Entertainment Weekly has an interesting article on the lack of diversity on the upcoming season of new television sitcoms and dramas. They even went as far as to chart diversity on TV by each major network. The article discusses American television history as early as 1999 when the NAACP made a public outcry concerning the lack of diversity and basic insider television industry diversity politics. Another contentious racial issue for people to ponder, here’s my quick 2-cent commentary.
It’s 2008, at this point audiences are savvy enough to realize when certain characters are thrown into a show to appease a particular group. Those characters usually are one-dimensional and stick out like a sore thumb. This is the strategy television executives have been employing for quite a while. Amazingly some people viewed Jennifer Hudson’s inclusion in the Sex and the City film as an accomplishment.
” . . . that’s usually how upstart networks become viable, they target an underserved audience-which is usually African-American, Latino, and [other] minorities-so they can get some numbers. Then once they become a little bit more financially viable, they move into mainstream programming. That’s what Fox did. That’s what UPN did. That’s what the WB did. So that audience tends to get handed off to the next upstart network. It’s like a relay race and we’re the baton.”
I thought this strategy was obvious, yet people complain when their shows get canceled in favor of more mainstream programs.
It’s 2008, I could really care less about the lack of diversity. Why? Because there’s always the DIY route. They point to Tyler Perry as an example but NAACP’s Executive Director of Hollywood Bureau adds that “everybody doesn’t have the financial wherewithal to be able to play the game at the level that Tyler Perry’s playing it.” Then everybody needs to learn a thing or two from Perry’s playbook. Outside of Tyler Perry there’s David E. Talbert, Robert Townsend, the Wayans (Keenan, Marlon & Shawn), Will Smith, and freaking Ice Cube.
Although television is a very powerful and accessible medium, I just don’t see how people are complaining and not taking advantage of the technology that exist to create their own programs. Is Bollywood waiting for the latest all-white American import to arrive? Has anyone taken notice of the burgeoning humorous African and Caribbean DVD’s hitting the streets?? I know there are many Puerto Rican and Dominican videos on the market.
‘The first thing the diversity rep should do is fire the guy who hired him!” he says. ”You see that white guy sitting next to you? Fire him and hire a black guy! You see that white lady down at the end of the hall? Fire her and hire a Latina lady! That’s how you do it.
Television networks employ high-level VP Diversity Reps who’s sole purpose is to remind their fellow co-workers to employee minorities in programs and behind the scenes. Two things, if I were white, I would be pissed. If a Diversity Rep intends to fire me, just because . . . I would file a lawsuit for discrimination. As a non-white, I would simply abandon ship and pave my own way. It’s 2008, and you have to remind people how to color American television, then something is wrong. Fortunately there are so many avenues for ambitious, forward-thinking people in the business. Solution: just go indie and create your own programs or read a book. Personally I can’t really listen to people complain about the images on television, when you can practically program what you watch at home with all the options available.
I don’t watch Family Guy, so I probably won’t watch the Cleveland Brown’s spin off show. The fact that he’s voiced by a white actor really doesn’t help. It really doesn’t it. I don’t care for the character design either so I hooked up his lips and ears. On with the Simpsons.
Does the lack of color on television cause any alarm or are you too busy watching cable and downloading movies for free?
Understanding that folks make a living acting and writing for television, do you think it’s fair to simply fire and replace white writers and other television workers to increase balance in the television industry?
Is the complaining and “public outcry” getting tired, considering the alternatives and options?
Considering the job description, wouldn’t you want a meaningful, fulfilling job like a “Diversity Representative?”
Source: SPECIAL REPORT: Diversity in Entertainment: Why Is TV So White?
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