re: The trailer for the latest miniseries on the life of Anne Boleyn has dropped...

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Looking forward to their next series about Nelson Mandela starring Gary Oldman.

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Well you see...according to hollywood being white is an irrelevant part of a white person. But being black is the ONLY relevant part of a black person.

Some of these don’t bother me, like in theatre, I don’t care if there is a black girl in Les Mis, because it’s fricking theatre. I guess everyone has a different threshold that would be “too much”.

I get that this is an overreaction to films being whitewashed for so long. I think it’s culturally dangerous in the long run. What if people a couple of generations down the road think things weren’t really bad for blacks? After all, the Queen of England was black, a French inspector was black, etc.

It isn’t that ridiculous of a notion to think people take what they see on TV as factually and historically accurate.

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The point of a period drama is to transport you back to the time period and make you feel like you are a fly on the wall as some of the most important events in history transpired in front of you. A good period drama makes you feel like you were really there. When you cast black actors to play people we know from contemporary paintings and writings were white, it kind of takes the realism out of the equation and also takes you out of the experience.

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We're at a point where period dramas are more clearly divided into historical and entertainment categories. We've always had some division, but the placement of historically incorrect casts makes it more obvious. People were willing to ignore the anachronisms of modern music playing over historical scenes, or aerial shots that were impossible for anyone of that time period to view, even though it should take you out of that particular history.

The main thing is that they're not trying to make an accurate historical presentation. They're giving you entertainment based on those characters and that history.

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You're not watching history come alive anymore, you're watching a TV show.

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Unless they've said otherwise, it was intended as a TV show, not a precise representation of a historical event.

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This is the hole in your logic. These production companies run analytics before they make these shows.

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No, they don't.

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"There is no such thing as negative publicity".

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Yes, there is. Why do you think producers postponed the release of Sonic the Hedgehog by a full year when they released the first trailer? Because there was so much negative fan reaction to the look of Sonic.

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You do this by not watching and not talking about it to anyone.

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No, you don't. Because then they will justify the poor ratings by thinking that the ad campaign wasn't sufficient enough and thus no one knew it was being released. You rob them of that notion by talking loud and bad about the project, that way they are under no illusions as to why the show was a ratings disaster.

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You clearly don't understand how this works or your role in it. Keep thinking you are "making a difference" while furthering the goals of the people who make this show.

You are being a useful idiot.

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Where did I claim I was making a difference?

I'm simply saying that negative reviews + low ratings = cancellation. This is how film and television have worked since the advent of the industry. If enough people talk shite about this series before it even airs, and if enough people don't tune into watch, they likely move away from projects like this going forward. It's why sequels or additional seasons never happen.

None of what I'm saying is inaccurate. But if you want to continue this song and dance of arguing just to argue, I'm perfectly willing and able. I'm currently on leave and have got nothing scheduled for this afternoon.

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It's a period drama for a reason. If I'm watching a TV series or movie that's supposed to take place in a time period far removed from the present day, I expect authenticity

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If you want the upmost historical accuracy versus entertainment then you should stick to historical documentaries.

The Crown isn’t fully historically accurate. Neither were The Tudors (Showtime). Or Versailles. I literally cannot think of a modern TV show that is a period piece that doesn’t embellish or casts in a way that is 100% historically accurate.

Hell we’ve been sold by almost every Tudor show that’s come out in the last 50 years that Queen Katherine was a raven haired Spaniard. And that Henry VIII was attractive in his older age. GTHO with that standard that virtually no one else meets either.

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This is not exactly true. "Moor" was a catch all term used to describe Berbers, other North Africans and black africans particularly Muslims by certain europeans, it depends.

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It was a catchall term to include North Africans who were and still are primarily not black. There could be some blacks sprinkled in but they’d be the exception. Like Libyans, Egyptians, Moroccans, Tunisians.

It’s as if Hollywood doesn’t think black characters or stories are interesting enough on their own, right??

Seems a bit... racist.

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Shows can do terribly and still last multiple seasons if the media supports certain characteristics.

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Bob Hearts Abishola says 'sup.