(no subject)

[dreamer_easy]

Remark on New Earth and race from Lloyd Rose, posted at her request:

I was relieved to see, when the zombies swarmed the hospital, that at least one black person was still alive 5 billion years from now. Especially as there were no Asians, no Latin or Central Americans, no Pakistanis, no Arabs--groups among whom, for non-speaking, boil-infested roles, actors could probably have been found. I was reminded of Richard Pryor's comment after seeing "Star Wars" : "They [white people] finally got rid of us!"

Interesting point, especially since the show has generally been doing reasonably well on that front. Comments, folks? (Lloyd can read 'em here.)

Comments

[m-wesley.livejournal.com]

I watched a copy of "New Earth" that someone posted in bits on YouTube--yes, I am a Bad Man--and I have to admit that this did not register. Possibly because I'm used to making allowances for Doctor Who's lack of anyone not of western European stock... allowances that I really shouldn't still be making now that the series has hit the 21st century.

I'll tell you what does make me just slightly uncomfortable: The sole, single, only Black character in the recurring cast is also the sole, single, only character to be portrayed as a dense, pratfalling coward. (To be fair, Rose's mother is even dumber... but she's never gotten a bucket stuck to her foot while chasing a Slitheen, been eaten by a belching trash bin, or run straight into a wall while chasing the TARDIS.) It's possibly I'm just being overly sensitive here, having seen a lot of old movies and old comic strips where the only Black people to be seen were the comic relief.