I recently watched Mary Queen of Scots starring Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie. A decent historical costume drama with two talented actresses in the lead. This film seemed to have been overlooked during the awards season. There was one glaring issue in the film that really annoyed me. The film makings continually cast actors of colour in prominent roles.

I am in favour of diversity in films, I want to see people of colour on screen reflecting the world that we live in. However, I do not wish to see false or inaccurate images on screen just for the sake of political correctness.

In Mary Queen of Scots, you have actress Gemma Chan ( British-Chinese) cast as Queen Elizabeth's lady in waiting! What??Remember this is England in the 1500s! Adrian Lester (British-Caribbean) is cast as Elizabeth's envoy to Mary's court. These images are jarring, as we know that Elizabethan England was not multicultural. Film makers are projecting a false view of the past which can be both patronising and insulting. Britain in 1588 is not the same as Britain in 2019. Audiences are mature enough to accept that.

I recall the scene in the Churchill movie The Darkest Hour where Churchill meets a cross section of the public on the London Underground. One of the passengers is a Shakespeare quoting Black man. Really?

I remember seeing a scene in Pearl Harbor where a white nurse treats a black sailor. Another false history image, knowing how segregated the American armed forces were in 1941. On top of that, a black man faced possible death if he got too close to a white woman even in Hawaii. So why show that on screen? It creates an impression of racial tolerance that just did not exist. In 1955, Emmett Till was murdered by racists in Mississippi based on false allegations by a white woman.

It is important that we given an accurate image of the past especially as people will accept the image. We still read books, but we are very quick to accept the image on our screens. Film makers have a responsibilty to project the truth, no matter how unpleasant it is. Man has been cruel to his fellow man, whether its in Nazi Germany, Napoleonic France or Tsarist Russia. We must not sugar coat the past just to make ourselves feel good. It is misleading and also dangerous. Cinema audiences are not children and should not be treated as such.