Joss and Firefly and race, oh my!

[chickpea]

I was going to write this a long time ago, but you know me and my inability to write anything substantial that isn't about imagined boy dramas, so. That was the disclaimer. Oh, here's another one: I'm going to forgo transitions in this entry, because I can't be arsed to figure out how to string all these thoughts together. Transitions are going

Comments

[barn_swallow]

I too am here from the cortex, I bet you will be comment-spammed soon =)

I thought it was interesting that occasionally (I can think of the exact scene, but not the ep, what a bad browncoat) Joss uses clangy, loud music to startle you when a bad guy's ship pops up over Serenity - and the music sounds "Asian." I thought, "So here he is trying to point out that the 'others' have shown up by using asian-y music... but if the culture is all Asian-influenced... that doesn't make much sense to the characters..."

And then what rivendellrose briefly mentioned ---^ I winced a little in "Objects in Space" when the darkest-skinned person they had ever had on the show immediately threatened to rape the whitest white girl on the show =P Joss could at least think about what it looks like, for a moment, you know?

But then I wouldn't even notice half of this stuff if it wasn't for taking a "Race in America" class in college and learning to pay attention to it... I think a class like that should be mandatory.

And Daniel Dae Kim is kicking ass on Lost now ;-)

I enjoyed the post!

- Kate

[randomsignal]

a "Race in America" class...should be mandatory
I agree. I've worked several places where "diversity training" (how to get along with people who are different from you) is mandatory and I think it's a pretty good idea. A lot of people sincerely want to be unprejudiced (is that a legitimate word?) but they really don't know how.

[barn_swallow]

The thing for me was, being a 'whitest white girl' myself, I wouldn't have known what it's like for other races if it wasn't for that class. Which is kinda sad that I would be so clueless - most of my friends are non-white, but the area we grew up and went to school in was so diverse that they never seemed to have any trouble. I guess I was more sheltered due to age than anything else, and I am glad my friends were, but now things are different. I still wouldn't realize the extent to which racism still exists if it wasn't for all the stuff I learned about in that one class. (And now that my friends are out in the world, most of them are Indian and mistaken for 'terrorists,' and I see how bad it is.)

And even getting life experience doesn't always give you the historical context, which really helped I think. It also made us discuss our own feelings on issues which often revealed biases we didn't know we had.

I have seriously considered writing to the school and telling them to make that class mandatory for freshman (or at least including a lot of its curriculum in the mandatory freshman seminars they do).

[barn_swallow]

See it's all cuz of that class I took! I don't know anything abt W.E.B duBois though, oops.

But yeah, it bothers me enough that I kinda can't watch the episode.

I mean, on the one hand, they can't go "Well you are a good actor but we can't give you this part because you are black and the part is a criminal and it will be stereotyping," but on the other, they could at least pay a little attention and maybe adjust it, you know? It's a fine line and all...

[chickpea]

Thank you for commenting! I liked reading your thoughts on the matter.

I too am here from the cortex, I bet you will be comment-spammed soon =)
Wow, I didn't really realize so many people would click on the link from the_cortex! I love the comments, though, so keep them coming.