In the one of the latest issues of Entertainment Weekly (the one with Angelina on the cover), there's an expose about the lack of minority characters on TV. I'm not sure if the reporters were of my minority descent and therefore, more connected to this issue, but I was surprised that this mainstream pop-culture vehicle (albeit a magazine I would love to work at) made such a progressive step, to criticize networks for lack of representation.
I know from experience that well-meaning non-minority viewers may not recognize underrepresentation of minorities in the media. This is basically because I conducted such a survey for my Soc. class and was not surprised to find out that most people had not realized there were no Asian faces featured in their favorite shows and films. There was a chart breaking down the U.S. population in comparison to TV representation. Strangely enough, NBC supposedly showcases 9 percent Asians. I'm not sure what this means, as 9 percent is awfully close to 10 and there's no way there are that many Asian descent actors/characters on the network.
I told my brother this and he immediately thought of Ann Curry. And of course, there are the odd Japanese and Indian characters on Heroes and Kelly on the Office. But really, as great as these characters are, they're not so much the main characters, or the actors who get the most attention. And still, there're only 5 or 6 people that come to mind, so unless NBC adopts some fully Asian cast TV shows, I'd like to know where they got that statistic.
Speaking of diversity, I tried watching Black in America Sunday night. I was excited, thinking this could possibly be a ground-breaking study/indictment of the mainstream. Not so much from the panel I watched, which mainly criticized Black men for not being good fathers. I think there are so many deeper issues to be explored, but that's just me and I suppose I'm more informed about race than the average CNN viewer. By doing this show, I really think CNN is admitting that its audience is liberal White America, a group of scholastically intelligent but racially ignorant people. I wish there was a better reporter in charge of the series. I looked up Soledad O'Brien and found that she's half Afro-Cuban, a background that I suppose qualified her for the position. I'm not trying to discount her blackness but I did not find her to be a capable moderator. Especially when she said (this is not word for word) "Spike Lee, the voice of Black America said ..." Yipes. Was there no one less patronizing of Black culture anywhere within the CNN corporation? For some people, I can see how an explanation of others' situation could be helpful, but I couldn't entirely shake the spectacle aspect.
I know from experience that well-meaning non-minority viewers may not recognize underrepresentation of minorities in the media. This is basically because I conducted such a survey for my Soc. class and was not surprised to find out that most people had not realized there were no Asian faces featured in their favorite shows and films. There was a chart breaking down the U.S. population in comparison to TV representation. Strangely enough, NBC supposedly showcases 9 percent Asians. I'm not sure what this means, as 9 percent is awfully close to 10 and there's no way there are that many Asian descent actors/characters on the network.
I told my brother this and he immediately thought of Ann Curry. And of course, there are the odd Japanese and Indian characters on Heroes and Kelly on the Office. But really, as great as these characters are, they're not so much the main characters, or the actors who get the most attention. And still, there're only 5 or 6 people that come to mind, so unless NBC adopts some fully Asian cast TV shows, I'd like to know where they got that statistic.
Speaking of diversity, I tried watching Black in America Sunday night. I was excited, thinking this could possibly be a ground-breaking study/indictment of the mainstream. Not so much from the panel I watched, which mainly criticized Black men for not being good fathers. I think there are so many deeper issues to be explored, but that's just me and I suppose I'm more informed about race than the average CNN viewer. By doing this show, I really think CNN is admitting that its audience is liberal White America, a group of scholastically intelligent but racially ignorant people. I wish there was a better reporter in charge of the series. I looked up Soledad O'Brien and found that she's half Afro-Cuban, a background that I suppose qualified her for the position. I'm not trying to discount her blackness but I did not find her to be a capable moderator. Especially when she said (this is not word for word) "Spike Lee, the voice of Black America said ..." Yipes. Was there no one less patronizing of Black culture anywhere within the CNN corporation? For some people, I can see how an explanation of others' situation could be helpful, but I couldn't entirely shake the spectacle aspect.
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