the audacity of

[hesychasm]

I started watching 24 because Alexander Siddig, formerly of ST:DS9 and Syriana, is playing a big role this season. He's doing a good job so far, but beyond his acting ability and his pleasing aesthetic qualities (he rocks a scruffy graying beard very well), I find that he just adds a refreshing dose of color to my personal media consumption

Comments

[oyceter]

Word! Me too! And not just the one token minority character (and why is there only one at a time?). Heroes makes me happy just because there are more than one non-white people on screen. But I still want POC who are aware of being POC and of all the consequences therein, without being After School Special-y.

You'd think that wouldn't be so much to ask, and yet, it's like asking for the moon.

[hesychasm]

I still want POC who are aware of being POC and of all the consequences therein

Exactly! And I wish it didn't have to feel like asking for the moon, or like axe-grinding -- I very nearly posted this with a line that apologized for seeming like I was axe-grinding -- but it's such a basic notion. Representation: why is that so difficult?

On 24, there was a scene between a guy of Arab descent, who turned out to be a terrorist, and his Caucasian friend who was all, "I thought I knew you!" The terrorist said (I'm paraphrasing), "How could you know me? You can't even pronounce my name right." Which of course came in for some ridicule on the TWOP boards. Now, I'm not trying to say that having your name constantly mispronounced at all justifies terrorism, but it was meant to illustrate how personally diminishing it feels to have everyone around you not even be able to get your name right. You lose a little bit of yourself and your cultural identity every time you let it pass. And, yeah, that is something ethnic minorities tend to

[oyceter]

I know! I keep thinking: why does it have to sound like axe-grinding just to ask for people who look like me sometimes? Not even every show, every day, every character. Just... something, where I can recognize some of myself. And when you bring it up, there's always someone who asks why you can't identify with people not like you. And I think, that's not the problem! I can identify with people not like me; I do it all the time. But I want to not have to; I want the choice.

[sophia_helix]

The whole voting thing is starting to make me very nervous. I'm not sure either of those candidates can even win the nomination, let alone the election....but I'd vote for either of them against any other Democratic taker. I also think America is more likely to vote for a black president than a female president.

I will most likely be looking at poll numbers to see who's got the greatest lead, and vote for that candidate. Lame, but that's kind of the rule of voting Democrat, esp. in a state like mine.

[hesychasm]

I feel like the odds are about even on a black president versus a female president, based of course on absolutely no empirical research whatsoever. (g) But I would certainly bet that America wouldn't want to vote for this female president.

Still, I just can't shake this fear of WMDs in destabilized areas. Yeah, WMDs in Iraq have been the Bush administration's favorite fear tactic, but now they're real possibilities -- maybe even inevitabilities -- in Iran and North Korea. And at this point, that moves me more than any domestic issue. I'd want Hillary (and her best resource, Bill) to deal with that over Obama or any other Democratic hopeful currently on the political horizon.

[sophia_helix]

My feeling is based on how long it took to get a woman on the Court after having an African-American years before. Also, on the fact that CA has never ever had a woman governor, or even (I think) a Lt. Governor. As terrible as the racism is in this country, the public's mistrust in a woman's competence for public office seems even more ingrained, which is why I still gnash my teeth like furies over the end of DW's "Christmas Invasion," which we watched last night. No one doubts that General Colin Powell can do his job, but former ABA President Hillary Clinton.... not so much.

Although I don't know, her hawkish tendencies worry me. I really am up in the air on this.

[hesychasm]

I get what you mean, and actually, I think it also contributes to my leaning toward Hillary. If I have any sort of divided loyalty as a female person of color, I do feel slightly more urgency about seeing a woman in the Oval Office. Of course, the ideal ticket would be Clinton/Obama, and then he'd get elected when her two terms were up. (g)

I think she's trying to temper her hawkish tendencies -- she's now in favor of a phased pull-out from Iraq with benchmarks in place, whereas before she was pretty pro-administration -- but again, I still trust her knowledge and experience in these matters more than I do Obama's. Hell, even if she were just debating foreign policy with Bill over the dinner table, I think it'd give her an edge.

[nestra]

Have you seen Sleeper Cell? I think you might enjoy it. The first season is on DVD, and I think the second is premiering on Showtime some point soon.

[hesychasm]

I've never heard of it -- sounds intriguing (and on the deeper end of the pool from 24, heh). I don't get Showtime but I'll check out the DVDs or, uh, other means of acquiring eps.

[fourteenlines]

I saw a couple episodes on my On Demand, and it was really great.

[hesychasm]

Cool, two people whose tastes I trust!

[aud_woman_in]

I have big problems with the prospect of a Hillary candidacy. Perhaps I'm too much of a progressive idealogue, but I can't let go of the fact that, despite being routinely called (mostly by right-wingers) a "liberal," she's actually at the leading edge of the center. Now, I actually don't have a problem with the idea of a true centrist as president, and I really like what Obama has had to say about the necessity of loosening the party polemics in order to move forward. But the "center" has moved well to the right over the last twenty years, and not only by the efforts of the GOP, but with a lot of help from the Clintons' friends at the DLC

[hesychasm]

Yeah, I know all of this intellectually, but still, when I picture the future, I feel much more confident that she'll know what to bring to the negotiating table with Ahmadinejad and even Kim Jong-Il, if he ever gets to the table. Although I can also see them scoffing at her for being a woman, but perhaps the historical precedent set by leaders like Thatcher and Merkel will mitigate that reaction. I agree with you that her stance(s) on the war have been true political manuevering, but she's now arguing for a phased pull-out. Which is much better than Edwards' "get out now" non-strategy.

And domestically, at least, her positions track with mine: preserve the right to abortion but diminish their number through better sex education, civil unions for homosexual couples (about as good as we can get in these times), and universal healthcare (or at least better access to it). These are the issues I care most about, anyway.

But...sigh. Yeah, the election will be ugly if she gets the nomination.

[hesychasm]

p.s. Because I know you and I are united in the Colbert love, you gotta see him on O'Reilly's show, if you get the Fox News Channel. I just watched. :)

[aud_woman_in]

Hee! Thanks. I missed Bill in prime time, but I'm all set to tape the 1am repeat, and I'm all a-tingle waiting for the west coast feed of the Report.

About Hil - yeah, she's got a much stronger grasp on foreign relations than either Obama or Edwards. And for my money, a scary intellect that towers over both put together.

Hell, even if she were just debating foreign policy with Bill over the dinner table, I think it'd give her an edge.You know I'd be the first in line to buy tickets to watch her and Bill debating policy over fried chicken and pie

[dagnylilytable]

One of the reasons I love LJ is that it's really called my attention to these kinds of media issues and changed how I look at my TV. Even though Grey's Anatomy is usually too soapy to tackle a lot of these issues directly, I file it under a definitely good thing that America can watch smart and funny ethnically diverse doctors every week, you know?

And I totally understand that yearning to watch people like you, living like you do-- now that the doctor on ER got de-disabled, the only disabled character I can think of is the coroner on CSI, who obviously doesn't get storylines. I just, sometimes I really want that storyline on body image for disabled people, or just one scene of someone getting asked a stupid question and then going home amd doing PT while watching primetime.

*sigh* Sorry, didn't mean to soapbox too much there.

[hesychasm]

Not at all -- like oyceter and I are saying above, we shouldn't have to apologize for wanting to see more people like us in the media, or more storylines that resemble our own lives, or for expressing that desire.

Generally, to be honest, I just go with it and enjoy my shows anyway. But as you probably can tell, recent events have gotten me thinking about race all over again and it feels somehow more visceral now.

(Are you talking about Dr. Weaver? How did she get de-disabled??)