Know what’s another kind of representation in Good Omens that doesn’t get enough applause? Age.
Even though Crowley’s appearance is described in the book as that of a “young man” the show’s two most popular characters are played by actors who were pushing 50 (Sheen is 50 this year and Tennant is 48). Yet that didn’t stop them from having Tennant turn up the smoldering sex appeal to 11 (Zira’s sexy to me too but I mean that’s not necessarily an aspect of his character in the same way, yall get what I’m saying…hopefully), and it hasn’t stopped both of them from being objects of….very aggressive shipping by fans of all ages.
Then there’s the Tracy and Shadwell romance, two fairly elderly characters, but it’s not treated any differently than if they were young. I mean sure it’s mildly comical in the sense of keeping up the show’s overall tone, but it’s not like their age itself is the joke.
(Quick tangent re: character romances, this is a difference between British vs. American TV I’ve noticed before, in UK media it seems more common to see older characters still treated like full fledged human beings who are still interested in love and sex and deserve those things too. Even so, it’s still rare enough overall that it stands out to me.)
Anyway, then you have a lot of age diversity among both men and women in the supporting cast too. War is described as a stunningly beautiful 25 year old in the book. In the show she’s a stunningly beautiful 43 year old (Mireille Enos). Pollution, played by Lourdes Faberes, is 44. Doon Mackichan (Archangel Michael) is 56.
Also Michael is the angel who in legend personally battled Lucifer and cast him down into Hell, and is frequently depicted in military dress. I just feel like in some shows even if they’d taken the step of casting a woman it’d still be a young actress strutting around in skimpy Wonder Woman looking armor or something. Instead they have this middle aged woman radiating power in a smart suit but also glittery make up and she’s quite attractive but not in a objectifying way and…it’s just good, fam.
So, you know, thanks to the show runners/cast/crew for being kickass in yet another way.