Chris Hallam
Friday 24th May 2019 10:08am
Exeter
1,401 posts
Lots of people have said they don't like Ghosts on here. Most have had legitimate reasons for doing so. I have some reservations about it myself.
A few other people, however, have been posting crap like this:
In the last of these scenes, one of the ghosts on the TV turns to camera and says "We've got a mixed-race couple and a black ghost in this sitcom so, if you don't like it, you must be racist!"
(The first mention of race in this discussion. Nobody has actually put forward this view, then or now).
Apart from not being funny, the BBC's pro-diversity messages might as well be delivered with a loudhailer through our letterboxes as painted upon our TV screens in such large letters.
How many black guys in real life inherit an English country mansion?... without wanting to labour the point too much, how many white women of the class generally needed to belong to for actually inheriting a country pile would be attached to a black man, in real life?
It's a long shot, if not impossible. Let's be honest, the silliness of the show's subject itself has afforded the prods the ideal chance to throw in a token bame character to get their diversity quota score up without causing too much fuss.
But lo, the deceased scout masters son has married an ethnic minority - there's a surprise!
He wasn't black - well rather dusky looking.
Anyone with an ounce of integrity could see from the trailer alone that the partner of the woman who inherited the mansion is a token ethnic offering to boost their quota.
Yes, the attempted handing the bottle of wine to the annoying black, female ghost and inevitable breaking on the floor was painful!
I think the point in her character is that a black female ghost (whether funny or not) ticks boxes for the diversity quota.
With regard to her comedic talents (be they great, small or absolutely non-existent), the fact of the matter is that, in this modern day and age, if she identifies as "talented" she must be treated by one and all - and that, of course, includes employers and industry peers - as if she really is talented.
I suppose we must be grateful that she doesn't identify as a slim, white, tremendously talented male comedian.
If she did, you can bet your bottom dollar she'd have beaten Steve Coogan to the role of Stan Laurel.
(I don't think Steve Coogan would like his name being used to back up this argument)
Maybe they just love the diversity of it and want to big it up with unmerited praise. Except, of course, that diversity isn't just about black people: it's also about the inclusion of women, the disabled, LGBGT, Asians, other ethnic minorities and, of course, relationships. It's also about how people are portrayed on television. Women are plentiful among the cast and there's a man whose head has parted company with his body - that's a pretty significant disability.
However, getting back to ethnicity, if I remember correctly there was an episode in which a group of what appeared to be Boy Scouts were having an archery lesson: there were five boys, three of whom were non-Caucasian (one being black, and two Asian). That's diversity on a truly astonishing scale in an organisation whose white membership has never been less than 95%.
Moreover, when assessing the show's contribution to the diversity initiative, it is also highly significant that the couple who inherited the stately home comprises a white woman with a black husband - a setup which would, in itself, have provided a basis for a controversial "Play for Today" on the BBC of the 1970s. Given that such a married relationship is rare in the UK (only 7% of couples - married or otherwise - are interracial), its inclusion as the basis of the relationship between the two inheritors must be seen as a massive contribution to the diversity initiative.
All in all, therefore, "Ghosts" represents quite a powerful hand in the game of ethnic Top Trumps.
Personally I felt the casting of Mike was incorrect. Yes, I didn't think Alison would have found him a particularly attractive proposition for a boyfriend/husband.
The actor doesn't strike me as being sufficiently good looking and the character seems a bit stupid. I'm sure not all white women find black men to their liking, the same as they don't find all white men so (and I should know!).