From
your response and Tracey's, I guess ABC's pullling stealth diversity, using
white-oriented marketing to pull in the mainstream. Like I said ,all the
commercials focus on the whites. And I'm still troubled by magazine and other
media coverage like TV Guide, which completely ignores the
Blacks.
Isaiah
Washington's a good actor, but something about him often seemed to get him
villain roles. He was a villain in "Romeo Must Die", and a couple other films I
saw. I saw him in an interesting movie a few years back with Mirando Otto (Eowen
from "Lord of the Rings"), where he falls in love with a white South African
played by Otto. He was a villain in "Exit Wounds" too. But Washington's done a
lot of work, almost 40 films! Could we be looking at another Sam Jackson? check
out his filmography:
Also,
I have to give him my props, as he's a fellow Texan!
-----Original Message-----I like "Grey's Anatomy," it is a perfect companion to "Desparate
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Kelly Wright
Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2005 22:07
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: What happened to "Grey's Anatomy"?
Housewives" but if I miss either, it is not a tragedy. When the show
first came on I mentioned the 'bizarro world' aspect of it --where
the blacks were ostensibly in charge and were, in essence, oppressing
the downtrodden white characters. I am sure the show's creators had
to make many compromises. For instance, one of the four interns was
supposed to be a black man but I guess that was too much diversity
for the suits that run ABC. Television is a cruel master and an
incredibly difficult place for a person of color to get a foothold.
There has been much to do about "Everybody loves Raymond" coming to a
conclusion after nine seasons. One of the hubbubs when the show was
getting off the ground was that they didn't want Italian Ray Barone's
wife to be "too ethnic." By that Les Moonves (who is married to an
Asian woman as is Rupert Murdock)didn't want Ray's wife to be Italian
or Jewish. They originally wanted someone like Meredith Baxter
Birney. If Ray Romano can't get an Italian wife in a show based on
his life on a show he co-created and co-executive produces, what
chance does a black show producer have?
That said, let me say I thoroughly enjoyed the episode of "Grey's
Anatomy" where Anna Maria Horsford played an old scrub nurse who was
dying and even though her illness was terminal and the hospital could
do nothing to save her the administration was letting her stay until
she died. This episode showed the humanity of all the black totems
and taught the callow young white interns something about caring and
community.
As an aside, I have never been an Isaiah Washington fan. I loathe
almost every character I have seen him play including his debut in
Spike Lee's "Girl 6" where despite substantial screen time he is
credited simply as the "Shoplifter." But I saw him the other day
on "The View" touting "Grey's Anatomy" and he was lovely. He looked
great, loved his mama (as came out in an anectodote) and he simply
adored his pregnant wife of nine years(who was black and in the
audience). This man has been horribly miscast. I hope to one day
write something worthy of his silky elegance.
~rave!
--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> I tuned into this show because I'd heard a Sister was the creator
and main writer. She spoke at length with Tavis Smiley about the
diverse cast (three Blacks and an Asian) and how the stories often
center around guests of color. That may be true, but I haven't seen
anything that really differentiates this from other shows I've seen
that focus on the whites. The star's in a love affair with the doc
played by Patrick Dempsey, the buxom nurse (who used to be on
Roswell) has gotten some storylines, including one that had her
stripping to her underwear in front of her co-workers. The Asian
nurse is apparently pregnant. Frankly I quit watching after two
episodes because nothing convinced me the Blacks would get major
treatment. From what I can tell they're more like window dressing to
the white characters.
> I notice that among the Blacks we have what are becoming familiar
caricatures: the older doctor who ostensibly runs the place. But
like Fancy on NYPD Blue, it reminds me of the device where you
create a leader who's Black, then push him to the background...a mean
doc who's shepherding the newbies. She comes onscreen, barks at the
youngsters, then stalks off...and Isiah Washington's arrogant, self-
centered genius, who reminds me of Eric LaSalle's character on "ER".
He gets a few lines where he helps himself by being a real human to
his charges, then off he goes. They all seem to do little more than
provide plot points for the scared doctors to be, yet have little in
the way of fully fleshed out roles themselves.
>
> Maybe I'm wrong, but I just feel the hoped-for strong usage of the
people of color isn't materializing. This seems to be borne out by
all the coverage I've seen: not one commercial on TV shows the Black
actors, instead focusing almost exclusively on the star and her
lover, with a little bit of coverage given to the other non-Blacks.
TV Guide recently did an article on the show that included a two-
page spread of photos of the "stars that make it hot". Not *one* of
the Blacks was pictured!
>
> Am I off base? Are the Blacks used effectively? Do the guest stars
consist of people of color with strong roles? Anyone watching this?
Yahoo! Groups Links
- To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/
- To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
- Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
