Yes -- I tend to take the rather heretical view that a sensible default assumption is not invalidated by a minority of counterexamples, especially a tiny minority. The chances of someone black, female, and working-class having studied medicine in 1913 were very slim indeed. More the latter two factors than the first, in fact -- I'd say nonwhites of any kind were rare in 1913 Britain (as a HP aside, the 'Famous Wizard Card' picture of a black Celestina Warbeck with a birthdate of 1915 definitely made me blink), and although there would have been prejudice, the few present wouldn't face the kind of institutionalised, baked-in racism that developed from the 1950s (I believe there was a black mayor of Battersea in 1913, for example).
In fact, I thought they handled the whole racial topic quite sensibly in those episodes -- it was brought up enough to acknowledge it without distracting from the rest of the plot. Joan's attitudes were liberal for the time and personal situation without becoming unrealistically modern, and that's the right balance to strike, I think. And on that note, has 'John Smith' come in for any bashing on the same score? You know, like when Martha tries to jog his memory by showing him his sketchbook, and he says something along the lines of 'ah right, cultural differences -- Miss Jones, this is what we call a STORY'? That made me blink a bit too, but it certainly fit in the same way.
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regna
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Date: 2007-06-04 01:59 pm (UTC)In fact, I thought they handled the whole racial topic quite sensibly in those episodes -- it was brought up enough to acknowledge it without distracting from the rest of the plot. Joan's attitudes were liberal for the time and personal situation without becoming unrealistically modern, and that's the right balance to strike, I think. And on that note, has 'John Smith' come in for any bashing on the same score? You know, like when Martha tries to jog his memory by showing him his sketchbook, and he says something along the lines of 'ah right, cultural differences -- Miss Jones, this is what we call a STORY'? That made me blink a bit too, but it certainly fit in the same way.