks like new characters have been introduced who are non-white.

Don’t think I’ll be watching because I loved the book so much but do correct me if I’m wrong!

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eazybee Wed 23-Jul-25 11:17:28

With reference to Cover Her Face I am very well aware there were black and Asian people living in Britain in 1962, some being fellow pupils at my school at that time in the Black Country, but the book deals with the murder of a housemaid in a country house in a country village, and no black or Asian characters were specified by P.D.James.

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Mollygo Wed 23-Jul-25 11:49:09

I don’t remember Cover Her Face, but in a country house, in a country village, è wouldn’t the most likely person to have been black at that time have been the housemaid, and even that’s stretching it a bit. Killing off the only black character would not go down well.
The only program I’ve found so far that successfully integrates a variety of ethnic colours, is Father Brown. One particular episode highlights the probable reception of a black priest, by the village inhabitants at that time.

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