Gender and Race: 3 Things the new Who has got wrong, and 3 it's got right

[kateorman]

As we pause to catch our breath between seasons, I wanted to jot a few notes about the new Who's record on race and gender. As with any TV show past or present, it's a mixed bag of "tick vg" and "must do better".

Gender and Race: 3 Things the New Who has got wrong

1. The Chino-planet of Shan Shen, which seems to have sprung fully formed from a

Comments

[alisoneales]

Hmmmm - I'm not sure that the proportional representation issue is that straightforward. Our population may be 8% non-white overall, but the regional variation is staggering - I was reading yesterday that it's over 30% in London and almost 40% in Leicester, but under 5% in the South West (and I'm assuming that South Wales was included in that) - as the 'Britishness' of the show is (from what I've seen) kind of dually anchored to London and Cardiff, you could forgive it for having a bit of an identity crisis on this front. Nonetheless, it *definitely* does better than much of British TV, particularly soap operas etc., where representation of ethnic minorities still feels extremely tokenistic and overly contrived to me. Not sure about this Chinese planet though. I didn't see it, but it sounds bonkers.

On perceptions of mixed race people by white people - an old girlfriend once used the phrase 'politically black', which I'd never heard before, and explained that it was used as a term to describe anyone who wasn't white. I think it's quite a useful phrase, and would draw a parallel with sexuality - anyone who is percieved to be same-sex attracted is 'politically gay', in that regardless of their actual sexual identity, they will be lumped into one homogenous group by heterosexual society. (Also a pertinent issue for the Doctor Who franchise, of course - it's my understanding that almost all the main characters in Torchwood have same-sex dallances at some point.)

[alisoneales]

PS I should just clarify I was thinking specifically about your 'tick vg' on proportional representation, rather than your 'must do better'...

[kateorman]

Great points. I have the rough impression that the UK, the US, and Australia all share the phenomenon where there are a notable proportion of non-White peeps in the major cities, but also large stretches of country which are basically lily-white. Last year I dug up some stats on Wales:The general pallor of Torchwood may partly be explained by the overwhelming Whiteness of Wales. Cardiff has the largest percentage of "ethnic groups other than White British" in Wales, just 12% (compare 40% for London, the most diverse area of Britain; and 6% for Glasgow, Scotland's most diverse city). According to the CRE, Cardiff's largest non-White group are people of South Asian descent, which would include Suzie Costello (played by Indira Varma).
Suzie Costello's an interesting example, actually - Indira Varma's father was Indian and her mother Swiss. Cluelessly, I didn't clock that she was a Desi until I learned the actress' name. Doubly cluelessly, given that I'd already seen her in Kama Sutra and I hadn't had any difficulty identifying her as Indian in that, had I? Derp derp derp.

I was v. interested to learn that in the UK, "Black" had long been used to mean "Black or South Asian", which ties neatly in with your mention of the phrase "politically black".

I'd like to think that SF stimulates writers, casting directors, etc, to use their imaginations a bit more - when you're on the planet Hoohah in 2164 there's less temptation to fall into "corner shop Asian" stereotypes. Plus racial integration gets used as "we're in the future" shorthand a lot in SF. And you can do metaphorical stories about race instead of "issues" stories which give the impression that non-White people are a source of hassles. SF and Who fall on their bums a lot but at least there are these small advantages.

The Chino-planet of Shan Shen is, happily, only briefly seen. :)

[ianracey]

Have you seen the first season of Rome? Indira Varma plays a white woman (though her background's made explicit).