Shindigger
12-06-2001, 02:13 AM
Forgive any inaccuracies in this posting, but watching Julia, now, with the knowledge of the whole social climate at the time of the show's premier, I find it amazing and very laudable that producer Hal Kanter developed the show and network NBC gave the green light to it.
You figure, at the time, what other Black was on television with any regularity and in a starring role with the exception of Bill Cosby, who I believe was one of a few Black celebrities who begged Diahann not to do the show! Add in the racial climate at the time and the fact that many Southern affiliates opted not to carry the show, and it's all the more amazing that NBC stood firmly behind this ground-breaker.
Then, watching many of the early episodes, sometimes I am left speechless at how the whole race issue wasn't dodged at all, and in some cases prominently displayed, discussed and discected with no vague dialogue. Some to the speeches Julia made would burn the tar off a Georgia highway! None of this hurt the show, as later, many of the stations in the South eventually did end up placing the show in their line-ups.
I don't know how people could say the show was unrealistic in it's portrayal of Julia's life and where she lived; many felt she wasn't "Black" enough!!! What a nauseatingly stereotypical insult! I guess some wanted her living in a rat-infested den of trash to lend that "realistic" touch! But now really, does anyone think a single, young actress would be able to afford such a fabulous wardrobe as Ann Marie had? I hardly think anyone watches television for hard-core reality. We get enough of that in real life!
You figure, at the time, what other Black was on television with any regularity and in a starring role with the exception of Bill Cosby, who I believe was one of a few Black celebrities who begged Diahann not to do the show! Add in the racial climate at the time and the fact that many Southern affiliates opted not to carry the show, and it's all the more amazing that NBC stood firmly behind this ground-breaker.
Then, watching many of the early episodes, sometimes I am left speechless at how the whole race issue wasn't dodged at all, and in some cases prominently displayed, discussed and discected with no vague dialogue. Some to the speeches Julia made would burn the tar off a Georgia highway! None of this hurt the show, as later, many of the stations in the South eventually did end up placing the show in their line-ups.
I don't know how people could say the show was unrealistic in it's portrayal of Julia's life and where she lived; many felt she wasn't "Black" enough!!! What a nauseatingly stereotypical insult! I guess some wanted her living in a rat-infested den of trash to lend that "realistic" touch! But now really, does anyone think a single, young actress would be able to afford such a fabulous wardrobe as Ann Marie had? I hardly think anyone watches television for hard-core reality. We get enough of that in real life!