Mihail Pojarsky/Problems of representation

Not so long ago, the Bridgertons series was released on Netflix, where the British aristocracy of the 19th century (including the queen) was played by blacks as well. Other than that, it's just plain boring melodrama. From here went the usual disputes - in addition to the black Anne Boleyn or the black Anna Karenina. Opponents are pushing for "realism". And the official position of progressive humanity is that, they say, in the 19th century people walked with rotten teeth and wrinkled by the age of 40, so there is no realism here, so you can add black ones. The position is reasonable. If you do not remember that in other cases, waves of indignation diverge from approximately the same angle - for example, when Scarlett Johansson plays Motoko Kusanagi in the film adaptation of Ghost in the Shell. This is called whitewashing. In vain, that according to the plot, Kusanagi is a completely cybernetic body, whose racial affiliation is secondary. In general, it is clear that somewhere here we are being bred.

But that's okay, something else is interesting. Has anyone on the left expressed the obvious idea that everything that is happening is literally "washing up history"? Britain in the 19th century is a society where slavery no longer existed, but the society is quite racist. This is one of the characteristics of the era. England in the 16th century is a place where the queen could not be of another race. And this is also one of the characteristics of the era. And, to make it completely clear, imagine an inclusive movie about the United States before the abolition of slavery. White Madison, along with black Jefferson (both slave owners) sign the Declaration of Independence, 50 years pass - representatives of the elites of the Southern states are equally played by both white and black actors. It seems that here even the most stupid progressives will have to smell - "something is wrong." But in the case of the "Bridgertons" we have literally the same thing, just not so pronounced.

And all this is one example of how something that is commonly called "political correctness" does not serve to establish justice at all, but rather to blur injustice.

Mihail Pojarsky 2021-03-12