Nat Love depicted in Joe R. Lansdale’s Black Hat Jack. Art by Kurt Laager.
I have hesitated to venture on these pages into the Jornada del Muerte that is the current landscape of racial identity politics & culture. But venture there I must.
I’d like to think that it’s pretty clear from a decade of content on Frontier Partisans that I am fully supportive of an authentic portrayal of frontier history: one that reckons fully with the inescapable racial issues raised by the expropriation of indigenous inhabitants’ lands and the enslavement of peoples, whether it was by Jamestown tobacco planters in 1619, or Comanche raiders into Mexico in 1830. Simply working that trapline seems to me to be the most generative way of addressing the “racial reckoning” that has been at the forefront of American culture for the past few years.
Lately, though, I’ve felt compelled to address what I consider to be a false trail — that being a fixation on bending history to achieve “representation” in historical and mythic storytelling. Because I think there are better, more authentic, more organic, and more satisfying ways of getting there than race-swapping historical figures and/or shoehorning “diversity” into existing works. Frontier history offers a trove of tales that can make us all culturally richer.
*
Race-and/or-genre-swapping historical figures strikes me as odd and profoundly silly. Jodie Turner-Smith as Anne Boleyn? Why? Jodie Turner-Smith is, by all accounts, an extraordinarily charismatic and compelling actress. She doubtless deserves prestige roles. But Anne Boleyn was not a Black woman. She was an English woman raised in France. That seems pretty fundamental to me.
Vikings: Valhalla gave us a Black female Jarl Estrid Haakon.
Uh… OK.
I’m familiar with all of the rationalizations for this sort of thing, and I don’t buy them. Nor do I believe that anyone who raises an issue about them is a racist troll, which is where the discourse inevitably goes.
The depictions ain’t historical, no matter how much you bend reason and reality to pretend that they are (or could be), and they don’t promote that all-important sense of reckless verisimilitude that carries a historical drama. If you’re going to argue that race and gender “shouldn’t matter” in this context, you’d have to be OK with Mulan being portrayed by Jason Momoa or Shaka Zulu being portrayed by Katheryn Winnick. Ridiculous, right?
But it’s more insidious than that — it’s unnecessary and ultimately destructive of the ends of creating more authentically diverse programing.
Why egregiously alter history when there are GREAT stories to be told that are historical? My beloved Black Sails featured an arc in which the Nassau Pirates found common cause with a colony of Maroons — escaped slaves who had built an isolated Caribbean refuge from the British Empire, then chose to confront that Empire with arms. The two most regal and genuinely worthy people in the world of Black Sails were women of color: the Maroon Madi Scott (Zethu Dlomo) and the magnificent Max (Jessica Parker Kennedy).
Nothing felt forced about this storyline and these characters because it wasn’t forced. The Caribbean Basin of the early 18th century was a polyglot a world. Europeans of various extraction mixed with indigenous peoples, and Africans — both slave and free — and already by 1715 there was a very large population of mixed race.
The events of the show did not play out historically in the manner depicted, but they broadly reflect the realities of the time and place. They certainly offer reckless verisimilitude — and diversity.
*
The most insidious aspect of casting artificially for diversity is that shoehorning “diverse casting” into stories like Vikings or yet one more drama about the Tudors implies that Eurocentric stories are still the only ones worth telling. And that is a profound disservice to us all. We don’t actually need one more retelling of the sad and sordid life and death of Anne Boleyn. Nor do Black people need to be elevated in Viking lore when there is a warrior heritage that is right in the wheelhouse to explore.
Give us the epic rise and fall of the Zulu Nation in a reboot of Shaka Zulu. Or maybe Mzilikazi’s breakaway to form the Ndebele (Matabele) nation and the epic of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. Give us Dahomey Amazons.
Give us the Haitian Revolution.
Give us the tale of Britt Johnson searching for his kidnapped family and bargaining for the release of captives across Comancheria — the inspiration for The Searchers.
Give us a damn Jim Beckwourth mini-series — and cast the man who played him in the Into the Wild Frontier segment. Bring Joe R. Lansdale’s yarns of Nat Love to cinematic life.
Oh, and hats off to David Oyelowo and Taylor Sheridan for committing to finally bringing justice for Bass Reeves.
You get the idea.
My dream show would be a series where Fort Pitt/Pittsburg c. 1774 serves as the locus of drama, just as the Black Hills mining camp did in Deadwood and Nassau did in Black Sails. You want diversity? Here you have Mingo, Shawnee, Delaware, Scots-Irish, Irish, English, Germans, French, escaped Black slaves and freedmen, and every admixture of these elements and more. You’ve got militants of clashing cultures and political factions, men and women who navigate between and among cultures; hunters; traders; speculators; spies…. the storytelling opportunities are endless. And all the “representation” you could ever desire is there, organically, in the historical ore you’re mining.
*
I’m not going to delve into the tempest surrounding the East India Co. Amazon Prime The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power. It ain’t hard to find on the interwebs, if you’re interested. For a variety of reasons, I just don’t feel any passion on the subject; it feels very far away to me — except for eager anticipation of Bear McCreary’s music, which I expect to enjoy independently of the show. I’ll mentally transport it to some woodland frontier of Fennario…
I will say this though: There is an alternative to tinkering with an established legendarium to “reflect what the world actually looks like.” Give something else a chance. Adapt Charles Saunders’ Imaro for the screen. I promise you, it would be a hit.
Addendum: This post lured my brother John down multiple sidetrails — which is, , of course, delightful confirmation that I’m on mission. Among other musings in our phone conversation, he noted that Bo Jackson in his prime would have made a kick-ass Imaro.
*
I absolutely understand the profound importance of “representation.” Of course we want to see heroes who look like us, whose courage, resilience and fortitude we can see ourselves emulating. When I was a kid, I read tales of Conan, and saw the fantastical apotheosis of the Celtic heroes that I admired. I read The Frontiersmen and saw in Simon Kenton everything that a man oughta be. I want some young Black kid to find the same thrill in tales of Imaro or in The Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth, in frontier heroes that are his own, and look like him. There’s a place around the campfire for Conan and Imaro, for Kenton and Beckwourth.
Oh, what yarns are there to be told. In the 21st Century I want to live in, we can share such tales together around a campfire that truly is inclusive, recognizing that we share one astounding, badass history and mythology together.
*
Matthew says
Well, the problems with the entertainment industry are many and manifold.
There are enough incredible stories of people of all races that you’d think they would be swooped up by Hollywood, but they keep making the same movies.
It’s also often that the people who talk about “representations” don’t know what they want. I have idea of a sword and sorcery story with a black protagonist from a fantasy version of Africa in a fantasy version of North Africa/Arabia. If I write that I could be accused of “cultural appropriation” for being a white man writing about a black protagonist. Of course, if only write of white heroes in a European setting I’d be called Eurocentric.
A lot of complaints of “Woke” writing is that it leads to bad writing. I sometimes think it’s more that bad writing leads to “Woke” entertainment. The writers don’t seem to know anything about aesthetics so they go with validating their own politics. Of course, their are right wing writers who do the same too.
I don’t choose the entertainment and arts I consume based on it’s politics.
Keith West says
Extremely well said. I couldn’t agree with you more.
JimC says
Thank you Keith.
Ugly Hombre says
ttps://www.holtcollier.com/about-holt-collier
Here’s is a American of African descent story- that needs to be better known and told
https://www.holtcollier.com/links
A 9th Texas Cavalry Trooper, a Sharpshooter, a stars and bars spy- a black Confederate. Who is lionized in the south and respected by most Americans who know his story.
Our Republic is the most successful multiracial nation in the history of the world we are not a inherently racist country, we elected a black President twice. 1619 project the BLM scammers etc. are liars and mulechit artists.
There are hundreds of Black American stories that could be told- great that Bass Reeves is finally going to get the credit he deserves, I am pretty sure that even Hollywood won’t be able to turn it into a America is bad fable, what about Chappie James?, Crispus Attucks? Will Green aka “Black Lion”?.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilbur_%22Will%22_Green
The true stories of Patriotic Black Americans- need to be told with the good and bad warts and all.
You don’t need to turn blacks into viking’s or gringo’s into zulu’s just tell the truth Hollywood.
For a change.
JimC says
Thanks for the Holt Collier piece. Perspective is everything. As my friend Craig Rullman notes, few societies in history — maybe none — have been as self-correcting as ours, which affirms your view that we are the most successful multicultural society in history.
Ugly Hombre says
Very welcome a good topic and thread. Holt Collier’s story is a example of the complex true history of the south, I can’t stand the destruction of Confederate history going on today by certain aspects of our society- my family fought for the north, but to me its totally disgusting, disrespectful and stupid. Holt though a former slave, was his own man to the hilt and I am pretty sure if he saw what is going on today he would reach for his Winchester.
I also can’t tolerate the tolerate the current “America bad” merchants- in film or politics. Its a G.D. lie and no good came or ever will come from it.
Yep, we have the best of everything from everywhere no doubt about it. We have always been ‘diverse’. And we are damn lucky to be Americans.
“We dare not forget that we are the heirs of that first revolution” J.F.K.
Matthew says
I can’t help but wonder if we are too self-correcting? I mean a lot of the “America’s Bad” on the left might be a tendency to over correct. It hasn’t escaped my notice that this is strongest among members of the political party that supported slavery, segregation, et cetera. Not that the Republicans are saints or anything.
Ugly Hombre says
As a nation we have made many mistakes but we have rectified ourselves many times as well- many other countries have not and are still unrepentant. Chicom- horror Tibet, Hong Kong, West China Moslems etc. Putin shipping captured Ukrainian men to Gulugs and women into slavery. Africa still has a slave trade etc.
There is “self correcting” and there is taught self loathing (CRT etc) to the point of “national suicide”. So far we have not been hurt too bad from it but it has had a very negative effect on national morale and it can and will have a serious bad effect on our ability to defend ourselves, mental health of our citizens, and so on. The “America bad” story is a money and power maker for a certain class of charlatans.
And yes the Democrats were the party of defending physical slavery and are now the party of using their history of slavery- for political gain.
Lordyam says
CRT isn’t self loathing. The critics can’t even define it, and saying the system is designed to benefit white people isn’t saying white people are inherently evil.
As a white guy im less likely to be pulled over and shot by the cops
But even if the actions are stopped scars linger. Things like slavery and the Greenwood massacre still have an impact and the law isn’t fair
lane.batot says
GOSH. SO MUCH I can harangue about on this subject. MAINLY, to me, it is about AUTHENTICITY. It is much like my aggravation when the wrong breed/type of dog is used for a historical tale, for instance Buck in “The Call Of The Wild” portrayed as a German Shepherd in so many of the film versions, when at the historical time of the novel, German Shepherds were only just being developed/invented in Germany(Buck was, in the book, half Saint Bernard X half “Scotch Shepherd”–which is a collie to you and me……), and inaccuracy of other animal species–sloth bears portrayed using either brown bears or American black bears, for instance, in “The Jungle Book” film versions. Nit picking from a nerdy critter geek? Perhaps. But it is the beginning–yea continuation of ignorance in the general population regarding all things animal. Why continue this ignorance regarding human cultures? Hollywood wants to have a black Superman? A totally fictitious character that never really was specifically racially identified? Go for it. But it just wouldn’t work, would it, to have a white “Black Panther” character–that would be an outrage! And when you are portraying specific historical characters, or times in history where certain races were JUST NOT around in certain places at those times, then that is just flat out inaccurate, and my historical nerd/geek sense of accuracy bristles. And YES–SO MANY REAL STORIES from the various cultures throughout the world that need to be told! Stories worthy of real historical pride for every individual culture! One I very much want to see done is the role of the Seminole Indians of Florida giving refuge to escaped black slaves, and together they fight against the invading white settlers and soldiers! It would be an epic!
JimC says
The story of the Seminole would indeed make an epic saga.
John M Roberts says
Bringing up REH, have you sen “Reacher”? Based on Lee Child’s long-running Jack Reacher series, Reacher is a Robert E. Howard character for the modern era. Like Conan, he’s a huge, powerful man, sublimely confident in his physical prowess. Like Solomon Kane, he just sort of wanders around aimlessly and always ends up just where he’s needed. Definitely worth a watch (and a read.)
JimC says
I’ve read a couple of the Reacher stories and Marilyn & I are enjoying the series (haven’t finished yet). My brother — who introduced me to Robert E. Howard — pitched Reacher to me using virtually the same description you did.
lane.batot says
….and another thing–regarding African American culture and history specifically. Being an ignorant white boy, I have been making attempts to educate myself on black history, and one thing I do, is celebrate Black History Month every February, by getting books and DVD documentaries and movies featuring African Americans, and learning something new, or revisiting favorite stories on the subject. It has become a yearly tradition for me–not that I am adverse to learning about the subject at any other time of year! But I make an especial effort in honor of the month. For instance–one of my FAVORITE historical people of all time is Harriet Tubman–I will watch any film or documentary based on her life, and read any book on the subject I can get my hands on. Although there have been some decent efforts film-wise–I still don’t think they have fully captured this amazing, tough woman’s abilities and heroic efforts! I always watch/rewatch/read something about Harriet Tubman in February! This year I re-watched a FAVORITE Western movie of mine, about the westward migration of former black slaves–the classic “Buck And The Preacher”! Somewhat sad to watch the year Sidney Poitier passed away, though…… Anyway, whenever I’m trying to educate myself, I want THE REAL STUFF–no whitewashing or blackfacing anything that is simply historically inaccurate! How else can we LEARN the TRUTH?
lordyam says
Part of the problem is that many of the people bleating about diversity are really just white supremacists. A lot of white people have called talking about crimes committed by white people (the greenwood massacre) and said that it’s “anti white.” A lot of white people are so thin skinned that the idea of giving Blacks equal prominence is “oppressive”.
That’s why I have limited respect for people complaining about CRT. What they’re really saying is “how dare you imply that White people have hurt black people in the past.”