I guess it's safe to say Hyacinth was a very prejudiced woman, or should I say class prejudice. She obviously didn't like the poor and possibly people of color. She obviously was offended when people thought her phone was orential. I remember one episode where she said "she had no oriental connections whatsoever."
shareThey didn't think her phone was oriental, they thought they were calling a Chinese take-out place. I don't think she would have been any less insulted if they had thought it was a take-out fish & chips place. It wasn't about it being Chinese, it was about it being take-out food. She was just trying to make the caller understand that they had the wrong number. If the person of color was rich and/or famous she'd have been fine with them. Hyacinth didn't care about color/race, just about social standing.
I do not have attention deficit disor...Ooh, look at the bunny!
Hyacinth was definitely prejudice. She wouldn't dare have a friend of color. She was highly insulted when people thought she was a Chinese takeaway, remember when she said "she had no Oriental connections whatsoever" - what does that tell you. She didn't deal with people of color much. There wasn't but a few blacks on the show and Hyacinth had no neighbors of color. In her high society, people of color aren't acceptable company.
shareHyacinth was definitely prejudice. She wouldn't dare have a friend of color. She was highly insulted when people thought she was a Chinese takeaway, remember when she said "she had no Oriental connections whatsoever" - what does that tell you. She didn't deal with people of color much. There wasn't but a few blacks on the show and Hyacinth had no neighbors of color. In her high society, people of color aren't acceptable company.
we see no evidence of racial prejudice. she would certainly not mind being friends with someone asian if they were posh or rich. as for the Chinese takeaway - she would have been annoyed to be mistaken for any kind of takeaway. hyacinth is not in high society, she merely wishes she was. she is an ordinary suburban woman married to an ordinary suburban man and living in a very ordinary suburban house.
shareNope, I disagree. Hyacinth was ALL about class. If one of Rose's boyfriends had been black but well-placed socially, Hyacinth would have been encouraging Rose to marry him.
Hyacinth was miffed that anyone would think she was a take-out restaurant. It would not make any difference if it was Chinese or any other kind.
Hyacinth is a snob. Everything she does and says comes out of that.
Your response is correct, Hyacinth didn't have anything against people of other races, religions, or sexual orientations. Everyone was equally beneath her.
"Well, for once the rich white man is in control!" C. M. Burns
I don't think Hyacinth would approve of a gay relationship. After all, she was completely in denial about her only son clearly being gay (unless she really doesn't get it). It might be true though, that she wouldn't mind Rose having a black boyfriend, as long as he had a good social standing/was rich. She defineately approved of Mr Marinopopoulos, who was Greek, as long as she thought he was rich. But then again, she wasn't that happy about "Mr Whatsit", who was Polish. But I guess she never thought he was rich?
Intelligence and purity.
Greek/Polish what difference does it make. Their all still white. And if you remember she made stereotypes about Greeks. Hyacinth always had insults about poor and people of color.
If Rose had a black boyfriend money or not, she wouldn't accept it. If she thought money and class was important, she also thought whiteness was better.
Hyacinth was definitely prejudice. She wouldn't dare have a friend of color. She was highly insulted when people thought she was a Chinese takeaway, remember when she said "she had no Oriental connections whatsoever" - what does that tell you. She didn't deal with people of color much. There wasn't but a few blacks on the show and Hyacinth had no neighbors of color. In her high society, people of color aren't acceptable company.
You all are blind. Hyacinth had something against poor people and people of color. If Rose had a black boyfriend money or not, she wouldn't accept it. If she thought money and class was important, she also thought whiteness was better.
Hyacinth was definitely prejudice. She wouldn't dare have a friend of color. She was highly insulted when people thought she was a Chinese takeaway, remember when she said "she had no Oriental connections whatsoever" - what does that tell you. She didn't deal with people of color much. There wasn't but a few blacks on the show and Hyacinth had no neighbors of color. In her high society, people of color aren't acceptable company.
If Rose had a black boyfriend money or not, she wouldn't accept it. If she thought money and class was important, she also thought whiteness was better.
Hyacinth was definitely prejudice. She wouldn't dare have a friend of color. She was highly insulted when people thought she was a Chinese takeaway, remember when she said "she had no Oriental connections whatsoever" - what does that tell you. She didn't deal with people of color much. There wasn't but a few blacks on the show and Hyacinth had no neighbors of color. In her high society, people of color aren't acceptable company.
Relative to the Chinese take-away, I think she just grew tired of answering calls for a business, ANY business, and some of the conversation we heard was just funny because of the names of many Chinese dishes. I think they could have used any business for that part of the show and it would have shown her being annoyed and "put upon" because it wasn't her talking to "her Sheridan" or inviting somebody to one of her candlelight suppers.
I think it's a far jump to say she's racist. As others mentioned, she is definitely "classist" but there was no indication she was racist.
But remember when she panics in Denmark because she thinks Scandinavians are like Vikings?
I think she's just a bit naïve about the world outside her town.
That's true, but we never were given any proof that she actually was a racist. She might have been, but she probably was more concerned about class/status than race.
Intelligence and purity.
Well, the Danes were one of the many cultures that invaded Britain, so her concern is understandable.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danelaw
Well, the Danes were one of the many cultures that invaded Britain, so her concern is understandable.I think that's just it. Being very patriotic, she's more xenophobic than racist... anything beyond Britain looks a bit questionable to Hyacinth. I think she even criticises the French, despite often using their words to sound more posh. share
Yeah, it's double standards galore with Hyacinth!
Intelligence and purity.
Don't forget she also strongly disapproves of anything "continental". Funny how she insists on the French pronunciation of her surname and when she first met Emmett, she would regale him with her weird French in order to appear sophisticated but has issues with anything European.
Don't let anyone ever make you feel like you don't deserve what you want.
Hyacinth might very well frown upon "French customs", but for the longest time, French language was considered as something, that people had to learn to appear sophisticated. Yeah, double standards...
Intelligence and purity.
She does make mention of Richard having some French in his blood but that it's all but gone, and like many Brits, I believe she's xenophobic, and she's incredibly patriotic (Rule Britania while they were stranded waiting for the QE2), and always going on about the superiority of England and royalty.
I think she saw herself as elevated socially and only wanted to be with others who were socially elevated and well-connected.
I'm not sure if she'd have a problem if someone was coloured but something tells me she'd take it with a grain of salt if that person was wealthy.
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Sic vis pacem para bellum.
Can anybody point to a clear example that would support a claim of racial bias? There were only two black characters in the entire KUA run (bit parts) and Hyacinth never dealt with Asians in person. When dealing with the Chinese restaurant, she goes out of her way to tell everybody that Richard is talking to the Chinese ambassador. It is the social status that rules everything (the essence of the character). Other biases just aren't there and would have changed the entire tone.
shareThe only time I remember black characters in KUA is when two young black guys on the street laugh at Richards trousers or something, they were more or less extras rather than even bit parts.
shareHyacinth was quite thrilled by the idea of Richard speaking to the Chinese ambassador, therefore I don't race mattered in Hyacinth's book, it was all about class. A poor Chinese person, was the probably the same as poor English person in her book. There was also an episode where she stated she had nothing against Polish persons.
shareI think that Hyacinth was conscious of position rather than any particular prejudice, racial or otherwise.
shareI sometimes read threads like this and think... It's just a sitcom, why can't people take it at face value and chill out?
shareNo, OP, you're wrong. Hya was 100% classist. Now in 95% of cases, that's going to include (often subconscious) racial overtones (which is what you're picking up on), but the character was all about appearances and class. She couldn't think beyond those enough to be racist. You also have to take into account that she is a British classist, which expresses itself in some subtly different ways than American classism.
shareI have to laugh at people calling Hyacinth a racist. Can anyone point to ANY episode where she says anything remotely racist? People keep citing the scene where she gets annoyed because people think she lives in a Chinese takeaway, but that's snobbery, not racism. (Chinese takeaways being seen as places frequented by lower class English people).
Granted there aren't that many non-whites in the show, but the show was made before the open-door mass immigration policies of the Blair government, so there weren't as many non-whites around in those days anyway.
Above all Hyacinth is an old fashioned British snob. It's all about status and income, not race. I am sure Hyacinth would welcome an Indian Rajah or an African prince into her home.
'Monsters? We're British!'