Anne Boleyn

Doodledog

It does rather seem that whiteness is the most important characteristic for some posters.

Whilst I can see that there are some things that would scream as historically inaccurate (Anne wearing a watch, for instance), I wonder how much of what we consider to be 'facts' from history are, in fact, just interpretations that have caught on - often because of one director's view of how to present them?

Even 'facts' about the times we live in are not cast in stone. Ask two people to write an account of Brexit, for instance, and there is a good chance that they will present very different 'facts'. It is the same with history, except that with the distant past such as the Tudor era, there were fewer people who could write, and each time there was a change of dynasty (or in Henry's case, a change of wife) documents and portraits were destroyed, in the manner of a teenager blocking his ex from Facebook and deleting her photos from his timeline?.
There is such a lot that we just don't know, so it is left to dramatists and authors to make a story out of what little information they have to go on.

It is safe to say that Anne was not black, but casting has never really been about getting a replica of the historical character. It is far more about getting someone who fits with the dramatist's interpretation of events.

Just as an actor's hair colour, height, weight etc are not important (to most people) it is surely time that skin colour doesn't matter either? Would anyone say 'I am not watching that programme because it the casting is just to appease redheads. If Damian Lewis said he was going to play the role of a dark haired character, there would be hell to pay'? I doubt it, somehow.

Some historical accuracy is a must.
If the cast were all black then it could work, but not just one or a few characters.It seems to be a case of ‘how controversial and talked about generally can we be’ from the production team.

I'll be watching. The trailer looks fabulous.

Alegrias1

I have a theory about James Bond. That "James Bond" is a code name that goes with 007 and there have been lots of people in that position over the years. So it would be no problem at all to have a black Bond. Or a female one, or anything else.

I probably have too much time on my hands Anyway, back to the proper discussion.

Surely 007 is the code name so yes anything goes for who plays the part, man, woman, any colour, age or physical size etc but they can't be James Bond, they'll be 007 Joe Bloggs or 007 Mary Bloggs

Yammy

You or I might know Anne Boleyn was white, I saw yesterday her brother George is also to be black.
How many Scots teenagers failed their exams for following the Mel Gibsons "Brave Heart "when most of the facts about William Wallace and the history of the time were wrong.

I'm not sure if you are being serious or ironic, sorry (the vagaries of textual communication).

This is not meant as a revision course for an exam. It is a post-watershed TV drama, with dramatic license, the rules of which are usually understood by the audience.

Is blueing up politically incorrect? I'm not sure.

Well Mel Gibson's Wallace was part blue.....

Yammy

You or I might know Anne Boleyn was white, I saw yesterday her brother George is also to be black.
How many Scots teenagers failed their exams for following the Mel Gibsons "Brave Heart "when most of the facts about William Wallace and the history of the time were wrong.

Doesn't matter does it, he was white and so was Mel Gibson.

I have also read about the possibility of Henry being Kell positive but thinking about the state of midwifery then and the lack of antibiotics it is probably not surprising so many mothers and babies were lost. Henry's leg would also have been treated. The only problem I have with the new programme is that her story has been told so many times before.

You or I might know Anne Boleyn was white, I saw yesterday her brother George is also to be black.
How many Scots teenagers failed their exams for following the Mel Gibsons "Brave Heart "when most of the facts about William Wallace and the history of the time were wrong.

Agree with 25 Avalon. Those that do, enjoy.

There is a choice to watch or not to watch. I won’t be watching because it is not authentic enough for me. If others want to watch and aren’t bothered so be it. AB wasn’t chinese, Japanese, black, Asian, a dwarf, all of which are discernible features. I am sure the actress playing her is a good actress but just not for me in this particular role - no problem if she is the next James Bond.

I have a theory about James Bond. That "James Bond" is a code name that goes with 007 and there have been lots of people in that position over the years. So it would be no problem at all to have a black Bond. Or a female one, or anything else.

I probably have too much time on my hands Anyway, back to the proper discussion.

vegansrock

People made a fuss about a possible black James Bond - that is fiction too.

And a female Doctor Who.

People made a fuss about a possible black James Bond - that is fiction too.

Much of the film about AB will be fiction too

Othello is fiction.

I am absolutely certain that a number of white actors have played Othello. In fact last time I looked both Anthony Hopkins and Laurence Olivier were white, at least I think they were. Didn’t matter, did it ? Neither should this.

FannyCornforth

Fab post Lucca
Usually I can see both sides of argument. I can flip flop all over the place.
But with this - I honestly can't see why it's an issue.

That's very much how I am and how I feel.

I think we are at the stage where a lot of people are not bothering to read the thread, and repeating things that have been answered over and over.

The main objections seem to be:
It is not historically accurate to have a black Anne
No, but we don’t really know what she looked like. Height, eye colour, weight etc are all largely guesswork, so why focus on skin colour?

It is ‘woke’ or changing history to ‘appease’ BLM supporters
It won’t change anything - what happened happened, and until we have seen it we won’t know if the director is making a political point or not, or how successfully or otherwise it is made (if indeed there is a political point).

What if a white actor played the role of a black character? Blood would run in the streets
White actors have played black characters since the beginning of film and tv. Blacking up is not acceptable these days, but none of that is really the point, which is that if colour is relevant to the role, the skin colour of the cast matters ^ which is one of the reasons why blacking up is offensive^. Anne’s colour was not a part of her story.

I am not going to watch it as it will be inaccurate and ‘woke’
Your prerogative, but it seems very closed-minded (to me) to not even give it a try before boycotting it.

Have I missed anything?

You read Twitter too ??

I was just going to post that!!

https://signal-corridor.live/uploads/talk/202105/medium-625919-13011946-6a40-492d-b54d-688a9588b546.jpeg%3C/span%3E https://signal-corridor.live/uploads/talk/202105/medium-744974-99ccf607-13a8-4396-9834-07e26d0f2cf0.jpeg%3C/span%3E

So. This is Jonny Cash’s first wife Vivien and the actress who portrayed her in the film Walk the Line. I’ll just leave this here….

Katie59

There would be an unholy row for sure if a white Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela was used, riots in the street probably.
But that’s different, isn’t it.

I addressed that 3 posts above yours....for the second time

Alegrias1

Katie59

There would be an unholy row for sure if a white Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela was used, riots in the street probably.
But that’s different, isn’t it.

Lucca explained very well why a white actor playing MLK is entirely different to a black actor playing Anne Boleyn.

It would be interesting though, wouldn't it, to have an alternative history series where people of colour had arrived in the US first, and enslaved Europeans. Might give some food for thought. In fact I think Bernardine Evaristo wrote such a book.

Also Malorie Blackman's recently televised Noughts and Crosses.

Katie59

There would be an unholy row for sure if a white Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela was used, riots in the street probably.
But that’s different, isn’t it.

Lucca explained very well why a white actor playing MLK is entirely different to a black actor playing Anne Boleyn.

It would be interesting though, wouldn't it, to have an alternative history series where people of colour had arrived in the US first, and enslaved Europeans. Might give some food for thought. In fact I think Bernardine Evaristo wrote such a book.