Ever since I learned that a man named Rupert Murdoch was responsible for what's laughingly referred to as Fox "News", I've had a kind of disdain for the man. I mean anyone familiar with the "news" channel mentioned above knows there's no actual news gathered or reported there. It increasingly feels like a televised convention of morons, racists, and walking, talking Barbie dolls with a specific agenda to give voice to the unintelligent, angry, toothless, sister banging white folks in a certain area of the country. And the ones who clean up well and stick their ugly alter egos in the closet with their gay relatives. Like CNN'S version of Hee Haw.
Almost every day I get a bunch of emails from some group I signed a petition for once to force Fox News and Mr. Murdoch to fire one of their anchors for something inappropriate against the black community in NY. I think the organization is Color of Change. While I like being militant (it makes me feel like I'm following in my mother's footsteps and making her proud in a way), I don't like being cyber raped via email. But, I give them their due attention, and invariably they're about another reporter or whoever on the Murdoch payroll who feel it's ok to diss black folks. Naturally their main target is the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Did you guys hear he's a socialist, Kenyan, black guy who wants to give free medical coverage to everyone, including poor folks--you know, look out for his ghetto homies. Unpatriotic terrorist who hates America. How dare he.
So when I heard about the phone hacking scandal that broke out across the pond, and that it was from one of his newspapers, I wasn't all that shocked. But as the details began to emerge, I was beyond shocked at what was done to the innocents. I don't much care about the celebrities who were hacked, although I do believe they have a right to privacy like we lay folks (although legally and technically, privacy is not a right. At least not one stated in the Bill of Rights. Look it up). A little more concerned about politicians who's info was hacked. But my ire was raised to hear about normal everyday people who were violated by unscrupulous reporters trying to break a story. Most notably the family of a poor young murder victim. How disgusting that these "reporters" hacked her cell phone and deleted messages so more would come in so they could get a scoop, yet, that led her family to believe she was still alive. And as it turned out, she'd been murdered. How can they sleep at night? I guess to people like that, constantly seeking the competitive edge, it doesn't matter if they ever sleep again.
This man, Rupert, is obscenely wealthy, and in charge of a massive media empire. He controls newspapers, television & movie studios, magazines and a grunch of other companies I can't even name. And when you look at them, they seem to share the same conservative right wing stance, but more importantly, I've noticed they also seem to be completely devoid of integrity and basic human decency. Now, while I agree with those of you who will argue businessmen aren't in business to be decent, they're in it to make money. But I find something to be so fundamentally wrong with the entire world when the two can't be synonymous with each other. You can't be successful and humane at the same time? You can't make money and foster integrity within the lattice of workers that constitute your underlings, which are the back bone of your company?
He sat in the Parliamentary hearing today (a feat I'm told is astounding in and of itself but enough British politicians saw the inevitable shit storm a-brewing and knew the man had to be taken to task) and denied all responsibility and knowledge of everything that occurred within his own paper. Now, I understand why he would say this legally. The man has investors to answer to and if he accepted responsibility, that would expose him to serious liability. But I argue, how plausible is it to believe a man of his stature would be kept that deep in the dark? And if it's true, it's time for gramps to fuckin retire. But last I checked, ignorance wasn't always an excuse for wrong doing. Least not over here. And not if you're not rich. But he's over there and he is staggeringly rich, so it may work. To have your fingers in that many pots and not know what the hell is going on is 1). completely unbelievable, 2). totally negligent, & 3). at the end of the day, still your responsibility because you should have known.
Mommy always said "shit rolls downhill". He knew. He just didn't care. He's the poison in the well. And while it may have upset the British sense of decorum, getting a shaving cream pie in the face was a just dessert. He's a caricature of himself with his token Asian wife, who's easily a good forty years younger than him. Although, if she's using that Mother of Pearl, ain't no telling how old she is. She could be eighty too...but based on her catlike agility and bitch slapping the pie man, I'm guessing that's not the case. He and his son are sitting atop an empire made of festering dung heaps. They'd do better to tuck their tales between their legs, humble themselves, and try to be better men. But since that won't happen, all I have to say is: Pie man, next time put some Shug Avery pee in it.
Till next time, lovers!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
"True Blood", "Glee" & The treatment of Black Women on TV
PART I: TRUE BLOOD
I hate when people say "I'm not a homophobe" cause that usually means you have some deep seeded phobias of homosexuals. And since the more you try to deny something, the more you fail, I'm not even gonna try. Gonna dive right in. I hate that Tara, the sole black chick on TRUE BLOOD is now a lesbian. Despite no inkling of liking chicks before. But more than that, I hate being sold a bag of goods. As a faithful viewer, you take me on a journey every week and get me to believe a certain truth about your characters and then you sell me out. You give me a bag of gimmicks to win my already freely given love. Dear Mr. Alan Ball: How dare you sirrah!
I don't like gimmicks. I hate them with a fevered passion that I can never fully articulate to you. Ever. See my seething hatred for Lady Gaga. I hate that entertainment is contingent on that and not about the individual's ability to communicate a thought or emotion based on their God-given ability to connect with hundreds or, and this is when it's most beautiful and pure in my opinion, with one other soul. You can be great without wearing a meat dress. And you can be a great show with great characters without deciding to illustrate one's soul quest has led her to become a lesbian.
The character Tara has been through a lot in the previous season...well, seasons actually. She was raised by an abusive alcoholic mother, who knows where her father is, if he is. Was hopelessly and tragically in love with her best friend's brother, who never noticed her let alone reciprocated those feelings. She then falls for an enigmatic man nicknamed "Eggs" while they're all living with a mysterious woman, who just so happens to be an ancient evil goddess trying to bring back her master, the god Dionysus. Then her crush, Jason--best friend's brother--accidentally on purpose kills her lover Eggs, she spends most of last season angry about that and then gets kidnapped, raped, and overall psychologically tortured by a vampire trying to get to her best friend Sookie. She escapes him by killing him, or so she thought, returns to her hometown only to find out that Franklin the vamp isn't dead at all--bashing his brains out won't work hun, he's a fuckin' VAMPIRE. Stake in the heart or sunlight, haven't you seen INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE? No, well rent it. Brad, Tom, Christian, and ANTONIO...need I say more?--so he comes back to reclaim or kill her, he's fine with either option, and she's saved by Jason, her former crush and killer of her lover Eggs, a fact that Jason hasn't yet revealed to her but does so once she succumbs to familiar feelings and plants a sultry lip lock on him. After hearing this, she flees Jason's, strikes up a casual fling again with her boss Sam, who she was messing around with in season 1, and then finally in order to cleanse herself of all she's been through and to rediscover herself, she leaves town. We find her in this season in New Orleans. She's now a kickboxing/UFC/lesbian. Guess that's what it takes to get over a trauma.
Bitch has been through a lot, I get it. And I was all for her starting anew at the end of last season. She cut her hair and drove off into the night without a word to anyone. Cool. Stealthy. Like it. But why does that have to translate into now I'm a lesbian? And where was the hint of these leanings before? There weren't any. This is why I feel it's a ratings trick geared toward keeping an already edgy show even edgier. It seems since the late 1990's, self discovery and hip became synonymous with gay characters. I don't mind gay characters, but treat them honestly. This 'sexuality is constantly fluid' mess kinda bolsters idiotic stereotypes that gays are hyper sexed. Bouncing back and forth from bed to bed regardless now of who's in it with them. Given the cultural index on gay marriage and gays in the military, stereotypes like the above, may help to bolster the idiotic fringe. But to me, this cheapens her whole journey. It just feels like the writers and TV execs got together and determined the quickest way to get her from here to there. It feels disingenuous to what she's been through and how she rose above it and went from being a victim to a survivor. That's a helluva story and one I would have enjoyed and empathized with. She's already my girl, I root for the black chick on every show I watch cause she, they, are automatically my niggas! And it pisses me off cause the creators are treating me, the viewer, like I'm an idiot, incapable of understanding a character's hard fought pilgrimage to inner peace without having said character do something incredibly salacious like jumping into the sack with another chick. It's not done for truth in really having her discover that part of herself, although if they stick with that storyline, which they probably will, it will become that. But let's not be fooled into thinking that now, at this moment or at the moment of conception, that was the case. It's titillating to watch two attractive women make out and be naked together so...ratings!!! And if this is the tongue in cheek way homosexuality is dealt with on TV, no wonder attitudes in politics haven't changed. Makes sense we can't get our government to pull the trigger. Perhaps we need Dick Cheney back. He never seemed to have a problem pulling the trigger--even if it was aimed at your face.
PART II: GLEE
So this issue has kinda already been handled at the end of this season but I still feel it's worth mentioning. I was really irritated this whole season by the character Puck dating the fat white girl who's character name eludes me at the moment. Again, I know this was a soul searching thing for this character; a way to give him more depth. Sure, make the handsome bad boy date the fat girl. It'll give him character. Soften him up so we all think he's a nice guy now. And it can make those of us who were the fat girl in high school hearken back to ye olden days, when we were fair maidens dreaming of a hot boy with a Mohawk to whisk us away to his castle on a hill. Oh, was that just my fantasy? That's a typical TV show convention and GLEE is hardly the first to use it, and damn sure won't be the last. Fine. But they tried that last season. By making the same character pursue Mercedes, the fat black chick on the show.
I was weirded out and thrilled inside when I watched that story line last year. But by the time the credits rolled at episode's close, the curtain had come down on their faux romance. Yes, it was all a rouse to get him back into the popular circle--she'd become popular cause of her brief flirtation with the cheer leading squad known as THE CHEERIOS. I love that GLEE unabashedly tries to tell teens anyone can fit in anywhere. Not exactly how I remember high school, but whatever. But they ended last season focusing still on the main love triangle, hexagon, or whatever with Rachel, Finn, Quinn, and Puck with a bit of Artie, Tina, and Mike thrown in for good measure. By the time this season began, it seemed like everyone was dating someone or was the object of some secret crush, EXCEPT Mercedes. There were gay crushes--Kurt and Blaine & Santana and Brittney--there were straight crushes and boyfriend and girlfriends--everyone else EXCEPT Mercedes! I'd read going into this season that Ryan Murphy the show's creator, said that Mercedes would get a love interest this year. So I watched with bated breath. Who would it be? Would he already be a cast member or is someone new coming in? And nothing. THEN to add insult to injury, they make Puck, who'd previously been interested in her, date the ugliest, tallest, and dare I say fattest girl on the show. The fat white chick. And I was pissed. If you wanted to give him depth and all that jazz, why not go back to the Mercedes well? She's cute and positive and happy with her body. And though the FWC is too, she's just so hard on the eyes. What, all of a sudden, Mercedes wasn't good enough to give him the transformation the show wanted? She's good enough to be second fiddle to Rachel (though I think many of us know who the real powerhouse is here) and do her fat black-woman-who-can-sing duty when needed, but she can't be the object of a good looking (by TV standards) white boy's desires? I call bullshit on that.
So she went all season as a romantic leper and I watched only out of hope that things would turn around...and the singing's pretty good...and I love the show. But every time we took a trip down Kurt's love woes, and veered into Rachel/Finn/Quinn territory, with a Santana/Brittney/Artie detour, I rolled my eyes and sucked my teeth in typical angry black bitch fashion. When was the fat black chick gonna get some damn play?!
And then as a cop out or an after thought, it's revealed in the last damn episode of the season, that she's been secretly seeing the new blond white boy who's only really attractive to television casting agents and has a passable singing voice, since the prom. Beggars can't really be choosers can they? I'm curious to see what happens here next season. And thank you Mr. Murphy for finally living up to your promise and for realizing that this is a character of untapped potential.
PART III: THE GIST
These are but two examples of what I find to be a bigger problem. Black women are systematically underused and/or ignored on television, particularly as it pertains to romance. I'm all for black love on television and off. Healthy images of black men and black women loving each other and supporting each other as family units are desperately needed. But black women being ignored as romantic leads for white men on television really makes a big statement. Which is why, though I have some logistical (and by that I mean writing, plot lines and the like) with the show HAWTHORNE starring Jada Pinkett-Smith, I do like that her character is now married to the attractive lead white male character Tom, played by Michael Vartan. And that's not just cause I've been crushing on him since NEVER BEEN KISSED, either. Or cause he's fluent in French, which I find uber sexy. Ok, maybe it is. Like it or not this country is still polarized by race, and television is a microcosm of that. And who the white boy finds attractive, so goes the country. Think about the shows you watch. Are there any black women in them? If so, what are their roles? Are they comic relief? The innocuous best friend? Do they have love interests? If so, what do they look like? And do they really seem to love each other, or is that too a device for comic relief? You may find some examples to refute me, but not many. I know. I watch a lot of TV.
Black women are disappearing from the television landscape. We're routinely cast off as romantic non-desirables. Or we're painted with the "black bitch" brush--hard edged, aggressive, asexual types. And if the lead white male character has a choice between a pretty black love interest and either a dynamite white one or even a run of the mill white female lead, it's clear which one is chosen time and time again. And if it isn't lemme share...the white girl wins. Just like in life. We're not an intelligent society anymore, and people take their lead from TV, cause hey if it weren't true, it wouldn't be on the air. So I believe subconsciously that's the lead that penetrates...black women aren't as good. They're not worth as much and definitely not worth the same amount of time. All those fine ass men running around the fictional town of Bon Temps, LA, and not one could develop an interest in Tara? Not every woman who's brutalized by a man switches teams. Sometimes they can, and sometimes they take a break from dating and work on themselves, get some therapy, take self defense classes too. All the dating combos on GLEE, and Mercedes rides the bench till damn near the last minute.
It's just disheartening and suffocating as A). a black woman, B). an actress, and C). an avid TV viewer; to have to sift through the endless onslaught of images and plot lines and whatever else, telling you that you are a non-person. And then getting those same messages out in the world. I see a correlation. Others may not. But then again, it's my blog. I'll see what I wanna see.
Till next time, lovers!
I hate when people say "I'm not a homophobe" cause that usually means you have some deep seeded phobias of homosexuals. And since the more you try to deny something, the more you fail, I'm not even gonna try. Gonna dive right in. I hate that Tara, the sole black chick on TRUE BLOOD is now a lesbian. Despite no inkling of liking chicks before. But more than that, I hate being sold a bag of goods. As a faithful viewer, you take me on a journey every week and get me to believe a certain truth about your characters and then you sell me out. You give me a bag of gimmicks to win my already freely given love. Dear Mr. Alan Ball: How dare you sirrah!
I don't like gimmicks. I hate them with a fevered passion that I can never fully articulate to you. Ever. See my seething hatred for Lady Gaga. I hate that entertainment is contingent on that and not about the individual's ability to communicate a thought or emotion based on their God-given ability to connect with hundreds or, and this is when it's most beautiful and pure in my opinion, with one other soul. You can be great without wearing a meat dress. And you can be a great show with great characters without deciding to illustrate one's soul quest has led her to become a lesbian.
The character Tara has been through a lot in the previous season...well, seasons actually. She was raised by an abusive alcoholic mother, who knows where her father is, if he is. Was hopelessly and tragically in love with her best friend's brother, who never noticed her let alone reciprocated those feelings. She then falls for an enigmatic man nicknamed "Eggs" while they're all living with a mysterious woman, who just so happens to be an ancient evil goddess trying to bring back her master, the god Dionysus. Then her crush, Jason--best friend's brother--accidentally on purpose kills her lover Eggs, she spends most of last season angry about that and then gets kidnapped, raped, and overall psychologically tortured by a vampire trying to get to her best friend Sookie. She escapes him by killing him, or so she thought, returns to her hometown only to find out that Franklin the vamp isn't dead at all--bashing his brains out won't work hun, he's a fuckin' VAMPIRE. Stake in the heart or sunlight, haven't you seen INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE? No, well rent it. Brad, Tom, Christian, and ANTONIO...need I say more?--so he comes back to reclaim or kill her, he's fine with either option, and she's saved by Jason, her former crush and killer of her lover Eggs, a fact that Jason hasn't yet revealed to her but does so once she succumbs to familiar feelings and plants a sultry lip lock on him. After hearing this, she flees Jason's, strikes up a casual fling again with her boss Sam, who she was messing around with in season 1, and then finally in order to cleanse herself of all she's been through and to rediscover herself, she leaves town. We find her in this season in New Orleans. She's now a kickboxing/UFC/lesbian. Guess that's what it takes to get over a trauma.
Bitch has been through a lot, I get it. And I was all for her starting anew at the end of last season. She cut her hair and drove off into the night without a word to anyone. Cool. Stealthy. Like it. But why does that have to translate into now I'm a lesbian? And where was the hint of these leanings before? There weren't any. This is why I feel it's a ratings trick geared toward keeping an already edgy show even edgier. It seems since the late 1990's, self discovery and hip became synonymous with gay characters. I don't mind gay characters, but treat them honestly. This 'sexuality is constantly fluid' mess kinda bolsters idiotic stereotypes that gays are hyper sexed. Bouncing back and forth from bed to bed regardless now of who's in it with them. Given the cultural index on gay marriage and gays in the military, stereotypes like the above, may help to bolster the idiotic fringe. But to me, this cheapens her whole journey. It just feels like the writers and TV execs got together and determined the quickest way to get her from here to there. It feels disingenuous to what she's been through and how she rose above it and went from being a victim to a survivor. That's a helluva story and one I would have enjoyed and empathized with. She's already my girl, I root for the black chick on every show I watch cause she, they, are automatically my niggas! And it pisses me off cause the creators are treating me, the viewer, like I'm an idiot, incapable of understanding a character's hard fought pilgrimage to inner peace without having said character do something incredibly salacious like jumping into the sack with another chick. It's not done for truth in really having her discover that part of herself, although if they stick with that storyline, which they probably will, it will become that. But let's not be fooled into thinking that now, at this moment or at the moment of conception, that was the case. It's titillating to watch two attractive women make out and be naked together so...ratings!!! And if this is the tongue in cheek way homosexuality is dealt with on TV, no wonder attitudes in politics haven't changed. Makes sense we can't get our government to pull the trigger. Perhaps we need Dick Cheney back. He never seemed to have a problem pulling the trigger--even if it was aimed at your face.
PART II: GLEE
So this issue has kinda already been handled at the end of this season but I still feel it's worth mentioning. I was really irritated this whole season by the character Puck dating the fat white girl who's character name eludes me at the moment. Again, I know this was a soul searching thing for this character; a way to give him more depth. Sure, make the handsome bad boy date the fat girl. It'll give him character. Soften him up so we all think he's a nice guy now. And it can make those of us who were the fat girl in high school hearken back to ye olden days, when we were fair maidens dreaming of a hot boy with a Mohawk to whisk us away to his castle on a hill. Oh, was that just my fantasy? That's a typical TV show convention and GLEE is hardly the first to use it, and damn sure won't be the last. Fine. But they tried that last season. By making the same character pursue Mercedes, the fat black chick on the show.
I was weirded out and thrilled inside when I watched that story line last year. But by the time the credits rolled at episode's close, the curtain had come down on their faux romance. Yes, it was all a rouse to get him back into the popular circle--she'd become popular cause of her brief flirtation with the cheer leading squad known as THE CHEERIOS. I love that GLEE unabashedly tries to tell teens anyone can fit in anywhere. Not exactly how I remember high school, but whatever. But they ended last season focusing still on the main love triangle, hexagon, or whatever with Rachel, Finn, Quinn, and Puck with a bit of Artie, Tina, and Mike thrown in for good measure. By the time this season began, it seemed like everyone was dating someone or was the object of some secret crush, EXCEPT Mercedes. There were gay crushes--Kurt and Blaine & Santana and Brittney--there were straight crushes and boyfriend and girlfriends--everyone else EXCEPT Mercedes! I'd read going into this season that Ryan Murphy the show's creator, said that Mercedes would get a love interest this year. So I watched with bated breath. Who would it be? Would he already be a cast member or is someone new coming in? And nothing. THEN to add insult to injury, they make Puck, who'd previously been interested in her, date the ugliest, tallest, and dare I say fattest girl on the show. The fat white chick. And I was pissed. If you wanted to give him depth and all that jazz, why not go back to the Mercedes well? She's cute and positive and happy with her body. And though the FWC is too, she's just so hard on the eyes. What, all of a sudden, Mercedes wasn't good enough to give him the transformation the show wanted? She's good enough to be second fiddle to Rachel (though I think many of us know who the real powerhouse is here) and do her fat black-woman-who-can-sing duty when needed, but she can't be the object of a good looking (by TV standards) white boy's desires? I call bullshit on that.
So she went all season as a romantic leper and I watched only out of hope that things would turn around...and the singing's pretty good...and I love the show. But every time we took a trip down Kurt's love woes, and veered into Rachel/Finn/Quinn territory, with a Santana/Brittney/Artie detour, I rolled my eyes and sucked my teeth in typical angry black bitch fashion. When was the fat black chick gonna get some damn play?!
And then as a cop out or an after thought, it's revealed in the last damn episode of the season, that she's been secretly seeing the new blond white boy who's only really attractive to television casting agents and has a passable singing voice, since the prom. Beggars can't really be choosers can they? I'm curious to see what happens here next season. And thank you Mr. Murphy for finally living up to your promise and for realizing that this is a character of untapped potential.
PART III: THE GIST
These are but two examples of what I find to be a bigger problem. Black women are systematically underused and/or ignored on television, particularly as it pertains to romance. I'm all for black love on television and off. Healthy images of black men and black women loving each other and supporting each other as family units are desperately needed. But black women being ignored as romantic leads for white men on television really makes a big statement. Which is why, though I have some logistical (and by that I mean writing, plot lines and the like) with the show HAWTHORNE starring Jada Pinkett-Smith, I do like that her character is now married to the attractive lead white male character Tom, played by Michael Vartan. And that's not just cause I've been crushing on him since NEVER BEEN KISSED, either. Or cause he's fluent in French, which I find uber sexy. Ok, maybe it is. Like it or not this country is still polarized by race, and television is a microcosm of that. And who the white boy finds attractive, so goes the country. Think about the shows you watch. Are there any black women in them? If so, what are their roles? Are they comic relief? The innocuous best friend? Do they have love interests? If so, what do they look like? And do they really seem to love each other, or is that too a device for comic relief? You may find some examples to refute me, but not many. I know. I watch a lot of TV.
Black women are disappearing from the television landscape. We're routinely cast off as romantic non-desirables. Or we're painted with the "black bitch" brush--hard edged, aggressive, asexual types. And if the lead white male character has a choice between a pretty black love interest and either a dynamite white one or even a run of the mill white female lead, it's clear which one is chosen time and time again. And if it isn't lemme share...the white girl wins. Just like in life. We're not an intelligent society anymore, and people take their lead from TV, cause hey if it weren't true, it wouldn't be on the air. So I believe subconsciously that's the lead that penetrates...black women aren't as good. They're not worth as much and definitely not worth the same amount of time. All those fine ass men running around the fictional town of Bon Temps, LA, and not one could develop an interest in Tara? Not every woman who's brutalized by a man switches teams. Sometimes they can, and sometimes they take a break from dating and work on themselves, get some therapy, take self defense classes too. All the dating combos on GLEE, and Mercedes rides the bench till damn near the last minute.
It's just disheartening and suffocating as A). a black woman, B). an actress, and C). an avid TV viewer; to have to sift through the endless onslaught of images and plot lines and whatever else, telling you that you are a non-person. And then getting those same messages out in the world. I see a correlation. Others may not. But then again, it's my blog. I'll see what I wanna see.
Till next time, lovers!
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