Adele’s Interracial Relationship In “Hello” Video Is More Important Than You Think
Whether you realize it or not, Adele’s new video for “Hello” is groundbreaking — but probably not for the reason you were thinking. Sure, it’s the first video partially shot using IMAX cameras, which makes it historic, and it beat out Taylor Swift’s previous record for the most-viewed video in 24 hours so it’s also record-breaking, but, more importantly, it made a bold casting choice to feature African American actor as Adele’s ex-lover without making it the whole point of the video.
The clip, directed by the 26-year-old French-Canadian Xavier Dolan, focuses on Adele as she tries to pick up the pieces of her past relationship with an ex, played by Tristan Wilds, who should look familiar to anyone whose seen The Wire or that 90210 remake. But that’s just a fact about the video; race is not part of the plot in anyway. It’s just colorblind casting in the most positive sense of the word. Too often in the past, Hollywood has used the casting of interracial couples as an easy way to insert conflict into a story. They can’t be together because their parents won’t allow it, or the world just isn’t ready for that kind of love. In 2015, though, that trope seems completely antiquated, until you realize it actually isn’t in London where Adele calls home.
The London most of us see on film and television is still a heavily Caucasian one. The British period drama Downton Abbey has been criticized for not hiring black or Asian actors, but the show’s creator Julian Fellowes has said all along that he would be interested in having more diversity on the show if it was done in “a way that is historically believable.” Fellowes would later add the show’s first black character, a jazz singer, in 2013. But what is the excuse for shows like Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes, which are both run by Scottish writer/director Steven Moffat and set in the city — Sherlock takes place in present day, while Doctor Who travels throughout time — but rarely feature any people of color?
In 2013, the BBC was forced to defend Doctor Who against allegations that the show was racist after the book Doctor Who and Race found that over the series 50 years it showed it was “lacking in the areas of cultural sensitivity and diversity; casting white actors as nonwhite characters, casting only white men as the shape-shifting protagonist, imbuing the Doctor with traits and characteristics associated with British imperialism (e.g., a love of cricket), making light of the Holocaust, and fostering negative portrayals of cultures different from Who’s British world.”
James Bond is also an example of a true British series that, over its history, has been lacking in POC. Even now, when leaked Sony emails revealed Idris Elba had been suggested to take over the role of Bond, many brought up concerns over the fact that he was black, with GQ perhaps getting to the real reason some may have a problem with it: “Bond’s whiteness and Britishness all too often triumphed over the rest of the world’s non-whiteness and non-Britishness” since the only people of color in the series were villains or Bond girls, both of which 007 was able to have his way with.
Sadly, Who, Sherlock and Bond aren’t the only examples of whitewashing, most movies and TV shows based in London don’t come anywhere near close to representing the diverse makeup of the actual city today. According to The Economist, the 2011 Census showed that London is the most diverse city in England and Wales, with more than one in three residents being foreign-born. Between 2001 — when the last census took place — and 2011, the country saw an increase in population, with over half of it due to immigration. Indians and Pakistanis were reported as being the two largest “non-white” groups currently calling England home.
The Census also reported that those identifying as mixed ethnicities shot up over the last decade with over 1.2 million people identifying as “mixed” or “multiple” ethnicity. In addition, the country saw an increase in the “proportion of households combining people from different ethnic backgrounds,” with mixed Black Caribbean and white making up the largest proportion of mixed citizens. And, unlike 2001, this Census showed that “Asians and Black Africans are also intermixing with whites more than before.”
Ethnic identities are blurring. Not only are mixtures becoming more complicated (think Tiger Woods, in America) but also children of immigrants (or those who arrived as young children) may identify more than their parents with their new home (calling themselves Black British rather than Black African, say). National identity adds to the complexity.
This Census was the first in England where citizens were asked how they saw themselves, allowing them to define their own national identity. While more than two thirds chose English, it does seem that, by the next Census, many citizens of England will no longer just be calling themselves English, but will choose hyphenates that better convey who they really are. Being a proud English person will no longer be about what makes each citizen the same, but what makes each of them unique. Perhaps taking a page from the United States, where everyone is American and something else.
The fact that those who identify as white in England may not have fully embraced the changing population just yet is what makes Adele’s decision to be involved in an interracial relationship in her “Hello” video such a bold statement. It’s just rather surprising that it’s coming from Adele, an artist who isn’t known for making political statements or ruffling feathers. There have been no naked photos, no Twitter feuds, no “sorry, not sorry” apologies. Not even a doughnut licking incident. The only time Adele’s gotten even a whiff of bad press is when she told us her new album 25 was coming last spring and then left us hanging until this month to officially announce her “makeup” album. Even then, the press was more sad and disappointed than angry.
With “Hello” Adele is seemingly taking the pulse of her motherland, a place that only recently started to see an uptick in interracial relationships. Last summer, the Telegraph wrote a story about how romance is breaking down racial barriers in London with 2.3 million people saying they are living or married to someone of a different nationality. According to the Census, much of the population identifying as mixed race is also of the country’s younger demographic. “Those in their 20s and 30s are more than twice as likely to be living with someone from another background as those over 65,” the Telegraph writes. “Reflecting a less rigid approach to identity over time.” Meaning, young people like Adele don’t think love means staying with your own kind.
Adele’s video captures that feeling of young love in the sense that the highs are just so high and the lows are the deepest depths you imagine. Shots of Wilds, as seen from Adele’s perspective, are almost dreamlike to help show these are memories of a better time. The shots are almost a little too close, drawing you in even further and forcing the viewer to see this man through Adele’s loving eyes and then her tear-filled ones. Either way, it doesn’t matter what color his skin is. The fact that they’re a interracial couple isn’t the source of their problems. And, as Adele and Dolan obviously realized, there’s just no need to question it any further. At least not on camera.
