'The Bachelor': Least of TV's Race WorriesForget the show's racism lawsuit; these five networks should be sued for crimes against diversity. |
Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.
HBO and the Creators of Girls
Claim: For being so white, it's practically insulting.
How does a show about four white girls living in New York City in the year 2012 actually get green-lit without someone saying, "Hey, guys, this is a really great show, but does anyone think it's odd that there are no non-white girls?" The show is hipster-white, which means manufactured whiteness.
People keep saying that Sex and the City and Entourage were the same amount of white, which is true, but those were shows about upwardly mobile, rich white people, a class in which blacks are a rare breed. Girls is a show about white women fresh out of college trying to make ends meet in the big city, something to which every woman of color who moves to New York City can relate.
Showtime
Claim: For not being smart enough to do whatever it takes to compete against HBO's Girls by turning The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl into a television series.
The brainchild of Issa Rae became one of last year's most notable Web series. Reportedly, Rae has received plenty of offers to take her show to the idiot box; maybe Showtime was one of those networks. As soon as news broke that HBO was giving creative control to Girls creator Lena Dunham, Showtime should have let Rae do what she wants to compete against its premium cable big brother.
Showtime's House of Lies, starring Don Cheadle, is one of the best examples of how modern-day television should portray black characters. The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl is another, and if Showtime is smart, it will give the Web series the treatment it deserves.
ABC
Claim: For letting Shonda Rhimes be the sole black voice on your network and allowing Scandal to happen.
The season premiere of Rhimes' show Scandal was billed as this shining moment for black folks on television. Kerry Washington plays Olivia Pope, a fictitious portrayal of real-life Washington fixer Judy Smith, who is also black. Columbus Short, one of Hollywood's underrated black actors, also plays a major supporting role. So of course Scandal would be something special, right?


















Comments
Comments on Twitter