TVSquad

I think the ineffective nature of the makeup actually reinforces one point: we tend to see people as "black" or "white." Watching the show, you can't believe anyone is fooled by the makeup, but in real life, people see black skin or white skin and they think black person or white person ... and this is such an overwhelming, if unconscious, process that it rolls right over the goofy makeup.

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While surfing the internet last night I had the TV onto FX because I was watching The Shield. Black. White. Came on after that and I was intrigued at first. But, then the show was almost hilarious. The people they got to do this experiment are really funny, without trying to be. It seems like whatever they say, they were almost coached to say or think that by the producers. Also, the make-up thing is really quite horrible. Because, people don't only have differen't color skin, they SHOULD have different facial features too. It really did just look completely silly. Plus, the "experiment" seems completely one-sided. It seems that they are just trying to find out if whites are still prejudice against blacks, but not the other way around. Just by watching it, it seems that there was a lot of tampering going on from outside sources in my opinion.

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I commend the idea of wanting to get the issues of race and racism out into more mainstream venues, but this show is not going to do it. I find it hard to believe that anyone would be fooled by that horrible makeup. Not to mention that I totally agree with Aaron, who said that they seem to be focusing more on whether or not whites are still prejudice against blacks. The fact is that racism isn't just a white on black thing, its a phenomenon that occurs between all races and they don't seem to have gotten into the fact that blacks can be racist towards whites too. Perhaps the first episodes are just to set up the story and they while get more into the real issues later, but so far i am unimpressed and a little disappointed.

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Anyone with 1/4 of a normal brain knows that they are prejudice from the get go. Lets see. Prejudice. To Pre-Judge. Pre-Judging is not a bad thing. In most cases, it's a life saver.

Before entering certain situations, we assess them before hand. Lets see. It might be a bad idea to drive a General Lee clone through Harleem. It might be a good idea to grab an extra ammo clip before walking the streets of Fallugiah.

This show may be an experiment about racisim, but, not prejudices.

This show is much like the movie "White Chicks" with the Wayans Bros. If a white guy was the brain child, it'd never get air time.

Yes, I know my spelling sucks.

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I believe most of the people who say "the make up doesn't look real" HAVEN'T ACTUALLY WATCHED THE SHOW.

Besides the fathers (the white one looks more Arab than black in his make up and the black on looks like the generic Eddie Murphy/Dave Chappelle white guy), the rest of the family members are more than passable as members of the opposite race. (this is probably the most interesting aspect of the show)

The makeup for the white daughter and the black mom are particularly impressive. You can hate on the show, but the "costumes" are definitely one thing they did right.

It's kind of like the voices on Boondocks. If you know and constantly think of Regina King when the kids are talking, it won't be right, but when you don't know or forget that fact, it sounds natural.


All of this said, this show is something to watch once, it makes you think about racial implications for a little while and offers nothing that would make you want to tune in again. (except maybe the dad being called the n-word one time)

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The younger black guy looks like Chris Kattan or something after they paint him up. Tough to look at.

I don't think it's the greatest idea ever, being a bad full show with little to recommend it above say Eddie Murphy doing it 20 years ago. But even with not being novel, they should have been able to do more with it than they appeared to. Wasted opportunity.

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The real mystery here is how comment posters #2, #3 AND #4 all used "prejudice" where they should have written "prejudiced". Are they all the same person or did they all just miss the concept in English that you don't use a noun when you need an adjective?

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"The real mystery here is how comment posters #2, #3 AND #4 all used "prejudice" where they should have written "prejudiced"."

Man! Well, Dammit! I've never EVER known of typos to happen when people are typing on a messege board. Well, I agree with you, that is quite a mystery that I forgot to type a "D". Thanks for commenting on that, it was my mistake.

"I believe most of the people who say "the make up doesn't look real" HAVEN'T ACTUALLY WATCHED THE SHOW."

Well, your "belief" is wrong, because I actually watched the show. The makeup was really terrible, just take a look at the above picture, the man looks like George Hamilton on a good day. But, that's not the reason why the show is a bunch of bunk. The reason why it's a bad show is that it's a good idea gone completely wrong. The show completely focuses on just White on Black rascism. 20/20 did a better study when they took a white and black man who were best friends, and had them move to a new city. The men tried to find jobs, places to live, buy cars, and walk around town. Hidden cameras caputred everything, which is a lot more real, than the situations they seem to be putting these people in. I agree with the poster that said this show is a wasted opportunity.

P.S.--Could Poster #7 please proofread this for me. I'd hate to have more typos. Thank you very much.

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I think the show is a good idea because it exposes people to what it is like living like someone of another race. Especially, if it can help to alleviate racial stereotypes.

It's a show worth watching verus so many other reality-based tv shows, which focus on trivial matters.

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I think the show has immense potential. They make up was incredible if any one took ONE SECOND to understand just what a feat that in itself was! Ice Cube has a great idea here and I think the show will only get better. I would like to know why SO MANY of you are focused on the make up and typos in postings rather then instead of the message of the show? i can't help but think that maybe a nerve was hit in many. as far as comparing it to the 20/20 experiment,which i also saw and agree was very eye opening in it's own right, it's not supposed to be the same thing.I think the concept and lesson Ice Cube is sending is getting lost among many of you .Open your minds and give it a try instead of posting on a show you didn't even watch or posting soley on the" make up" quality. Quite frankly it's ignorant to do both of these things.

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I had seen the tv spots for 'Black.White' for months,and I was anticipating its debut.I even told my 13 year old son about it,and how I wanted him to watch the show,since I was taping it,to understand about racism and people's perceptions.
Like many of you,I'm not impressed by what I've seen.Actually I'm disappointed.
Besides the poor make-up applications,the whole show-including the focus groups-looked and seemed staged.Like the crew went in believing a certain group would talk and act around another group a certain way-and lo and behold it happened.Alert the media.Maybe they had 6 hours of footage and,like a tabloid show,only put in the things they wanted the audience to hear.I don't know.
I'm giving the show one more chance,in case it proves me wrong.If it doesn't,I'm going to read a book. ::grin::

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I have not watched the show. I saw the commercials and was turned off by them. Prejudice is such a large issue. No one show with people dressing up is going to be able to address the issues. I see that several writers commented about how there is prejudice on both sides, black and white. I believe that is correct. However, it is prejudice against blacks that has MAJOR implications including economic implications. This show is not going to address the issues and I feel it's just sensationalism to get ratings.

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i lived on an island in the caribbean for over 3 years. believe me when i say prejudice against is the number one pastime in the islands. the island was 84%black and 14% white. black people lovrd to talk about the evil white man and his controlling ways, but the government was black, thr police force black. i was spit on when leaving a store and screamed at when getting into my car. they openly talk about how filthy white people are.....when you're standing right there!!! i can no longer listen to the plight of downtrodden black people.....as harsh as that sounds, it's true. i am not prejudiced and refuse to feel guilty about being white. my parents each had 2 jobs when i was a kid. nothing was EVER handed to us.

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One word"STUPID".

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I have seen the promos for that black.white thing. Does not impress me one bit. We dont need a show to prove anything. Those ghastly customes are ridiculous I can tell a mile off that those are fake. If someone approached me wearing anything like what I saw on the promos I would call the cops be it black or white.

ps. could the resident spell checker/grammar tech proof read my post and give me feed back.

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Is there no imagination or creativity left in television? All we have are stupid "reality" shows, fear (idiot) factors, talk shows,idol shows, and men/women culling through 20 to 30 people of the opposite sex for a mate on tv. And now we have families trading not only their mothers, but their races...what is this Jerry Springer?
Is Hollywood running out of actors/actresses, so the networks have to go out and get entertainment from the street so they don't have to pay their enormous salaries...hell even the cartoons suck now...

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I have not watched the show but I understand the premise and agree with Steven Rubio's summation - and for that summation, the intrinsic value of the show is amplified. To hear that people have an issue with it is no great suprise, and neither is the level of ignorance of those making such a fuss. People don't WANT to understand because they are too comfortable being upset about something. Ever notice that? How certain people HAVE to be upset about something to be happy? And no matter how negligible or explainable or valuable it is, they hang on to that anger like a passenger of a sinking ship clings to the life raft.

I am thankful to my mother for teaching me how NOT to view people of race... not by her own example but by showing me how ugly it is to make race an issue. When I was a teen, every time I would share with her that I had met a new guy (and believe me, that stopped real quick), her first question to me was "Is he white?" Sometimes she would try to make it seem as though she was joking. But one time I was going to accompany a friend of mine from work to the symphony... he was black... it was a MAJOR undertaking getting her to not prevent me from the outing. I practically had to sign in blood that I was not actually dating him, etc. It was humiliating and outrageous.

I don't see people for their race, but for their hearts. A person behaving badly is doing so regardless of their skin color, as is a person acting admirably. Frankly I'm tired of certain races making their own race such a huge issue and wish they would just get on with life. I teach my son these values, and hold hope that these values will carry forth when he is older... it is called respect not only for others but for self as well.

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I dont think its a bad thing I think its a good thing its about time the truth came out but people still arent accepting it. So what the makeup is bad no one can look like they are really black or white. There is no such thing as black or white people. African Americans arent even black, "white people" arent white either.Yes there is alot of racism to go around. The show is not going to get rid of racism but it is showing the other race how the how we view them or whatever.

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I got a glimpse of the first episode of black.white. and there's nothing really wrong with the show. Why Ice cube came up with the idea, cuz we need reality TV (get it?) test the problem of racism & prejudice goes on in subliminal form in this country. The makeup crew tried to make the white family look black and vice versa, but never used any cosmetic trick effect to exagerated racial traits, which is sensitive and respectful anyway. To poster #5. the white guy in black makeup does resemble a Middle-eastern person or a black man with possible white ancestry.(well, I don't assume things like that, but the makeup artists never want to make him look too black or this leads to all sorts of problems.) The black teen boy in white makeup resembles an Asian or "oriental" (pardon me, but I've seen plenty of Japanese and Koreans resemble him for some reason) and the black woman in white-face may be held as Hispanic or Latina (i.e. Mexican, Puerto Rican, Spanish, etc.) for her features may identify her an "illegal immigrant" to some ignorant people. The white father in black-face (did I say that? sorry...) could be mistaken for an east Indian or Italian, someone of Mediteranean and Semitic origin (Jewish? That's different since Jews form a religion not race, maybe if he could attract another form of hatred, anti-Semitism, but thankfully not on the show.) The white girl in black makeup is more akin to Tyra banks or again, if she may pass as a mixed-race person or even a Coloured, a mixed white Dutch/African people from south Africa (well...who knows, but remember not to pre-judge what you are or where you're from, the TV show wanted us to learn from what the families experienced.) I don't need to wear "black African" or other non-caucasian makeup to teach me how it feels to be victimized, discriminated & maltreated in society, since in one time or another we as groups or persons felt different from everyone else. The point is, we must stop bigotry and intolerance where it starts. I sure dealt with it myself in some ways and let me explain my background. I happen to be of 1/4 native American descent through my grandpa in Mom's side, and my father is an immigrant from France (it still counts, although are Europeans) whom grew up in a highly multi-cultural diverse state (and somewhat racially tense) of Cal. I'm used to society of people made of different races, ethnic groups, nationality and so on. Then my generation (I'm age 26) was brought up never to hate or discriminate, despite some of us get into racist ideology out of fear, distrust and protest over minorities "took over the country, get free things or first place" or "caused all the wrongs in society" are what we need to prevent before its' too late. History shown us the dangers of racism & the painful legacy created in America of inequality and disparity, so we got a long way to go. Then the civil rights movement made laws to protect all people from illegal discrimination and denial of basic rights has improved alot in comparison to the past we can't forget. The show is not only a social experiment and provocative, black.white. is truly a big hit! +

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The show had great potential to demonstrate the ignorance often associated with cultural differences, however, I feel that the producers/creators missed the mark. The black family seemed well composed and articulate while the white family was incredibly naive and (the mother) borderline ridiculous. The white father was obsessed with using the 'n' word. He was primarily driven to show black people that reacting to the word was the problem, instead of use of the actual word. The black father, however was very focused on infiltrating the white world to uncover some kind of mischievous plot against blacks.
As a white person, I was embarrased. Yes, racism exists and yes, it would help to explore the issue. It seems that the show could have used better examples of typical American families to demonstrate that point. In the end, a more realistic example of American families may have not been as entertaining (in a Jerry Springer kind of way) but would have served us better in the end. It's a shame because the show had the potential to be ground-breaking and educational. Instead, viewers can only focus on the bad makeup job and the ways in which the show failed to do what it could have. Maybe someone else will get it right.....

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