Unit 4 Coursework Blog

“If Luther wasn’t a policeman, he’d be a criminal”. To what extent is Luther a positive representation of black masculinity?

Idris Elba shows positive and negative representations of black masculinity through the “fantastic action-packed police drama"[1] 'Luther' featured on the BBC who in 'their annual 2002/2003 report were losing black viewers and listeners" [2] . This critical investigation will show how ethnic minorities and black males are represented throughout TV shows and movies, especially in the UK where representations have been exaggerated exuberantly through many different TV shows throughout the years; this has been shown in many shows, from reality shows to soaps, which are seen on the BBC and ITV. Many white viewers said that “Broadcasters were doing a good job, but black and Asian ethnic groups did not”. [3] Although "racism has decreased throughout the country in the last 20 years"[4] we are still accustomed with the same stereotypes regarding black masculinity, and through this critical investigation it will be shown how Luther is either a positive or negative representation of black males and if he reverts Frantz Fanon's 'Black skins, White masks theory'[5], moreover focus on the view of a black male as a police officer.

Representations of black characters and ethnic minorities have been exaggerated throughout many TV shows; this has been the case in reality shows such as 'Big Brother', 'I'm a Celebrity get me out of here' and more importantly soaps which we see on a daily basis. Shows such as "Coronation Street and Eastenders have been accused of stereotyping ethnic minorities"[6]. They have been known to show negative views of ethnic minorities and black ethnicity, many of the shows tend of reinforce the stereotypes we have become accustomed with rather than play them down, due to this we saw how the BBC began to "lose black viewers and listeners"[7] . Representations of black masculinity has remained a popular topic in the focal point of cultural studies but "research shows that black men are negatively portrayed"[8]. This has been an issue many have spoken about but it is also something we have come to regard as a norm for society. The stereotype we have become accustomed with is that black males are "Violent, psychotic, drug dealers and even gang leaders/members"[9], this is also replicated in Alvarado's four key themes in racial representation: "exotic, dangerous, humorous and pitied".[10] Thus portraying how all black males were represented. The images of “Black males have gone through several transformations since the rise of the Black power movement in the late 1960s”[11]. Many of these have actually been very negative, portraying black characters in a way that would make society frown upon them. This is a representation that has been used in the media, the stereotype of black males being seen as drug dealers, criminals and murderers has been one stereotype that has been used by many producers. The public sector broadcasters BBC created the character of Luther but subverted the stereotype of the criminal black man but reverted the stereotype of an angry black male, but the BBC kept away from the main racial stereotypes regarding a black male. One of the main reasons why black actors are stereotyped is “to present an image of black British people that suggests we [they] can only succeed in sport, entertainment and music, but not necessarily in other fields."[12]. Thus giving them a demoting role in society and saying that they can only succeed in sports but cannot do anything else.

Furthermore, throughout the years we have also seen black characters as criminals in the media landscape and usually as the antagonists. One example of this was seen in Eastenders with the famous storyline of Pastor Lucas Johnson who was found to be a criminal and this forces the audience to see all black characters this way, it also puts off many institutions from having a black character as the protagonist because there is a belief that it could cause moral panic. Stanley Cohen's moral panic being an intense feeling expressed in a population about an issue that threatens the social order. David Harewood believed "there really aren’t many roles for authoritive strong black characters in this country, we just don't write those characters, they should leave Britain for the US to escape this lazy stereotype".[13] This was also something that is being done by many black characters today, as we seen Idris Elba went to the Hollywood show 'The Wire' where he notoriously became popular, he was however seen as a negative role model towards black masculinity due to this affiliation with drugs and crime in the show. Black characters have been forced to fulfil a stereotype set for them which therefore goes on to make them act as criminals on screen giving a negative representation of black masculinity. Representations of black characters have changed throughout the years, before the black power movement we saw a lot of racial abuse towards a black character in the media and usually we would not see a black character on TV, the image of black characters since then has however " gone through several transformations since the rise of the Black power movement in the late 1960s"[14]. After this, "America was eager to give as many representations to black people as possible"[15]. Further reverting Dyer's theory that suggest stereotypes are always about power and they can be used to exaggerate difference. From not seeing any black characters on TV we began to see shows such as 'Desmond’s’ and 'The Kumar's at 42' which featured both black and ethnic groups, and thus we could perceive that many negative stereotypes came about from the media trying to create moral panic in the late twentieth century due to racism. Along with that the "influence of music/fashion has led to some boys having sexist and racist perceptions towards black masculinity"[16]. Thus portraying black masculinity as merely negative, not just on TV and in forms of the media but also society.

Focusing dominantly on the British media and we also did not see many black characters in TV shows, this all changed after events such as the Stephen Lawrence murder which raised the profile of black British males in the media. Black masculinity had developed. Prior to this, ethnic minorities and black characters were hardly shown on TV, and when they were shown on the news, the media used moral panic to show them as the criminals and not victims, "Black and Asian victims of violent death did not get the same attention as white victims; however the racially aggravated murder of the young black teenager Stephen Lawrence in the early 90s received high profile coverage both on television and in the press”[17]. Institutions’ such as the Channel 4 introduced the all black TV Show 'Desmonds' which became one of Channel 4's longest running sitcoms and most successful sitcoms too. The current 'Prime minister said that the racist killing of Stephen Lawrence sparked monumental change" [18] and we began to see vast change throughout the media, we saw Eastenders introduce black characters and "Eastenders aired the first episode featuring an entirely black cast in its 23-year history"(2009)[19]. Sadly after all this ethnic minorities were still seen as unimportant and invisible, an online survey on the BBC noted that " the range of roles that ethnic minority actors play in television drama's is very limited and often reflects low status, ethnic minority audiences were also believed that this was a part of tokenism"[20], so even after the 'monumental change'[21] that was sparked after the Stephen Lawrence murder, we still became accustomed with the fact that even though there was many stereotypes and representations being shown of black characters they were still seen as "unimportant and invisible"[22]. Luther was a TV show that however changed this and Luther wasn't seen as 'invisible'[23] but instead the complete opposite, Luther was the most important character in the show and this was evident throughout the series'. There came about a belief that "Black males were more likely to be murdered in their lifetime"[24] and moreover before the Stephen Lawrence murder we hardly saw any coverage of black males but now we dominantly see black characters as the "most frequent issue found in media news"[25] causing moral panic throughout the audience. Most predominantly, "Criminologists have begun to wonder why black men dominate the crime statistics"[26] and most recently we came into account with this subject after the London riots where majority of the blame was given to black males and thus again giving them a negative representation. The 2011 riots took place after the shooting of Mark Duggan, protests erupted in London and it resulted into 3 day riots all over London. The "blame was given to the black community" [27].

Idris Elba came known majorly towards the British media when he featured in BBC's 'most terrifying crime drama' [28] Luther. Idris Elba first came about the media scene in Channel 5's show 'Family Affairs', since then he travelled to America and became a regular in the major hit show 'The Wire' which portrayed Elba as a drug dealer, this was quickly juxtaposed when we saw Elba as detective chief inspector Luther in BBC's Luther. The "maverick protagonist Luther, is a DCI, who leads a private and professional life through his willingness to tear up the rule book"[29]. We saw Luther as a black male who was portrayed in both positive and negative ways and Elba became known as a "dynamic, deeply flawed but profanely heroic character."[30] BBC were also praised for “it's long overdue casting of a black male"[31]. This is however "usual in America and casts are usually multi-racial"[32]. Thus proving how British media may be currently behind on the demand for black characters as protagonists, which is seen is the United States, David Harewood criticised the "lack of opportunities for young black actors in the UK and advised them to consider heading to America"[33] such as he and Idris Elba did, the lack of black characters is obvious when you see the BBC getting praised for having a black character as a protagonist whereas in this day and age it should be a normal thing. Elba's role in the 'The Wire' was predominantly violent and he was portrayed as a violent character who was involved in drugs and crime, when Elba choose to do Luther, it was something many of the audience expected from his background but acting as Luther, Elba offered diversity in character. Elba also reverted Fanon's "Black skin, White mask"[34] theory where Fanon believed to be accepted one must "put on the white mask"[35] but Elba became a positive role model and a positive representation of a black male. Perkin's believed that there was an "element of truth regarding stereotypes"[36] and a stereotype society has become accustomed with is that black males and the police force do not get along this was something famously seen during the Stephen Lawrence murder trial where we saw how "two police officers were arrested on suspicion of hiding evidence related to the Stephen Lawrence inquiry”[37], which showed a racial boundary between the police force and black males. Idris Elba overcame this boundary and in a way social boundaries too, when he choose to become the protagonist and a black DCI, a position held as one of the highest ranks in the police force. This in itself became a positive stereotype of a black male, and opposed the stereotype of black males having a so called hatred towards the police force. Another stereotype we have become accustomed with is the one of the angry black male and this is something the BBC make use most predominantly. In the trailer for the second season, we saw this representation of an angry black male and the scene opened with a close up of Elba, and in slow motion we begin to see rewinded footage of Luther throwing objects onto the floor in anger, and the scene ends on Luther smiling, this stereotype is one used majorly by the BBC throughout quite a few episodes of Luther and it conveys how through the slow motion and non-digetic music, that the BBC have used stereotypes of black males rather than revert them. Idris Elba is also set to feature as Nelson Mandela in a new movie where Elba would be portrayed a positive role model for black males. Also being one of the few actors to lived the 'American Dream'[38] would in itself portray Idris Elba as a positive role model for black males, but to what extent is his character Luther a positive representation of black masculinity ?

Luther shows how ethnic minorities and how black males are represented throughout the TV shows and movies, in the day and age we live in now, racism has decreased majorly throughout TV shows, and the show Luther sets out to develop a black character who plays the lead role. The fact that Luther does whatever he can to help get justice in society gives us a positive representation of him, in season two where we see Luther trying to kill his best friend after the murder of his wife and chooses not to, but the white female who shoots the best friend who is white male, is seen as focally important, the fact that the BBC choose to let a white male be killed by a white female portrays Luther again is a positive way, it shows how he is willing to do the right thing and not let that 'aggressive' black masculinity get in the way. "Watson notes that moral panics often result from the media stereotyping of black people as potentially criminal"[39] , and Luther's choice to not shoot an enemy diverts from the moral panic caused by an 'angry black male'[40]. Elba says that if Luther "wasn’t a policeman, he'd be a criminal, he's not criminally minded, mean or vindictive but he is tender and passionate"[41]. Thus proving that the character of Luther may be an aggressive black male but is a positive representation of black masculinity, we see a lot of rage in Luther reverting the fact that black males are seen as "emotional, impulsive and barbaric"[42] and he subverts the stereotype of black rage and the aggressive black male, although we see two sides Luther, the good and bad, we see how Luther mainly overcomes the bad and even when nothing or no one is on his side. He overcomes the injustice and prevails, thus making Luther a positive representation of black masculinity. The show as also met with mainly positive reviews, review site; Rotten Tomatoes holds a "94% approval rating, Luther is gritty and ambiguous and is a captivating drama bolstered by a powerhouse performance from Idris Elba"[43]. Thus showing the positive impact it has on the audience and its black viewers.

Another famous BBC crime drama was Dickson of Dock Green, a British show which was broadcasted on the BBC from 1955 to 1976, an era where black males were not shown mainly on TV, this was proven in Dickson of Dock Green because in the 22 years of broadcasting, there was no black male featured, and when George Dixon was asked about the show being "racist"[44], George Dixon replied by ironically saying "he didn't even know the meaning of the word"[45], but the lack of black characters would make one wonder on how the show couldn't be racist in a contextual way. The show just like Luther portrays somewhat of a family man who both put work before family and both were set in London, but one thing we saw in Luther that was missed in Dixon of Dock Green was ethnic minorities and showing that even though Dickson of Dock Green was " the most beloved of British serials" [46], one may argue that Luther is a much more positive representation to its audience and obviously a positive representation of black masculinity, BBC's "Luther is the first major drama series to have its eponymous hero played by a black character"[47] and is also a positive representation of black masculinity, further capitulating the audience with his etymological name defining him as a "warrior and leader"[48].

To conclude, Luther's character can mainly be seen as a positive representation of black stereotypes and even though representations of black males have changed throughout the years, it is mainly because we have become accustomed with the fact that most of the representations we see of black males is that they are "criminals and drug dealers"[49], we also find that black males become "invisible"[50]. Society however has become more comfortable with having a black male on their TV screen, especially one who is a protagonist. "To speak about black masculinity in media is to speak about the aesthetic, historical and political legacies of the median itself"[51] and historical events such as the black power movements and the Stephen Lawrence murder have aided in the change in the media landscape for black males and black masculinity, but it still remains a fact that there is only one crime drama which has a black male as a protagonist, the positive representation of black males on the BBC is not helped however by article which talk about monumental change due to shows such as Eastenders cast "an entire black cast in one episode"[52]. More shows should take note from Luther and portray black masculinity in a positive way rather than in a way where we see ethnic minorities have degrading roles which "reflect low status"[53] and the show Luther allows black audiences to watch with a sense of escapism with many subverted racial stereotypes.

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