Hathor’s Legacy links Gay Prof’s

Burning and Itching

For those who have higher standards than I do, let me give you Burn Notice’s basic premise. Michael Westen, the lead character played by the hunky Jeffrey Donovan (Remember: “b”), once worked as a spy until he was “burned” (essentially framed for a variety of crimes he did not commit – Or did commit, but it was okay because he committed those crimes on behalf of the good ol’ USA (the nation, not the network – I think)). The show’s major narrative focuses on Michael’s efforts to restore his good name and thus return to the spy world. Until he can do that, he takes on odd jobs of fighting crime within a colorful Miami locale.

…

So, what’s my problem with Burn Notice? The show veers into some problematic realms in terms of race and gender. Mostly it has to do with its valorization of white-straight men as the best and only hope for the future of the nation. Michael Westen’s heroism can only be construed through the vulnerability of his “clients.” Who are those clients? Disproportionately, they are women and racial minorities (and even especially women of color).

Am I arguing that real white-straight-men never fight on behalf of social justice or that we should never see such a representation? No, obviously not. Nor am I suggesting that executives and producers at USA network are participating in an intentional conspiracy to assure the dominance of the white race. I really have no idea if they are members of the Republican party.

We aren’t talking about real life. We are talking about representations. Who ends up as the main “hero” and who best fits the role of “victim” are entirely shaped by gender and race. And for the USA network, white heterosexuality rules. …Minority roles, when cast at all in USA shows, are most often relegated to side characters who need a good, white character to either save or defeat themMORE

Go thou and read the rest.

As an aside, he mentions In Plain Sight. That is my Supernatural. I love Marshall Mann. I would do Mary Shannon’s taxes. And nearly every damned time that show features minorities, (with the exception of Detective Robert Dershowitz) I want to scream. As a quick example, last season the witnesses were a black middle class family whose daughter’s boyfriend was shot as they walked through a ghetto area on their way home from school. And. Damn. There. Were ISSUES. They portrayed the Dad as more invested in his status and his big house rather than the fact that his daughter was in trouble. And at one point, when his behavior was particularly egregious, Marshall challenges him to hit him (Marshall) as a way to puncture his arrogance. Naturally, he backs down. And that was the last frigging straw. See, if that father had been white, that scene would have read “Ha! coward got served!” But he IS NOT white. He’s BLACK. And which middle class black man in his right mind would challenge a white policeman, exactly? Given the history and the not much better present of police brutality and oppression? And this kind of angry-making, hurtful, grating racial cluelessness and carelessness keeps. frigging. HAPPENING. Its to the point where I am actually glad that minorities don’t show up that much in this show (even though it is set in Albuquerque, which is bursting at the seams with minorities. Shhhh! Don’t tell the show runners!)

In the same vein as Alaya’s Supernatural takedown, Gay Prof dissects “Burn Notice” -- Originally posted at The Angry Black Woman

ETA: As there seems to be some confusion, Alaya Dawn Johnson is NOT the Angry Black Woman. She is a guest blogger.

The following open letter to Eric Kripke contains spoilers for all currently-aired seasons of Supernatural (though nothing about season five). It also includes a racial critique of all currently-aired seasons.

Dear Eric Kripke,

I want you to know that this is a fan letter. I’m saying this upfront because I’m aware that it might not seem like that as I go on. There are some problems I need to discuss, some issues that have repeatedly cropped up on your show that I just have to talk about.

But this is still a fan letter. I love Supernatural. In my opinion, it’s the best speculative genre show on the air at the moment. I love the snappy dialogue, I love the dense, multi-faceted characterization, I love that the plots hold together and continually surprise me (especially the season finales!) I love the actors, I love the writing, I love the car and I love the endless American landscapes. I love that the boys never eat in a Denny’s or stay at a Motel 6. I love that such a strange premise became such an intelligent show, when it could so easily have turned into self-parody.

Like I said, I’m a fan.

I’m also a black woman, and I’ve gotta tell you, that’s been giving me some grief.

Because as a black woman, I can’t ignore the aversive, stereotypical and damaging ways that your show deals with race. I can’t ignore the fact that there hasn’t been a single black woman on your show who has lasted more than one episode. This includes Cassie in “Route 666″– the only woman the show ever states explicitly that Dean loves. And even that was so frustrating. First, because it put a promising character in a ham-fisted Very Special Episode about a racist monster truck. Second, because instead of taking her out of that context and providing some depth to Dean’s relationships with women, she vanishes completely from the show. (This is, of course, an issue with most of the boys’ relationships with women, but I don’t want to get into that here).

Perhaps you will understand the extent of my problem when I say that I can count the named black female characters who have appeared on four seasons of a television show on one hand: Missouri Moseley (in “Home”), Cassie, Taylor (in “Hookman”) and Tamara (in “The Magnificent Seven”). That’s four women–there were none in third or fourth seasons.

You know your show better than anyone. You know that the boys are spending a significant amount of their time south of the Mason-Dixon line. There are black people everywhere in this country, and even setting your show in, say, the pacific northwest really isn’t much of an excuse, but I find it mind-boggling to watch episode after episode where Sam and Dean drive through a landscape of such exquisitely evoked Americana…except without the black folk.

It’s like some sort of freaky horror movie.

Not the kind you were going for? Then let’s talk.

Because it’s not just the black women. In fact, that’s the mildest part of my problems with race on the show. Because, for better or worse, it’s difficult to mess up the portrayals of a demographic you have excised from the world of your characters.

Black men, on the other hand? Well, that’s where I really hit some brambles.

Because you have some black men on the show. They have major roles across multiple episodes. They engage the plots, have multiple interactions with all sorts of people and have as much of an emotional life as any other non-Winchester character does. But there’s a problem. A big one, really, and this has to do with the space in the story that these black men occupy. Because every single time they are tragically evil, and they are killed off to add to the emotional angst of your white leads.

Nothing is wrong per se with a tragically evil character. You have plenty of tragically evil white people on the show, too. Ruby comes to mind, but also Travis (in “Metamorphosis”) and Eva (one of Azazel’s other special children).

But something is wrong when you follow the same pattern with every single black character of any importance on your show across four seasons. First there was Jake, the Iraq War soldier who was manipulated by the yellow-eyed demon into killing Sam and opening the Devil’s Gate. He lasted two episodes, and ended with a clip of bullets pumped into him.

Then we met Special Agent Henriksen. He was awesome: tough, ironic, smart. A worthy adversary for the boys. When Henriksen is finally confronted with unequivocal evidence that The Supernatural Is Real And About To Fuck You Up, he responds with those same qualities that made him such a scary opponent. And then…he dies. Within twenty minutes of his final empowerment as a fully-fledged good character (as opposed to good, but doing bad things mistakenly), Lilith murders him, along with everyone else in the police station. It was a dramatic, breathtaking moment in the context of the show, but once again I had to check a black man off of my list of characters I enjoyed.

Next came Gordon Walker. He was a lone hunter whose philosophy of a black and white world clashed brilliantly against Sam and Dean’s increasingly murky shades of gray. He was insane, but enjoyably so: I loved watching him hunt Sam, and his role in “Bad Day at Black Rock” was hilarious. He was a quintessential tragically evil character: doing bad while convinced he was good. When he was turned into a vampire, I couldn’t wait to see where the show would go with him. Imagine all the drama in that situation: the man who hates supernatural creatures more than anything has become one. Does he still hunt them? Does he struggle with himself?

No, of course not. Sam kills him.

And then there’s season four. Uriel is an angel, so it’s understood that he’s simply possessing his body, but for the purposes of us in the real world, he’s still a black character. I’m pretty sure he was still a black character for you writers, as well. Because isn’t it funny that he’s the one who wants to lay waste to municipalities and break Dean’s psyche by forcing him to torture, while Castiel (the attractive white male) has the emotional arc and the implied romance and the tortured wrestling over the nature of free will and the existence of God?

Did I mention that Uriel also dies, tragically evil?

I suspect that if you were going to grasp my point, you’d have done so by now, so I won’t belabor it. Suffice it to say that now when a black character appears on Supernatural I wince and reach for my pillow, because I’m pretty sure he’ll be checking out in some less-than-pleasant way in a few episodes.

But, like I said at the beginning, this is a fan letter. It’s one in more ways than you might appreciate right at this moment. It’s only because I am such a fan that I am sticking with this show and hoping you’ll do it better. And it’s only because I’m such a fan that I’m writing you this letter.

The fifth season starts on Thursday, and I’m so excited I could sing. I can’t wait to see more of your deliciously amoral angels, your conflicted demons, and–inevitably, perfectly, fraternally–Sam and Dean. The final season four scene of them gripping each other’s shirts as the screen fades to white was one of those storytelling moments where I felt the pure contentment of a well-executed narrative. There is so much going for Supernatural into this season that part of me just wants to lay back and enjoy the ride.

The trouble is, I can’t. Each episode, these problems worm their way inside my head. They’re too obvious to ignore. As a black woman who consumes a lot of pop culture, I’ve learned to compartmentalize. To acknowledge problematic aspects of things I like and still enjoy them. But I’m aware of the process, and when I find myself doing that to such a degree with a show that I otherwise love so much, I can’t help but feel sad.

Mr. Kripke, I certainly hope that you care about social justice and historical power imbalances and the struggles for racial equality in this country. But I don’t actually intend for this letter to appeal to your ideals. Because you’re a writer. A damn good writer, and I can tell from the way you handle the rest of the show that you prioritize characterization and narrative flow and plausibility and other major touchstones of good fiction.

So, consider this as a bit of advice from one professional writer to another: in this aspect, you have really fallen down. The patterns I have identified above don’t just harm black people, or people of color. They harm every viewer of your show.

Every single person who watches and enjoys Supernatural for a hundred good reasons is being subjected to this shoddy, sub-par evocation of one of the most important aspects of the American experience. Every fan you paid homage to in “The Monster at the End of This Book” is damaged by the utter absence of black women (particularly the one that one of your two main characters fell in love with). They might not notice it, they might figure it doesn’t matter, but even so it takes away from the power of the story.

Here’s my point: a richer, fuller, more completely-evoked America with black people and Native Americans and Asians and other people of color (and more women who don’t only exist as sexual objects) would make Supernatural even better.

Maybe I’m the first person to seriously lay out these issues for you. If so, I hope you won’t dismiss this critique reflexively. I assure you, if no one else has said this, it’s not because the problems don’t exist, but because racism (particularly aversive racism) is still so prevalent in this country that many white people can go their entire lives without thinking seriously about race. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist– it means you don’t see it.

Mr. Kripke, I wish you the best of luck with this season. I can’t wait to see what you do with it.

And I hope I’ll get to see what my favorite TV show would be like with a black man who doesn’t die; with a black woman who has a voice.

Sincerely,

Alaya Dawn Johnson

An Open Letter to Eric Kripke -- Originally posted at The Angry Black Woman

It occurred to me, after reading this excellent post on women in fiction and the Bechdel Test, that perhaps you could construct one to address issues of POC and race. The analog seemed obvious, so I just wrote  it out.

1. It has to have two POC in it.

2. Who talk to each other.

3. About something other than a white person.

Now, you see the obvious issue there, right? Yeah, it has to do with number one.

Even in stories that feature prominent POC characters, it is so rare to find more than one present, let alone who know each other well enough to talk to each other, that I came up short on television shows or popular novels that even come close to meeting it.

Obviously, “urban lit” and other books that feature a mostly POC cast will pass this easily. But these books are so well segregated from the rest of mainstream fiction (see: the African American section of your local bookstore) that I wonder how best to include them in the discussion.

So, to make this easier to discuss, I’m going to limit myself to works of fiction or visual media in the science fiction/fantasy genres, since that’s what I read.

So, back to the POC!Bechdel test.

I’m going to list the television shows I can think that pass this test.

– Battlestar Galactica : Dee and Geta had a great friendship that lasted pretty much the whole show. Also, there was the priestess from the planet of black fundamentalists, but I’m pretty sure she was only around to lead the dying white woman to her destiny.

– True Blood: I’m not sure that Lafayette and Tara have a conversation that isn’t about Sookie or Jason, but Tara does argue a lot with her mother. And also with the witch woman about the “devils” inside her.

…

Okay, sorry, drawing a blank here. No Joss Whedon show passes (ha!). Supernatural doesn’t (unless you count “Route 666” a/k/a the racist monster truck episode…which I don’t). Being Human: nope. None of the Star Treks I’m familiar with do, though I’m not close to enough of a Trekkie to be sure of this.

Other shows that do, though they’re not in the SF/F genres (that experiment sure ended quickly!)

– Grey’s Anatomy: frankly, the ease with which this show passes both the Bechdel test and my POC version of it makes me wish that it were, well, a better show. Which is not to say that the first few seasons didn’t have their charms and some snappy writing, but these days it’s just so…lugubrious and self-absorbed.

– Veronica Mars. This show had Wallace, one of the most awesome black characters on TV (until the third season ruined him, at least). It also has Weevil, who was Hispanic, and they definitely had conversations. Unfortunately, they were all about Veronica. However, it passes because Wallace has conversations with both his mom and dad (and, later, with Jackie). Weirdly enough, Veronica Mars has a way harder time passing the actual Bechdel test. I don’t think an honest f/f conversation (not about men) occurs until Mac becomes a recurring character in the second season.

I’m sure there are others. You should let me know about them in the comments!

As for fiction, there must be significantly more in the genre that passes this test. All of Octavia Butler’s work easily passes it. Liar by Justine Larbalestier (now with a much better cover!) passes it a dozen times over (along with every other novel she’s published).

However, I’ll say that when a novel is written in close third or first from the POV of someone who is not a person of color, that makes it extremely difficult to fulfill the second and third criteria of the test, since by necessity the main character  will need to be present in all conversations (or, at least, overhearing them). So, the Bechdel test (either version) is hardly a failsafe arbiter of works that are sexist or racist. It’s just a baseline, and something that can reveal problematic trends. Like the fact that I can only think of two genre television shows that meet this incredibly low bar.

So, something to think about. And in the meantime, Bechdel test (either version) your favorite creative works and see how they fare.

The Bechdel Test and Race in Popular Fiction -- Originally posted at The Angry Black Woman

Yesterday coffeeandink pointed to this amazing Dollhouse vid set to the tune of “It Depends on What You Pay” from The Fantasticks. It’s so spot on I can’t even describe. Go watch, if you’re inclined, but be aware that it could be triggery. C&I mentioned in her post that the vid author warned that it could be, while whoever posted it at Whedonesque warned that it might be offensive. Lordy. I should not have looked at the comments over there because, well, it’s Whedonesque. And yet.

Lots of varying reactions, but one of the opinions I’m seeing over and over is that people who hate the show and hate the rape and are just haters do not understand the subtlety going on in it. That we need to have the idea that the Dollhouse people are bad overstated or spoon-fed to us, etc. And to that I say: bullshit.

The problem here is not that I don’t appreciate subtlety and I don’t need a show to explicitly point an arrow at a character and scream, “This person is BAD OMG, hate hiiimmm!” After all, I watch Doctor Who, a show about the subtlest subtle asshole who ever subtled through time. I also love Dexter, another show one of the commenters brought up. In the latter, the wrongness of the main characters actions is perhaps a bit more obvious (he’s a serial killer, can’t get much more wrong than that) and with the former there are differing opinions on whether the show’s opinion is that the Doctor is a jerk. In both cases I watch and enjoy because I trust that the show’s creators/writers know what they’re on about. The bottom line is: I don’t trust Joss Whedon.

I don’t accept his feminist cred as a given. I don’t accept his talent/genius as a given. And that colors all of my reactions to Dollhouse — both the premise and the actual episodes I’ve watched.

Perhaps this is wrong and unfair of me. But consider this: I started watching Dexter knowing nothing about the show creators or writers or about the author of the book the show is based on. I didn’t know their stance on serial killers except to assume that it was similar to mine: serial killers (really any killers) are bad. And watching that show, I never once find myself thinking that serial killing would be okay if Dexter did it. Or even that killing is okay because he kills people who are criminals. And yet, with every season, I love the show and the character more and more. I find it awesome the way the show gets me to identify with and root for him without ever making me feel like everything he does is okay. That’s part of it — it’s not okay. And yet I am complicit. Crunchy!

Dexter earned my trust based on the strength of the episodes and writing. Joss Whedon has not yet earned my trust. Therefore, I don’t read all the good intentions into Dollhouse as other fans do. Even without trusting him at the outset, Joss still could have earned my trust by the way the premise was handled. He didn’t, he hasn’t, and I refuse to give it to him just because he created Buffy and Angel and Firefly. I don’t owe him anything.

So again, it’s not about my lack of appreciation of the subtle. I get subtlety. I just don’t don’t believe the show is as nuanced as fans want it to be. I didn’t assume it would be super nuanced and complex from the beginning. Did you?

ETA: Amazing post on FeministSF about this topic. Shannan makes the point that Dollhouse expects the viewer to do some pretty heavy lifting when viewing that a lot of people will refuse to do. (Or, possibly, not consider doing because they don’t know they should be.)

The problem with Dollhouse is not that I don’t understand subtlety -- Originally posted at The Angry Black Woman

But let me be blunt: one of the things that hooked me about this show was that it was set in an all-Asian world. And it wasn’t fucked up. OK, let me clarify. You know how usually, when there’s an Asian character in an American TV show, he (or more frequently she) ends up as the martial arts master, the (white) hero’s submissive love interest, the dragon lady vamp, or the magical elderly person dishing out nonsensical proverbs and occasionally a can of whoopass? The thing is, all of these stereotypes are present in Avatar to some degree. But because the whole world is Asian, they’re lost in a sea of non-stereotypical, non-exoticized, perfectly normal human beings. How amazing is that? Not only that, but Avatar actually depicts different Asian ethnicities. Though this is a fantasy world, there are clear allusions to the Inuit, Koreans, Mongols, Tibetans, several flavors of southeast Asian, various Indians, and more. The Chinese- and Japanese-analogues of the story actually come in several varieties (Earth Kingdom and Fire Kingdom, Kyoshi warriors, etc.). Better still, while there are lots of martial artists in the show, the vast majority of people in this world wouldn’t know a punch from Hawaiian Punch. Just like most people anywhere. I know, huh? Good shit.

Given all this, I wasn’t surprised that M. Night Shyamalan, twist-director extraordinaire, was drawn to the material in order to make a live-action film. I was actually excited about his direction when I heard. I don’t like all his movies, but at least he’s not some no-name music video director. So it sounds like he’s chosen his cast for the film.

Katara, as played by (non-Asian) Nicola Peltz

Zuko, as played by (non-Asian) Jesse McCartney

Sokka, as played by (non-Asian) Jackson Rathbone

What a twist!

I’m sick of this. I know it happens all the goddamn time, but I’m sick of it. This persistent belief on Hollywood’s part that brown people “don’t sell” has to change. I would’ve expected better from M. Night, who is Asian himself, but as we all know, being a PoC doesn’t make one immune to white supremacist thinking, or stupidity. I’m holding out one hope — that this is some kind of messed-up viral marketing effort, maybe using reverse psychology to get people all riled up about the film so they’ll blog about it, etc. But if this is really the cast they’re planning to go with, I will definitely be boycotting this movie, and urging everyone I know to do the same.

M. Night, say it isn’t so! -- Originally posted at The Angry Black Woman

For those of you who don’t know Doctor Who, it’s an iconic British SF show where the main character, The Doctor, has an unusual reaction to being killed.  Instead of dying, his body regenerates and he gets a new face, body, and personality.  This conceit was invented way back when the guy who first played the Doctor said he didn’t want to, anymore, but the show was doing so well that they didn’t want to end it, so they wrote an in-story explanation for the actor change and now there have been 10 guys in this role.

Further in case you didn’t know: Patterson Joseph is black.  And the Doctor has always been played by white guys.

Yes, I hear the wank coming for us, too.  There’s already been a bit.

But this is a pretty awesome turn of events.  Joseph is a good actor, from what I’ve seen, and quite handsome, which doesn’t hurt.  And the role of the Doctor is, as I mentioned, iconic, and a very big deal.  Doctor Who isn’t just a very famous SF show.  In England particularly, but in Western countries all over, the show transcends genre and is regarded as an integral part of childhood TV viewing.  This role is one that actors dream of playing.  It’s a chance to make some very influential TV.

I hope that the rumors don’t end up being unfounded, because it has the potential to be very awesome (or very crazy.  Doctor Who is not immune to icky race stuff).  Yes, the fandom will explode in stupid racism, but it may come out on the other end better and more enlightened.

And also: Black Doctor.

Black Is The New Doctor -- Originally posted at The Angry Black Woman

Dear Heroes,

KNOCK IT OFF WITH THE RACISM AND SEXISM ALREADY.

Beyond that, the writing/plotting itself hasn’t been the best. Everyone I know who watches has been grumbling in the same way.

Usually when this occurs, the fans have little recourse. We complain on blogs and to each other offline, but the show continues to suck and eventually becomes the ninth season of Stargate SG-1. However, something amazing happened recently. A show creator actually acknowledged the problems with his show and –Gasp!– vowed to fix them.

I know! It sounds like a total lie. But look:

‘Heroes’ Creator Apologizes to Fans

[...] Kring himself is keenly aware that Heroes is broken. Here’s his candid critique:

THE PACE IS TOO SLOW ”We assumed the audience wanted season 1 — a buildup of intrigue about these characters and the discovery of their powers. We taught [them] to expect a certain kind of storytelling. They wanted adrenaline. We made a mistake.”

THE WORLD-SAVING STAKES SHOULD HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED SOONER [or perhaps scrapped altogether... --abw] The premonition of nuclear apocalypse created a larger context that unified every story line last season. Kring now sees that Volume 2 (the first 11 episodes of season 2) would have been better served if Peter’s vision of viral Armageddon had appeared in the season premiere rather than episode 7. ”We took too long to get to the big-picture story,” he says.

THE ROOKIES DIDN’T GREET THEMSELVES PROPERLY New Heroes Monica (Dana Davis), Maya (Dania Ramirez), and Alejandro (Shalim Ortiz) ”shouldn’t have been introduced in separate story lines that felt unattached to the show. The way we introduced Elle (Kristen Bell) — by weaving her in via Peter’s story line — is a more logical way to bring new characters into the show.” (That said, Kring says a few newbies won’t make it beyond this second volume, which wraps Dec. 3.)

HIRO WAS IN JAPAN WAY TOO LONG Hiro’s (Masi Oka) time-bending adventure in 17th-century Japan — where he mentored samurai hero Takezo Kensei (David Anders) — finally came to an end on Nov. 5. But Kring says it ”should have [lasted] three episodes. We didn’t give the audience enough story to justify the time we allotted it.”

YOUNG LOVE STINKS Kring regrets sticking Claire (Hayden Panettiere) with a super-dud boyfriend and forcing Hiro to moon over a cutesy princess. ”I’ve seen more convincing romances on TV,” he admits. ”In retrospect, I don’t think romance is a natural fit for us.”

There’s more at EW, go read.

He doesn’t touch on all of the problems — I see no mention of some of the icky race stuff. This gives me hope, though. I’ll hold out until Vol. 2 ends in December then eat some ginger, clean my palette, and go back to Heroes fresh and ready to be amazed again.

Inconceivable!! -- Originally posted at The Angry Black Woman

Of course, it’s all different now.  Back then the summer was a time for reruns (you suck, reruns!) and movies of the week (more sucking!).  American television finally caught on tot he fact that some money could be made off of people desperate to watch something new in the warm months.  Suddenly the Season Schedule wasn’t so easy to predict; stuff might get started in January and run through August or there might be shows that come on only in the summer.  We’re never without some new TV these days.  And that’s fine with me.

Still, Fall is exciting.  Lots of new stuff to watch.

I’m excited about Heroes, even though that finale made me cry out in pain.  At least they finished the plot arc!  I really don’t care about the conclusion to the cliffhanger on CSI, but I’m glad it’s back.  Same for NUMB3RS.  I want to know what happens to Colby!!  I watched the first season of Dexter this summer and completely fell in love with it.  Can’t decide if I should watch it every week or wait until it’s all done and then watch.  Family Guy is back – I think Fox will never cancel this show, even if it continues to suck in many ways, for fear of making another huge mistake.  Sadly, I will watch it, even if it continues to suck in many ways, for the few moments of joy it brings me.

Of the new shows, Journeyman looks interesting, as does Pushing Daisies.   Reaper might be amusing or it might be stupid.  As I have yet to see a whiff of brown people in it, I may not even bother.  I want to watch Cane because Jimmy Smits still lives in my heart, despite Star Wars and that terrible production of Twelfth Night I saw him in.  Plus, you know, brown man as lead on television.  It must be worth something.  I never watched the old Bionic Woman, so it has no nostalgia value for me.  But Michelle Ryan is a good actress and excellent eye candy (if I can just stop mistaking her for Jennifer Garner).  Women’s Murder Club – all female lead cast, mysteries being solved, Angie Harmon?  YES.

What are you all looking forward to?  I declare Open Thread for talking about TV.  It’s the weekend, we can have a little fluff.

ABW’s TV Corner: Fall TV – Want/Do Not Want -- Originally posted at The Angry Black Woman

The Closer’s lead character is female–Brenda Leigh Johnson, played by Kyra Sedgewick, who is awesome. The ensemble cast only has one other female, sadly, but many minority actors:

Irene Daniels (Black & Latina) played by Gina Ravera
Julio Sanchez (Latino) played by Raymond Cruz
Commander Taylor (Black) played by Robert Gossett
Michael Tao (Chinese-American) played by Michael Paul Chan
David Gabriel (Black) played by Corey Reynolds

Of the 10 main characters, five are ethnic minorities. Pretty impressive.

I love The Closer because the creators they don’t just pay lip service to diversity by throwing some brown people in the cast. It’s an ensemble and the group is very integrated. Each team member is important and the writers don’t take shortcuts and don’t go for negative racial stereotypes. That’s not to say that all of the minority characters are good and golden. They have flaws, like everyone, and Commander Taylor is Brenda’s biggest nemesis in the first and through part of the second season. The writing allows the audience to not have to focus on the race of the characters without acting as f the characters don’t have a particular race at all. They do, and it’s commented upon but not put in neon lights.

Like in real life!

Though I love all of the characters in The Closer, I do wish they’d get some more female detectives in there. Brenda is wonderful, and Kyra Sedgewick can carry a show in her sleep. The only other female in the squad is Irene Daniels. While she is written just as competently as the others, I’ve noticed that she doesn’t often get to shine in the foreground as much as Detectives Flynn and Provenza or Sgt. Gabriel. Gabriel is understandable since he’s Brenda’s favorite and sort of her right hand man. Flynn & Provenza are hams and excellent at providing comedy relief, so it’s not a stretch to understand why they get forefront attention a lot. Still, I wish they would bring in another female and give Daniels more time in the spotlight.

Season 3 is almost over at this point, but you may be able to catch some episodes on TNT OnDemand, or watch them at TNT’s website, or you can buy episodes from all three seasons for $2 each on AmazonUnbox. Seasons 1 and 2 are out on DVD. It’s definitely something you should check out if you like crime dramas.

The Closer, TNT, Kyra Sedgwick

ABW’s TV Corner: The Closer -- Originally posted at The Angry Black Woman

Still, if I have to endure another season like the last one, my love for CSI may dim. It wasn’t just the finale that did nothing for me, or the anti-climactic reveal of the serial killer, but one of the secondary throughlines viewers had to suffer through that revived my opinion that the CSI writers are clueless bastards about race.

I’ve already ranted about the racial issues in CSI elsewhere (and been roundly smacked for it by white CSI fans) so I’ll not cover that ground again. The particular evil from the last season was a story about Greg, our favorite newbie CSI. It starts in the episode “Fannysmackin” wherin a group of teens and young people gather in mobs, dress like it’s Halloween, and go out to beat the crap out of random tourists. Why? They’re bored. Woo. Their good fun results in a death and thus the CSI team swings into action. Greg is sent off to one such scene to collect evidence and, on the way, spots the mob beating someone else up. He calls for backup but quickly realizes that no one is going to get here in time to help. He drives his car into the alley, honking and shouting, to chase the mob away. Most disperse, but one decides he’s not going to let this random guy ruin all his fun. He picks up a rock and is about to do… something… when Greg puts on the gas and hits the kid. Unfortunately, the mob did not disperse too widely, for they return, pull Greg from the car, and proceed to beat the mess out of him.

Eventually the mob is caught. (there’s a tragic moment when Kevin Federline is revealed as the leader of said mob — why do people allow him to do stuff?) The boy Greg hit goes to the hospital and put in a room right next to his. Greg is messed up, but will live. The person the mob was beating is real messed up, but will also live. The kid dies.

Greg, if you don’t know, is white. The man he saved: white. The kid who dies: black.

Oh, it gets worse.

This situation is not unlike any situation in the real world where a member of law enforcement wounds or kills a black person because they supposedly pose a threat. In the case of Greg, the audience knows that the kid posed a threat. We see it. Couple that with the fact that Greg is a likable character, amiable, not prone to racism that we know of, we’re obviously going to take Greg’s side on this. Of course he did what he had to do. Of course that kid was up to no good. Of course what happened was sad, but really, if you’re involved in mob beatings and show a willingness to hurt and kill, what can you expect? This whole scenario is biased from the beginning to show that Greg was in the right and the kid was in the wrong.

If they had just left it there, this wouldn’t have been a big problem for me. But the storyline continues.

In the episode “Post Mortem” Greg has to endure a Coroner’s Inquest into the death of the kid. His mother and younger brother both insist that Demetrius could not have been involved with anything illegal, as Greg attests, that he was a good boy, a role model to his brother, etc. They seem unable to even accept the fact that, though he may have been a good person, he was involved in the mob. Despite the fact that he was found with them, yadda. This blindness to facts is disturbing, at the very least. I have no trouble with the mother’s characterization as someone who loves her son and wants the person who killed him punished, but she’s also painted as slightly crazy, because she refuses to accept the facts. This pissed me off.

There’s also one other crazy thing that happens in the episode. A member of the “jury” asks at one point if the police department feels it’s okay for law enforcement to murder unarmed black boys as a matter of course. Which is meant to anger the audience because we know that’s not how it happened. Anyone who feels that this incident is yet another example of (probably made up) police misconduct is obviously crazy and extreme!

*sigh*

The inquest concludes that there was no culpability on Greg’s part in the killing, but that it was a bad kill. Or something like that. Greg is not completely exonerated. This disgusts everyone on the law enforcement side of things, as they feel the incident should have been declared a righteous event or whatnot.

The brother, Aaron, confronts Greg in the parking lot one day, threatening him with bodily harm (big, scary black men in the shadows, run!) and serving him with a summons for their civil case. Yes, the family sued the city! And the city eventually settles the case, giving them many millions of dollars. This also disgusts the police and CSIs because it’s like saying Greg was at fault! Oh horrors.

A few episodes later, in the episode “Big Shots“, we get a lovely coda to this storyline. While investigating some random crime, the CSIs discover that the younger brother of Demetrius, Aaron, was at the crime scene. The sheriff is tense about going to question or arrest Aaron because it might look like retaliation. But Greg and Grissom, in their angelic purity, argue that they can’t ignore the evidence, boss! Evidence never lies! They go to the family’s new house and, as I feared as soon as the prospect of questioning Aaron came up, the family is shown engaging in the lifestyle of the “Nigger Rich”.

(Just in case you’re not aware, this phrase describes a phenomenon where black people come into a buttload of money and, instead of spending it wisely, immediately buy big, gaudy things and tons of bling. The implication is that black folks can’t be trusted with money and aren’t responsible with it.)

So yes, we see a big ol’ house with a suspiciously stereotypical car (or cars) in front and the mother lookin’ a bit trifflin’ as she opens the door. Plus, it’s implied that she’s giving a crazy house party to celebrate their newfound wealth at the expense of the city. She also doesn’t look at all like a person who is still under the shadow of her son’s death. And when they insist on taking Aaron away, she starts screamin’ and hollerin’. Oh good.

Later, the mother storms into the police station very angry about her other son being brought in and accusing Greg of trying to destroy her whole family and somesuch. Again with the denial of facts, including the fact that Aaron was indeed at the crime scene. No, it’s really just a conspiracy against her. It always was!

*sigh*

Because Greg is angelic and righteous, he persuades the DA to go easy on Aaron and so the kid gets a suspended sentence and sent home. Who’s the hero here? Greg, of course. And look, Aaron was a bad apple after all.

This storyline wouldn’t bother me so much if similar situations didn’t happen between law enforcement and black folks all of the time. It’s shows like this that convince people that black folks are usually in the wrong, anyway, or deserved to be killed because they were up to no good, and are crazy to think that the police are racists out to get them, and even if you give them what they want, money, they’ll just act like fools and still commit crime because, well, black people are just bad. By framing it in this context, with a character the audience knows and loves and guest characters who are unrealistically/stereotypically drawn, the show is doing a disservice to the very serious issue at hand. And that just makes me angry.

It seems there’s no way to win with CSI on the race front. Either they’re ignoring race altogether or they’re engaging in harmful stereotypes and base stupidity. What is so frustrating is that this is one of the best shows on television, usually well written, and very intelligent. Why oh why do they act like ignorant baboons in cases like this?

CSI Crime Scene Investigation, Greg Sanders

ABW’s TV Corner – CSI and the ignorant storyline -- Originally posted at The Angry Black Woman