hackthis_archive (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hackthis_archive) wrote2008-10-05 07:24 pm
hackthis_archive) wrote2008-10-05 07:24 pm
Entry tags:
A $0.50 rant on Racism in True Blood, Chocolate News and the US Presidential Campaign
You know how you have shit building up and then you hit that tipping point and you're like, fine, I see I'm going to have to talk about this or I will be up all night yelling and scaring the neighbors.
When True Blood first premiered however many weeks ago, I had no real interest in it as I'm not into the whole vampire thing, the Mary Sue thing or pretty much anything about that entire concept. I watched it for two wholly shallow reasons 1) it's on HBO and 2) it will eventually have Alexander Skarsgard from Generation Kill. And because I was being shallow about it, I didn't expect it to be good, but I certainly didn't expect to have the only black female on the show in the first fifteen minutes be depicted as stroppy, lazy, poor and on the whole the most stereotypical racist depiction of an angry black female on TV that I've seen in a long fucking time. And that just seemed to be her entire purpose, to be angry and mouthy and pine after the most stupid, greasy, useless piece of human waste I have seen in a long fucking time. Seriously. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?
If the only depiction of you on a show was like that, you'd be fucking angry too. But you know, maybe this doesn't offend you. Maybe you think,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hackthis, you really should get over it. But allow me to explain something to you: there are only X number of People of Color (POC) on TV at any given time. Certainly no more than 10% of the roles cast are going to someone who is non-white. There are whole series set in urban centers that NEVER have anyone darker than a spray-on tan on them. So, when you are a person of color, every last role, every last character is important, because to somebody out there in the viewing world it is going to represent you.
A non-POC can turn on the TV and with a little channel surfing, find someone like them: a geek, a nerd, a jock, somebody who's overweight or gangly or Juno or Buffy the Vampire Slayer or someone who's blond or brunette or bald or what the fuck ever. POCs don't get that. On any show that has a minority, there is generally only one. ONE. The strong black guy that has no brain, the Hispanic woman that's all sex, the Asian guy that's all brain, the black woman that's nothing but angry.
And you know what makes POCs angry? Getting stereotyped like that. Turning on a TV and having somebody else perpetuate a myth that all black women are angry and lazy and come from broken homes and pine over worthless men and have a cousin who sells drugs is just -- I mean really? Why not just say that we're all video hoes, worth nothing more than bling and spandex. Or welfare queens, even though the majority of people on welfare are not POCs.
And frankly, I don't care if this isn't how it goes in the books, this is what's on the TV and to me it's shameful and lazy and racist. But that's why people go with stereotypes, because it's so much easier to use them than to come up with something new. After all, how shocking would it be if Tara actually had a real job and a stable family and sex appeal of her own and she didn't need Sookie or run after Jason's nasty ass? Yes, clearly to depict a black woman like that would be shocking. Can't have that.
So, you know, if you like True Blood, that's fine, but don't tell me how they really don't mean it like that, because you damn well better believe that's what they're showing.
And if you think I'm overreacting or I just don't get it, name the last time you saw a positive depiction of a black woman on TV on a show that is not Grey's Anatomy. And by positive I mean someone who is allowed to be intelligent, and have a life and not be comedic relief. Now do the same thing with a Hispanic woman, a black man and an Asian man. Go on. I'll wait.
Which brings me to the new Comedy Central show, Chocolate News.
Jewish people have Jon Stewart.
Catholic people get Stephen Colbert.
Black people HAD Dave, but Dave got tired working for the man, and Comedy Central replaces him with David Alan Grier, who's doing a show perpetuating every fucking stereotype possible about black people being lazy, materialistic, inarticulate and straight up ghetto?
Fuck you, Comedy Central.
And while we're on the subject of people needing to get run over by a bus... I am a firm believer that you should be positive. That you get out of this world what you put into it, but let me tell you right now that if I ever come across Sarah Palin, she and I are going to have words. Major fucking words that will probably end with a Ari-worthy bitchslap. Not about rape kits and shooting wolves from planes. Not even about abstinence only lessons in schooling and naming just ONE Supreme Court case besides Roe v Wade (not that I was expecting her to name Dred Scott or Brown v The BoE), but because she has the audacity to go out on the road and tell people that Barack Hussein Obama isn't "an American like you and me."
And why is that? because I'm pretty sure he has a US passport. You know, that thing you finally procured in 2006, Mrs. Palin.
Now, is it because his name isn't Joe fucking Six Pack? Is it because he went to Harvard? Is it because he was a Community Organizer?
No. It's not that.
It's because his mom is from Kansas and his dad is from Kenya. It's because when she's saying, he's not like 'us,' what Mrs. MY PROFESSIONAL SNOW MOBILING HUSBAND AND I PULLED IN ONE MILLION DOLLARS LAST YEAR is saying that Barack Obama is black, and black is scary. Black is different. Well, except for those people who are already 'different' but they're not like Palin anyway.
And sure the mavericks (even though a maverick by definition is singular, meaning one person doing it on their own) are going to bring change, but everybody knows the black man is scary. He's always been scary. He might steal your wallet. He might steal your car. The black guy, he might become president and enslave all the white people. And that's just way too much change.
These are trufax.
Jon Stewart even asked Barack if that was going to happen.
Except when Jon asked this question, he was joking. What Sarah Palin is doing is alluding to the fact that it might really happen.
Wow. That takes balls.
But, you know, if you're really afraid. If you really want to find the terrorists plaguing the United States right now, and you want to know why you're afraid at night and think about buying that gas mask from the Army Surplus, then look no further than John McCain's running mate. And then you can look at John McCain himself.
And if, when you go into that voting booth on November 4th, you want to vote for real fucking change and not the same old racist, good-old boy bullshit, vote for Barack Obama.
But if you think change is scary, and if you'd rather have the same Katrina-ignoring, economic failing, human rights violating, international-reputation destroying, warmongering same-ole, same-ole, you know, vote for McCain. It's your right.
eta: Do not link to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
metafandom. Thanks.
When True Blood first premiered however many weeks ago, I had no real interest in it as I'm not into the whole vampire thing, the Mary Sue thing or pretty much anything about that entire concept. I watched it for two wholly shallow reasons 1) it's on HBO and 2) it will eventually have Alexander Skarsgard from Generation Kill. And because I was being shallow about it, I didn't expect it to be good, but I certainly didn't expect to have the only black female on the show in the first fifteen minutes be depicted as stroppy, lazy, poor and on the whole the most stereotypical racist depiction of an angry black female on TV that I've seen in a long fucking time. And that just seemed to be her entire purpose, to be angry and mouthy and pine after the most stupid, greasy, useless piece of human waste I have seen in a long fucking time. Seriously. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?
If the only depiction of you on a show was like that, you'd be fucking angry too. But you know, maybe this doesn't offend you. Maybe you think,
hackthis, you really should get over it. But allow me to explain something to you: there are only X number of People of Color (POC) on TV at any given time. Certainly no more than 10% of the roles cast are going to someone who is non-white. There are whole series set in urban centers that NEVER have anyone darker than a spray-on tan on them. So, when you are a person of color, every last role, every last character is important, because to somebody out there in the viewing world it is going to represent you. A non-POC can turn on the TV and with a little channel surfing, find someone like them: a geek, a nerd, a jock, somebody who's overweight or gangly or Juno or Buffy the Vampire Slayer or someone who's blond or brunette or bald or what the fuck ever. POCs don't get that. On any show that has a minority, there is generally only one. ONE. The strong black guy that has no brain, the Hispanic woman that's all sex, the Asian guy that's all brain, the black woman that's nothing but angry.
And you know what makes POCs angry? Getting stereotyped like that. Turning on a TV and having somebody else perpetuate a myth that all black women are angry and lazy and come from broken homes and pine over worthless men and have a cousin who sells drugs is just -- I mean really? Why not just say that we're all video hoes, worth nothing more than bling and spandex. Or welfare queens, even though the majority of people on welfare are not POCs.
And frankly, I don't care if this isn't how it goes in the books, this is what's on the TV and to me it's shameful and lazy and racist. But that's why people go with stereotypes, because it's so much easier to use them than to come up with something new. After all, how shocking would it be if Tara actually had a real job and a stable family and sex appeal of her own and she didn't need Sookie or run after Jason's nasty ass? Yes, clearly to depict a black woman like that would be shocking. Can't have that.
So, you know, if you like True Blood, that's fine, but don't tell me how they really don't mean it like that, because you damn well better believe that's what they're showing.
And if you think I'm overreacting or I just don't get it, name the last time you saw a positive depiction of a black woman on TV on a show that is not Grey's Anatomy. And by positive I mean someone who is allowed to be intelligent, and have a life and not be comedic relief. Now do the same thing with a Hispanic woman, a black man and an Asian man. Go on. I'll wait.
Which brings me to the new Comedy Central show, Chocolate News.
Jewish people have Jon Stewart.
Catholic people get Stephen Colbert.
Black people HAD Dave, but Dave got tired working for the man, and Comedy Central replaces him with David Alan Grier, who's doing a show perpetuating every fucking stereotype possible about black people being lazy, materialistic, inarticulate and straight up ghetto?
Fuck you, Comedy Central.
And while we're on the subject of people needing to get run over by a bus... I am a firm believer that you should be positive. That you get out of this world what you put into it, but let me tell you right now that if I ever come across Sarah Palin, she and I are going to have words. Major fucking words that will probably end with a Ari-worthy bitchslap. Not about rape kits and shooting wolves from planes. Not even about abstinence only lessons in schooling and naming just ONE Supreme Court case besides Roe v Wade (not that I was expecting her to name Dred Scott or Brown v The BoE), but because she has the audacity to go out on the road and tell people that Barack Hussein Obama isn't "an American like you and me."
And why is that? because I'm pretty sure he has a US passport. You know, that thing you finally procured in 2006, Mrs. Palin.
Now, is it because his name isn't Joe fucking Six Pack? Is it because he went to Harvard? Is it because he was a Community Organizer?
No. It's not that.
It's because his mom is from Kansas and his dad is from Kenya. It's because when she's saying, he's not like 'us,' what Mrs. MY PROFESSIONAL SNOW MOBILING HUSBAND AND I PULLED IN ONE MILLION DOLLARS LAST YEAR is saying that Barack Obama is black, and black is scary. Black is different. Well, except for those people who are already 'different' but they're not like Palin anyway.
And sure the mavericks (even though a maverick by definition is singular, meaning one person doing it on their own) are going to bring change, but everybody knows the black man is scary. He's always been scary. He might steal your wallet. He might steal your car. The black guy, he might become president and enslave all the white people. And that's just way too much change.
These are trufax.
Jon Stewart even asked Barack if that was going to happen.
Except when Jon asked this question, he was joking. What Sarah Palin is doing is alluding to the fact that it might really happen.
Wow. That takes balls.
But, you know, if you're really afraid. If you really want to find the terrorists plaguing the United States right now, and you want to know why you're afraid at night and think about buying that gas mask from the Army Surplus, then look no further than John McCain's running mate. And then you can look at John McCain himself.
And if, when you go into that voting booth on November 4th, you want to vote for real fucking change and not the same old racist, good-old boy bullshit, vote for Barack Obama.
But if you think change is scary, and if you'd rather have the same Katrina-ignoring, economic failing, human rights violating, international-reputation destroying, warmongering same-ole, same-ole, you know, vote for McCain. It's your right.
eta: Do not link to
metafandom. Thanks.
Sorry, long response...
I have almost no interest in True Blood (can we please stop with the vampire obsession now?), so I have little to no idea what you're talking about, but it sounds like it totally sucks.
Um, most of the PoCs that come to my mind are from canceled shows, which means most of them haven't been on TV in a while, which sucks. But most are on DVD, so they're still out there somewhere. Someone already pointed out Lt. Van Buren (who was made of awesome), and other than Zoe from Firefly I'm kind of blanking on other non-stereotyped black women (I wish I wish I wish I could say Teyla from SGA, but unfortunately the writers failed her potential big-time). Um, for an Asian man, I would like to point out Det. Danny Woo from Witchblade, who was human; great partner, great cop, good husband, but was also allowed to get angry, get scared, get stressed out, be concerned, be smart, be a little slow, be condescending to the rookie they were training, and be a good mentor. Danny was made of awesome. As for a good black male character, I would like to point out Mickey Stone from Hustle, which is a BBC show. Mickey is the leader of a group of con artists (all of whom besides him are white). He is cool, calm, intelligent, extremely good at the con, is a great leader and is very much a sympathetic charming rogue archetype. He also loses his temper, makes mistakes (not many, since he's the hero), and is occasionally the butt of a well-meaning prank from his mentor. Unfortunately, I think Adrian Lester kind of got tired of the role, because he's only in 18 of the 24 episodes, which also explains why I haven't been watching it lately...
...and damn it, I should be able to do better than this. There's also Det. Green from L&O, played beautifully by Jesse L. Martin. In that same vein: ADA Carver from L&O:CI, ooh! Doctor Eric Foreman from House. Malcolm in the Middle turned the stereotyped racial-social order thing on it's head by having the low-class white family contrasted with the upper-class black family.
Completely agree with you on everything political. Nothing relevant to add there, except that woman really honestly scares me. At this point, if I hear anyone say anything positive about her, I will lose all respect for them.
I have a question, and it's something that I've been wondering for a while. (I'm trying to phrase this carefully, and I apologize if I stick my foot in my mouth...) My question is this: does it bother you when white people point out racist stuff? I mean, obviously the fact that it was noticed is probably a good thing, but at the same time do you feel kind of like, "Sit down, I can speak for myself?" Or is it just a kind of mixed blessing when the blinders of white privilege are taken off for a few moments? I've always wondered, because I'd like to add my voice to a fight for social change, but, as I said, I'm about as white as it gets and I kind of feel like it's not really my place to fight, sort of like I'm just butting in where I don't belong/am not wanted?
I read somewhere (though I can't remember well enough to site my source) that the sad fact is that the problems in our society, often involving "minorities", are not really listened to until someone in the "majority" begins to talk about it and point out said problems as well. And it does cause change, but it also rightfully causes resentment in the form of, "I've been shouting my lungs out about this for years, and just because Rich White Guy over there says it, now you pay attention?"
I guess I'm mostly just wondering what you feel about it.
P.S. Holy crap, sorry for the long-winded comment...
Re: Sorry, long response...
Also?
(can we please stop with the vampire obsession now?),
WORD.