TMC
03-25-2015, 04:07 PM
http://uproxx.com/tv/2015/03/deadline-minorities-on-television/
A lot of the time, it really does feel like we’re going backwards.
In February, during SNL’s 40th anniversary show, Jerry Seinfeld and Ellen Cleghorne did a bit about diversity on television in which Seinfeld flippantly dismissed the whole thing by sarcastically apologizing for not curing all of society’s problems. This scripted exchange was met with scorn on social media. To defend Seinfeld ever so slightly, (A) it was a comedy bit, even if it didn’t land the way it was intended, and (B), well, that will take a little more explanation.
On Tuesday, Deadline Hollywood published an almost universally panned investigation (http://deadline.com/2015/03/tv-pilots-ethnic-casting-trend-backlash-1201386511/) into the “backlash” against racial diversity on television, which — intentional or not — came off as “you know, maybe it’s time some white people got jobs.” It cites a lot of unnamed sources complaining that white characters have been changed to “ethnic” (their word) characters in order to please networks and studios. At the very least, this piece is incredibly tone deaf. More likely, it’s somewhere in between that and a malicious attempt to get people angry (http://www.ew.com/article/2015/03/25/shonda-rhimes-not-having-it-deadline-story). It’s hard to believe that wasn’t the goal. Regardless, if that was the goal, it certainly worked.
Okay, back to Jerry Seinfeld for a second. Seinfeld is considered to be the quintessential show of the ‘90s, but it actually debuted in 1989, in an era when The Cosby Show was still king (regardless how we feel about Cosby today). Should Seinfeld have been more diverse? It’s fair to say that every television show, movie, government agency should be more diverse, but this wasn’t far removed from the era where there were a lot of minorities on television, particularly the network television situation comedy. So much so that it really does feel like a regression now that minorities on television are slowly coming back, that a popular trade publication feels compelled to publish a piece that says, “Hey, hey, hold the phone. This just all seems like too much.” For heaven’s sake, this is 2015! In the early 1980s, this all just seemed “normal.”
Growing up, I was a devoted watcher of The Cosby Show, The Jeffersons, Benson, Diff’rent Strokes, Gimme a Break, Webster, Amen, Family Matters, What’s Happening?, Sanford and Son and Good Times (those last three in reruns). Now, we can certainly debate the merits of a few of these shows, but the point is that they were on, and no one was saying, “Well, this might all just be too much.”
In 1985, I lived in a very small town in mid-Missouri called Eldon, about as opposite as can be from my current home in New York City. At the time, I wasn’t exposed to a lot of other cultures, due to Eldon’s diversity breakdown (which actually broke down to “didn’t have much of one at all”), but I was exposed to other cultures on television, and I didn’t think much of it then, especially in a “oh, this might be too much!” way. Basically, it just all seemed normal. But I think about it a lot now, especially how I might be different today without that exposure. I’m glad that, back then, no one with any position of cultural authority thought that this might just all be too much.
Culturally, the success of Empire is so important, beyond the fact that it’s become a true phenomenon. It’s a drama starring primarily African-American performers on network television. It’s rare for a show like that just to get on the air, let alone be an enormous success. So, yes, that’s why Deadline’s story is so frustrating: That a true breakthrough finally happens and the headline reads, “Is this too much of a good thing?” And that Deadline is questioning that there’s too much diversity on television when, 30 years ago, this was all just considered “television.”
A lot of the time, it really does feel like we’re going backwards.
In February, during SNL’s 40th anniversary show, Jerry Seinfeld and Ellen Cleghorne did a bit about diversity on television in which Seinfeld flippantly dismissed the whole thing by sarcastically apologizing for not curing all of society’s problems. This scripted exchange was met with scorn on social media. To defend Seinfeld ever so slightly, (A) it was a comedy bit, even if it didn’t land the way it was intended, and (B), well, that will take a little more explanation.
On Tuesday, Deadline Hollywood published an almost universally panned investigation (http://deadline.com/2015/03/tv-pilots-ethnic-casting-trend-backlash-1201386511/) into the “backlash” against racial diversity on television, which — intentional or not — came off as “you know, maybe it’s time some white people got jobs.” It cites a lot of unnamed sources complaining that white characters have been changed to “ethnic” (their word) characters in order to please networks and studios. At the very least, this piece is incredibly tone deaf. More likely, it’s somewhere in between that and a malicious attempt to get people angry (http://www.ew.com/article/2015/03/25/shonda-rhimes-not-having-it-deadline-story). It’s hard to believe that wasn’t the goal. Regardless, if that was the goal, it certainly worked.
Okay, back to Jerry Seinfeld for a second. Seinfeld is considered to be the quintessential show of the ‘90s, but it actually debuted in 1989, in an era when The Cosby Show was still king (regardless how we feel about Cosby today). Should Seinfeld have been more diverse? It’s fair to say that every television show, movie, government agency should be more diverse, but this wasn’t far removed from the era where there were a lot of minorities on television, particularly the network television situation comedy. So much so that it really does feel like a regression now that minorities on television are slowly coming back, that a popular trade publication feels compelled to publish a piece that says, “Hey, hey, hold the phone. This just all seems like too much.” For heaven’s sake, this is 2015! In the early 1980s, this all just seemed “normal.”
Growing up, I was a devoted watcher of The Cosby Show, The Jeffersons, Benson, Diff’rent Strokes, Gimme a Break, Webster, Amen, Family Matters, What’s Happening?, Sanford and Son and Good Times (those last three in reruns). Now, we can certainly debate the merits of a few of these shows, but the point is that they were on, and no one was saying, “Well, this might all just be too much.”
In 1985, I lived in a very small town in mid-Missouri called Eldon, about as opposite as can be from my current home in New York City. At the time, I wasn’t exposed to a lot of other cultures, due to Eldon’s diversity breakdown (which actually broke down to “didn’t have much of one at all”), but I was exposed to other cultures on television, and I didn’t think much of it then, especially in a “oh, this might be too much!” way. Basically, it just all seemed normal. But I think about it a lot now, especially how I might be different today without that exposure. I’m glad that, back then, no one with any position of cultural authority thought that this might just all be too much.
Culturally, the success of Empire is so important, beyond the fact that it’s become a true phenomenon. It’s a drama starring primarily African-American performers on network television. It’s rare for a show like that just to get on the air, let alone be an enormous success. So, yes, that’s why Deadline’s story is so frustrating: That a true breakthrough finally happens and the headline reads, “Is this too much of a good thing?” And that Deadline is questioning that there’s too much diversity on television when, 30 years ago, this was all just considered “television.”