David Njoku4d ago

Sometimes little things niggle way more than they're supposed to.

There's a TV show called Ellis about a cop who drives to small English towns when there's been a murder to solve the crime. Often the local cops aren't welcoming. They think they don't need the help.

Ellis is a Black woman

There was a review in The Independent that condemned the show for "identity politics" even tho the show almost never mentions race or gender.

Read the review a week ago but I'm still cross

#blackmastodon

Show threadSemitones4d ago
@davidnjoku it seems like it *is* about race and gender implicitly, and the backlash proves it. But why in the world would anybody be *upset* about that reflection on society?
Show threadDavid Njoku4d ago
@semitones I understand what you mean, but the thing that gnaws at me is that the mere existence of a Black woman should not be political. It should be possible for there to be a Black policewoman (or a Black actor being cast as a cop) without 'identity politics' coming in.
Show threadSemitones
@davidnjoku You're right, it shouldn't be.
Mar 23 at 11:24amWeb
Show threadStephen Bannasch (316 ppm)3d ago

@semitones @davidnjoku

Yes. Made me think that reality isn’t political. Working to change or actively ignoring reality is political.

And complaining about a show like this is most definitely political.

Show threadDavid Njoku3d ago

@stepheneb @semitones Makes me think of what's going on in America now, where just being Black (or gay or trans or even female) means an employee must be a DEI hire and therefore not worthy of the job.

Maybe the producers were trying to make a point by making the character a Black woman. But there is no way that they could make her a Black woman *without* making a statement.

Show threadSemitones3d ago
@davidnjoku @stepheneb Important to reframe as, **the right wants people to think that** being gay, trans, female, black, etc., is "DEI" **and that's a bad thing**. Plenty of people here believe that DEI, like woke, CRT, and PC before it, are laudable goals for people in society to work towards. And hiring people who look different, think different, etc., is not always the frictionless choice in our society. We should be proud of our diversity