Race & Ethnicity On TV

[xaxat]

1 hour ago, DearEvette said:

Goodly ethnic mix of characters, one black kid, one Asian kid, one Latina kid and 3 white kids.  it also includes their parents.  I haven't read the comic so I am not sure how close it is to the source material,

Molly, the Latina was white in the comic. That's the only change race wise.

[Fukui San]

A rare case of a TV adaptation being more diverse than the source material!

In the comics, a Latino character was added to the main group later on, in the second major storyline.

[Popples]

2 hours ago, DearEvette said:

One thing that make me kinda sigh though is the casting of the kids as their younger selves.  The younger set are all like 16 or 17 years old now, but there is a flashback in the third episode of when they were much younger.  For the most part the younger kids casting is good and looks like they could be the younger selves of the older teens.  Except the black kid.  Sigh.  There is no way a kid with that dark of a skin tone is going to grow up to lighten up to the much lighter skin tone of the teenager. Kinda reminds me of the actress who played young Jenny on Sleepy Hollow.  Looked nothing like how Lynndie Greenwood should've looked at that age.

They did the opposite on Psych. The first actor playing young Gus was of lighter complexion and had softer, curlier hair than Dulé Hill. They recast him and found a child that actually looked like he could be a younger version of Hill.

[BoogieBurns]

On 11/20/2017 at 3:47 AM, biakbiak said:

Did anyone watch The Problem with Apu on TruTv? I thought it was excellent and hope people check it out. Hari Kondabolu explores the problem of the character of Apu from The Simpsons from the perspective of Indians.

I watched it. Loved it. Realized that I have a thing for South Asian guys (namely Hasan, Kumail, Kal, and Utkarsh in this special, but so many more). I liked seeing how they were all affected by this gross generalization, and how they are forced to basically do double duty to not take "Apu" type roles. Very good special. I left it really disliking Hank Azaria. Before I had no opinion, now I do. Boo Hank Azaria.

[Neurochick]

On November 20, 2017 at 4:47 AM, biakbiak said:

Did anyone watch The Problem with Apu on TruTv? I thought it was excellent and hope people check it out. Hari Kondabolu explores the problem of the character of Apu from The Simpsons from the perspective of Indians.

I'm watching it now; and whoa, Hank Azaria is a real douchebag.  I don't like him at all.  Why couldn't he grow some balls and talk to Hari?  Asshole.  I mean why not fucking put on blackface make up and call it a day?  Fucking asshole with his white privilege.  

[possibilities]

I love how they managed to thoroughly expose him even without his active participation in an interview.

[ChromaKelly]

On 11/26/2017 at 4:15 PM, Popples said:

They did the opposite on Psych. The first actor playing young Gus was of lighter complexion and had softer, curlier hair than Dulé Hill. They recast him and found a child that actually looked like he could be a younger version of Hill.

The 10 year old Randall on This Is Us is also lighter and looks nothing like Sterling K Brown. It bugs me because they did such a good job with the other kids. The teen Randall is better at least in terms of skin tone, but doesn't look much like SKB.

[Minneapple]

Disney casts an actual Chinese actress for the live-action Mulan.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/disneys-mulan-finds-star-1061585?utm_source=twitter

Nice. We'll see how the rest of the casting goes but this is a great start.

[jhlipton]

3 hours ago, Minneapple said:

Disney casts an actual Chinese actress for the live-action Mulan.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/disneys-mulan-finds-star-1061585?utm_source=twitter

Nice. We'll see how the rest of the casting goes but this is a great start.

I read that Liu Yifei had been in Once Upon a Time and thought "she wasn't Mulan on that show; who was she?" then saw that the OUaT she was in was a Chinese film.  LOL

[xaxat]

I think it's awesome that Angela Bassett got cast to star as a beat cop running around town when in reality she's old enough that her character would either be an officer or retired.

I got old. She didn't.

[jhlipton]

3 minutes ago, xaxat said:

I think it's awesome that Angela Bassett got cast to star as a beat cop running around town when in reality she's old enough that her character would either be an officer or retired.

Talking about the new Fox show 9-1-1.  I agree!

[Raja]

38 minutes ago, xaxat said:

I think it's awesome that Angela Bassett got cast to star as a beat cop running around town when in reality she's old enough that her character would either be an officer or retired.

 

Well it is LAPD with no mandatory retirement age. And she did have Sergeant stripes on even though police forces generally don't work on make rank or get put out like the US military does..

[xaxat]

Good for her, but this makes me kind of sad.

Discovery buys majority stake in OWN from Oprah Winfrey

[jhlipton]

Can someone, anyone, tell me why Katia ("Hatrack") Winters continues to get work (She's on Legends of Tomorrow this week) and Nicole ("Awesome") Beharie languishes?  It can't be racism -- that's all done and settled, right???

On 6/3/2017 at 0:05 PM, jhlipton said:

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 has them howling "Injustice!'  In the words of my friends, they can "take several seats".

It may be bad from to quote myself, but I've never gotten anywhere near 42 "Likes" on a post before.  Thank you, you wonderful people!

[jhlipton]

Two, two, two great stars in one:

@TiffanyHaddish to exec produce, star in political satirical thriller, 'The Oath' with John Cho

[ElectricBoogaloo]

On 11/29/2017 at 3:47 PM, jhlipton said:

I read that Liu Yifei had been in Once Upon a Time and thought "she wasn't Mulan on that show; who was she?" then saw that the OUaT she was in was a Chinese film.  LOL

Sadly this just points at the lack of Asian characters on OUAT in seven seasons. 

On 11/26/2017 at 10:31 AM, DearEvette said:

Started watching Marvel's Runaways on Hulu.  Goodly ethnic mix of characters, one black kid, one Asian kid, one Latina kid and 3 white kids.  it also includes their parents.  I haven't read the comic so I am not sure how close it is to the source material, but I have the admit the parents storyline is the one that is the most interesting.  They're evil but in an interesting way and there is some mystery there too.  The first three eps are up and it is pretty good.  I love the Asian mom, Tina , and the black mom Catherine the best.  They have some great snarky lines and some really excellent eye-roll action.

One thing that make me kinda sigh though is the casting of the kids as their younger selves.  The younger set are all like 16 or 17 years old now, but there is a flashback in the third episode of when they were much younger.  For the most part the younger kids casting is good and looks like they could be the younger selves of the older teens.  Except the black kid.  Sigh.  There is no way a kid with that dark of a skin tone is going to grow up to lighten up to the much lighter skin tone of the teenager. Kinda reminds me of the actress who played young Jenny on Sleepy Hollow.  Looked nothing like how Lynndie Greenwood should've looked at that age.

I’ve been watching Runaways too and I like that the cast has diversity without it being a huge issue that causes strife among the kids or parents. 

I agree about the casting of young Alex, especially since he wasn’t asked to do a lot of acting. I’m a little more forgiving with flashback actors not looking exactly the same if they’re being asked to do really intense acting (I’d rather have a child actor who can emote realistically than a cute lookalike who is reading lines badly). But since little Alex had very little acting to do, they should have found a kid who looked more like teen Alex. 

[xaxat]

So, right now I am watching Walk Ons's college bowl game. Walk Ons is a restaurant chain founded in Louisiana (32% African American). Their commercial boasts about  "Share of love of Southern food and culture."

There are ZERO people of color in the ad. (Even in the background of customers.)

I'm sure that was just an accidental oversight. 

Oh, wait. .  . now there is an ad with NFL qb Drew Brees featuring him talking to the staff at his franchise restaurant. Uhhh, no POC in sight, even in the kitchen staff.

Once again, I'm sure it was an accidental oversight.  Given their love of Southern culture. 

[Ohwell]

I had never heard of Walk On's before watching the game.  Strange not having any POCs in the ads.

[biakbiak]

Walk On's is a stupid name even after reading about it. 

I assume you are being sarcastic about it being accidental but even if that were the case having so many people involved not notice or not thinking its an issue is a problem.

[DearEvette]

Ryan Murphy (of Glee and American Horror Story) has a new show ordered to series at FX.  It is a "dance musical" that is "Set in 1986 and  takes on the rise of Donald Trump-style superwealth, the denizens of downtown (including the literary scene) and the underground LGBT subculture known as ball culture."

On the one hand this is great for LGBTQ inclusion because they are planning to cast a lot of LGBTQ actors.  On the other hand... ball culture?  In the hands of Ryan Murphy?  I have not been in any way impressed with any handling of black characters in any of the shows of his that I have watched.  They all feel like caricatures in the end,  full of cliches and no real inner life.  If he is the one writing this, I can't think he'll do any better with the black & latino men who were part of the ball culture in the 80s.  I have visions of him centering some white midwestern Kurt like character into the story and having him walking a ball.  Gah!

[jhlipton]

9 hours ago, DearEvette said:

"the underground LGBT subculture known as ball culture."

This sounds a bit like the "cake walks" (from whence came the phrase "that takes the cake") of the 1910's and '20s.

[roseslg]

On 9/4/2014 at 11:31 AM, SistaLadybug said:

I agree with all your points, ZaldamoWilder.  I am actually not mad at Tyler.  (I take issue with his (and Oprah's) representation of those of us who aren't fans as "haters" or folks who don't understand.)  I don't knock his hustle.  I see his game and I respect it but I'm not playing it with him.

 

My mother and grandmother and my close friend who is in her 30s but has been an old church lady since she was 13, all love him and find him hilarious.  They are his market.  I am not.  I am way too liberal in thought and behavior.  I am one of the women who in his movies would be vehemently slut-shamed and depicted as emasculating and in need of the love of a good (lightskinned) brotha.  I would probably lose my house in a fire, have my dog run over by a car and develop a horrible cough that would morph into AIDS.  That is why I can't get with his stuff.  Even if he was a kick-ass screenwriter.  Even if he wasn't laughable as Alex Cross.  Even if I didn't find Madea problematic all around.  it is clear to me that he does not like women like me.  Therefore, play on, playa, but you can kiss my ass whle you do it.

Preach!  Half my family thinks he is funny, when I call him misogynistic, they look at me like I’m crazy.

[Neurochick]

8 minutes ago, roseslg said:

Preach!  Half my family thinks he is funny, when I call him misogynistic, they look at me like I’m crazy.

I don't like Tyler Perry at all, but that's okay.  Not everybody is supposed to like the same things.  I find Tyler Perry's movies boring, he was great in "Gone Girl" though.  

[jhlipton]

On 9/4/2014 at 8:31 AM, SistaLadybug said:

My mother and grandmother and my close friend who is in her 30s but has been an old church lady since she was 13, all love him and find him hilarious.  They are his market.  I am not.  I am way too liberal in thought and behavior.

My wife (somewhat of as "church lady") likes him, but I'm with @SistaLadybug.

46 minutes ago, Neurochick said:

I don't like Tyler Perry at all, but that's okay.  Not everybody is supposed to like the same things.

When people like racism or misogyny, I don't find that OK.  Perry and his fans need to be called out for what they are supporting.

[Neurochick]

16 minutes ago, jhlipton said:

When people like racism or misogyny, I don't find that OK.  Perry and his fans need to be called out for what they are supporting.

I see your point.  But all I can say is, "here is why I don't like Tyler Perry."  I'm not the police of anybody.  You have the right to say, "I wouldn't waste my two cents on his trash and here's why," but at the end of the day, you can't force anybody to like or dislike anything.  I wouldn't give Tyler Perry a dime, but I wouldn't want to live in a country where people aren't allowed to see any of his "movies."  I mean the success of a movie like "Hidden Figures" proves that people will go to see a movie with black women characters who aren't ridiculous stereotypes like Madea.  I paid to see Hidden Figures twice, I've never paid a dime to see a Tyler Perry movie.

[jhlipton]

37 minutes ago, Neurochick said:

I wouldn't give Tyler Perry a dime, but I wouldn't want to live in a country where people aren't allowed to see any of his "movies."

Truth!

[Trini]

This happened a month ago, but I just wanted to note here the tone-deaf situation The Flash set up that has unfortunate but obvious parallels to the slave trade [spoilers for Season 4,episode 9]: The (white) main villain for this season paid a (white) human trafficker/crime lord for a (black) man, so that he could use (literally take over) his body to prolong his own life. And there's even more that can be said about a white man living in a black man's body. The thing is, it's most likely none of this will get addressed on the show, which ignores race most of the time.

[Silver Raven]

1 hour ago, Trini said:

This happened a month ago, but I just wanted to note here the tone-deaf situation The Flash set up that has unfortunate but obvious parallels to the slave trade [spoilers for Season 4,episode 9]: The (white) main villain for this season paid a (white) human trafficker/crime lord for a (black) man, so that he could use (literally take over) his body to prolong his own life. And there's even more that can be said about a white man living in a black man's body. The thing is, it's most likely none of this will get addressed on the show, which ignores race most of the time.

Sounds like they stole the plot of Get Out.

[Trini]

1 hour ago, Silver Raven said:

Sounds like they stole the plot of Get Out.

Yep; but I'm 87% sure it was accidentally.

[paulvdb]

I saw this report (and a Variety article about it) posted in the Flash forum about race in writers rooms.
 

Quote

 

While two-thirds of all shows across 18 networks did not have any Black writers, and another 17% had just one Black writer, not all networks are the same with respect to exclusion.

AMC stands out as having the worst inclusion problem overall: both women and people of color, both showrunners and writers. Eight networks excluded Black showrunners and writers the most, while CW and CBS were notable for generally including women and people of color, while excluding Black talent specifically.

 

If I interpret the data from the report correctly the CW is the only network with 2 or more POC writers on all their shows, but apparently very few of them are black. The person who posted this in the Flash forum mentioned that the report is about the 2016/2017 season so it does not include the new CW series Black Lightning which has two black showrunners.

[DearEvette]

Caught the Blacki-ish spinoff featuring Zoey, Grown-ish.  I hadn't really planned to because as much I love Shara Yahidi's aesthetic, not sure if she could carry an entire show.  But the show was surprisingly good and frankly surprised me with its exploration of drug use, partying, and even profanity that they would not get away with on ABC. They aren't trying to pretty up college life. 

Anyhoo, Zoey has a posse of friends and that posse is very multicultural.  There are several black BFFS, one jewish bisexual girl, one Indian guy ( who is also a Drake worshipping drug dealer), and her roommate is a devout catholic Latina.  One of her male friends looks to be in the fashion design program and while his sexuality is not explicitly addressed in the first two eps, there is a decided metrosexual/Lenny Kravitz thing going on with him.  Outside of the race stuff there are also class issues.  The indian guy feels contempt for his can driver father.  Two of her friends played by the singers Chloe and Halle have the weight of expectations on them to make it out of the hood and be successful. 

[Silver Raven]

Shara Yahidi was the guest co-host on The View one day this week, and even at 17, she came across as very socially aware and involved.  She's going to Harvard next year, too.  I shouldn't have been, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well-spoken a teenager was in this day and age.

[AyeshaTheGreat]

5 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Caught the Blacki-ish spinoff featuring Zoey, Grown-ish.  I hadn't really planned to because as much I love Shara Yahidi's aesthetic, not sure if she could carry an entire show.  But the show was surprisingly good and frankly surprised me with its exploration of drug use, partying, and even profanity that they would not get away with on ABC. They aren't trying to pretty up college life. 

Anyhoo, Zoey has a posse of friends and that posse is very multicultural.  There are several black BFFS, one jewish bisexual girl, one Indian guy ( who is also a Drake worshipping drug dealer), and her roommate is a devout catholic Latina.  One of her male friends looks to be in the fashion design program and while his sexuality is not explicitly addressed in the first two eps, there is a decided metrosexual/Lenny Kravitz thing going on with him.  Outside of the race stuff there are also class issues.  The indian guy feels contempt for his can driver father.  Two of her friends played by the singers Chloe and Halle have the weight of expectations on them to make it out of the hood and be successful. 

 

2 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

Shara Yahidi was the guest co-host on The View one day this week, and even at 17, she came across as very socially aware and involved.  She's going to Harvard next year, too.  I shouldn't have been, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well-spoken a teenager was in this day and age.

Is there an inside joke that I missed regarding Yara's name?  As for the show, it is not as bad as its backdoor pilot so I will give it another chance.  However, I am more interested in Yara the person than Yara the actress at this point.

Also, I have seen comments about the multi-ethnic nature of the cast (in other places).  I have no real comment about that other than, she goes to a school in LA so I am not surprised with the group.

[DearEvette]

1 hour ago, AyeshaTheGreat said:

Is there an inside joke that I missed regarding Yara's name?  As for the show, it is not as bad as its backdoor pilot so I will give it another chance.  However, I am more interested in Yara the person than Yara the actress at this point.

Snort. Just bad typing on my part.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Interview with Manny Jacinto (The Good Place) - he talks about playing a role that is not the typical model minority character that Asians are usually cast in, being a male Asian character who has a romantic relationship with a white female character (who is also taller than he is), being inspired by the Jabbawockeez, and why he likes Better Luck Tomorrow (plus lots of stuff about The Good Place).

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The Golden Globe Awards had three big firsts!

(1) Aziz Ansari is the first Asian American actor to win best lead actor in a comedy television series. In the 75 year history of the Golden Globes, only a handful of actors of Asian descent have ever won awards. This is the entire list before Aziz:

Quote

1980 & 1981 - Vic Taybeck (Syrian) won best supporting actor in a television series for Alice
1983 - Ben Kingsley (half Indian) won best lead actor in a motion picture for Gandhi
1984 - Haing S. Ngor (Cambodian) won best supporting actor in a motion picture for The Killing Fields
1986 - Meg Tilly (half Cantonese) won best supporting actress in a motion picture for Agnes of God
2006 - Sandra Oh (Korean) won best supporting actress in a television series for Grey's Anatomy

(2) Sterling K. Brown is the first African American actor to win best lead actor in a drama television series

(3) Oprah Winfrey is the first African American woman to win the Cecil B. DeMille award for lifetime achievement

[galax-arena]

From the Manny Jacinto interview:

Do you have a favorite Fast and Furious movie?

Tokyo Drift, no doubt.

You're entitled to your wrong opinion, Manny!

(I love Sung Kang and Justin Lin, too. But there were later movies with both of them lol.) 

[topanga]

49 minutes ago, galax-arena said:

From the Manny Jacinto interview:

 

 

You're entitled to your wrong opinion, Manny!

(I love Sung Kang and Justin Lin, too. But there were later movies with both of them lol.) 

I knew I liked Manny! Tokyo Drif was the only movie in that ridiculous franchise where I actually enjoyed the story. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

1 hour ago, galax-arena said:

From the Manny Jacinto interview:

You're entitled to your wrong opinion, Manny!

(I love Sung Kang and Justin Lin, too. But there were later movies with both of them lol.) 

My favorite exchange in the entire interview:

Manny: It wasn’t until maybe my second year of university that I got inspired to dance. It was because of the show America’s Best Dance Crew.

Alex: Jabbawockeez, man!

I burst out laughing because it was so awesome and funny but also so true! JABBAWOCKEEZ!!

[jhlipton]

6 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Manny: It wasn’t until maybe my second year of university that I got inspired to dance. It was because of the show America’s Best Dance Crew.
Alex: Jabbawockeez, man!

I burst out laughing because it was so awesome and funny but also so true! JABBAWOCKEEZ!!

Jabbawockeez are great, but have you seen Kinjaz?  They are AWESOME!

[DearEvette]

HBO has released a trailer for the new Alan Ball series, Here and Now that which features  A multi-racial family made up of husband, wife, (Holly Hunter, Tim Robbins) three adopted children from Somalia, Vietnam and Colombia (Jerikka Hinton, Raymond Lee, Daniel Sovato) and one biological child (Sosie Bacon).  According to the synopsis, one of the children begins seeing things which the rest cannot which causes family bonds to get tested.

 

Edited January 12, 2018 by DearEvette

[jhlipton]

3 hours ago, DearEvette said:

HBO has released a trailer for the new Alan Ball series, Here and Now that which features  A multi-racial family made up of husband, wife, (Holly Hunter, Tim Robbins) three adopted children from Somalia, Vietnam and Colombia (Jerikka Hinton, Raymond Lee, Daniel Sovato) and one biological child (Sosie Bacon).  According to the synopsis, one of the children begins seeing things which the rest cannot which causes family bonds to get tested.

The "children" are 36 (Jerikka), 30 (Raymond), 26 (Daniel) and 25 (Sosie).  Not at all what I expected from the description!

Edited January 12, 2018 by jhlipton
Remove media

[topanga]

3 hours ago, DearEvette said:

HBO has released a trailer for the new Alan Ball series, Here and Now that which features  A multi-racial family made up of husband, wife, (Holly Hunter, Tim Robbins) three adopted children from Somalia, Vietnam and Colombia (Jerikka Hinton, Raymond Lee, Daniel Sovato) and one biological child (Sosie Bacon).  According to the synopsis, one of the children begins seeing things which the rest cannot which causes family bonds to get tested.

 

Looks good! And Holly Hunter is forever doing sex scenes. LOL 

[Keepitmoving]

3 hours ago, DearEvette said:

HBO has released a trailer for the new Alan Ball series, Here and Now that which features  A multi-racial family made up of husband, wife, (Holly Hunter, Tim Robbins) three adopted children from Somalia, Vietnam and Colombia (Jerikka Hinton, Raymond Lee, Daniel Sovato) and one biological child (Sosie Bacon).  According to the synopsis, one of the children begins seeing things which the rest cannot which causes family bonds to get tested.

 

I'm here for this, good actors in it and I'm happy for Jerrika Hinton after Shondaland royally fucked her over.  Oh the diversity, now I just have to check out that the representation is on point, because that's the real key. Because you can stick as many faces of color as you want on my screen, but if their characters are over in some corner somewhere with two damn lines and no center story ever, or if the story they have is the usual stereotypical one  then you're not representing and you're not fooling this viewer.

[Silver Raven]

The new show runner for The Walking Dead is Angela Kang.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Kang

[jhlipton]

On 1/7/2018 at 7:21 PM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

a male Asian character who has a romantic relationship with a white female character

On an episode of SWAT, Victor Tan (played by David Lim) had a romantic relationship with a white female character (who may be recurring, based on fan reaction).

[biakbiak]

On 1/7/2018 at 7:21 PM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

being a male Asian character who has a romantic relationship with a white female character (

Jameela is half Indian.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

42 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

Jameela is half Indian.

I’m pretty sure they’re talking about Janet, not Tahani. 

[biakbiak]

8 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I’m pretty sure they’re talking about Janet, not Tahani. 

Ah right, the taller part made me think Jameela because she is so much taller.

[possibilities]

Josh Chan (played by Vincent Rodriguez III) on Crazy Ex Girlfriend is a hunky dudebro who's had two white love interests, including the show's main character who was obsessed with him for 2 seasons. The character is straight, but right now he's working as a go go dancer in a gay bar.

I love when stereotypes start to fall.