I absolutely agree.
I mean, not only is it inaccurate (I will take your word on that because I will be the first to admit that I am ignorant about not only the politics and history of the Silk Road but that whole geographic region) but from a writing standpoint the show is at its weakest when it tries to crowbar Marco into a position of “heroic lead”. Even the fact that the series is called “Marco Polo”, as opposed to Kublai Khan (who is ostensibly the focus of the series) is a weird decision. I feel like half of those instances were caused by some executive’s insistence that the series be “relatable” to white Western audiences by giving them Marco as a lead….. WHICH IS BULLSHIT, because the whole show is basically built to be relatable to Western audiences in the first place, and putting Marco at the center of attention is just plain unnecessary; and it is done at the expense of real history and real people. (To say nothing of the occasional montage of ~*exotic orgies of the forbidden Eastern women*~. JUST?? WHY. Those scenes are so uncomfortable and gross. I mean, they go back and try and humanize SOME of the characters afterwards BUT UGH UGH NO UGH WHY EVEN GO THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE?!)
I don’t necessarily think the fact that it caters to Western audiences is a bad thing? I think it’s AWESOME that we have this showcase of amazing actors and costumes and music. The problem lies, I think, with the fact that it is going to be a lot of Westerners’ ONLY window into that period. A costume drama should never be a substitute for native voices and scholarship– it can be a really exciting introduction, and even a primer for history, but when its the only example you have in the genre, it can lead to very damaging consequences.
That is why I hope that this show does well– receives the necessary criticism publicly, and encourages more and better examples to come forward and be successful.
I think the show does a many things right and it is, as you say, great fun. And yes, absolutely, they could do better. And I hope they do!
–And hey, thank you for speaking out! You’re doing a brave and valuable service to the fandom and I’m happy to listen. 🙂