Race & Ethnicity On TV

[phoenics]

You know what too?  I don't care who black men choose to love.  I honestly don't.  Just DON'T shit on black women and try to erase them cause "reasons"!  IF - and I do mean IF - you as a black man truly fell in love (and aren't just choosing nonblack romantic partners out of self hatred), then great!  Good for you!  But if so, why do you need to then ERASE black women and portray them so horribly?

Apparently black women are perfectly fine for being shown in Ridley movies only as slaves who are beaten, raped and degraded, but shown as powerful forces in the black power movement?  Oh nooooo can't have that.  Nooooo it's more important to center non-blackness (and Freda Pinto can MISS me with her "political blackness" bullsh!t) because a black male screenwriters/producer experienced racism due to his interracial marriage (probably caught shade from some black women too) and now is acting out his pettiness by wiping us from history.

I'm really upset.  I honestly feel deeply wounded by this.

[LydiaMoon1]

John Ridley also wrote the movie, Red Tails, in which black women were completely erased and the only romantic pairing onscreen was an interracial one.  He's been pulling this ish a long time.

[Sparger Springs]

John Ridley should be embarrassed and ashamed. Nobody cares about his personal relationship. He should stop doing projects now if he needs to see his relationship on screen. If this was a true story and the woman was Indian no one would say a word. But it isn't and I am assuming they couldn't get the rights to a true story or didn't bother to try. Ridley wrote that nonsense Red Tails and shoe horned in a fictional romance with an Italian woman.  I think he despises black women and its evident in his work.

Do you think it crossed Ridley's mind one time to make the main character an Indian man and his love interest black? 

Edited April 10, 2017 by Sparger Springs
can't spell.

[ribboninthesky1]

What's even more interesting is that, apparently, the South Asian character was actually a man in real life, not a woman.  I'm normally quite skeptical of social media, but in this context, the breakdown of the British BP history on Twitter has been very enlightening.  And really makes Ridley and Elba look even more ridiculous.  

Also, this concept of "political blackness" is brand new to me, and I'm just flabbergasted.  

But am I surprised by the erasure of black women's leadership in this context?  Unfortunately no.  See: American civil rights movement.   

Am I surprised that some media outlets framed the discussion as Ridley and especially Frieda Pinto as "attacked?" Nope, not at all. 

Let's not forget about the photographer, Neil Kenlock, who basically said, "I was in the Black Panther movement back then, and there was an Asian woman who was extremely active. So I see nothing wrong with it." He knew an Asian woman back then, y'all, so what's the problem?

@phoenics, sending you a virtual hug, sis.  Once upon a time, I would have felt the same as you, but I've come to expect this level of fuckery in entertainment. At least now, there are platforms for black women to set the record straight. One of the few times I'm grateful for Twitter.     

Edited April 10, 2017 by ribboninthesky1

[Dee]

52 minutes ago, LydiaMoon1 said:

John Ridley also wrote the movie, Red Tails, in which black women were completely erased and the only romantic pairing onscreen was an interracial one.  He's been pulling this ish a long time.

A SUPER LONG time

Edited April 10, 2017 by Dee

[Oracle42]

There are so, so many things wrong with that shitty Ridley diatribe - but did this jackass just reduce Black America's problem with Clarence Marshall to Marshall's political affiliation? 

 To replace Thurgood Marshall with the likes of Clarence Thomas was an insult

Edited April 11, 2017 by Oracle42

[DearEvette]

Oh, dear it gets even worse.  At the wrap party apparently there was a poster on the wall where Frieda's face was superimposed over Angela Davis' iconic poster.  I thought it was a twitter hoax, but apparently it is real.  I believe Babou Ceesay tweeted the picture but has since deleted it?  Literal erasure...

[ribboninthesky1]

Yep, he deleted it.

1 hour ago, Dee said:

A SUPER LONG time

I remember this, as it came up during the Red Tails debacle.  So, apparently, every five years or so, Ridley gets the compulsion to show just how much of an asshole he is. Mental note to check in on the "ascended black" around 2022.    

[Trini]

3 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Oh, dear it gets even worse.  At the wrap party apparently there was a poster on the wall where Frieda's face was superimposed over Angela Davis' iconic poster.  I thought it was a twitter hoax, but apparently it is real.  I believe Babou Ceesay tweeted the picture but has since deleted it?  Literal erasure...

Oh that is SUPER cringey. To put it mildly.

[phoenics]

10 hours ago, LydiaMoon1 said:

John Ridley also wrote the movie, Red Tails, in which black women were completely erased and the only romantic pairing onscreen was an interracial one.  He's been pulling this ish a long time.

Aargh!  I didn't know he wrote Red Tails!  I remember being so upset in the theater that none of the men were shown to be pining for their black women loves back home - and the only romantic pairing was that mess.

Ridley has some serious issues.  Now I wonder at his relationship with black women in general - he's clearly trying to act out some aggression against us as a whole.  Asshole.

8 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Oh, dear it gets even worse.  At the wrap party apparently there was a poster on the wall where Frieda's face was superimposed over Angela Davis' iconic poster.  I thought it was a twitter hoax, but apparently it is real.  I believe Babou Ceesay tweeted the picture but has since deleted it?  Literal erasure...

That is disgusting.  Oh my God - that's just so blatant - do they seriously NOT see how bad this is?  What the eff is wrong with these black men?!

[jhlipton]

On 4/9/2017 at 10:41 PM, Oracle42 said:

 I'm so tired of this thing where black women are expected to give constant, unstinting support to feminist movements and black movements when those movements never prioritize black women 

The damn founders of #BlackLivesMatter were women, bit these "hoteps" can't ever support them! Grrrr!!!

 

13 hours ago, ribboninthesky1 said:

@phoenics, sending you a virtual hug, sis.  Once upon a time, I would have felt the same as you, but I've come to expect this level of fuckery in entertainment. At least now, there are platforms for black women to set the record straight. One of the few times I'm grateful for Twitter.    

I've come to expect the erasure of black women in TV and movies, but I still get pissed as hell about it.

13 hours ago, Dee said:

A SUPER LONG time

His "heroes" in thew piece are a scumbag who lied about weapons of mass destruction to the UN and the woman who, when asked why she didn't do anything about bin Laden's plot to attack the US, whined "Nobody gave me a plannnnnnnnnnnn!"  (And, actually they did -- it was Clinton's terrorism unit that your boss destroyed.

Here's a piece that shows Ridley at his charming best: http://lucasridley.com/2015/06/16/my-father-is-a-terrorist/

Scum.

[phoenics]

I don't think that John Ridley is the same as this one?

But here is a Vanity Fair piece which shows Ridley at his "respectability politicking house negro" best.  I'm going to put it in spoiler tags and say that it's NSFW because he uses the "n-word" (and he uses it "that way" too).  He's no better than the klan with this article.

 

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a162/esq1206blackessay-108/

I will never - ever support this man again.  EVER.

ETA:  I see that's what someone linked above.  Oh well - everyone needs to see who this man is and boycott him into early bankruptcy.

Edited April 11, 2017 by phoenics

[phoenics]

21 hours ago, ribboninthesky1 said:

Yep, he deleted it.

I remember this, as it came up during the Red Tails debacle.  So, apparently, every five years or so, Ridley gets the compulsion to show just how much of an asshole he is. Mental note to check in on the "ascended black" around 2022.    

Hopefully he's bankrupt.

[DearEvette]

Scandal hit is 100 episode mark and they had a sit down/oral history with the cast, Shonda Rhimes and various ABC executives.  Some interesting tidbits:

- even though the role of Olivia Pope was inspired by Judy Smith (a black woman) and she was an early consultant, the list of actresses ABC presented to Shonda were all white with Connie Britton at the top of the list.

- None of the actors they originally had in mind for President Fitz wanted the role because they wouldn't be the star

- Washington felt a lot of pressure to do well in the ratings because of the first bw being in a leading role of a drama series in 30 something years

- They talk about Papa Pope's 'Twice as good to get half as much' speech to Olivia and how non-black viewers received that on social media versus how black viewers received it.

Anyway, fun read...

[BoogieBurns]

23 hours ago, DearEvette said:

They talk about Papa Pope's 'Twice as good to get half as much' speech to Olivia and how non-black viewers received that on social media versus how black viewers received it.

Blows my mind that other races didn't receive that message the same way as black folk. My parents have been telling me that since before I knew words and it's the damn truth! Trump is making all political shows harder to write. Veep is saying they can't come up with crazy enough stuff either. Thanks for sharing!

Edited April 12, 2017 by BoogieBurns

[phoenics]

5 minutes ago, BoogieBurns said:

Blows my mind that other races didn't receive that message they same way as black folk. My parents have been telling me that since before I knew words and it's the damn truth! Trump is making all political shows harder to write. Veep is saying they can't come up with crazy enough stuff either. Thanks for sharing!

That speech hit me squarely in the chest because it's been true my entire life!  I know I wouldn't have gotten my last job without a PhD, while others waltzed in at nearly the same level straight out of undergrad.  The black tax is so real.

And I've felt all season long that Scandal has seemed back to true form (minus Olitz, which even I miss and I wasn't an Olitz fan), but it almost feels quaint right now compared to real life.  Trump has created a dystopia darker than the one on Scandal.  

[jhlipton]

14 hours ago, DearEvette said:

They talk about Papa Pope's 'Twice as good to get half as much' speech to Olivia and how non-black viewers received that on social media versus how black viewers received it.

I'm a white guy (although married to a black woman) and I see this.  Cognitive dissonance strikes again.

[St. Claire]

15 hours ago, DearEvette said:

They talk about Papa Pope's 'Twice as good to get half as much' speech to Olivia and how non-black viewers received that on social media versus how black viewers received it.

I'm so white I'm almost translucent (Irish, Scandinavian, Welsh descent) and I understood what it meant. But, as I've mentioned before, I'm working really hard right now to recognize and address my own ingrained assumptions and privilege, so I shouldn't be surprised that people like me don't have a clue. Disappointed, perhaps, but not surprised. 

[ribboninthesky1]

Scandal has hit 100 episodes? Time flies. I gave it up around season 3, but I remember the entertaining TWoP thread during the 1st 2 seasons! Was Scandal the show that kicked off the trend of cast members' Twitter engagement, particularly live-tweeting?  

15 hours ago, phoenics said:

That speech hit me squarely in the chest because it's been true my entire life!  I know I wouldn't have gotten my last job without a PhD, while others waltzed in at nearly the same level straight out of undergrad.  The black tax is so real.

Girl! Lots of memories of white managers and execs hiring someone's offspring/friend with ZERO experience. I had to train them.  And then denied promotions for "not having enough experience." Good times. You have a doctorate in Computer Science, right? I've heard some STEM stories!

I distinctly remember this scene because I'd had a similar experience around the time the episode aired:

Quote

Then [the subject of race] started to [come up] in these tiny little ways: When Abby [Darby Stanchfield] and Olivia walk into a house together, and the wife says, "Olivia Pope?" and reaches for Abby's hand.

[Silver Raven]

The Nickelodeon show "Shimmer & Shine" is about two female apprentice genies who usually mess things up (I gather, I've never seen it).  I wonder who decided that it would be a good idea to make one of them with blue hair and the other with pink hair, and their best friend is a blonde girl, in a pseudo-Arabian Nights environment?  The creator of the show is Farnaz Esnaashari-Charmatz, who is Iranian-American, but she should know better.

 

[jhlipton]

5 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

I wonder who decided that it would be a good idea to make one of them with blue hair and the other with pink hair

At least they're gender-neutral [/sarcasm]

[JustaPerson]

I didn't know Connie Britton was considered for Olivia Pope. I think she could have done a good job with the role. Obviously I'm happy Kerry Washington was cast instead (even though the show's turned into a clusterfuck) and it's not like Connie Britton's hurting for roles in TV. 

[phoenics]

On 4/12/2017 at 2:13 PM, ribboninthesky1 said:

You have a doctorate in Computer Science, right? I've heard some STEM stories!

 

Yep - it's in Comp Sci - and the stories I could tell.  My first year at my last job I kept getting mistaken for the admin.  And unfortunately someone just called another black female Comp Sci PhD that I hired MY name - because apparently we all look alike (we don't look alike).  The worst part was that this person felt the need to tell me.  I don't need to know that, lol.  Keep your guilt to yourself - I'm not here to soothe it over and make you feel better.

LOL.

52 minutes ago, JustaPerson said:

I didn't know Connie Britton was considered for Olivia Pope. I think she could have done a good job with the role. Obviously I'm happy Kerry Washington was cast instead (even though the show's turned into a clusterfuck) and it's not like Connie Britton's hurting for roles in TV. 

The person Scandal is based on is a black woman - she should be played by a black actress.  That's one of the major things Scandal as a show got 100% right.  Don't base a whole show around a black woman and then hire a white woman to play her.  No way.  No offense to Connie Britton, but no.  

I can't see her strutting like Olivia Pope anyway.  

Edited April 14, 2017 by phoenics

[Neurochick]

On April 10, 2017 at 0:33 PM, Sparger Springs said:

John Ridley should be embarrassed and ashamed. Nobody cares about his personal relationship. He should stop doing projects now if he needs to see his relationship on screen. If this was a true story and the woman was Indian no one would say a word. But it isn't and I am assuming they couldn't get the rights to a true story or didn't bother to try. Ridley wrote that nonsense Red Tails and shoe horned in a fictional romance with an Italian woman.  I think he despises black women and its evident in his work.

Do you think it crossed Ridley's mind one time to make the main character an Indian man and his love interest black? 

I heard about this and I was like, WTF man?  I mean he basically said he erased black women because he's in an interracial relationship.  Huh?  His wife is Asian.  What would happen if he and his wife had a daughter who looked like Merle Dandridge?  What if she wanted to be an actress and no one wanted to hire her because she looked "too black?"  See, the thing about Ridley is, he's still black, no matter who he's married to.  Who are YOU in that relationship?  That's the question.

[jhlipton]

So I see that our "friend" John Ridley has a documentary out about the LA Riots.  I'm sure it will be fair and even-hande... ha ha ha ha!!!!

[Neurochick]

On April 20, 2017 at 10:02 PM, jhlipton said:

So I see that our "friend" John Ridley has a documentary out about the LA Riots.  I'm sure it will be fair and even-hande... ha ha ha ha!!!!

It probably will be fair if black women aren't involved.

[jhlipton]

42 minutes ago, Neurochick said:

It probably will be fair if black women aren't involved.

Knowing Ridley, he'll probably make the Koreans the heroes...

[topanga]

I'm about half-way through watching the British sci-fi drama "Black Mirror."  The casting is fairly diverse--one of the episodes even stars David Kaluuya of "Get Out" fame. But what I notice is that as much as, or even more than, on US television, the black women with speaking parts have all been biracial or at least light-skinned. Maybe this is different in the next 1 1/2 seasons I haven't seen yet. If so, I'm happy to be wrong. 

[Sparger Springs]

3 hours ago, topanga said:

I'm about half-way through watching the British sci-fi drama "Black Mirror."  The casting is fairly diverse--one of the episodes even stars David Kaluuya of "Get Out" fame. But what I notice is that as much as, or even more than, on US television, the black women with speaking parts have all been biracial or at least light-skinned. Maybe this is different in the next 1 1/2 seasons I haven't seen yet. If so, I'm happy to be wrong. 

You aren't wrong. 

[Dee]

CONTROVERSY LIKELY HURT ‘GUERRILLA’ AS SHOWTIME SERIES DEBUT DRAWS DISMAL 182,000 VIEWERS

[topanga]

8 hours ago, Dee said:

CONTROVERSY LIKELY HURT ‘GUERRILLA’ AS SHOWTIME SERIES DEBUT DRAWS DISMAL 182,000 VIEWERS

Good. I hate it when show or movie creators respond to viewers' concerns by saying that people have no right to feel the way they do because the creators never intended to create controversy. 

[LydiaMoon1]

The second episode of Guerrilla scored even worse than the first with 131,000 viewers.  I guess that attempt at black woman erasure hasn't worked out so well for John Ridley, Idris Elba, and that Ceesay dude.

[DearEvette]

I've been watching Dr. Who and I love his new companion Bill.  Black and queer and super delightful.  They just an episode when the TARDIS takes them to Regency England and the first thing out of Bll's mouth is "Uh, I have a lot of melanin and slavery was a thing...so...." I just love her.  She was looking at Regency England kinda janky and I can't say I blame her.

That led me into watching Class another BBCA show that is kinda set in the Whoverse centering on a prep school and two of the characters are Aliens who are on earth on the down low.  Nicely diverse group.  I like that the Indian guy is the jock, Alpha male that is usually occupied by a white male character.  He's good friends with a black female student who is really smart and the youngest one in the group.  Nice, mindless Sci fi fun.

And Finally I am slowly making my way through Dear White People.  I am trying to savor it because it is such a treat.  Holy cow what sharp writing, funny as hell, really deep -- sometimes a lot to unpack  -- but not preachy at all.  Reminds me of how I feel when watching Atlanta or Queen Sugar.  I just want to wallow in the writing and the dialogue.  Much better than the movie. 

[Oracle42]

Gah! I do not have time for all of the TV I need to watch

[festivus]

41 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

I've been watching Dr. Who and I love his new companion Bill.  Black and queer and super delightful.  They just an episode when the TARDIS takes them to Regency England and the first thing out of Bll's mouth is "Uh, I have a lot of melanin and slavery was a thing...so...." I just love her.  She was looking at Regency England kinda janky and I can't say I blame her.

That led me into watching Class another BBCA show that is kinda set in the Whoverse centering on a prep school and two of the characters are Aliens who are on earth on the down low.  Nicely diverse group.  I like that the Indian guy is the jock, Alpha male that is usually occupied by a white male character.  He's good friends with a black female student who is really smart and the youngest one in the group.  Nice, mindless Sci fi fun.

And Finally I am slowly making my way through Dear White People.  I am trying to savor it because it is such a treat.  Holy cow what sharp writing, funny as hell, really deep -- sometimes a lot to unpack  -- but not preachy at all.  Reminds me of how I feel when watching Atlanta or Queen Sugar.  I just want to wallow in the writing and the dialogue.  Much better than the movie. 

The first two I'm watching and agree with you on loving Bill. Dear White People is on my list to get to along with Queen Sugar and Atlanta. Now I just noticed that they put Queen Sugar on Hulu but I don't know about Atlanta. Me & my son want to watch that one together but it's going to have to be streaming because I don't have cable anymore. 

[jhlipton]

4 hours ago, DearEvette said:

That led me into watching Class another BBCA show that is kinda set in the Whoverse centering on a prep school and two of the characters are Aliens who are on earth on the down low.  Nicely diverse group.  I like that the Indian guy is the jock, Alpha male that is usually occupied by a white male character.  He's good friends with a black female student who is really smart and the youngest one in the group.  Nice, mindless Sci fi fun.

And Finally I am slowly making my way through Dear White People.  I am trying to savor it because it is such a treat.  Holy cow what sharp writing, funny as hell, really deep -- sometimes a lot to unpack  -- but not preachy at all.  Reminds me of how I feel when watching Atlanta or Queen Sugar.  I just want to wallow in the writing and the dialogue.  Much better than the movie. 

DWP is on my to-watch list.  I'm binging Season 1 of Queen Sugar -- on episode 3 and LOVE it!!! Class sounds fun as does the current Dr Who... I might have to get over my Who-aphobia!

3 hours ago, festivus said:

I don't know about Atlanta. Me & my son want to watch that one together but it's going to have to be streaming because I don't have cable anymore. 

Atlanta is on Amazon -- $2.99 per episode; $22.99 for the season.

[galax-arena]

Netflix’s ‘Death Note’ Was Whitewashed Because Asian Actors Couldn’t ‘Speak Perfect English’

What makes this even more infuriating is that it was an Asian guy who said this. What the fuck. Masi Oka is a flop. I expect this from non-Asians, not fellow Asians. 

Quote

“Death Note” producer Masayori “Masi” Oka, who is also popularly known for his role at Hiro Nakamura in the NBC show “Heroes”, explained to EW the challenges they encountered during casting.

“Our casting directors did an extensive search to get Asian actors, but we couldn’t find the right person, the actors we did go to didn’t speak the perfect English… and the characters had been rewritten,” he said.

Edited May 2, 2017 by galax-arena

[jhlipton]

6 hours ago, galax-arena said:

Netflix’s ‘Death Note’ Was Whitewashed Because Asian Actors Couldn’t ‘Speak Perfect English’

What makes this even more infuriating is that it was an Asian guy who said this. What the fuck. Masi Oka is a flop. I expect this from non-Asians, not fellow Asians. 

Well, it's not that he knows any Asians who speak English perfectly -- oh, wait.  Someone tell Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park that their English isn't good enough. 

I wonder what they thought of that.

Edited May 2, 2017 by jhlipton

[ribboninthesky1]

Stupid question alert: even if the actors couldn't speak "perfect English" (which sounds like a dog whistle for "no accent"), is that required for the story? 

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 5/1/2017 at 3:03 PM, DearEvette said:

And Finally I am slowly making my way through Dear White People.  I am trying to savor it because it is such a treat.  Holy cow what sharp writing, funny as hell, really deep -- sometimes a lot to unpack  -- but not preachy at all.  Reminds me of how I feel when watching Atlanta or Queen Sugar.  I just want to wallow in the writing and the dialogue.  Much better than the movie. 

My friends and coworkers are telling me to watch this.  One coworker watched 7 episodes this weekend.  Oh dear.  This sounds like something I'm going to put off because I'll probably like it so much too?  LOL.  I'm surprised to hear it's so much better than the movie. Wow.  TV critics have been loving it too.

[xaxat]

7 hours ago, galax-arena said:

Netflix’s ‘Death Note’ Was Whitewashed Because Asian Actors Couldn’t ‘Speak Perfect English’

What makes this even more infuriating is that it was an Asian guy who said this. What the fuck. Masi Oka is a flop. I expect this from non-Asians, not fellow Asians. 

I guess he forgot how he got his big break. (For some reason I can't get the timestamp right. Check out 1:15.)

Edited May 3, 2017 by xaxat

[Ms Blue Jay]

Hollywood full of sellouts like the female stars of The Handmaid's Tale downplaying its feminism.... 

[Ms Blue Jay]

‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’: How Terry Crews and Andre Braugher Influenced the Racial Profiling Episode

https://www.yahoo.com/tv/brooklyn-nine-nine-racial-profiling-police-brutality-episode-163600690.html

[jhlipton]

On 5/1/2017 at 7:36 PM, jhlipton said:

DWP is on my to-watch list.  I'm binging Season 1 of Queen Sugar -- on episode 3 and LOVE it!!! Class sounds fun as does the current Dr Who... I might have to get over my Who-aphobia!

Atlanta is on Amazon -- $2.99 per episode; $22.99 for the season.

I watched 3 episodes of Dear White People.  It's cute but not at the top of my list.  Queen Sugar continues to be awesome -- some minor problems but nothing that can't be overlooked.  I decided to pass on Class, but after 2 episodes, Dr Who is on my must-watch list since early in the Tom Baker years.

[callie lee 29]

19 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’: How Terry Crews and Andre Braugher Influenced the Racial Profiling Episode

https://www.yahoo.com/tv/brooklyn-nine-nine-racial-profiling-police-brutality-episode-163600690.html

That sounds really interesting. B99 is a show I want to watch based on Braugher (who will always be Pembleton) and Crews (who I just want to hang out with he seems so awesome), but I can't get past Andy Samberg. He just bugs me. 

[Joimiaroxeu]

19 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’: How Terry Crews and Andre Braugher Influenced the Racial Profiling Episode

https://www.yahoo.com/tv/brooklyn-nine-nine-racial-profiling-police-brutality-episode-163600690.html

A few days before that episode aired, he posted this on Instagram:

It would seem he's supporting Rachel Dolezal. Not sure what to make of him now.

[jhlipton]

7 minutes ago, callie lee 29 said:

That sounds really interesting. B99 is a show I want to watch based on Braugher (who will always be Pembleton) and Crews (who I just want to hang out with he seems so awesome), but I can't get past Andy Samberg. He just bugs me. 

Samburg is awesome in this show.  He takes the dreaded "man-child" character and shows how the character would look if played by someone who gives a damn about his friends and loved ones.  His relationship with Amy is one of the best on TV.

[festivus]

1 hour ago, jhlipton said:

Samburg is awesome in this show.  He takes the dreaded "man-child" character and shows how the character would look if played by someone who gives a damn about his friends and loved ones.  His relationship with Amy is one of the best on TV.

He does. Also although he is goofy he is a good cop and takes his job seriously. It's refreshing to see in a comedy. I highly recommend Brooklyn 99 and Andre Braugher is the funniest man on TV. 

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, callie lee 29 said:

That sounds really interesting. B99 is a show I want to watch based on Braugher (who will always be Pembleton) and Crews (who I just want to hang out with he seems so awesome), but I can't get past Andy Samberg. He just bugs me. 

Former Samberg haters have been surprised about how tolerable and even good he is in this show.  It's a true ensemble.  I don't know if I like him any more than I did before (not really a fan but never a hater). 

There were a lot of great things about that Brooklyn 99 episode.  First, as Alan Sepinwall mentioned in his review, the fact that the show has two prominent black characters meant the show could easily tell the story through their points of view instead of through white characters as is so often the case.  And the diversity of their experiences allowed the show to explore two different points of view even though they both know discrimination. 

Then the cop who pulled Terry over was frustratingly familiar in his defense.  Instead of going with an uber villain or someone who throws out racial insults casually, they went with stubbornly unaware.  In his mind, he made a mistake only because he didn't know Terry was a cop.  So he still sees nothing wrong with targeting a black man because if he hadn't been a cop, then naturally he would have been a criminal.  To him, all of this could have been avoided if Terry had his badge...not if he recognizes he was guilty of racial profiling. If you asked that character, he wouldn't think he was racist.  After all, he probably looks at his black colleagues and thinks they're just fine.  They're not like the "thugs" he has to deal with every day on the street.  I liked that choice because that is the kind of racist I encounter more often.  They wouldn't use the "n" word or say/think they hated black people, but they would look at police figures showing that black people are pulled over disproportionately in our town and think that population must break the law more instead of even considering that perhaps they're simply targeted more often because of the color of their skin.

So there were a lot of nice, subtle touches.  Plus humor.

[DearEvette]

2 hours ago, callie lee 29 said:

That sounds really interesting. B99 is a show I want to watch based on Braugher (who will always be Pembleton) and Crews (who I just want to hang out with he seems so awesome), but I can't get past Andy Samberg. He just bugs me. 

Oooh, don't let that deter you.  I was the same way absolutely.  I even hated the pilot because I hated Andy Smaberg.  But over the next few eps he totally wins you over.  It helps that Jake is actually a good and competent cop.  That was surprising to me.  And his rapport with Braugher is fabulous.  Actually, the cast chemistry is great and everyone really shines in their own way.  I legit belly laugh watching this show. The Halloween episodes alone are worth it.