now this is a story all about how: a thank you
last night while watching psych, i realized something. although we have come a long way from the days of tv past, the media still need to take great strides regarding ethnic characters. some shows, like glee, are doing it better than others. granted, the whole point of glee is to accentuate (and sometimes make fun of) people's differences. with that being said, it's still a very diverse show even if the main characters are white. mercedes is black, kurt is gay (they make a culture), santana is latina, tina is asian, puck and rachel are jewish, artie is handicapped, becky has down syndrome. it's safe to say that many minorities are represented.
other shows are good about this too; psych is one of them. gus has evolved into more than just a sidekick. although technically shawn is the main character, by season three shawn and gus were starting to look more like equals. sure, shawn's name always comes first, and the flashbacks are always about him, sometimes only about him. But there aren't many scenes james roday does without dule hill, and occasionally dule does a scene without james. at the end of the day, gus is a smart, college educated (more than we can say for shawn), successful black man who got where he is through his own hard work.
but there's a problem. that means gus is "white".
black characters on tv walk a pretty thin line. if they're too smart and educated, they lose their culture and become "white". if they're too ghetto or hood or whatever, they become a stereotype or even a parody. i'm not saying that gus's character is in any way offensive. i love gus. but we still need to take some steps forward... or maybe, a giant step back.
does anyone remember the glaringly 80s show fresh prince of bel-air, starring will smith as will smith, a homeboy from west philly? of course you do, it's friggin fresh prince.
it's a show absolutely FILLED with strong, successful, and educated black characters. but only one of them seems to meet the gold standard.
it's not will's uncle, who always brags that he raised himself up from the mean streets. uncle phil is ashamed of his past, and acts classically white because that's what his job requires. it's definitely not carlton. will jokes, "it's a tan".
it's will, our homeboy from philly.
why? because he's smart. the first episode showed him playing beethoven, the sixth, reading crime and punishment. but does will act like carlton, all "spiffy" and "yes indeed" and "white"? no, will acts like will, a homeboy from philly.
i haven't seen all tv in the history of ever, but it seems to me like this is one of the only shows to successfully depict a black character with the right balance of book smart and street smart. a guy who doesn't button himself up or hide who he is just because a couple of white people might get scared, but whose future doesn't lie in jail, in a gang, or on the street selling drugs (according to stereotype, classically "black" things to do). it seems strange that no show today has quite achieved this, since fresh prince came out nearly 30 years ago. to me, this says that it was before its time, and this type of perspective is entirely refreshing.
so i would just like to say thank you.