I take issue with the Harry Potter entry. It's in the literature section, but I'm reasonably sure that, outside of the obvious (The Weasleys) most of the named characters weren't given much of a visual description and could pretty much be whatever race you wanted. It'd be fair enough if we moved it to the Film section.
I recall that the Ghostbusters game for the NES only featured 3 white Ghostbusters.
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Early video games could easily fall into this, because the repeated use of sprites.
Harry Potter should be removed from this page. For starters, the UK of the 1990s when the books take place was by no means a particularly diverse country, the 1991 census showed as little as 7% were of non-European origins and quite a few characters have names that display their origins (Cho Chang, the Patil sisters) without making it explicit. This is really going full on PC here, which is especially absurd considering that the author herself is a dedicated SJW.
The US was not 90% White in the past - since Independence, African-Americans have always been between 10-15% of the population depending on immigration and birth rate trends.
It's super effective.
- It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Philadelphia has a less than 50% Caucasian rate, yet there are barely ever any non-white people on the show, save for guest spots or small recurring roles (such as when Ryan Howard and Sinbad guest-starred, or the father of Dee's surrogate baby). This becomes the plot-point of an entire episode, with The Gang worrying that not having any black friends (or even black patrons) automatically makes them racist.
- To the show's credit, while the main cast is extremely white, it actually does a good job of portraying a realistic depiction of diversity around the city. There are tons of non-white extras and one-shot characters (cops, nurses, store employees, and random bystanders) shown whenever the main cast members leave their bar and go somewhere.
This seems somewhat contradictory.
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I know this is a three-year-old comment, but...
I'm not so sure it's contradictory. Even in extremely multi-ethnic cities, it's an unfortunate reality that many people's social circles will, in general, be more-or-less racially homogeneous. There are a number of factors that influence this: the tendency for immigrant populations to settle in the same region as their fellow expats (which then often ensures that the local school districts are divided along ethnic lines), racism, ease of communication, religious ties, etc.
Consequently, it seems logical that a show might have a predominantly Caucasian cast while still showing the diversity of its setting through background characters and guest stars. Whether this is good or bad is open to interpretation.
I was wondering how to add a point without it seeming like complaining or racist then decided it might possibly be left alone (for now). In Britain, comedian Jim Davidson, a man not known for liberal or progressive ideas (whose comedy began in The '70s and stayed there), made a comment about how every TV advert shown in Britain now has to feature a mixed-race couple, as if this is enforced by law. Davidson was probably being his usually insensitive and non-racially-inclusive self when he said this but... he's right. Probably for the wrong reasons. His observation is right, the motives behind his making it are suspect. Up until fairly recently, TV advertising in Britain was racially homeogenous. It's as if in 2020 the advertisers have chosen to break with the old conventions and do something different - up until earlier this year there has NEVER been a mixed race couple on British TV adverts. Now they're everywhere. Once you see it.
Edited by AgProv Male, early sixties, Cranky old fart, at least two decades behind. So you have been warned. Functionally illiterate in several languages.
I'm not sure that the trope name clearly expresses the concept. While the word monochrome does indeed mean "shades of a single colour", most people will be familiar with it in the context of "monochrome photography" or "monochrome television", ie. white and black. Combine that with the fact that white and black are both shades of achromatic grey, and the word becomes not only apparently incorrect, but technically incorrect as well.
A better trope name might be something along the lines of "Whitewatching" (It doesn't have to be that, of course, but the trope name should clearly express that it specifically refers to Caucasians).
Black people in Shakespeare's London? Is there a source for this, besides a Dr. Who episode? Certainly at the time, people would have known what a black person was, but Africa and the middle east was quite far away, and tourism was low. A black person is feasible, but probably unusual enough to turn heads.
Would examples that aren't monochromatic, but noticeably lacking in a particular race be counted? Especially if the setting would indicate that that race should appear?
For example, a work set in Mexico that has a white protagonist and a black protagonist, but no Hispanic characters.
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Nom Nom None
Perhaps there should be another trope about how there isn't always monochrome casting because of all the 'averted' examples that don't really belong on this page. Perhaps something along the lines of 'Purposely Diverse Casting'?
Thinking of adding a video game section. While video games are young enough to have suffered this trope relatively little, there's still a good few examples floating about. Anyone interested in helping me compile a list?
Off to top of my head:
- Super Mario Bros.
- The early installments of Final Fantasy (if I'm not mistaken)
- Bioshock?
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