Race & Ethnicity On TV

[Trini]

Freeform has teamed with Selena Gomez and Aaron Kaplan for a drama series project. Described as a Latina Empire, the untitled drama, now in development, is set in a low income Latino neighborhood and is told through the eyes of an 18-year-old girl destined for greatness. Gomez executive produces with Kaplan through his Kapital Entertainment and Mandy Teefey. Los Angeles high school senior Ana Cobarrubias serves as a consultant on the project, which is looking for a writer.

 

More about the inspiration for the series at Deadline.

[xaxat]

I'm sure a lot of people are working to appropriate elements of Hamilton that made it such a huge success.

 

I'm just glad Amy Schumer got there first.

 

 

 

 

[Ms Blue Jay]

Lots of people tweeted images of the Bright Star casting call that said :  All characters are Caucasian.  (Which for some reason the same protesters had no issue with -- I wonder why?)

 

But you are not allowed to ask for non-white actors.  I guess you'd have to do someting like this:

 

All characters are:  "(African-American, Pacific Islander, South Asian, East Asian, Latino, and a bunch of others; I think the final text said something akin to "...other visible ethnicities)"

[vibeology]

ABC is still pretty diverse:

Blackish (black female lead)

Fresh Off the Boat (Asian female lead)

 

Don't forget Dr. Ken.

 

And I know the point was to go for leads, but Sofia Vergara has clearly been the breakout media star of Modern Family even though she's only a part of a larger ensemble. I think it's safe to say that ABC has made a commitment to diversity and casts their shows accordingly. It's not something I consciously choose a show for but it is very nice to see it and see it be successful.

[Princess Sparkle]

I'm sure a lot of people are working to appropriate elements of Hamilton that made it such a huge success.

I'm just glad Amy Schumer got there first.

Well thanks; I laughed so hard at this that my coworkers now know I'm not working.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I am not in the U.S. so I Google'd around to try and find something for us non-American heathens

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtrzznhUY0U

[jhlipton]

Heh. It looks like Shonda Rhimes and Fox account for pretty much 100% of network dramas with black female leads.

 

ABC is the most diverse across different ethnicites.  Including the Shonda shows, we have:

 

NBC is partial to Latina leads:

 

CBS surprisingly has a lot more female lead shows that I'd thought, but only one with a WOC:  Elementary (Asian female lead) or two if we consider

 

 

I was just looking at the new shows.  Thanks for the info, though -- it's interesting to see who really gets "diversity" and who doesn't.

 

I personally think that Mireille Enos is devastatingly beautiful.

 

 

This is definitely YMMV territory.  Both she and Jamie Alexander (who I'm also told is "beautiful") have no lips AT ALL.  I'm no fan of collegen lips but I wouldn't want to kiss a chicken either!

 

[Diversity] not something I consciously choose a show for but it is very nice to see it and see it be successful.

 

Diversity isn't something I go out of my way to watch (although I'm much more likely to watch a show with a black female featured prominently than one without), but I'm also much more likely to pass if there's no diversity at all.  Take Houdini and Doyle for example.  This is the easiest way for shows to just cast whites -- use real people who were white.  A few years ago, before I got caught up in looking at diversity, I'd have been thrilled by this.  Now I'm wondering why it couldn't have been a skeptical black female and a spiritual man (of any color).

 

==============================================

 

In a bit of "Ultimate Diversity", Laverne Cox will star as Dr Frankenfurter in the FOX TV version of Rocky Horror Picture Show.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Mireille has "no lips"?  Are you sure you have the right person?   I have never heard her described in such a way.  

Edited April 5, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[Ohwell]

I do't find Mirelle Enos attractive, but I will say that she has lips.  

 

However, that red dress in the center photo is not flattering on her at all.   Looks like she might have been pregnant, but in any case she needed to lift those puppies up.   

[feverfew]

Something pointed out to me in the debate over the Iron Fist casting -- SHIELD has the only major Asian characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. No Asians in the Netflix corner, none in the movies.

 

Jessica Henwick (Star Wars, Game of Thrones) has just been cast as the female lead, Colleen Wing in Iron Fist. I think she's half Asian? It only says "of Singaporean ethnicity" on her imdb bio.

 

EDT. Because I forgot words. And didn't make sense ;)

Edited April 6, 2016 by feverfew

[DearEvette]

 

Diversity isn't something I go out of my way to watch (although I'm much more likely to watch a show with a black female featured prominently than one without), but I'm also much more likely to pass if there's no diversity at all. 

 

These days, this is me in a nutshell.  I love TV, not gonna lie but I've watched damn near 40 years of tv with very little diversity.  So now, I figure I can balance the scales a bit.  Right now, any whiff of diversity, esp. a show featuring a black female will get me to give the show a try.  A bad show won't keep me, but at least I'll give it a couple three looks.  And it will get me to watch channels/shows I may not have normally given a second look -- Killjoys (love), The Expanse (took me a while but loved it by the end of first season), The Outsiders (fascinated despite myself), Stitchers (gave up, not even my love for Salli Richardson will get me to like this), Archer (sure, Lana is animated but that still counts).

 

I'll still watch a show that has little or no diversity, but it is generally shows whose storytelling is irresistible like  Breaking Bad or Mad Men.  But if it is standard procedural fare or a doctor or lawyer show then, yeah I'll most likely pass.

[Raja]

https://issuu.com/indiacurrents/docs/ic_april_2016/19?e=3266852/34535813

 

I was delivering the current, April 16 issue of India Currents magazine and the cover story stuck right out:

Why does the ABC show Quantico remove cultural markers from our desi girl Priyanka Chopra

[Rick Kitchen]

https://issuu.com/indiacurrents/docs/ic_april_2016/19?e=3266852/34535813

 

I was delivering the current, April 16 issue of India Currents magazine and the cover story stuck right out:

Why does the ABC show Quantico remove cultural markers from our desi girl Priyanka Chopra

 

Her character's name is Alex Parrish, why should she have an accent?  And what does "cultural markers" mean?

[ribboninthesky1]

I really, really hope that Nicole Beharie is picked up by another show that will appreciate her talent.  She didn't appear to be remotely valued on Sleepy Hollow, and the alleged BTS shenanigans I read about were ridiculous.

Edited April 9, 2016 by ribboninthesky1

[maraleia]

https://issuu.com/indiacurrents/docs/ic_april_2016/19?e=3266852/34535813

 

I was delivering the current, April 16 issue of India Currents magazine and the cover story stuck right out:

Why does the ABC show Quantico remove cultural markers from our desi girl Priyanka Chopra

This is one of the reasons why I stopped watching the show. The other one was the unnecessary convoluted storytelling.

[angora]

I really, really hope that Nicole Beharie is picked up by another show that will appreciate her talent.  She didn't appear to be remotely valued on Sleepy Hollow, and the alleged BTS shenanigans I read about were ridiculous.

ITA.  I had to go for a run after the episode last night to blow off some steam, and when that didn't help, I had to get some ice cream and then watch Daredevil hit people for a while.  I just can't believe what went down; it boggles my mind that the show's own damn runners STILL don't get why people watch it.  It's Crane AND Abbie, Witnesses together, or what's the point?

[Trini]

Never watched Sleepy Hollow, but the news about Abbie/Nicole is still disappointing.

[Skyline]

I dropped Sleepy Hollow in its second season. Too much Katrina on my screen.

[ribboninthesky1]

I dropped Sleepy Hollow in season one.  I happened to be on Twitter when I saw a link to an article referencing Nicole's exit, thus my original post.  In truth, I gave Sleepy Hollow the side-eye from episode one, when Crane assumed Abbie to be an emancipated slave.  That never sat right with me (felt like lazy writing for the sake of a joke), and the show didn't get any better.  I was out by episode five or so, as I couldn't stand Crane and Abbie felt more side-kickish than I preferred, but there were plenty of people who loved the first season.  Social media is how I first read about some of the BTS stuff.  

 

In any case, I hope she is quickly snapped up by another show, if she chooses to continue her TV career. If she does, I'll definitely tune in.             

Edited April 10, 2016 by ribboninthesky1

[Neurochick]

Sleepy Hollow will probably be cancelled, I always forgot it was even on.  

 

Best use of diversity in a TV show?  Starz' "Black Sails" of course.  

 

A show doesn't need to have a lot of POC characters to be diverse, what it does need to do is to show their point of view, which is what "Black Sails" does and did seriously this season.  

 

As for Sleepy Hollow, there was no way in the world that a TV show on a network would "allow" a brown skinned black woman to have a romance with a good looking white, male characters.  It's fine for black men to have romances with white women, but never the other way around.  

Edited April 10, 2016 by Neurochick

[Luckylyn]

Rick who is white and Michonne who is black got together on the current season of The Walking Dead with an overwhelmingly positive fan response.  There are fans like me who been rooting for this romance to happen for years.  I hope this shows that interracial pairings can work on more shows.
 

I gave up on Sleepy Hallow half way through Season 2.  The effort to push Abbie out of the lead position and push forward Katrina was a big problem to me.  It wasn't about shipping because I would have been fine with Abbie/Crane being romantic or platonic.  It was about being invested in Abbie  and realizing the the writers weren't.   Plus, I feel they undervalued the importance of Abbie/Jenny's storyline.  I was more interested in the sisters' history and dynamic than in Crane/Katrina marriage/parent drama.

Edited April 10, 2016 by Luckylyn

[tennisgurl]

 

Rick who is white and Michonne who is black got together on the current season of The Walking Dead with an overwhelmingly positive fan response

I was so happy to see this happen, not just because I ship Rick and Michonne, which I do, but also because its one of the biggest shows on TV, and its showing an interracial pairing (especially between the white protagonist and black woman) in a positive, healthy way. Walking Dead also has a few other interracial pairings, most notably the longest running couple in the series, Glenn/Maggie, who are an Asian man and a White woman, another pairing you do not see all that much on TV. 

[Raja]

I was so happy to see this happen, not just because I ship Rick and Michonne, which I do, but also because its one of the biggest shows on TV, and its showing an interracial pairing (especially between the white protagonist and black woman) in a positive, healthy way. Walking Dead also has a few other interracial pairings, most notably the longest running couple in the series, Glenn/Maggie, who are an Asian man and a White woman, another pairing you do not see all that much on TV.

I would be more excited if we weren't talking about the last people on earth.

[DeLurker]

As for Sleepy Hollow, there was no way in the world that a TV show on a network would "allow" a brown skinned black woman to have a romance with a good looking white, male characters.  It's fine for black men to have romances with white women, but never the other way around.  

What century do these people* live in?

 

* The network people.

Edited April 10, 2016 by DeLurker

[Neurochick]

What century do these people* live in?

 

* The network people.

Unfortunately, they live in this century, but their brains are probably in the 16th or prior.

Edited April 10, 2016 by Neurochick

[Ms Blue Jay]

Her character's name is Alex Parrish, why should she have an accent?  And what does "cultural markers" mean?

 

Her name doesn't have to be Alex Parrish.  Quantico isn't a documentary.  They could give her an Indian last name.  The world wouldn't end.  I didn't read the article but I assume the annoyance is with shows who erase the ethnicity, colour, or background of characters of colour.  They can have last names, cultural practices, parents, accents, even religions that reflect their heritage.  For example, I've seen Rashida Jones (half black and white) in countless projects now where her parents are never shown.  In The Office they claimed she was Italian!  In "I Love You Man" they conveniently made her an orphan so you didn't have to see her father (who could be black like her real life father, for instance) walk her down the aisle!  So stupid.  It's like they didn't want the shock of Paul Rudd marrying a woman of colour.... 

 

As for Sleepy Hollow, there was no way in the world that a TV show on a network would "allow" a brown skinned black woman to have a romance with a good looking white, male characters.  It's fine for black men to have romances with white women, but never the other way around.

 

- That is what Scandal is about.... the entire show....

- The Mindy Project was on Fox for 3 years and it is literally about that too.....  She had romances with like 20 different white men.  

- Speaking of Quantico, the lead character is in an on/off romance with a handsome white guy

- Regina Hall just dated the very good looking John Stamos on Grandfathered

- Christian Milian is dating Josh Peck on Grandfathered

- Hannah Simon is engaged to be married to Max Greenfield on New Girl

- Mindy Kaling and BJ Novak on The Office, almost a 9 year on and off relationship

- Annalise Keating and her husband on How to Get Away with Murder

- Mikayla on How to Get Away with Murder MAY be entering same type of relationship soon - won't spoil too much detail

- April on ABC's Mistresses dated white guys

- The family on the show The Neighbors is a black woman married to a white man (2012-2014)

- Rose on LOST, though she was a smaller character

- Kalinda and Cush Jumbo's romantic dalliances on The Good Wife, but I'll grant that none of those relationships seemed to go far beyond the  sexual

 

There are also shows like Being Mary Jane and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air that have a black woman date a white man, and then explicitly deal with the racial issues that might occur.  Granted, BMJ is a BET show.  Vanessa on Gossip Girl, was on the CW. She dated Dan, Nate, Chuck, 3 of the hottest white guys on television.  These are just from shows I've actually watched!  Who knows, there might be more examples.

Edited April 10, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[fishcakes]

Yeah, I would say a black woman with a white man is far more common on TV than a white woman with a black man. The latter seems to be more threatening to people; just look how people lost their shit over the family in the Cheerios commercial a couple of years ago.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Yet another reason I have to be sad that Happy Endings still isn't on the air!   Or The New Adventures of Old Christine... or... (sitting on my hands now)

Edited April 10, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[Neurochick]

Yeah, I would say a black woman with a white man is far more common on TV than a white woman with a black man. The latter seems to be more threatening to people; just look how people lost their shit over the family in the Cheerios commercial a couple of years ago.

Well the Merlin fandom went nuts with a black Gwenuviere.

[Raja]

Well the Merlin fandom went nuts with a black Gwenuviere.

That happens with any character taken from source material which doesn't meet the general fanboy consensus of who "our" hero. it could be a gender swap as with Boomer and Starbuck before the Nu Battlestar Gallatica was seen, it could be race or even ethnic shades of a larger race as with the Hunger Games

[peachmangosteen]

Her name doesn't have to be Alex Parrish.  Quantico isn't a documentary.  They could give her an Indian last name.  The world wouldn't end. 

 

I am fairly sure that I have seen Priyanka Chopra say that she didn't want them to change Alex's name when she was cast because she wanted to prove that POC can play any character.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I am fairly sure that I have seen Priyanka Chopra say that she didn't want them to change Alex's name when she was cast because she wanted to prove that POC can play any character.

 

Except that she's not "any" character. Her mother is Indian, which means that Alex is also Indian. Her father being White doesn't erase her being Indian.

[BoogieBurns]

Her father being White doesn't erase her being Indian.

 

Wouldn't she have her father's last name, and that explains why her last name isn't "Indian"? 

[peachmangosteen]

Wouldn't she have her father's last name, and that explains why her last name isn't "Indian"? 

 

I believe that is what Priyanka has said, too. And it does make sense. I mean she might just be trying to make it sound better than it is, but she definitely has stated that she personally did not want them to change Alex's name when she was cast.

Edited April 11, 2016 by peachmangosteen

[vibeology]

And that's the larger problem. There is no winning for a poc. Take Chopra's stand and you're not letting the character be Indian enough but if you make the changes there are people who will complain about that too pointing out that there is more to an Indian-American experience than accents and Indian names. Because there are so few actors of colour on TV, the expectations on every character to represent everything are so high that someone is always disappointed. I personally think let Chopra dictate her character and don't worry so much about what it mean. That's who this one character is. Hopefully the success of her show will mean more Indian-Americans on TV in general and each show will make their own decisions about how to portray their characters until we end up with a whole bunch of diverse experiences. (I'm not holding my breathe for that to happen tomorrow, but I do hope one day....)

[Neurochick]

That happens with any character taken from source material which doesn't meet the general fanboy consensus of who "our" hero. it could be a gender swap as with Boomer and Starbuck before the Nu Battlestar Gallatica was seen, it could be race or even ethnic shades of a larger race as with the Hunger Games

 

I guess you haven't heard what bullshit they did with Sleepy Hollow.  So no, racism isn't over and white show runners still have issues with black women with white men; where the show runner would rather kill off a black female character than pair her off with a white man; but no, I guess I'm just being too sensitive and I must be imagining things because there are plenty of other shows where black women are with white men, because when it comes to black women, it has to be something else other than racism. 

Edited April 11, 2016 by Neurochick

[gator12]

There are Indian (who aren't mix who have none Indian names) I knew an Indian boy in High School who had a very biblical first and last name. 

I do agree that there is no winning for a POC on tv and sometime even in life. We just can't win.

Edited April 11, 2016 by gator12

[topanga]

I guess you haven't heard what bullshit they did with Sleepy Hollow.  So no, racism isn't over and white show runners still have issues with black women with white men; where the show runner would rather kill off a black female character than pair her off with a white man; but no, I guess I'm just being too sensitive and I must be imagining things because there are plenty of other shows where black women are with white men, because when it comes to black women, it has to be something else other than racism. 

I agree that it's total bullshit. But I think the bigger issue was that the showrunners didn't want a black woman to retain her position as co-lead. I know Nicole Beharie wanted to leave the show, but that was after the show's disastrous 2nd season, where her character was sidelined and her role as co-lead was marginalized. 

 

And on her farewell episode, this FBI agent who has always been an equal partner with her white co-star says out of her mouth that she existed only to help Ichabod on his journey. A magical Negro, indeed. 

 

I don't think the showrunners wanted them to be a romantic couple, but I think that was more about Abbie's role on the show than the interracial aspect of their relationship. I could be wrong--that's just my opinion.

[GHScorpiosRule]

There are Indian (who aren't mix who have none Indian names) I knew an Indian boy in High School who had a very biblical first and last name. 

I do agree that there is no winning for a POC on tv and sometime even in life. We just can't win.

 

He's probably Catholic.  Not all Indians are either Hindu or Muslim.

 

My point, I guess was, that I would have liked it if Alex's first name was Indian. I don't know. Maybe it's the years growing up, when I've seen fellow Indians, Anglicize their names because...why? I have no idea.  Example, someone whose name was Rakesh...said, "just call me and refer me to as 'Rick.'" Or Haseet becomes John. Whaaat? It's not a huge deal for me, and really, I shouldn't care, because I stopped watching that clusterfuck of a show after four or five episodes.

[Neurochick]

I agree that it's total bullshit. But I think the bigger issue was that the showrunners didn't want a black woman to retain her position as co-lead. I know Nicole Beharie wanted to leave the show, but that was after the show's disastrous 2nd season, where her character was sidelined and her role as co-lead was marginalized. 

 

And on her farewell episode, this FBI agent who has always been an equal partner with her white co-star says out of her mouth that she existed only to help Ichabod on his journey. A magical Negro, indeed. 

 

I don't think the showrunners wanted them to be a romantic couple, but I think that was more about Abbie's role on the show than the interracial aspect of their relationship. I could be wrong--that's just my opinion.

 

I agree; the show runners wanted Abbie to be in the background, they wanted to have two white leads.  That's nothing more than pure racism IMO.  So fuck them and fuck the show. 

[kassygreene]

He's probably Catholic.  Not all Indians are either Hindu or Muslim.

 

My point, I guess was, that I would have liked it if Alex's first name was Indian. I don't know. Maybe it's the years growing up, when I've seen fellow Indians, Anglicize their names because...why? I have no idea.  Example, someone whose name was Rakesh...said, "just call me and refer me to as 'Rick.'" Or Haseet becomes John. Whaaat? It's not a huge deal for me, and really, I shouldn't care, because I stopped watching that clusterfuck of a show after four or five episodes.

I had an Indian co-worker many years ago who, considering the semi-Anglicized name another Indian colleague had chosen, explained to me that part of the process for studying at American universities on an education visa as opposed to being born and raised here (at least in her experience) was the careful choice of a nickname that Americans could pronounce.  She then told me her real first name, which I tried and failed to pronounce correctly for the rest of that lunch, as an example.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I had an Indian co-worker many years ago who, considering the semi-Anglicized name another Indian colleague had chosen, explained to me that part of the process for studying at American universities on an education visa as opposed to being born and raised here (at least in her experience) was the careful choice of a nickname that Americans could pronounce.  She then told me her real first name, which I tried and failed to pronounce correctly for the rest of that lunch, as an example.

 

I'd never heard that before.  Then again, there weren't a whole lot of Indians that I grew up with or knew through school and college who Anglicized their names except for the two I provided as examples.

 

The examples I gave--both guys born and raised in America. Which is why I reacted the way I did. But I never called them by their Anglicized names, even though other Indians did. I just flat out refused to do it.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I guess you haven't heard what bullshit they did with Sleepy Hollow.  So no, racism isn't over and white show runners still have issues with black women with white men; where the show runner would rather kill off a black female character than pair her off with a white man; but no, I guess I'm just being too sensitive and I must be imagining things because there are plenty of other shows where black women are with white men, because when it comes to black women, it has to be something else other than racism. 

 

I think you're kind of responding to my post?  I would never deny racism in television exists.  I never indicated you were too sensitive.  I never indicated you were imagining anything.  You could just reply to me directly.   I just wanted to show you that there are many examples of black and east Indian women dating white men on television, and I think that (and any interracial relationship, or any people of colour having visibility on television, but that's just my personal opinion) is a good thing.

 

I don't know the Sleepy Hollow drama that well, and I've been purposely avoiding reading too much in case I ever want to start watching the show from the beginning, and I would never deny that there was racism in decision making in the show; that would be nuts, considering I don't know the background.  But other shows and showrunners are doing some impressive things out there when it comes to interracial relationships on television.  That's why I took the time and the care to show examples.  It was in direct response to the blanket statement "there was no way in the world that a TV show on a network would "allow" a brown skinned black woman to have a romance with a good looking white, male characters".  Maybe that's true of Sleepy Hollow - it could be.  But it obviously is not the case for many networks.

 

I used to kind of hate when people would Anglicize their names too.  (A lot of Jewish actors like Jon Stewart and Natalie Portman did this, too.)   But studies keep coming out about how when black or Asian people directly Anglicize their names, and then apply for jobs, the responses to their applications go up immensely.  A depressing reality of North America, but a reality.  So then I realized it was my own privilege that allowed me to dislike people Anglicizing their names.  It's an unfortunate necessity sometimes for people to get more opportunities in their careers, for example.  

 

I would love it if Lucy Liu on Elementary or Priyanka Chopra on Quantico had names that reflected the actresses' real life heritages.  They don't always have to conveniently have to have a white father that both dilutes their race and Anglicizes their names.  But that's something we're moving towards, we're just not 100% there yet.  Some people like "colour-blind" casting and I get the opportunities it gives people of minority groups and races.  But eventually an ideal would be fully realized characters of colour who are completely 3 dimensional even when it comes to their race/heritage/ethnic/cultural background.  

 

I did a Google search for these types of job searching studies, but so many examples came up from Canada to the UK to the US.  Just Google'd "black and Asian people change names to apply for jobs" and so many of these studies came up.

Edited April 11, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[DeLurker]

IRL, a most of the 100% asian kids (born in the US) I knew have birth names that are totally Anglicized so Lisa, Catherine, Sean, Colin, etc...paired with Wu, Toyota, Lee, etc...

 

 

I would love it if Lucy Liu on Elementary or Priyanka Chopra on Quantico had names that reflected the actresses' real life heritages.

Elementary just played this out on an ep that played last night.  Joan Watson's birth name was Joan Yun.  After her Dad abandoned the family and her Mom remarried, the stepfather adopted the Joan and her brother so they changed their last name to Watson.

[Trini]

I see both sides of the issue with Chopra and her Quantico character; but I too would have liked the character's name at least to show her Indian heritage.

 

(And I have known a few Christian Indians with biblical/european names; but now I wonder if they do have Indian names that I never knew about.)

Edited April 11, 2016 by Trini

[Ms Blue Jay]

Elementary just played this out on an ep that played last night.  Joan Watson's birth name was Joan Yun.  After her Dad abandoned the family and her Mom remarried, the stepfather adopted the Joan and her brother so they changed their last name to Watson.

 

I think that's wonderful that the show did that.  Interesting that it took several seasons, but very cool that they got there.

[Trini]

Now, with Sleepy Hollow*, Nicole Beharie was the black, female lead of a genre show that managed to get 3 seasons (how often does that happen?), but yet she wanted out**. Something must have happened to make her feel that leaving was a better option than being the lead on a network show - a pretty good gig if you can get it. I mean it's not like she suddenly became a big movie star.(i.e.: Carrell, Heigl) Clearly she was undervalued by the producers and/or the network.

 

*(which I didn't watch, but followed news about it casually)

** I realize she could have been pushed out, too.

Edited April 11, 2016 by Trini

[galax-arena]

Just Google'd "black and Asian people change names to apply for jobs" and so many of these studies came up.

 

 

IRL, a most of the 100% asian kids (born in the US) I knew have birth names that are totally Anglicized so Lisa, Catherine, Sean, Colin, etc...paired with Wu, Toyota, Lee, etc...

Growing up, my brother and I were the only Asian kids we knew at school - a school with an Asian majority, for the record - who went by our Asian names. And yeah, I'm thinking of switching to my (American) middle name for professional purposes, because I feel like my name has held me back. People shy away from it because my name looks ~weird and difficult to pronounce, even though it's a measly two syllables and the Anglicized pronunciation is very easy. Those people suck, but they're the ones with the power to toss away a resume without a second glance because they don't want to bother with foreign names. Or they assume that I must not speak English very well.

Edited April 11, 2016 by galax-arena

[Ms Blue Jay]

I never watched Person of Interest, but this Sleepy Hollow stuff reminds me of Taraji P. Henson on that show.  A lot of people complained she wasn't treated well there, then went onto Empire and her career has skyrocketed and she's won awards for it; her character of Cookie Lyon is seen by some as an icon, etc.  

 

Wikipedia:

 

In 2011, Henson was cast in the CBS crime-suspense series Person of Interest.[21][22] In the Person of Interest November 20, 2013 episode "The Crossing", after co-starring for two and a half years,

Henson's character Carter was killed as part of the series' new storyline direction

.[23]

 

Then after her success on Empire, she was brought back on Person of Interest twice, and people said that POI were obviously trying to capitalize on the fame she got by leaving POI in the first place.

Edited April 11, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[Wax Lion]

I understand the concerns of erasing their heritage. Still, I feel like there's something limiting about saying that when a PoC is cast in a role, the character has to have qualities that are based in their ethnicity -- and since there have been qualities to Alex Parrish that take her ethnic background into account, there's a minimum.

 

I feel like we just got past a hump where we were telling networks to stop defining a PoC character on their ethnicity, that we can have a variety of experiences. Now we're saying they're not defining PoC characters like Alex and Joan for not having enough "cultural markers"?

 

I agree; the show runners wanted Abbie to be in the background, they wanted to have two white leads.  That's nothing more than pure racism IMO.  So fuck them and fuck the show.

 

Huh, what happened? I only caught a couple episodes this season, I thought it improved even if I found myself not caring. With Katrina gone, did they introduce a new white person to turn into a co-lead?

 

Before the racial issues were pointed out to me, Sleepy Hollow's second season frustrated me because it was bad. So many of the qualities that made it interesting were suddenly gone, like Abbie's relationship with her sister. Plus the stories involving Katrina and Henry were terrible. I was really annoyed when I realized that all the terrible stories were moving the show toward minimizing the black characters (and the supporting PoC characters that disappeared like Nick Gonzales and John Cho).

 

Looking back at this:

 

Heh. It looks like Shonda Rhimes and Fox account for pretty much 100% of network dramas with black female leads.

- Minority Report is cancelled

- Sleepy Hollow's fate is up in the air

- Empire will be back

 

Outside of the Empire empire (there's supposed to be a spin-off and a companion series, Star) it kinda feels like Fox is moving away from shows where a black woman is a co-lead on a diverse show. Casting for pilot season is still going on but looking a Fox's pilots, there are two dramas that might have a black lead (plus a comedy starring Niecy Nash). One is Star the other, Shots Fired, has Sanaa Lathan but I can't tell if her character is one of the leads.