I agree that it won't post Soprano-like numbers. Did the producers say specifically it was because the actors were black? Even if they did, I can't believe that focus groups actually said "Too many black people. Sorry. No go", which means any inference that viewers were tuning out because of the actor's demographics, is just that an inference - one that could very well be flawed.JDKJ said:RanceJustice said:I'm really not sure how you can say this? The Wire is critically acclaimed as one of, if not the best series HBO has ever produced. There are entire college courses on it as a window into urban issues. If it didn't receive the numbers that The Sopranos did, there could be a multitude of reasons besides the fact that the cast was predominantly black. The shows were very different in other aspects. The pacing, complexity of the story, characterization, humor-or-lack-thereof, etc...were all completely different. Even the language itself, being much more authentic to the urban culture than typical "ghetto" stuff watered down, was complex and could be a barrier to adoption for the same reason that Shakespeare and French foreign films today attract a smaller audience than generic RomComs. The complexity alone was enough to be offputting, regardless of race, to a lot of people who don't watch TV to think. If the entire show was kept the same save for being replaced by white people "acting black", or even transposed into an element of white "redneck, trailer park" poverty while maintaining the same complexity, I doubt it would have a higher viewership.JDKJ said:Hollywood isn't a very welcoming place for black actors. "Hollywood Shuffle" is, I think, as poignant a piece of social commentary now as it was when it was released more than 20 years ago.RanceJustice said:You do know that Birth of a Nation was originally a silent film from the 20s played by blackface actors, right? Its nowhere near a metric that should be used to say media is "white-centric". I'll contend that today media is multicultural in its truest form and this is a good thing. Exemplary non-white actors have all sorts of roles over their careers. Some of them are specifically written for a black actor, but many don't matter. Lawrence Fishburne's portrayal of Morpheus in "The Matrix" was not race-driven, nor was his early role as Cowboy Curtis on PeeWee's Playhouse. However, he's also played thugs and (typically more suave than hood) gangsters. Morgan Freeman was best known for Driving Miss Daisy making his early career, but his talent has landed him many prestigious roles, including that of God himself! As I said before, there are a lot of black actors who take sterotypical roles because they're basically character actors with limited range or because they want the money - same as any other race.RBGmachine said:Too true. If you have see"Birth of a Nation" you see a lot of African American Actors in roles that where horribly demeaning. Ever since then movies / games / comic books etc have been "white-centric" and there just aren't enough positive and good roles for minorities.
We're not at a place where media as a whole is "white focused". There's more access than ever to multicultural media. The difference is perspective.
A good example: HBO's "The Wire." You know why "The Wire" never enjoyed the same success as "The Sopranos" despite being just as good -- if not better -- on all counts? Simply because it had too many black actors in the cast -- or, put differently, not enough white actors. This was revealed in focus group testing prior to airing the first season. On the results of that testing and by and large, it would appear that Americans (and I use the term in its broadest possible sense) aren't prepared to give No. 1 status to a series with a predominantly black cast. Nope. That ain't happening. All those black faces make them uncomfortable.
Hollywood as a whole seems nothing but accessible to Black actors. Not only are they prominently featured in ethnicity-neutral roles, but there are also roles written by the black community for the black community (A la Tyler Perry, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Waiting to Exhale, Diary of a Mad Black Woman and its counterpart, the awesome social commentary that is Diary of a Tired Black Man). There are a multitude of professional acting organizations that require black ancestry to be a part of them, and there are award shows that exclusively cater to black entertainers in media (which are in turn, hosted and created by blacks). I am aware that these were originally created because of under representation in the Hollywood of the past and a very real glass ceiling, but it bares little resemblance to the opportunities today. It could even be said that, much like a person searching for a college scholarship, being of certain ethnic background will give you additional avenues put in place to help your ascension, compared to a white individual today.
I didn't say it. The producers of the show said it based on the results of their focus group testing. And I didn't say the critics didn't like it. I said middle-America wasn't going to watch it in Soprano-like numbers. And that's true. They didn't. Not even close.
Race is as easy and erroneous a scapegoat for TV/Movies as piracy is for video games - both can be used as justification why they didn't get the viewers they wanted, but when it comes right down to it there's probably some more complex reason behind the lack of attention to the media.
Edit: In reference to the song lyrics, I'm well aware that some people may have those feelings, but I think the facts speak for themselves in today's hollywood. I don't dispute that things were once like Public Enemy stated, but when we're talking about something more than 30-50 years back, its in error to categorize as such today. Sure, those roles still exist, just as roles for "Good Ol Boys", Deliverance style, and "old Kung Fu Master or Wise Old Asian Man", exist, but overall there are plenty of roles outside of the stereotypes available.
When people are wronged, they have a tendency not to recognize improvements in the source that wronged them, especially when race/culture is involved. They then pass on those same biases to generations that operate in a completely new time, which serves only to keep old hatreds alive and starts the cycle again.