The BBC's fresh and gritty take on Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol has captivated audiences for past three nights in 2019, breathing new life into the famous story about Ebenezer Scrooge.
Those familiar with the tale will be aware that Scrooge is particularly mean to his employee Bob Cratchit which has a knock-on effect on his family. The Cratchit's are here again but in this new version, they have been reimagined as a mixed-race family with the role of Mary Cratchit being played by actor Vinette Robinson.
Unfortunately, as it seems to be with almost anything that is slightly progressive these days, there was a lot of negativity to this new portrayal of the family and, yes, it came from Twitter.
A Christmas Carol on the @BBC Poor Charles Dickens will be rolling in his grave. Not only the language is lewd and… https://t.co/wxCwkBFFWx— Miss Jo 🦤 (@Miss Jo 🦤) 1577109574
How come the Bob Cratchit household in BBCs A Christmas Carol is now mixed race? 😂😂😂— Julia. (@Julia.) 1577056082
Grandad stirs from a brandy coma to see that mixed race couple on A Christmas Carol https://t.co/L5zpZFYFDF— Your Friend, Alec (@Your Friend, Alec) 1577188934
Now, we really don't need to go into the fact that the Cratchits have previously been played by a family of frogs and pigs in the past but Robinson had the perfect response to the accusations of 'political correctness.'
On Twitter, Robinson shared a thread from the very informative account 'Whores of Yore' which gave a very detailed breakdown of the many mixed-race couples that would have existed in the time of Dickens' novel and why the latest adaptation of the novel was factually accurate.
For all the depressingly predictable comments that I shouldn’t have been cast in A Christmas Carol please see the b… https://t.co/UubUgxyZwD— Vinette Robinson 💙 (@Vinette Robinson 💙) 1577201527
For those interested, here is the fascinating and educational thread in full.
I’m sharing these images because I’ve seen several tweets claiming that the interracial marriage depicted in the BB… https://t.co/z2D6xHBf4i— Whores of Yore (@Whores of Yore) 1577140421
This is Jack Johnson and his wife Etta Terry Duryea, January 27, 1910. Jack was a successful boxer and a performer… https://t.co/2h3je7cQXC— Whores of Yore (@Whores of Yore) 1577140426
Louis Gregory and Louisa Mathews Gregory. https://t.co/yshhOn3c9p— Whores of Yore (@Whores of Yore) 1577140428
Charles Meehan, an Irishman and his wife Hester Meehan, who was born in Canada. https://t.co/VNtkyI1kIu— Whores of Yore (@Whores of Yore) 1577140431
This couple from South Texas pose together for a photo taken in 1900. https://t.co/kW2053osXg— Whores of Yore (@Whores of Yore) 1577140434
An Edwardian couple on their wedding day in the 1900s https://t.co/73yN6XP1KX— Whores of Yore (@Whores of Yore) 1577140436
Joseph Phillippe Lemercier Laroche with his wife Juliette and and their two children Marie and Louis. https://t.co/QaZv9AD08O— Whores of Yore (@Whores of Yore) 1577140438
Frederick Douglass with his wife Helen Pitts Douglass, right, and her sister Eva Pitts, centre, circa 1880s. https://t.co/5K8DE83a6o— Whores of Yore (@Whores of Yore) 1577140440
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor with his wife Jessie Walmisley and their two children. Samuel was an English composer and c… https://t.co/SF2KDdSFVV— Whores of Yore (@Whores of Yore) 1577140442
There are also MANY examples of interracial marriages in 19th century marriage records. To depict this in modern te… https://t.co/oyjQXOk7iD— Whores of Yore (@Whores of Yore) 1577140442
Whores of Yore also responded to Robinson and shared a link to a book about mixed-race relationships in the 19th century which most people should probably read.
@_vinette It’s been absolutely fantastic. I cannot wait to watch it conclude tonight. If anyone wants to read more… https://t.co/UwnuSUGjge— Whores of Yore (@Whores of Yore) 1577219631