To paraphrase Mad Men: “Not every little girl gets to do what they want. The world could not support that many ballerinas… or Ivy League graduates.” My advice to Suzy, Abigail, and every other white girl who didn’t get into their first choice of college this year is to keep your rejection out of the public eye and do what every other kid does when they go off to school in the fall: give it the ol’ college try. Seriously, make the most of the environment around you, and if you really don’t like it? Again, keep the Wall Street Journal out of it; have an amazing first year and apply for transfer. And do it while understanding that the group of Black, Native, and Asian, and Latina freshman hanging out on a Harvard quad had nothing to do with you not getting in in the first place. That was your own comparative mediocrity.
Given the subject matter, it’s a struggle to be glass-half-full about FX’s new pilot option, Tyrant. But the premise sounds interesting, and it seems as if there might be a chance for some fantastically diverse casting:
Now an optometrist in Orlando, Florida, BARRY (born BASSAM) AL-FAHED is the son of tyrannical Middle Eastern President HASSAN AL-FAHED, but fled his home country and royal life in disgust at the oppression and cruelty of his father’s regime. Now reluctantly back on a visit with his family–wife MOLLY, son SAMMY, daughter EMMA–for a family wedding, Barry continues to be horrified at his family’s behavior and the volatile political situation it triggers …
I remain cautious, as the show’s brought to us by the same team behind Showtime’s Homeland. Having never seen Homeland, I can’t comment on the content, but I know there’ve been mixed reviews concerning the show’s alleged Islamophobia. That said, FX dramas are my new guilty pleasure (I watched 4 seasons of Sons of Anarchyin ten days. Ten days.) so I’m trying to keep an open mind. You can see main character descriptions here.
Figured this would be of interest to some of you, and check out more of our Entertainment Roundup here at Racialicious!
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It’s kind of sad, really. There is a lot of television out there that I find problematic. There are a lot of show runners out there who I find problematic. Yet, when it comes to shows like The Vampire Diaries, The Big Bang Theory, or Teen Wolf, there’s the redeeming factor of an at least slightly engaging entertainment value.
You read that right: I’m more engaged watching The Big Bang Theory than I am watching Girls.
The point is, while I’ll still critique them, I’m perfectly capable of enjoying things written by people I find distasteful so long as they’re somewhat entertaining. Girls is not that, and that makes Lena Dunham’s various shenanigans even more frustrating. She gets away with a lot for producing some extremely average work.
But, hey. That’s being white in Hollywood, isn’t it?
I am super bored with Girls. Here’s why.
Latoya Peterson, 29. Owner & editor, Racialicious Named on Forbes 30 under 30!
So well deserved and an amazing way to end the year!
// On Teen Wolf, Interchangeable Women of Color, and Jeff Davis…//
I came for the hot guys, I stayed for the consistent Race Fail…and I wish I could quit.
Remember how I joked that all hope would be lost if the role of a character modeled after a Hindu goddess went to a white person? I was actually ready to eat humble pie on that one after the casting call went out specifying the need for an East Indian actress to audition for the part of Kali on Teen Wolf. “They’re trying!” I thought. “This is good!”
Then Felisha Terrell was cast in the role. She’s not East Indian. In fact, let’s send her to that True Blood casting call up top, ‘cause light skin and mixed-race heritage do not an Indian make.
Now, despite having strong feelings about how we women of color are not ethnically or racially interchangeable, I was going to let this go. Sometimes I worry that it’s not being understood that the anger is directed towards the producers and casting directors upholding inherently problematic Hollywood practices and not only the actor or actress caught up in the mess. In this case, however, Jeff Davis made it hard to direct the anger anywhere else when others’ criticism on the casting prompted this (semi-promptly deleted) series of tweets.
When some tweetizens tried to point out to him that it wasn’t name of the character that was bothering them but the idea that he thought it was all right to “pass” a Black woman as an Indian woman, Davis responded with:
@cadlymack @jeffdavis75 said Kali’s named after the Hindu goddess-why not cast an actress w/ a related background? Same color≠same ethnicity
— Ridhi S. (@RidzShey) November 29, 2012
@ridzshey @cadlymack Is it really fair for you to assume we didn’t try? And, in fact, tried really hard? Felisha will be brilliant as Kali. — Jeff Davis (@JeffDavis75) November 29, 2012
@jeffdavis75 isn’t it odd that every one is so sure that they know better than you how to do YOUR show? @ridzshey @cadlymack — Paul V. Rea (@PaulVRea) November 29, 2012
@paulvrea Love the passion, but the reality of the business is lost on many who seem to think our resources know no limits.
— Jeff Davis (@JeffDavis75) November 29, 2012
It’s very possible that he received–shall we call it ‘non-constructive’–criticism on his casting decision via Twitter, but I think we can all agree that responding to fans of colors (and their white allies) who call you out on racial inequity by referring to them as “trolls” is the wrong response.
As for resources? Davis had the resources to have an open online casting call for the other twin characters being introduced with Kali (who are white, of course) which the show promoted via Tumblr, Facebook, a whole website, and the power of MTV. Hey, I get it: it was hard to find two white male needles in the Hollywood haystack. But maybe it’s not the limits of your resources, Jeff, so much as it is what you’re choosing to focus them on. At least be willing to own up to your priorities, if not your mistakes. Furthermore, those with privilege don’t get to absolve themselves of racism or problematic behavior simply because it wasn’t their intent. It’s crucial that we all remember that these seemingly small acts do unintentionally maintain a problematic film and television casting landscape for people of color.
But…I guess I’m glad you tried “really” hard, Jeff. You want a cookie? You’ve been “trying” for awhile now, so it’s a little burnt.–KJ
// ~//
Oh my God guys, wow, I’m sorry.
I forgot to mention that I’m in Baltimore right now for the Facing Race 2012 conference right now.
Hi.
In her book Primetime Feminism, Bonnie Dow notes that Dr Quinn’s surprising success didn’t attract much attention from the popular press, saying, “Critics have called it historically inaccurate and and melodramatic” and “attacked it for it’s political correctness and anachronistic moralising.” Fine. If the show was too melodramatic while current period dramas are hyper realistic, then where’s the happy medium? Where is the show that strikes a chord between the issue-oriented of Dr. Quinn and the flippant humor of Roger Sterling’s one-liners? Where is the period drama that explores the issues Seymour’s show did, but through the eyes of a person of color? For instance: instead of being a white man who identified with the Cheyenne, the show could have simply hired a Native actor and made the character [Sully] a Cheyenne.
Perhaps these observations mean sacrificing something for the sake of a manifest destiny-fueled version of historical accuracy, but why does that matter in the end? After all, these shows are meant to entertain and Dr. Quinn was a good first step in showing that a show can do that, while still maintaining viewers. So in an era when it only takes 1-3 million viewers to keep a cable show on the air, aren’t we finally ready for something different? The audience is here, the networks just need to listen.
If your NYCC schedule wasn’t specifically tailored to be an experience where you were exposed to a diverse range of race, gender, and sexuality topics, then it was likely that you simply wouldn’t be. It’s not uncommon, but for the average NYCC attendee the Con was about as white and heteronormative as a CBS sitcom. Given that I was purposely attending varied panels I didn’t experience this as much as Sue of DC Women Kicking Ass, who tweeted that she’s considering calling her own Con writeup, “What room is the straight, white, male comic fan panel in?” She points out that to hear anything about diversity in comics (race, sexuality, gender, or otherwise) or see diverse panelists, she had to attend panels that were specifically about those subjects. Overwhelmingly, these issues weren’t addressed at the larger, company-based panels, meaning that many readers are allowed to escape and gloss over topics that should be spoken about among a wider (White) audience.
How do we fix this in the long run? Is the answer creating a PoC-focused con as Arturo once suggested? Is it a matter of more outlets like Racialicious pitching panels at large conventions? Or is it just a larger problem within the comic industry in general that remains out of our hands? While I would love to see more race- and sexuality-themed specific discussions at NYCC, the burden of exposure shouldn’t fall only onto the backs of the oppressed minorities. Nor should be we regulated to only our own hourlong panels.
In the end NYCC, and any Con, is the experience you want it to be. In choosing the panels and signings you want to go to, you’re tailoring a personal fandom experience. It’s unfortunate that we’re still at a point where it’s entirely possible to tailor an experience that doesn’t require you to think beyond the Straight White Male’s box of tricks. Or, as I like to call it, The Avengers.
Racialicious NYCC Wrapup!
Because I promised this 3 days ago, I’m C/Ping my coverage of the Teen Wolf panel since I figure that’s what most of my followers are actually interested in XD!
- A bit of background out of fairness: I went into the panel not looking forward to having to interact with diehard Teen Wolf fans who reside in a fandom where hating on the main character, dismissing him with ableist slurs, and telling fans of color to stop “creating” racewank is common place. While I wasn’t overly impressed with the focus on the shipping campaign for characters Derek and Stiles (known as ‘Sterek’) towards the beginning of the panel, there were a few great questions asked during the Q&A that slightly restored my faith in humanity.
- I sat with a friend of mine to my left, a Latina on my right who was a die-hard fan of main character Scott McCall and with a group of Sterek fans behind me who were giggling and referring to Scott as “retarded” before anyone even walked out on stage. I knew I was in for an interesting hour.
- Many of the fans showed up in unofficial character lacrosse jerseys and hoodies, though none of them were wearing Scott’s. Tyler Posey calling them out made for the first slightly awkward moment of the panel.
- Maybe a fourth of the audience was vocally against the idea posed by the moderator that every fan is “married” to the idea of characters Stiles Stilinski and Derek Hale being featured as a couple.
- The biggest news out of the panel for me was when the show’s creator Jeff Davis revealed that one of the women in the main villain group for S3 is a character named Kali. The show is going to center around Celtic and Druid mythology for S3 (as confirmed by Davis), but he was quick to specify that the character of Kali is named after the Hindu goddess. Breakdowns for the characters aren’t up at my regular source yet–Davis said they should run sometime this week or next–but if this role goes to a white woman, all hope really is lost.
- One of the themes of season three was revealed to be the women of the show “finding their power.” I would think that to do this they have to acknowledge how the female characters have been consistently manipulated by the men around them…but that wasn’t mentioned, so we’ll see where that goes.
- The first Q&A question came from a bisexual fan who first emphasized how important it is to have well-written bisexual characters on television and followed up by asking if they would follow through with a bisexual Stiles plot-line since it’s occasionally been teased. I enjoyed that Davis’ answer included the defense line “one of my best friends is bisexual.”
- My favorite question started with, “I am sick of seeing white dudes coming out over and over again,” and ended asking Davis if he would be focusing on Danny Mahealani and his sexuality rather than Stiles and Derek. Here an interesting conundrum was broached: one of the best and most prevalent arguments against the focus on Stiles and Derek as a LGBTQ power couple in media representation is the fact that it erases the presence of Danny, a side character on the show who is gay and also happens to be a PoC (native Hawaiian). If fans shipping Stiles and Derek actually cared about the representation of the LGBTQ community on television, wouldn’t they be repping for the show’s only gay character? Danny was more of a background character during the first season but was more involved in season two as Jackson Whitmore’s best friend. However, it was confirmed this weekend that Colton Haynes who plays Jackson (and Kanye West in blackface!) won’t be coming back for season three. That seemingly limits Danny’s character, as Jackson was his main connection to the group. When answering the question Davis seemed to hint that Danny’s involvement in the next season might decrease, which would leave a hole in the greatly lauded supposed LGBTQ representation on the show.
- Overall, this panel made me long for the day when this sort of show (the campy paranormal teen drama) becomes more inclusive both racially and sexually and a PoC is sitting in Jeff Davis’ seat.
So, I’m going to NYCC for Racialicious.com this year. I’ll be attending more than a few of the panels listed in the above preview, hitting up the Geek Girls Network #NYCC Geek Out on Saturday night at STITCH: Bar and Lounge with some videographers from Bleeding Cool and (probably) submitting myself to three days of Sci-Fi speed-dating.
Other than that I’ll be wandering the Javits Center between panels and screenings, so don’t be afraid to say hello if you spot me. It shouldn’t be too hard: Misty Knight on Friday, Captain America USO Girl on Saturday, and Zatanna on Sunday.
Should be a good weekend!! And it starts in six hours :D
Single Black Female addicted to retail, and well...
