Is Netflix to be allowed to bring compelling Asian stories to a Western audience? Western audiences won't watch subtitled shows in great numbers, so the answer is to hire a diverse international cast that speaks English. So now that has been established, what accent would be acceptable and not a mockery? Answer - none. The argument raging about the accents in this show are puerile, infantile, and an attack upon the many compelling and brilliant minority actors.
Four stars as I felt the second series dragged out story lines too far. One particular incident was so far off historical track it made me wince. There's a difference between creative licence and historical derailing. On the bright side, at times the cinematography was incredible, the acting fantastic. Benedict Wong as Kublai Khan was exceptional. This was a feast for the eyes.
Most Westerners don't understand the historical context of Kublai Khan. Without going into a history lecture I'll give two examples. His great fleet sent to invade Japan was sunk by a typhoon - known as Kamikaze - the Divine Wind. That set off a chain of events in Japan where seven hundred years later the West became familiar with Kamikaze in World War 2. There was a direct psychological link between Kublai Khan's actions and the elevation of the Japanese Emporers to God-like status. We in the West suffered greatly due to that belief system. Watching this show you would have had no idea of the Khan's enduring battles with Japan.
Second, Marco Polo's book was divisive. On his death bed he was asked to denounce his descriptions of Eastern civilizations. Propagandists in the Catholic church took the negative elements of the book and painted the "Barbarians" as beasts who needed to be saved from their depravity by Christianity. The worldwide expansion of European Christian Kingdom's was influenced by the propaganda derived from Marco Polo's book. The law of unintended consequences written in blood across the big blue sky.
Polo refused to denounce his book, saying that he had not told half the story of what he had seen as he knew people wouldn't believe him. We are lucky to know anything at all o his story, he was jailed for two years on his return to Venice and it was a chance meeting in the jail that resulted in the book.
The cancellation of this show has deprived Western audiences of critical historical context. If it was cancelled because it was a bad show, fair enough. If cancelled because it was losing too much money, fair enough.
Cancelled because some clown Western critics criticised Asians speaking English and knee capped the show? Shameful.Netflix should consider now commissioning series three, the audience is now there. And Western audiences will be staggered at what influence Kublai Khan had upon our societies, world history and lets not forget the main character of the show, what happened to Marco Polo when he returned to his beloved Venice. It's an incredible story, tell it. finish it.
On a side note - The Thai king, King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Rai as a defensive fort against Kublai's potential expansion into modern day Thailand. He decided that it was too close to the Southern Chinese border and founded a second city further down called Chiang Mai. The beautiful moat you see to this day was built as a defence against Mongol expansionism, and against the Burmese. Whole modern day cities were built because of Kublai Khan, an amazing and enduring influence.