Luther has been criticised for not being an authentic Black character
Luther has been criticised for not being an authentic Black character https://t.co/fVL1cqQDBT
- Yahoo Entertainment UK (@YahooEntsUK) April 14, 2021
Luther's creator has defended the Idris Elba show after the BBC's diversity manager said a lack of Black culture in the character's life meant it doesn't "feel authentic". Writer Neil Cross said Elba only accepted the role in the crime drama as race was not considered integral to the character.
Miranda Wayland, the BBC's head of creative diversity, said: "When [Luther] first came out everybody loved the fact that Idris Elba was in there - a really strong, Black character lead. We all fell in love with him. Who didn't, right? But after you got into about the second series you got kind of like, okay, he doesn't have any Black friends, he doesn't eat any Caribbean food, this doesn't feel authentic."
Cross responds : "I have no knowledge or expertise or right to try to tackle in some way the experience of being a Black man in modern Britain. It would have been an act of tremendous arrogance for me to try to write a Black character. We would have ended up with a slightly embarrassed, ignorant, middle-class, White writer's idea of a Black character."
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