“Forget History. Forget What You’ve Seen Before. Forget What You Think You Know”: Re/Establishing Space for People of Color in Otto Bathurst’s Robin Hood

Abstract

This article discusses the representation of race in Otto Bathurst’s Robin Hood through an examination of Yahya, one of the pivotal figures of agitation for social reform in the film. It traces Yahya’s ancestry from his on-screen avatars to note a significant change that is displayed in the power dynamics between Yahya and Robin. Through this examination, the article will assert that dismissing the film’s commitment to diversity as “political correctness gone mad” not only fundamentally misunderstands what medievalism is and what it does, but also attempts to police Black bodies in a made-up past.