TV Still Lacking in Diversity

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  • TV Still Lacking in Diversity

    So says the Multi-Ethnic Media Coalition...well, who else would it be?

  • #2
    Re: TV Still Lacking in Diversity

    Originally posted by j over View Post
    So says the Multi-Ethnic Media Coalition...well, who else would it be?
    I would agree with their overall arguement. You have almost entirely white shows, and a few mostly black shows. Within the show, the minority of the group is almost always a minor character. In the comedy arena, they are missing a huge vein of Sitcom humor (racial, religous, and national backgrounds), that even Seinfeld and his predecessors were able to make light of without offending anyone. All these shows sent up stereotypes and played with our differences, so obviously it can be done and still draw large audiences. My view is the wider the groups represented are, the funnier their interactions can be. Too bad Network execs don't catch on to the fact that many successful stand up Comics base a good part of their acts with dealing with this kind of material.

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    • #3
      Re: TV Still Lacking in Diversity

      Sorry if I don't feel bad at all. Do you know how many jobs I didn't get simply because I'm a white male?

      Ele...

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      • #4
        Re: TV Still Lacking in Diversity

        Originally posted by elephant1978 View Post
        Sorry if I don't feel bad at all. Do you know how many jobs I didn't get simply because I'm a white male?

        Ele...
        Sorry if I don't feel bad about that, either.

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        • #5
          Re: TV Still Lacking in Diversity

          Did they actually say "Sorry we can't hire you because your a white dude"?

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          • #6
            Re: TV Still Lacking in Diversity

            Originally posted by Slappynipsy View Post
            Did they actually say "Sorry we can't hire you because your a white dude"?
            Basically. An example would be The Office where the studio loved me and there were connections throughout the writing staff. But they said the bottom line is that they won't hire a white male.

            Ele...

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            • #7
              Re: TV Still Lacking in Diversity

              Since becoming a Mod, there are many topics that I refrain from commenting on. Lets just say, as a Latino, the same way you don't feel bad that minorities don't get jobs, is the same way that I don't feel bad that a white guy doesn't get a job either. Welcome to the club. We've been here awhile, pull up a seat.
              Never let the competition know what you're thinking... and never tell the unseen masses your story idea.

              -- Rule 85, Ferengi Rules of Acquisition (updated by cmmora)

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              • #8
                Re: TV Still Lacking in Diversity

                Originally posted by elephant1978 View Post
                Sorry if I don't feel bad at all. Do you know how many jobs I didn't get simply because I'm a white male?

                Ele...
                lol.
                "I dub thee: Sir Non Sequitur." - sc111

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                • #9
                  Re: TV Still Lacking in Diversity

                  We're lumping two different issues together here: the representation of minorities on staff, and the representation of minorities on screen.

                  Most of the networks do have diversity programs that subsidize the salary of one or two minority writers on staff for each show. And there are very few slots on each staff available to newbie writers anyway. So if it comes down to two talented but uncredited writers vying for one position, a minority could have a better chance, because their salary will cost less out of the show's budget. That said, no showrunner is going to hire someone who can't do the job. For any position on staff, it's going to come down to a small selection of talented writers. If you're good enough to make it down to the final selection pool, being a minority might give you an advantage, but you still have to have the chops to make it there in the first place.

                  The representation of minorities on screen is a whole different thing, and is about the audiences desire to see people like themselves onscreen. The push to have diversity onscreen may go hand-in-hand with the push for diversity behind the scenes, but the makeup of a staff often really has little or no relation to the makeup of the cast. There are tons of white writers on staff on shows with predominantly African-American casts, and practically no Jewish characters in primetime at all, despite television being absolutely crawling with Jewish writers.

                  For minority kids and teens, an overwhelmingly white primetime landscape can feel like it's sending the message that non-whites don't matter. There's a difference between outright prejudice and assumed homogeny, but neither of them feels all that great when you're one of the people who's outside the "norm." There are tons of little things in everyday life in our culture that highlight the default assumption that everyone is white, Christian and straight. There's nothing wrong with being any of those things, and most people don't mean any harm by following those assumptions. But having a diverse television landscape is a positive way of acknowledging that we live in a diverse world -- we are not all the same, and we do not all clump into segregated groups.

                  Sorry if that came off lecture-y! I didn't mean it to.
                  The difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter -- it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning. - Mark Twain

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                  • #10
                    Re: TV Still Lacking in Diversity

                    Originally posted by cmmora View Post
                    Since becoming a Mod, there are many topics that I refrain from commenting on. Lets just say, as a Latino, the same way you don't feel bad that minorities don't get jobs, is the same way that I don't feel bad that a white guy doesn't get a job either. Welcome to the club. We've been here awhile, pull up a seat.
                    It's honestly a tough situation for me. I absolutely support diversity. But it's taking work away from me. So it leaves me between a rock and a hard place.

                    Ele...

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                    • #11
                      Re: TV Still Lacking in Diversity

                      Originally posted by elephant1978 View Post
                      It's honestly a tough situation for me. I absolutely support diversity. But it's taking work away from me. So it leaves me between a rock and a hard place.

                      Ele...
                      lol.
                      "I dub thee: Sir Non Sequitur." - sc111

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                      • #12
                        Re: TV Still Lacking in Diversity

                        Originally posted by BestWriterEver
                        When people don't want to hire someone, they often give the easy excuse. It's much simpler to say "darn it, we wanted to hire you but weren't allowed to because of x/y/z" than "we didn't want to hire you."
                        I'm not talking about rejections. What I'm saying is that they put this disclaimer out preventing my agents from even submitting me. My agency knows which shows want to hire what kind of writer...and most of the time there are limits on who is interested in reading a white guy.

                        Ele...

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                        • #13
                          Re: TV Still Lacking in Diversity

                          Actually black actors are slightly overrepresented on TV compared to their proportion in the US population.

                          It's Latinos and especially Asians who are underrepresented. The top law schools and med schools are mostly Asian these days, but you see Asian doctors only occasionally, and rarely see Asian lawyers on TV.

                          I'm fairly skeptical that young white guys are finding it impossible to get hired on shows. At least when I worked on the Bernie Mack show several years ago, all the writers I met were young white guys, even though the showrunner and the star were black.

                          The writers assistant on The Boondocks is white, if the same guy is still there from last year.

                          If the new member meetings at the WGA are any indication, a young white guy is still the best thing for a writer to be. Then again, maybe these are guys who have an inside track via family connections or close friends.
                          If you really like it you can have the rights
                          It could make a million for you overnight

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                          • #14
                            Re: TV Still Lacking in Diversity

                            Originally posted by elephant1978 View Post
                            Basically. An example would be The Office where the studio loved me and there were connections throughout the writing staff. But they said the bottom line is that they won't hire a white male.

                            Ele...
                            THE OFFICE has an all-black writing staff?

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                            • #15
                              Re: TV Still Lacking in Diversity

                              Originally posted by Master of Horror View Post
                              THE OFFICE has an all-black writing staff?
                              I didn't say that. They have a very large staff of white men. So when they hire new writers they look to women and minorities to broaden things out. That's what diversity is.

                              Ele...

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