Tune in! Black.White. airs tonight!
JC
We have been eagerly awaiting the debut of Black.White. for what feels like years now. :) It debuts tonight. Carmen and I have been lucky enough to view advance copies, but I am dying to hear what others of you think! Personally, I think it has tons of holes and doesn’t nearly acheive what it seemed to want to acheive. BUT I am definitely planning to watch all the way through since we haven’t seen the complete series of 6 episodes.
My biggest complaint is that it helps to solidify the notion that race merely has to do with black and white in this country. As far as I can see so far, Asians, Latinos, Native Americans, and “others” are completely nonexistent as far as this show is concerned. I am going to start lobbying for another show. Think of it as the answer to Black.White. I’d like to call it: Yellow.Brown. :) Who’s with me?
Here’s the latest article on Black.White. from USA Today. Carmen and I represent for New Demographic with quotes! :)
In Black. White., two families are made up by special-effects experts Keith Vanderlaan and Brian Sipe, who use wigs, skin paint and other elements to change facial features and skin color. The families then go to various places — a poetry gathering, a golf pro shop, a bar — and live together for six weeks to compare experiences.
Jen Chau, co-director of New Demographic, a diversity training firm, has seen the first four episodes and questions the value of Black. White.
“What the families experienced is definitely different from their everyday lives,” she says. “But were the experiences really indicative of a ‘black experience’ or a ‘white experience?’ ”
Marcotulli says he experienced no racism during filming. “I’ve always been one to be gracious and kind; I certainly have learned you reap what you sow.”
New Demographic co-director Carmen Van Kerckhove says, “At the end of the day, you’re left with the impression all whites are ignorant about race, and all blacks are angry and bitter about racism they’ve experienced.”
Also check out Robert Bianco’s review of Black.White. Glad to see that others are also suspicious of this show and questioning its success in dealing with race in a realistic way. The following thought that he offers in his review captures exactly some of the problems I have with it:
The trick works well enough to give the show a few interesting moments. But ultimately, Black. White. is based on two false premises, one more pernicious than the other: that you can understand someone of a different race simply by putting on makeup, and that you need that kind of understanding in order to treat people as the law and morality require. If inanity like Black. White. is what passes for racial dialogue these days, we’d all be better off if TV were encouraging us to talk less and behave better. And that takes no makeup at all.
I can’t wait — we are going to devote a whole episode of Addicted to Race to talking about this show…I have so much to complain about…I mean, say. :)
Tiffany In Houston wrote:
You guys have been blasting this show since it was announced. Why don’t you let people make their own judgements about it.
I’m sure as a black woman, there’s not too much that’s going to surprise me, especially when it comes to naive white folks, but you never know…..
Posted 08 Mar 2006 at 9:56 am ¶
Ben wrote:
Tiffany, what about this post prevents you from making your own judgement about the show?
Posted 08 Mar 2006 at 10:37 am ¶
Tiffany In Houston wrote:
Actually Ben, nothing prevents me from making my OWN judgments. The comments are just slanted that’s all. Such is the nature of having ones blog I suppose.
I’m trying not to answer you sarcastically, in the hopes that you didn’t ask your question that way.
Posted 08 Mar 2006 at 11:23 am ¶
Ben wrote:
No sarcasm. But you kind of made my point for me… the value of this blog lies not only in its objective information, but also in the insightful (and yes, opinionated) commentary that accompanies each post, and the lively discussions thence ignited.
Posted 08 Mar 2006 at 1:03 pm ¶
Tiffany In Houston wrote:
Forget I said anything….
Posted 08 Mar 2006 at 3:08 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:
Sorry Tiffany, but if I wanted MMW to just say what was on, or what movie was coming out, or what sports stars were playing for which team, I’d have a subscription to TV Guide and have Moviefone on speed-dial.
Really, even if I dont’ agree, it’s the opinions that keep most people coming back to ANY blog.
Posted 08 Mar 2006 at 7:28 pm ¶
Ben wrote:
Speaking of opinions, anyone have any to share on tonight’s show? I got lots!
I hated it much less than I thought I would, but damn does Bruno piss me off! Not only is he stubbornly closed-minded, he seems totally unaware of it because he’s too busy trying to convince Brian that *he* is closed-minded. I totally understand where he’s coming from - I think racism is chronically overdiagnosed - but he already seems so obnoxiously convinced that Brian’s wrong that it’s hard to believe he’s really going to learn anything from the show.
Not that Brian’s exactly open-minded. He already seems convinced that white people like him more when he’s white… but judging from the driving range scene, they probably just feel sorry for him because he’s awkward and he seems like that dorky-but-really-nice kid in high school who doesn’t actually have any friends.
And his stereotype that white people are “curious” really bugs me. It’s a gentle mockery of friendliness and intellectualism… which is fun to laugh at until you realize that oh, wait, black people really don’t care about meteorology at all? No wonder we’re underrepresented…
Carmen is mad corny and a bit fragile, but not always careful about what she says. (She described black as “the opposite race” in the intro. Uh, oops!) Renee is brash and judgmental. That makes… a perfect reality-show matchup!
Nick is too quiet at this point to be sure, but he seems to have no interest in the show. Rose is my favorite. Brian’s right - her parents could learn a thing or two from her attitude.
The clearest message from this show is that color is only half the battle… There’s a cultural gulf between (stereo)”typical” black and white families (and they both described themselves as typical) that the producers didn’t attempt to bridge until the show actually got started. And, as Rose so astutely put it, they all deal in the language of stereotypes.
So, the dilemma: should the disguise include full indoctrination into the other family’s culture to see how well they can pull it off? Or should they keep the disguise on the surface, allow the actors to behave as normal, and see what happens? I mean, black girls who act like Rose certainly exist, but I don’t think you’ll find them at slam poetry classes. And white guys who act like Nick don’t enroll in etiquette school.
The unifying characteristic of all these folks is obvious discomfort in their new roles. They’re all very self-conscious (Rose hides it the best but talks about it the most) and I’d be surprised if the people they interact with don’t notice they’re a little “off.” Especially Brian as the bartender.
Oh, and none of them looks great, but Renee ain’t foolin anyone.
Posted 09 Mar 2006 at 1:18 am ¶
Daniel wrote:
I will have to force myself to watch an entire epsiode to really give a complete opinion. I was able to sit through about thirty minutes of idiotic comments, ridiculously phony situations, bad camera angles and, yawn, contrived arguements before I changed the channel. Sadly, the only thing this show will teach effectively is how frightenly easy it is to get crap on TV. You’d need to be dead to not see through the phony characters on this show.
Posted 09 Mar 2006 at 3:33 pm ¶
Jenn wrote:
Then again can we really call anything “real” tv unless no one knows they are on camera and either way some people let or knowingly make very ignorant, biased and racial comments on the show. Personally I will continue to watch the show and argue and laugh and wonder about certain aspects of the show.
Posted 10 Mar 2006 at 12:17 am ¶
Daniel wrote:
You are absolutely right about nothing being “real” when there are cameras involved! I think you have the right attitude as well if you look at the show as a comedy of errors rather than a serious, social experiment. I will admit to a personal bias here. I absolutely HATE reality shows! I think that they are the biggest oxymoron in current media. If it’s on TV and it’s not a serious documentary or a scientific/historical program…it isn’t real!
I am also concerned about the message this type of show sends. Are we saying that it is okay to lie and be duplicitous in order to get people to react in certain ways? And really, what does this show propose to teach us? Are we going to learn that some people are racist and ignorant? Are we going to learn that there is no shortage of stupidity?
Life is about choices and how we develop our own identity through the act of choosing. If we choose to allow the media, for example, to define for us what it is to be human, we will suffer greatly. We must all, instead, look deep into ourselves and ask ourselves what is important and valuable to us. It is when we only look to the external to decide what is good that we invariably find what is shallow, temporary and unfulfilling. We must all ask ourselves what drives us, what moves us, what makes us, us. It is through that process that we will create our own real identity and in that lies hope.
Sorry to digress from the specific topic of the show, but it just infuriates me that the producers actually think that this is a worthwhile endeavor. Suffering hurts, pain is difficult to endure, hate is bad, racism is bad, sexism is bad, ignorance is sad! These are some of the things worth fighting against. My suggestion would be to go make some new friends. Do something that you never thought of doing before. Help somebody. Extend a hand; extend yourself. Take some risks, make some honest mistakes; try to do your best, whatever that may be. Good luck.
.
Posted 10 Mar 2006 at 11:29 am ¶
Dave wrote:
“My biggest complaint is that it helps to solidify the notion that race merely has to do with black and white in this country. As far as I can see so far, Asians, Latinos, Native Americans, and “others” are completely nonexistent as far as this show is concerned. I am going to start lobbying for another show. Think of it as the answer to Black.White. I’d like to call it: Yellow.Brown. Who’s with me?”
I’m with you. I couldn’t agree with you more. You took the words right out of my mouth. The best way to silence folks is often with a dialectic that doesn’t include them as one of the 2 voices.
Posted 18 Mar 2006 at 6:31 am ¶