As a rule I do appreciate this series for its attention to detail in depicting the era of the mid 1930s. Generally I enjoy the lush production design, the architecture, the costumes, even the music that is appropriate to the period. But if there is one aspect of the era that I could have forgiven the series for straying from, it is the generalized racism of the time. Despite the fact that it is represented in Christie's stories as simply the general attitude of a certain segment of the population at the time, for as many changes as the producers of the series make to these episodes for a variety of reasons, I think they could have seen their way clear to diminish that element of the stories, rather than enhance it.
Since this story is set in London's Chinatown, there are many references to Chinese people, and almost all of them are stereotypical, if not downright unpleasant. One character impersonates a Chinese person, and Poirot says casually that "naturally he had to blacken his teeth" (and that doesn't even come from the original story; the writers for some reason added this ugly detail themselves). At one point, Japp is discussing the gangsters that he encounters that come from Chinatown; he describes them as committing crimes and then "scuttling back to their evil nests." Even Hastings gets in on the act in his own small way; while discussing the case with Poirot, he comments, "Inscrutable folk, the Chinese." I was even somewhat shocked to find that in the credits of the episode, two nameless characters are identified as "Oriental Gentleman" and, worse, "Chinese Tart"! Given that the episode was made in 1990, surely there was a better way to describe these people.
There are a couple of light hearted moments to relieve the tension. This is now the 13th episode of the series, and the first one to allude to the Great Depression, but only then in a back handed way, by mentioning that a lot of people are losing their fortunes in the stock market. Hastings and Miss Lemon spend the episode discussing what's happening with their investments and Poirot declares his intention to avoid such risks.(This particular element comes from the original story.) And in another mildly amusing subplot, Hastings introduces Poirot to Monopoly. But these little touches don't do much for me to compensate for the overall tone of the episode. I found it harder and harder to bear as the show went on. Christie must bear some of the blame, of course; despite the number of times that she depicted the ugly side of British xenophobia in her stories by sympathizing with the way Poirot, as a "foreigner" was treated, there are also numerous casual references to the wide variety of insulting things the British had to say about people from other parts of the world. I just wish they hadn't been so faithful to her work in that way. Disappointing.
Since this story is set in London's Chinatown, there are many references to Chinese people, and almost all of them are stereotypical, if not downright unpleasant. One character impersonates a Chinese person, and Poirot says casually that "naturally he had to blacken his teeth" (and that doesn't even come from the original story; the writers for some reason added this ugly detail themselves). At one point, Japp is discussing the gangsters that he encounters that come from Chinatown; he describes them as committing crimes and then "scuttling back to their evil nests." Even Hastings gets in on the act in his own small way; while discussing the case with Poirot, he comments, "Inscrutable folk, the Chinese." I was even somewhat shocked to find that in the credits of the episode, two nameless characters are identified as "Oriental Gentleman" and, worse, "Chinese Tart"! Given that the episode was made in 1990, surely there was a better way to describe these people.
There are a couple of light hearted moments to relieve the tension. This is now the 13th episode of the series, and the first one to allude to the Great Depression, but only then in a back handed way, by mentioning that a lot of people are losing their fortunes in the stock market. Hastings and Miss Lemon spend the episode discussing what's happening with their investments and Poirot declares his intention to avoid such risks.(This particular element comes from the original story.) And in another mildly amusing subplot, Hastings introduces Poirot to Monopoly. But these little touches don't do much for me to compensate for the overall tone of the episode. I found it harder and harder to bear as the show went on. Christie must bear some of the blame, of course; despite the number of times that she depicted the ugly side of British xenophobia in her stories by sympathizing with the way Poirot, as a "foreigner" was treated, there are also numerous casual references to the wide variety of insulting things the British had to say about people from other parts of the world. I just wish they hadn't been so faithful to her work in that way. Disappointing.