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Race & Ethnicity On TV

callie lee 29

By callie lee 29
in Everything Else TV

Meredith Quill
Message added by Meredith Quill,

This is the place to discuss race and ethnicity issues related to TV shows only.

Go here for the equivalent movie discussions.

For general discussion without TV/Film context please use the Social Justice topic in Everything Else. 

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Moose135

Moose135

21 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

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). 

I was reluctant to watch B99 when it first aired because I've never been a Samberg fan, but I was interested to see Braugher in a comic role.  I was pleasantly surprised by the ensemble and the fact that Samberg doesn't overwhelm the rest of the cast, and love Braugher in his role. But come season 2, I found the episodes piling up on the DVR and eventually dropped it.

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jhlipton
jhlipton

I have a lot of friends who are very active in working against racism and sexism and not a single one hates whites or men.  White male ego is so fragile that two women of color on the latest Star Trek

Trini
Trini

I mean, sure; but it would be weird to have everyone on TV look like this:   I personally like seeing people of different ethnicities in my entertainment.

DearEvette
DearEvette

Megyn Kelly doesn't have the charm or charisma to attract a morning talk show audience or any sort of positive attention.  The only time she gets any attention is when she does something execrable.

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possibilities

possibilities

Another word encouraging people with doubts about Samberg to try B99. I almost didn't watch it because of him, but now I love it and his character is actually OK. Not only is he a good cop, he's also a voice of feminism on the show-- something I never would have imagined would be possible, but it works.

The show does so many things I enjoy. It's so natural about, it doesn't even seem like it's trying. They manage to go against stereotypes without calling attention to the fact that they're doing it. I just love how they do that. It makes so much of the other writing on TV look like such hacky shit, it becomes impossible to excuse the BS we are supposed to accept as "at least they tried." Fuck that. If a sitcom on FOX can do it, everyone else needs to shut the fuck up and do better.

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callie lee 29

callie lee 29

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Okay, I'll give it another try. He has admitted me a much as I thought he would the few times I've seen it, so I need to just deal. And really the cat is amazing. 

The profiling episode was amazing. Braugher and Crews brought it! And those little girls girls are adorable. I do think the funniest moment was when the one guy told his partner to "get woke"!

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jhlipton

jhlipton

(edited)
On 5/3/2017 at 10:01 PM, Irlandesa said:

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.

I call them the "I am not a racist" crowd -- in their minds they're not,but in their actions, they very much are.

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

Some of the comments in the "Moo Moo" thread (some of which were deleted) show just how the "I am not a racist" people act.  "The cop was 'rude' to Terry."  "Terry owed it to the cop to have a Teaching Moment [aka Magical Negro]." etc.  At least they showed their true colors.

Edited by jhlipton
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xaxat

xaxat

Charles Barkley has a new show coming out called Race in America. While I enjoy his NBA work, this preview perfectly sums up why I won't be watching.

Quote

Charles Barkley is like that Black uncle you find amusing, but limit conversation to select topics such as sports, Gap Band songs, and brown liquor at family gatherings. When it comes to more serious matters like politics, and specifically, racial politics, the phrase “stop, drop, and roll” is an immediate survival guide to sparing your last nerve from a fatal end. 

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jhlipton

jhlipton

33 minutes ago, xaxat said:

Charles Barkley has a new show coming out called Race in America. While I enjoy his NBA work, this preview perfectly sums up why I won't be watching.

Quote

 

Couple that with Barkley’s other previous comments—a lot of black people are full of shit, his condemnation of “unintelligent” and “brainwashed” black people, and purported “dark secrets” within the black community about “acting white”—and one wonders what exactly is Barkley’s aim with American Race?

 

He is John Ridley, isn't he? 

Quote

American Race also makes the mistake of speaking to people who needn’t be spoken to. Enter Richard Spencer, who makes an appearance on the show and whom Barkley acknowledge during the panel discussion was unreachable. Yet, here he is and his presence was there in the name of balance. Yes, I rolled my eyes.

Jesus F***in' Christ.  I cannot with this! (as the kids say).  Heineken did this same s**t in terms of "balance" -- to which I say "Ptui!"

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DearEvette

DearEvette

I have never seen Logan Browning in anything before except a brief guest spot on Survivor's Remorse where she played a model who Missy (Teyonah Parris) fired from a commercial spot because she wanted a dark skinned model instead of a light skinned one.  Interestingly Teyonah Parris played CoCo in the film version of Dear White People and that episode of Suvivor's Remorse dealt with colorism which is a continuing undertone in the relationship between CoCo and Sam in the Netflix version of DWP.  I liked LB in her brief spot SR so I had no preconceptions with her portrayal of Sam. But I think she does a great job as Sam.   Probably because she reminds me so strongly of one of my best friends from college (who is still one of my ride-or-die besties).  My friend is a very, very lightskinned black woman.  I mean, red hair, freckles.. could pass for white she was so light.  But her attitude was the blackity, black, black, blackest attitude ever.  It felt like she was really trying to overcompensate in some ways because she was so pale.  I get some of that coming through in the actress' performance of Sam.

Antoinette Robertson who plays Coco in the tv version is fabulous in it.  CoCo in this is just an all around great character.

Someone on the DWP boards said the movie was a collection of great ideas that didn't really come together.  I agree with this assessment and would go further to say the TV show takes all those ideas and actually gives them depth and cohesiveness that the movie couldn't.   Also the movie was overwhelmingly from Sam's POV, the tv show feels more of an ensemble.  Sam is a main character but four other characters get POV episodes so everything isn't filtered just through Sam.

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jhlipton

jhlipton

Did anyone of the Ridley fans watch Let It Fall? (I haven't)  The reviews I've read make it sound pretty good, but this is John Ridley we're talking about.

There's a film about the riots from a Korean film-maker called Gook (which is the Korean word for "country", he says.  His dad owned a shoe store that was hit by the riots.  More here: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/la-riots-25th-anniversary-gook-director-justin-chon-reflects-998373  "Everybody was angry" pretty much sums it up.

jhlipton

jhlipton

I have a question, based on episode 5 of Dear White People.

Let's say there's a party ("There's a party!") of Black and White kids and everyone is drinking an having fun and singing along to the playlist or whatever.  In the middle of the song, the "n__a" word is used (as is so often the case), and without thinking about, one of the White kids sings it.  His Black friend reacts by calling the act racist (he's clear to say that he doesn't think his friend is) and for PLOT!!!! purposes everybody overreacts from there.

My feeling is that White people should never use any form of the word (unless quoting -- Hucklebery Finn or Kindred, for example).  But doesn't singing a lyric kind of fall in the "quoting" category?  I don't think being caught up in the music is racist, but I'd love to get other opinions.

vibeology

vibeology

I skip it. It's very easy and in my opinion the right thing to do. That word isn't for me and pretty much all of the music that uses it is created by Black artists to express themselves. Being into something isn't a good enough reason to use a word that, coming from white as snow me, is painful. I don't have to sing along to anything and, for me, it's not worth it knowing that I would offend someone. 

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biakbiak

biakbiak

4 minutes ago, paulvdb said:

I haven't watched the show so I'm not familiar with the context but I think it would be better if the host of the party made sure not to play songs with that word if party guests are expected to sing along with the music.

It's a show based on college students, a "host" of any such party is worried about getting a keg and making sure they have several different play lists and actually aren't worried about what their guests are singing.

In college I frequently  got called out by my most of black friends for not using the n-word a or er when it came to lyrics.

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Joimiaroxeu

Joimiaroxeu

And how does it benefit him to get involved in that mess at all? Do they have the same agent or something? Whatever, I found the timing particularly interesting given the subject of the upcoming B-99 episode. Maybe he was trying to head off some potentially race-based fallout? This particular reading on the word "transracial" seems to come mostly from non-POCs, I think.

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phoenics

phoenics

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12 hours ago, jhlipton said:

I have a question, based on episode 5 of Dear White People.

Let's say there's a party ("There's a party!") of Black and White kids and everyone is drinking an having fun and singing along to the playlist or whatever.  In the middle of the song, the "n__a" word is used (as is so often the case), and without thinking about, one of the White kids sings it.  His Black friend reacts by calling the act racist (he's clear to say that he doesn't think his friend is) and for PLOT!!!! purposes everybody overreacts from there.

My feeling is that White people should never use any form of the word (unless quoting -- Hucklebery Finn or Kindred, for example).  But doesn't singing a lyric kind of fall in the "quoting" category?  I don't think being caught up in the music is racist, but I'd love to get other opinions.

This actually happened to me and a friend.  We were at a party with a mix of black and white people.  A white woman who was friends with our black friend from Jamaica apparently had "permission" from him to quote rap songs with the n-word in them, but she clearly didn't understand that a "black card" like that is only good for THAT friend and not other black people.

While playing cards, she threw down a trump card and screamed out, "Whaddya think about that n#ggaaaaaa!!!!"

It did not go well for her after that with me or my friend.

White people should refrain from ever using the n-word.  In any shape or form.  Simply stop singing when it comes on the radio.  That's what *I* do when it comes on because I don't use the word - and I'm black.  The word is horrible and even if some black folks think we've "taken it back", well, we haven't - it's still used to degrade and I'm beyond sick of white people being mad they can't use it - like it's a toy they've been told they can't play with.

Don't use the word white people.  It makes you look racist.  Deal with it.  Grow up.  It's not a damn toy.

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galax-arena

galax-arena

My brother told me that he uses the n-word with his friends (ftr, my brother and I are Asian, his friends are mostly Asian or white). He thinks it's okay because they don't use the word around black people. I told him that I disapproved because I strongly believe that only people who are part of the in-group can use the slur in question, but that I obviously couldn't force him to not use the word, so to just please not use the word around me. 

He said okay... and then called me gook. Sigh. I don't get some people's fascination with using slurs. Reclamation, my ass. 

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DearEvette

DearEvette

11 hours ago, jhlipton said:

My feeling is that White people should never use any form of the word (unless quoting -- Hucklebery Finn or Kindred, for example).  But doesn't singing a lyric kind of fall in the "quoting" category?  I don't think being caught up in the music is racist, but I'd love to get other opinions.

In my opinion, just repeating a lyrics doesn't necessarily make one a racist.  But then again, I don't think  'racist' is an all or nothing thing.  Like sexuality, I believe there is a Kensyian scale of racism.  The fact a white person thinks it is fine to say the N-word casually with no supposed malice behind it may not make them a 100% racist but it does put them somewhere on the scale north of 0% racist.  But really to me, the bottom line is if a person really believes themselves to not be a racist, then they should feel real discomfort doing things that they know darned well are easily and universally recognized as racist.  If they feel no discomfort or unease at that, then that requires some self reflection.

The thing that makes the DWP episode even more interesting is that they were in Addison's house (the guy who said the N-word). So he was effectively in his own private space (even though he had people over) and it appeared that he was actually a more than casual friend of Reggie's.  So did he think his friendship with Reggie plus the fact that he was only singing a lyric make this not a racist?  Was Reggie right in calling Addison out in his own home? And was Addison being unrealistically naive in asking 'why not?'  I am not expecting answers or anything, but it is illustrative of how thoughtful the writing on the show is.

vibeology

vibeology

2 hours ago, Dee said:

‘Whitewashing’ Accusations Fly as Zach McGowan Cast as Hawaiian WWII Hero

I saw that yesterday and he seems really excited on twitter and most of his replies are people dragging him for taking the part. They're right because it's awful. This real person's identity is being erased and since Zach McGowan is a nobody, the typical "we need a star to get the movie made" excuse doesn't fly. Hollywood is garbage for this. He's garbage for taking the role. The whole thing is gross and shows that it isn't about money. GITS flopped, Gods of Egypt flopped, Pan flopped. Whitewashing isn't making studios bank. They just do it because the people making the decisions are racist.

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BoogieBurns

BoogieBurns

4 hours ago, phoenics said:

Don't use the word white people.  It makes you look racist.  Deal with it.  Grow up.  It's not a damn toy.

4 hours ago, phoenics said:

I don't use the word - and I'm black.

Let me add that the Gold Digger song came out at the peak of my "clubbing" days and I just sat and watched a whole bunch of white people make fools of themselves during the lyric, "she ain't messin with no broke [n-word]." For the record, I am only saying the ones who said the word were the fools. It's so unnecessary. 

I'm black, but I look like I could be any race and my skin is peach. For that reason alone I never say it. Okay, not that reason alone, I also rarely curse and I put it in the realm of curse words. But if mixed company heard me saying "whats up my [n-word]" to my friends, they may assume I am not allowed to say it. So I don't.

Like @phoenics said, it's not a toy, you can't have it.

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jhlipton

jhlipton

I would never say any form of the N-word in public, but I did have a very embarrassing encounter with it:  My wife likes me to read to her, and asked me to read my current book, which was Kindred.  For those who don't know, it's a (very good) book about a modern black woman who is transported through time to pre-Civil War Maryland, and who has to deal with slavery and other racial horrors.  One of the main characters is a young White boy who, as would be natural for that day and time, calls her the N-word (the unvarnished -er version, not the newer -a version).

I'm White (I shine in the dark) and my wife is Black.  So I'm reading along and come to the N-word, and stop dead.  I hate the N-word (and the C-word, but that's for the Sex and Gender on TV forum), but saying "What are you doing here, N-word?" didn't sound right either. I've forgotten what we agreed on -- I think to read a different book!

 

3 hours ago, DearEvette said:

The thing that makes the DWP episode even more interesting is that they were in Addison's house (the guy who said the N-word). So he was effectively in his own private space (even though he had people over) and it appeared that he was actually a more than casual friend of Reggie's.  So did he think his friendship with Reggie plus the fact that he was only singing a lyric make this not a racist?  Was Reggie right in calling Addison out in his own home? And was Addison being unrealistically naive in asking 'why not?'  I am not expecting answers or anything, but it is illustrative of how thoughtful the writing on the show is.

I personally think that everyone was at least a bit wrong (goes with being young and more-so with being drunk).  Either Reggie or Addison could have stopped the fight by asking to talk about it later.  The escalation of the fight, while reasonable, was more driven to get to the harrowing conclusion (which neither Reggie nor Addison had anything to do with). 

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

Thanks to those who commented.  I appreciate it.

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

I think it's funny that the "back-door pilot" for "Zoe Goes To College" from black-ish looked like a rather poor parody of DWP.

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Raja

Raja

2 hours ago, phoenics said:

I hate Hollywood.  This is unacceptable.  They've whitewashed a real live human being and erased his heritage. 

 

3 hours ago, Dee said:

‘Whitewashing’ Accusations Fly as Zach McGowan Cast as Hawaiian WWII Hero

You would have thought we had changed since 1957 when this was done to Guy Gabaldon a Mexican American US Marine raised by Japanese American foster parents who in a rare cases in that war was able to talk  Japanese into surrendering on Saipan 

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phoenics

phoenics

2 hours ago, BoogieBurns said:

Let me add that the Gold Digger song came out at the peak of my "clubbing" days and I just sat and watched a whole bunch of white people make fools of themselves during the lyric, "she ain't messin with no broke [n-word]." For the record, I am only saying the ones who said the word were the fools. It's so unnecessary. 

I'm black, but I look like I could be any race and my skin is peach. For that reason alone I never say it. Okay, not that reason alone, I also rarely curse and I put it in the realm of curse words. But if mixed company heard me saying "whats up my [n-word]" to my friends, they may assume I am not allowed to say it. So I don't.

Like @phoenics said, it's not a toy, you can't have it.

I lived in San Jose, CA during the time of that Gold Digger song... and I was in a club on Santana Row (Strait's - after hours).  My black girlfriends and I were sitting in the lounge area (the dance floor was too small).  There were 4 of us total and we were the only black women in the place.  There were plenty of black men, white women and white men... but when the "leave yo @ss for a white girl" part came on, the DJ cut the music and let the crowd scream this at the top of their lungs - with lethal glee.  

This actually happened.  And the white women screaming this out looked just SO PLEASED at this line.

It made all of us sick in that moment.  I remember an asian waitress walked past at this exact moment and saw the sick looks on our faces and actually said "I'm really sorry for that."

Sometimes racism becomes misogynoir and it's more than just the n-word too.

The dynamic with black men, black women and white women in the Bay Area was really ... something.

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Dee

Dee

(edited)

A bunch of 'diverse' shows have recently been, or are in the process of being, cancelled.

So far Fox's 'Pitch,' 'Rosewood,' and 'Sleepy Hollow' have all gotten the axe, WGN's 'Underground' & ABC's 'The Catch' are also on the chopping block, Scandal is ending after next season and industry buzz says Shonda's new show, Still Star-Crossed is essentially DOA.

Edited by Dee
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Minneapple

Minneapple

3 hours ago, Dee said:

industry buzz says Shonda's new show, Still Star-Crossed is essentially DOA.

That's a shame. I was looking forward to it, too. The concept sounded interesting and the visuals from the promos looked really good.

On the bright side, the CW has given a series order to Black Lightning.

http://tvline.com/2017/05/10/black-lightning-series-order-the-cw-life-sentence-lucy-hale/

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phoenics

phoenics

3 hours ago, Dee said:

A bunch of 'diverse' shows have recently been, or are in the process of being, cancelled.

So far Fox's 'Pitch,' 'Rosewood,' and 'Sleepy Hollow' have all gotten the axe, WGN's 'Underground' & ABC's 'The Catch' are also on the chopping block, Scandal is ending after next season and industry buzz says Shonda's new show, Still Star-Crossed is essentially DOA.

I can't say I'm sorry about Sleepy Hollow being canceled after the way they treated Nicole Beharie.  In fact, I'm HAPPY it got canceled.  I feel vindicated.  I'm sad about Underground though.  And I was pulling for Pitch too - even if I couldn't bring myself to watch it for fear it would be canceled.

Emerald City got canceled too - sadly.

39 minutes ago, Minneapple said:

That's a shame. I was looking forward to it, too. The concept sounded interesting and the visuals from the promos looked really good.

On the bright side, the CW has given a series order to Black Lightning.

http://tvline.com/2017/05/10/black-lightning-series-order-the-cw-life-sentence-lucy-hale/

But Greg Berlanti's doing it?  Uh oh.

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Jaded

Jaded

(edited)

The 2nd season of Rosewood was really rough in some ways and I found myself not caring how soon I watched the last few episodes. I've gone on elsewhere about the damn orange/yellow hued tint effect they added this season drove me crazy. I really thought it would go away at some point. Guess the show getting cancelled does make it disappear permanently. 

Edited by Jaded
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Jaded

Jaded

6 hours ago, Dee said:

A bunch of 'diverse' shows have recently been, or are in the process of being, cancelled.

So far Fox's 'Pitch,' 'Rosewood,' and 'Sleepy Hollow' have all gotten the axe, WGN's 'Underground' & ABC's 'The Catch' are also on the chopping block, Scandal is ending after next season and industry buzz says Shonda's new show, Still Star-Crossed is essentially DOA.

WGN claims it's going in a "different direction" as a network and got rid of all the original shows they were airing even though they scored their best monthly primetime delivery in history in March 2017. Now that Tribune got gobbled up by crazy ass Sinclair who knows what "direction" WGN America will take now. It's too bad Underground probably won't find a home elsewhere.

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Dee

Dee

(edited)
32 minutes ago, Jaded said:

It's too bad Underground probably won't find a home elsewhere.

If OWN were smart, it would grab Underground ASAP.

It would make a strong addition to its non-Tyler Perry related original programming, but, its $5 million an episode budget, makes it a pretty expensive potential acquisition for such a struggling network.

Edited by Dee
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Joimiaroxeu

Joimiaroxeu

I think we're probably about to see a marked decline in TV shows featuring Black characters or Black-oriented themes, especially on the broadcast networks. Last year may have been a high-water mark for movies too. If anything there'll more slavery movies except they'll be called immigrant workers and the plotlines will be about them realizing how happy and fortunate they were.

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Irlandesa

Irlandesa

(edited)
7 hours ago, jhlipton said:

ABC was still advertising the start on 5/27 as of yesterday (5/10).  I don't think they'd do that if it wasn't going to air.

It sounds pretty fun.

I love the concept and it will air but I also get why it's being called DOA.  I think it was picked up based on a partial pilot. It was scheduled for midseason but then kept getting pushed back until summer and had its order cut.  It also seemingly fits a blind item posted a few weeks back about a drama, due to premiere within the next few months, that the network was exploring selling to a streaming site.  However, TPTB's clout kept it on the original network. This drama was said to be not good and that the episodes went over budget.

It's airing.  And it has a compatible time slot.  But I'm guessing it would need mega ratings to survive if it's the show in question. 

Edited by Irlandesa
paulvdb

paulvdb

ABC has a new comedy for the 2017/2018 season called The Mayor about a young rapper who decides to jump-start his career via the stunt of running for mayor of his hometown. Then he actually wins. Judging by the cast photo at the top of that article it has a mostly black cast. The cast members for the other listed shows seem to be mostly white although for most shows only one or two cast members are listed in that article and none for "For the People" so there could be some diversity on that show and in the supporting casts for the other shows.

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Meredith Quill
Message added by Meredith Quill,

This is the place to discuss race and ethnicity issues related to TV shows only.

Go here for the equivalent movie discussions.

For general discussion without TV/Film context please use the Social Justice topic in Everything Else. 

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