The NAACP's Hollywood bureau issued a scathing report yesterday against the entertainment industry harshly criticizing the lack of diversity on TV. The 46-page report, titled "Out of Focus, Out of Sync -- Take 4", takes on every aspect of the industry, arguing a "serious shortage" of minorities in front of and behind the camera. I don't think that this report comes as a surprise to anyone. As an overly avid TV watcher, it's no shock that most series center around white characters while people of color often play secondary or tertiary roles. I mean, almost every series out there today has to have a BBF (black best friend) or EBF (ethnic best friend) and if not that, then the GBF (gay best friend, but that's another report all together), but it is disappointing to note that there are so few people of color in lead roles.
As the LA Times points out, only three prime-time network series currently have minorities in leading roles: CBS's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and The Unit and ABC's Ugly Betty. And two of those shows are ratings juggernauts, which seems to debunk the conventional wisdom that audiences don't respond to non-white actors in lead roles.
NAACP president/CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous says of the report that, "At a time when the country is excited about the election of the first African-American president in U.S. history, it is unthinkable that minorities would be so grossly under-represented on broadcast television".
Lack of minorities on television isn't just bad political correctness, but it makes for poor storytelling. I'm particularly disheartened that many shows that target younger demographics, like the CW's Gossip Girl and CBS' How I Met Your Mother, don't even feature a person of color within the extended cast. I mean, how is it possible that these characters troll the streets of America's most diverse city and hardly ever run into a person of color? Gossip Girl is unhinged from reality in many ways, but the most irksome is that there seem to be no rich black kids in NYC interested in partying, shopping and taking off their clothes.
How I Met Your Mother, which I love, is equally disappointing since it follows the Friends model of programming. I'm sure they'll get a new BBF or EBF when one of the regulars decides not to renew their contract after 5 seasons, or perhaps Barney will just start dating an Asian chick in a sweeps plotline. For dramas that purport to be about real life, the lack of racial diversity is startling. Perhaps we don't notice it right away, but it's always there. Most of us don't live in a "white-washed" world and barley notice the color of people around us, but it's most startling when that color is absent all together.
The NAACP report does single out CBS, saying that their employment of minorities in key roles at the executive level is "worthy of praise". ABC is also lauded for scoring a significant milestone with the total number of minority actors in regular and recurring roles in prime time which reached an all time high of 116 during the 2206-2007 season. And it does cause me great pain to write this, but Grey's Anatomy, which paint's women as air headed love-struck ninnies, does an admirable job of integrating a racial mix.
While the report notes that there are gains being made, they're not coming fast enough. As a solution, the report advocates the creation of a task force to more closely monitor the Hollywood landscape. It also "challenges the entertainment industry to take a closer look at itself and to take more than tiny, incremental steps" in adding minority characters to television shows and instead commit to a "giant leap" forward.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-21-2008 @ 10:40AM
Modwild said...
Honestly, I do live in a white washed world. I am surprised that you don't see it, so I have to imagine you are in a large metropolitan area. I don't know why, but blacks and whites just don't seem to hang together in equal numbers (this goes for groups of both races) in my world).
They seem to have forgotten Private Practice with not one, but two of the main ensemble characters being black, and Grey's Anatomy, which has a large diverse cast, as well. Without a Trace has a very diverse cast (and I don't believe Anthony LaPaglia is the only lead on that program). House has a wonderful male secondary lead (since I don't think anyone will admit its an ensemble) in Foreman and a highly popular cable program, Psych, has a black lead. My point is that they have left a lot of shows out, in my opinion.
I think the disconnect comes because Hollywood believes that blacks and whites like different entertainment. They tend to make all-black cast programs silly and over the top. I don't know why that is. Some of my favorite movies have all black casts and are not silly comedies....Crooklyn and How Stella Got Her Groove Back.
Persons of color isn't the issue. Nor is diversity. Heroes and Lost are great examples of shows that have very diverse casts. Asians and Hispanics are minority groups and are also represented well.
I think Hollywood seems to propagate it's own version of a black lifestyle, which is unrealistic. That affects the number and the success of blacks on prime time television. If they'd remove that barrier I think we'd see even more diversity.
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12-21-2008 @ 2:19PM
chrome said...
Agreed, re: your first paragraph. While I do wish they were more diverse, I can't really call shows like HIMYM "unrealistic". I actually work at a place where, as a white woman, I'm in the minority -- over half the staff is African-American. We're all great friends at work, but in our social lives we tend to hang out with people of our same race and socioeconomic background. And how many studies have shown similar results in society? This is common among all races, and has spurred some really interesting discussions at work. I think most people want diversity in their social lives, but it doesn't always happen organically. In that respect, I'd say shows like HIMYM do reflect the way many people live.
That said, I do agree with the NAACP that we need more significant minority representation on television. If anything, though, I'd rather see shows with a wide diversity in which one race doesn't largely outnumber the others, i.e. five white characters and one minority. Those situations tend to come across as tokenism -- "We've added a minority character because we're diverse and open-minded!"
12-21-2008 @ 10:55AM
Ashley Boyd said...
Gossip Girl had Cody and Izzy until one of the actors left during the strike (I forget which) but there is certainly a black girl amongst Blair's mindless drones. Granted its not a big role, but a small start eh?
And Barney loves them all. Remember; Lebonese are the new half-asians.
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12-21-2008 @ 12:20PM
Anita said...
Yes, the NAACP is right, but I thought they came out with this report in the past. So, isn't that kind of old news? There was a time when TV didn't have that much diversity and then in the 90s - early 00s I thought it had reached a good mix. But, recently with the lack of TV scripted shows, I have noticed a decrease in diversity.
But ABC Fam also did a good job with the Middle Man and Lincoln Heights. In some ways, I would like to see shows in highly diverse spaces i.e. NYC reflect that diversity, on the other hand, writers are writing from their own perspective. BET could produce more dramas, but like network TV, they primarily focus on reality television which is cheaper. Perhaps the difficulty is not merely that there's a lack of diversity now, but a lack of scripted shows. But there all is not lost, as the shows I used to watch like Lipstick Jungle, Sarah Connor, Army Wives, Chuck, Ugly Betty, and Bones do have characters from different backgrounds, so I think once we get over this economic crisis (which I'd prefer to hear the NAACP focus on or assist the community with), perhaps TV will reboot to good scripted shows that reflect reality without relying on reality TV.
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12-21-2008 @ 12:37PM
kenm said...
What a stupid thing to complain about. I don't see how the minority representation on television is any different than minority representation in society in general. The last time I checked, blacks make up less than 15% of the population so if a show has 7 characters and only one them is black and one of them is hispanic then that is actually an accurate representation of the diversity that exists in society.
I'll take the NAACP more seriously when they start complaining about the lack of diversity in the NBA. Actually, I don't think I'll ever take them seriously and the diversity in the NBA is a valid reflection of who is the most talented so there's nothing to complain about there either.
Instead of making sure that every show has the correct diversity quota, the NAACP should be like the rest of us and complain about the scourge of reality TV and the lack of intelligent shows. Most people these days barely notice or care about who is what color. It seems to me that it's the NAACP that is "Out of Sync" with the rest of society.
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12-21-2008 @ 12:43PM
Andrew said...
"Actually, I don't think I'll ever take them seriously and the diversity in the NBA is a valid reflection of who is the most talented so there's nothing to complain about there either."
You're saying blacks aren't as talented as actors?
12-21-2008 @ 7:47PM
Adam said...
Do the world a favor by saving us from your stupid comments. TO ensurer this, take your hands off the keyboard and and go fuck yourself. You're either a blatant racist by implying that whites permeate network because they are the only race that can act, or you are too stupid to follow your NBA analogy to its conclusion. I don't respect the NAACP as a black male because I think they've cried wolf too many times, but I'm glad they exist because simple minded people like you only reaffirm that racism is still alive an well.
12-21-2008 @ 1:14PM
kenm said...
Andrew, no, that isn't what I said and I'm sorry you got that impression. What I said is that the diversity in the NBA is a reflection of talent. The diversity on TV, as I also said, seemed like a pretty accurate reflection of the diversity in society.
Personally, I would prefer that show creators and writers focused only on creating great shows with great characters, and not on making sure that they have the right quota of whites, blacks, hispanics, asians, gays, etc. A great character is a great character and it doesn't matter what the color of the actor/actress is as long as it's the right actor/actress. Laurence Fishburne is now standing in for William Peterson on CSI. It's not the same character but it might as well be. The show is no better or worse off because the ratio of whites to blacks has now changed. It's simply exchanging one talented actor for another and ethnicities are fairly interchangeable these days. Isn't that what the NAACP should be striving for?
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12-21-2008 @ 2:41PM
MarcDom7 said...
I know it's technically canceled, but it's still showing episodes: What about Chi McBride on Pushing Daisies?
Since they're considering Vanessa L. Williams on Ugly Betty a "lead role," what about these?
What about the boss on Bones? What about Blair Underwood on Dirty Sexy Money? What about Dixon on 90210? What about the Buy More boss on Chuck? What about Morgan on Criminal Minds? What about Dowd on Eli Stone? What about Lance Reddick on Fringe? What about the Chief and Bailey on Grey's? Foreman on House? Darnell on Earl? Stanley on Office?
These are all major characters played by African-Americans on network television. Since somebody like Vanessa Williams and Dennis Haysbert are part of an ensemble, why don't these count?
I'm not trying to argue with any group of minorities, but there are more than three characters out there.
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12-21-2008 @ 3:16PM
Brent McKee said...
I think they're considering America Ferrara a lead role. After all Hispanics are a minority group.
12-21-2008 @ 5:55PM
MarcDom7 said...
Well then...how about Lindsay Price on Lipstick Jungle? She's a minority and a lead.
12-21-2008 @ 2:41PM
Jen said...
On the movie front, last week Paramount just whitewashed the entire core cast of "The Last Airbender," based on the America-made cartoon that took place in an entirely Asian-based fantasy world.
http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2008/12/shyamalan-casts.html?xid=rss-movies-Shyamalan+casts+'Last+Airbender'
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12-21-2008 @ 2:57PM
Joel said...
HIMYM doesn't have any black people in the extended cast??? What about Barney's brother played by Wayne Brady?
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12-21-2008 @ 6:30PM
khamel said...
just what i was going to say.
one of my best friends lived/schooled on the upper east side (setting of gossip girl) and his only complaint with the show is the show under represents jews but other than that is fairly accurate.
tv doesn't need to be representative, but a show with say 6 main characters cant represent all races, genders and sexual preferences. just logistics.
12-21-2008 @ 3:40PM
D-Bo said...
Snake Doctor FTW!
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12-21-2008 @ 6:01PM
TC said...
The NAACP are right up there with NOW and the UAW when it comes to credibility. Speaking of that, does our President's last pawn move mean that the UAW likes him now? :)
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12-24-2008 @ 3:33AM
StillBash said...
If you ask me I think the reason behind not enough good black characters (or hispanic, asian for that matter) is the lack of good writers (!) of those ethinicities.
I follow kenm in that train of thought. I don't think it's a matter of talent, meaning that it's not the lack of talented black actors out there.
I think it's the lack of people who write good lines for them. I think the NAACP has to look into the writers' rooms. There need to be people who write good spec scripts for shows that have diverse characters.
"Scrubs" is an excellent example of a working environment that has lots of diverse people and characters. The show works because these people could actually meet like that in a hospital like that.
But HIMYM? Do you really expect a hispanic or african american character to fit into that group seamlessly? How should those guys have met? In college? Sorry, but I don't see it.
Making Barney's brother black was the best thing they could do on that show. That didn't feel like a stunt or token black character at all AND the guy was black AND, as we found out, married to a white guy though Barney thought his brother was like him, a womanizer. They even showed the wedding of said brother with his husband on screen. What could've been a better way to incorporate an african american into that show?
Singling out HIMYM is just plain wrong. That show shows a regular environment of a five-friend group in New York City. If you ask me, the token white neighbours or token black neighbours on other shows were more wrong than anything Carter/Bays did.
So again, I think we need more writers for those ethnic characters to portray believable people and situations.
So again, the ba
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