gamingcirclejerk

Not every show set in the past aims or needs to be historically accurate. Our Flag Means Death, for example, takes some pretty big creative liberties in that regard, but without those liberties you wouldn't have a show.

If historical shows stuck to realism while being inclusive, that would mean a lot more sad, depressing stories that are difficult to watch. And there's absolutely a time and place for those sorts of stories, but practically speaking it's more likely that the show would simply chose not to include those characters at all, or if they did, then few people would watch it. Even marginalized people would often prefer to see a somewhat romanticized version where the character isn't defined by their race, gender, or sexual orientation.

To say it's trying to erase historical prejudices is a very surface level critique. When I see, for example, Watson from Sherlock Holmes reimagined as a woman or a person of color, the idea that the producers are trying to convince the audience that racism/sexism didn't exist at the time wouldn't cross my mind at all and sounds absurd. I don't think anyone's watching it and taking that away. If a show doesn't show people needing to use the bathroom, I understand that it's because of a mutual understanding that the writers don't want to show that and the audience doesn't want to see it, and if a show doesn't want to show racism/sexism, it's from a similar mutual understanding.

There are exceptions, where a show does aim to be (or pass itself off as) historically accurate, and when it's reasonable to expect it to handle those topics, then maybe. The one that comes to mind is Hamilton, which does whitewash certain things but even then I would say that having a diverse cast that doesn't personally experience racism is not the problem.