Race & Ethnicity On TV

[SimoneS]

Candice Patton said something similar at SXSW a couple days. She said she should not be afraid of being considered a diva for requesting that her producer hire someone who can style Black hair.

Edited March 12, 2019 by SimoneS

[biakbiak]

NBC chooses Lilly Singh an Indian-Canadian woman to replace Carson Daly. I am old so don’t know YouTibe Stars but will definitely check it out!

Edited March 15, 2019 by biakbiak

[Silver Raven]

A large part of Lily's shtick is that she plays her parents commenting on herself.

[biakbiak]

2 minutes ago, Silver Raven said:

A large part of Lily's shtick is that she plays her parents commenting on herself.

Ah I imagine that’s what is meant by “signature elements”.

[In2You]

I was on vacation for weeks so I'm late watching this but this skit was so accurate. All the reasons why I can't sit down and watch these types of movies.

[Annber03]

Yes! That was a brilliant segment. I loved the part where Seth's character was trying to "empathize" with the struggles Amber's character was going through by telling some really lame story, and she just gets up and walks away :D. 

[In2You]

8 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Yes! That was a brilliant segment. I loved the part where Seth's character was trying to "empathize" with the struggles Amber's character was going through by telling some really lame story, and she just gets up and walks away :D. 

I liked that lady wanting to adopt her even though she's older than her.

And the character who is so cartoonishly racist he makes other whites happy they aren't as racist as him.

[xaxat]

On 3/15/2019 at 11:45 PM, In2You said:

I was on vacation for weeks so I'm late watching this but this skit was so accurate. All the reasons why I can't sit down and watch these types of movies.

I saw this last week and laughed. Today, I saw the trailer for Taraji P. Henson's upcoming (non-parody) film and laughed even harder.

I don't think that's the effect they wanted. 

A couple of months ago, NYT film critic Wesley Morris wrote a really good piece about this phenomena. Why Do the Oscars Keep Falling for Racial Reconciliation Fantasies?

Quote

Not knowing what these movies (Kevin Hart's "The Upside" and Mahershala Ali's  "The Green Book") were “about” didn’t mean it wasn’t clear what they were about. They symbolize a style of American storytelling in which the wheels of interracial friendship are greased by employment, in which prolonged exposure to the black half of the duo enhances the humanity of his white, frequently racist counterpart.

Edited March 19, 2019 by xaxat

[Neurochick]

See, the issue that I have with people complaining about "Green Book" (not THE Green Book) was that a heck of a lot of Americans probably didn't know what the Green Book even was before the movie came out.  If anything, that title itself could have sparked a discussion.  

There was a scene in the beginning of Green Book, which really struck me, the scene with the plumbers.  I saw this movie in a packed theater in NYC and when those glasses were put in the trash can, you could hear the theater go, "shit," like people were shocked someone would do that.  

[Trini]

CW sent a few network stars to SXSW for a panel on 'Inclusion and Represention'; audio of the panel as available here (not sure for how long). Nkechi Okoro Carroll (EP for All American) talks about worrying about scripts that tackle race issues; Candice Patton (star of The Flash) talks about needing support behind-the-scenes for minority actors; and Vincent Rodriguez III (star of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) talks about how he was passed over for leading roles because he's Filipino.

They all discuss various diversity issues in the TV industry; and I thought it was really interesting.

[jhlipton]

They could have had Nafessa Williams or China Anne McClain talk about the support that Black women need, but I guess that was just a step too far.

[biakbiak]

1 minute ago, jhlipton said:

They could have had Nafessa Williams or China Anne McClain talk about the support that Black women need, but I guess that was just a step too far.

Or she had scheduling conflicts.

Edited March 26, 2019 by biakbiak

[angora]

On the panel, Candice Patton DOES talk about the support that Black women need.  She discusses the importance of having stylists and makeup artists that know how to work with Black hair/skin (and past experiences of having to rush to her trailer and fix her makeup herself so she felt ready to be seen on camera.)  She also brings up the show's earlier lack of Black writers (and I believe she said they still don't have any Black female writers) and having to speak up about things put into scripts that feel culturally inauthentic.  And although she doesn't go into it too deeply, she does allude to some of the abuse she's gotten on social media for playing Iris.

[Apprentice79]

2 hours ago, angora said:

On the panel, Candice Patton DOES talk about the support that Black women need.  She discusses the importance of having stylists and makeup artists that know how to work with Black hair/skin (and past experiences of having to rush to her trailer and fix her makeup herself so she felt ready to be seen on camera.)  She also brings up the show's earlier lack of Black writers (and I believe she said they still don't have any Black female writers) and having to speak up about things put into scripts that feel culturally inauthentic.  And although she doesn't go into it too deeply, she does allude to some of the abuse she's gotten on social media for playing Iris.

Last year in Harlem, during the Black Panther mania that gripped the country, Chadwick Boseman said the same thing about Black male actors.  He has said that he has been on movie sets where the barbers who were not of color had no idea how to cut Black men's hair and he has seen men get their hair fucked up who had to wear wigs to hide their awful haircuts for the remainder of filming. He said that was the advantage of being on a movie set like Black Panther, the hairstylists already knew how to style Black hair.

Edited March 27, 2019 by Apprentice79

[BaggythePanther]

On 3/26/2019 at 3:07 PM, jhlipton said:

They could have had Nafessa Williams or China Anne McClain talk about the support that Black women need, but I guess that was just a step too far.

What do you have against Candice Patton? CP has been talking about this subject for a while in other forums and interviews. Not surprising  that she’d do it at SXSW too.

[jhlipton]

20 hours ago, BaggythePanther said:

What do you have against Candice Patton? CP has been talking about this subject for a while in other forums and interviews. Not surprising  that she’d do it at SXSW too.

Nothing against her, just that there are darker women on the CW.

[BaggythePanther]

1 hour ago, jhlipton said:

Nothing against her, just that there are darker women on the CW.

Well, after the shit Candice has dealt with on The Flash the past five seasons I think she’s pretty well qualified to talk about the support that black women need.

[SimoneS]

2 hours ago, jhlipton said:

Nothing against her, just that there are darker women on the CW.

I know I am going to regret this, but uh? Those racist bullies who call Candice the N-word and constantly disparage her don't make any distinction about her skin tone compared to other Black women. On top of which, Candice is the leading actress on the CW's no. 1 rated show and DC wants to promote The Flash movie (which is taking forever to produce) so of course, the CW/WB/DC are going to ask her to participate over all the other women of color on its network.

Edited March 28, 2019 by SimoneS

[Trini]

4 hours ago, jhlipton said:

Nothing against her, just that there are darker women on the CW.

...

If you would have liked to see someone else at panel, fine, but Candice Patton is a black woman and don't see how her skin tone has anything to do with whether she can speak on issues she has experienced.

[jhlipton]

Apologies.

[In2You]

So Jordan Fisher is John Ambrose from Model UN in the TATBILB Sequel. Probably because they got alot of backlash both for the book and the movie for all Laura Jean's love interests being white(except for them making the one her black gay bestie in the movie). Are we supposed to pretend like a white guy wasn't shown as the character in the first movie? 

[Scarlett45]

10 minutes ago, In2You said:

So Jordan Fisher is John Ambrose from Model UN in the TATBILB Sequel. Probably because they got alot of backlash both for the book and the movie for all Laura Jean's love interests being white(except for them making the one her black gay bestie in the movie). Are we supposed to pretend like a white guy wasn't shown as the character in the first movie? 

I was wondering about that- I thought I couldn’t place the character. 

[biakbiak]

13 minutes ago, In2You said:

Are we supposed to pretend like a white guy wasn't shown as the character in the first movie? 

Eh the actor was most likely going to be recast anyway so I don’t see why it matter. 

[In2You]

12 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Eh the actor was most likely going to be recast anyway so I don’t see why it matter. 

We knew he was going to get recast I'm just surprised it was with a mixed actor. But then again they did get alot of backlash. I'm sure there will still be no Koreans though. 

[Dee]

This has been the most diverse year for SNL hosts ever.

A third of the hosts, thus far, have been people of color.

Awkwafina, Jason Momoa, Halsey, Don Cheadle, Idris Elba, Sandra Oh.

[Silver Raven]

John Cho has been cast as Spike Spiegl in Netflix's live action Cowboy Bebop.

https://www.themarysue.com/john-cho-spike-spiegel-the-force/

[xaxat]

You can't ask for better casting for Jet. I look forward to "Peppers and Beef".

But live action anime always worries me.

[sweetcookieface]

Now that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, one of my favorite shows, has ended, I wanted to give it a shout-out for how effortlessly diverse it is. Aside from two cis white male love interests, I think pretty much every other character is “diverse” in some way. The main character’s Jewish identity is front and center in a way that is rarely depicted on TV and she’s a “normal” sized woman rather than a size 2. Her “girl group” consists of a middle-aged, “fat” (by TV standards) mom; a bisexual Latina woman; and a biracial (black/white) woman.  Of all Rebecca’s love interests, the one who’s arguably had the most central role over the course of the show and been depicted as the dreamiest is an Asian guy. There are at least five LGBTQ characters I can think of, many of whom are given their own significant plots (some related to their sexuality, but others not). And the cast includes several other POC (black, Latinx, East Asian, Indian, etc) characters. Rebecca’s therapist, another key role, is a black woman. And POC characters don't just exist in isolation; the show has featured some of their families as well.

One of the things the show does so well is cast POC even in small throwaway roles (nurses, business owners, etc.). In the finale, there was a reveal that Josh (the abovementioned Asian love interest) had a new girlfriend – the camera pans out and he has his arm around a beautiful black woman. It was such a small moment,  but it made me smile as a black woman because it was something that was just presented as unremarkable (not to mention the fact that Asian male / black woman relationships are still fairly rare on TV).

In interviews, Rachel Bloom has talked about wanting the show to reflect the diversity of West Covina, California –something along the lines of “if you’re not portraying that, you’re not accurately reflecting life.” It’s such a simple, obvious point, but sadly one the entertainment industry still doesn’t appreciate. Anyway, one of many reasons I adore this show.

[festivus]

I want to ask a question and see what others think. Does CBS put most of its shows with POC as lead characters on the paid streaming part? I don't watch anything on CBS and I'll admit that I don't know much about their programming beyond the fact that NCIS and TBBT are on there. But it seems like the shows I've heard of and would like to watch like Star Trek and Twilight Zone are only on a channel you have to pay for and those shows feature POC. Even that lawyer show they rebooted which I can't remember the name of with Christine Baranski is on there and I believe she works at a mostly Black law firm now. Why is that show not on the regular network channel? I can kind of understand the other two I mentioned because they are more genre but genre shows are mostly where you find more diverse casts these days. I'm just wondering what others think cause I'd love to watch Twilight Zone but I'm not paying those people any money for something they should have on their network channel. Or they should have a least done a cable channel for these shows. I could be totally wrong about this, it may just be that they're sticking genre stuff on there. 

[Raja]

23 minutes ago, festivus said:

I want to ask a question and see what others think. Does CBS put most of its shows with POC as lead characters on the paid streaming part? I don't watch anything on CBS and I'll admit that I don't know much about their programming beyond the fact that NCIS and TBBT are on there. But it seems like the shows I've heard of and would like to watch like Star Trek and Twilight Zone are only on a channel you have to pay for and those shows feature POC. Even that lawyer show they rebooted which I can't remember the name of with Christine Baranski is on there and I believe she works at a mostly Black law firm now. Why is that show not on the regular network channel? I can kind of understand the other two I mentioned because they are more genre but genre shows are mostly where you find more diverse casts these days. I'm just wondering what others think cause I'd love to watch Twilight Zone but I'm not paying those people any money for something they should have on their network channel. Or they should have a least done a cable channel for these shows. I could be totally wrong about this, it may just be that they're sticking genre stuff on there. 

They are trying to move from an advertiser supported business to a subscription supported on. The Trekkie who has spent literally decades buying multiple magazine copies to get all of the covers, or other genre fans have a proven willingness to pay for their play. As for The Good Fight a continuation of a previous series brought in a different fan base in order to add some diversification to the pay service.

[festivus]

29 minutes ago, Raja said:

As for The Good Fight a continuation of a previous series brought in a different fan base in order to add some diversification to the pay service.

I guess what I'm wanting to know is why they don't want that on their network channel. Or if I'm wrong about it because I haven't watched anything on that network in years. Edit: In other words that's a show about a law firm so it seems like the type of thing they'd have on their network channel. I'm just questioning why they had the original show on there but now that it's a mostly black firm it's on the pay channel.

Edited April 7, 2019 by festivus

[jhlipton]

1 hour ago, festivus said:

Does CBS put most of its shows with POC as lead characters on the paid streaming part?

Both the new SWAT and God Friended Me are on the regular network and have black male leads (GFM has several other black main characters and one Indian one; SWAT has a Latina and an Asian male in main roles).  That's about all I watch on CBS, network or subscription, though.

[festivus]

Thanks. So it may just be about genre shows.

I'm just pissed I don't get to watch the new Twilight Zone!

[Neurochick]

1 hour ago, festivus said:

I guess what I'm wanting to know is why they don't want that on their network channel. Or if I'm wrong about it because I haven't watched anything on that network in years. Edit: In other words that's a show about a law firm so it seems like the type of thing they'd have on their network channel. I'm just questioning why they had the original show on there but now that it's a mostly black firm it's on the pay channel.

My opinion and I may be wrong is that CBS wants and needs more people watching on the free network than they do on the streaming service.   A show on the pay network can be a hit with X numbert of viewers, but that that same number of viewers can get a show cancelled on the free network.

And I think CBS wants to corner all markets.  They see the success of Netflix/Amazon/Hulu and they want in on that.

Edited April 7, 2019 by Neurochick

[festivus]

Yeah, I'm just curious as to whether race plays a factor in any of this. I know I've heard CBS referred to as the old white people network before. Just want to hear from people that are watching stuff there and know more about the network than I do.

[Neurochick]

9 minutes ago, festivus said:

Yeah, I'm just curious as to whether race plays a factor in any of this. I know I've heard CBS referred to as the old white people network before. Just want to hear from people that are watching stuff there and know more about the network than I do.

Race and genre are probably the reasons.  Plus CBS gets to have their cake and eat it too.  It's like the Fox Network.  On Fox they'll have shows that attract a larger audience and on FX they can have shows like American Horror Story and Pose that may attract a smaller audience.  

[jhlipton]

2 minutes ago, Neurochick said:

On Fox they'll have shows that attract a larger audience and on FX they can have shows like American Horror Story and Pose that may attract a smaller audience.  

And on FXX, they have... what do they have on FXX?  You're the Worst just finished; Archer and The Family Guy moved from FX.  I think if The Shield ran today, it would run on FXX.

[festivus]

Yeah, I do get why they do that. Fox the main channel lost me for good after what they let happen to Sleepy Hollow but I do watch FX and FXX because they have the kinds of shows I like to watch. At least I don't have to pay extra to watch them. I wish they would have had Sleepy Hollow over there and then maybe things would have been different. Still bitter about it.

[xaxat]

9 minutes ago, festivus said:

Yeah, I'm just curious as to whether race plays a factor in any of this. I know I've heard CBS referred to as the old white people network before. Just want to hear from people that are watching stuff there and know more about the network than I do.

I don't know if there has been a new executive pushing for more diversity, but it certainly appears to be part of their business strategy.

It wasn't that long ago (5+ years?) that CBS was really white. At one point think it was literally down to Julie Chen and LL Cool J. But a lot has changed since then, and I think you nailed it. The network did skew old and they knew they needed diverse cast to attract younger viewers. 

And that is reflected on its streaming platform. Old people are not going to drive the growth there. They need to attract younger people. And streaming isn't a niche. media companies see it as a major part of their business model. (Netflix revenue last year? About $16 billion. CBS broadcast network? About $14.5 billion.)

So CBS All Access started out with a slate of newly produced shows that are diverse and in two cases, rely on the fanaticism of a base that started decades ago and evolved into nerd culture as it exists today . Not bad start considering they don't have close to the selection of a Hulu or Netflix. 

[festivus]

It's starting to get too much with all the streaming services because I just can't afford so many different ones but I get it. Everybody wants a piece of the pie. Thanks for the discussion, everyone.

Edited April 7, 2019 by festivus

[BaggythePanther]

2 hours ago, xaxat said:

And that is reflected on its streaming platform. Old people are not going to drive the growth there. They need to attract younger people. And streaming isn't a niche. media companies see it as a major part of their business model. (Netflix revenue last year? About $16 billion. CBS broadcast network? About $14.5 billion.)

I believe CBS All Access was also looking into picking up One Day At A Time after Netflix cancelled it. (However, the show’s contract with Netflix wouldn’t allow them to transfer to another streaming service.) That would have been another show with a largely minority cast.

[DearEvette]

CBS got dragged for filth during the 2017 TCAs when they unveiled their line up and the only show that had a non-white lead character was SWAT (Shemar Moore) and no female leads. 

That is when Les Moonves tried to explain that they had to look toward the "totality' of CBS corp (which included the CW, Showtime and All Access) to see that they were more diverse.  Then they trotted out the clip of the New Star Trek with Sonequa Martin Green as a lead -- on CBS all access behind the paywall.  And of course you do have to pay for Showtime as well.  So basically he was admitting that their diversity was not on the flagship network but farmed out to their other networks, where two of them you had to pay for.

They did better in 2018 with 4 shows that had POC leads (the two dramas had a black male lead and a Latino male lead. The two comedies featured black families).  But the shows that had the strongest women of color presence were once again behind their paywall (ST:D & The Good Fight).

I think it is rather telling that their two biggest All Access shows are fronted by Women and have strong WOC presence and now they've added Jordan Peele's Twilight Zone to that which we know will have way more POC in it than probably all the rest of CBS regular network shows  put together.

[festivus]

Thank you @DearEvette that's the kind of stuff that I wanted to know about because it's what I suspected.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

Why is that show not on the regular network channel?

In addition to the other issues with The Good Fight mentioned above, I think its producers have a degree of freedom on the streaming channel that they definitely wouldn't have on broadcast TV. And it's not just about profanity or depictions of sexual activity, it's the producers unabashed political stances that they're presenting via the show. Those stances would likely offend CBS' more conservative broadcast TV audience base, at the very least. If you look at the forum for The Good Fight you'll see posters starting to accuse some things said and done on the show as being libelous and slanderous. CBS does not want that smoke.

Edited April 8, 2019 by Joimiaroxeu

[topanga]

Have any of you seen the Boomerang series on BET? It's not a remake of the movie--more like a continuation of the story. It follows Marcus and Angela's daughter (Tetona Jackson) and Jacqueline's son (Tequan Richmond from Everybody Hates Chris) as they navigate their careers and relationships. The leads and their friends are a bunch of 20-somethings living in Atlanta. I originally thought the show would be "too millennial" for me, but it's smartly written and well-produced. Lena Waithe is behind it, so I'm not surprised. In fact, I don't know why I ever doubted it. 

Edited April 8, 2019 by topanga

[possibilities]

I was excited to watch Boomerang, but after a few episodes I gave up. I don't care about the dude pining for his friend, or the poor little rich girl who didn't want to work in daddy's business. They all just seemed like such brats to me. Maybe I'm too old or not wealthy enough. I really expected more from Lena Waithe.

[Popples]

I went into Boomerang with absolutely no expectations of anything, and found myself surprisingly entertained. It took a long time to warm up to Simone, though. My favorites in order are Tia, Crystal, Ari, Bryson, Simone, and David. David works my nerves; sure he's accepting of the LGBT community, but at game night he told Crystal "I see you're still drinking that Devil juice" when she was having a glass of wine. I don't even drink alcohol and was annoyed on her behalf.

It's the complete opposite of American Soul. I was incredibly excited about it, but I feel it was false advertisement. They hyped up the fact that it was by the same creators as The New Edition and Bobby Brown mini-series, so I was anticipating something that would cover the entire span of Soul Train's history, instead, it's a "based on true events" fiction with a bit of Soul Train thrown in.

[SimoneS]

On his Instagram account, Mehcad Brooks (James, Supergirl) wrote about the racist bullying that Candice Patton (Iris, The Flash) and Azie Tesfai (Kelly, Supergirl) have been subjected to online (see below). The Supergirl cast led by Melissa Benoit (Kara) has rallied around Azie who is recurring this season and will be a regular next season. Minka Kelly and the cast of Titans rallied around Anna Diop when she was nastily attacked by these racists on social media. 

I think it is important to be aware that many actors of color on tv are under siege from racist and misogynistic bullies on social media, a medium that they use for publicity and to stay in touch with their fans. I don't think that most fans are like this, but it is a vicious vocal minority and then there is a segment fans are attempting to normalize this unacceptable behavior, claiming that people are "overreacting" when they call out this behavior out. 

Edited April 13, 2019 by SimoneS

[xaxat]

Nerd culture can be such a cesspool. This, Gamergate, Kelly Marie Tran. . . 

ETA I am really liking Peele's Twilight Zone. Not only does it feature a diverse cast, it directly addresses issues of race. The latest episode is basically driving while black in The Twilight Zone.

Edited April 13, 2019 by xaxat

[Dee]

17 hours ago, SimoneS said:

On his Instagram account, Mehcad Brooks (James, Supergirl) wrote about the racist bullying that Candice Patton (Iris, The Flash) and Azie Tesfai (Kelly, Supergirl) have been subjected to online (see below). The Supergirl cast led by Melissa Benoit (Kara) has rallied around Azie who is recurring this season and will be a regular next season. Minka Kelly and the cast of Titans rallied around Anna Diop when she was nastily attacked by these racists on social media. 

I think it is important to be aware that many actors of color on tv are under siege from racist and misogynistic bullies on social media, a medium that they use for publicity and to stay in touch with their fans. I don't think that most fans are like this, but it is a vicious vocal minority and then there is a segment fans are attempting to normalize this unacceptable behavior, claiming that people are "overreacting" when they call out this behavior out. 

The same thing happened with Ashleigh Murray, Vanessa Morgan, Hayley Law & Jordan Calloway on Riverdale. Many of the Riverdale cast stood up for them, but the girls themselves were each others biggest defenders.