Coming Soon to The WifeTime™ Movie Network at Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop culture

Coming Soon to The WifeTime™ Movie Network

by guest contributor AverageBro, originally published at AverageBro.com

If you needed any further proof that Hollywood wouldn’t know an original idea if it slapped them in the face, here’s Exhibit D.

Fox is developing a drama project inspired by the story of Cathy Lanier, the newly appointed chief of police of Washington, DC.

Lanier, a 39-year-old white single mother who dropped out of high school after getting pregnant at 14, became D.C.’s first female police chief and one of the youngest heads of the 3,800-member department dominated by black male officers. In addition to dealing with the city’s high crime rate, Lanier also has to deal with about 100 other law enforcement agencies operating in D.C.

“Here’s a white woman in a man’s world and an African-American world, working with agency after agency in a complicated jurisdiction like Washington, D.C., and she’s a single mom,” said Bob Cooper, who will produce the untitled project. “This seemed like a rich area to look at.

Never mind the fact that this story has essentially already been told before (anyone remember CBS’ ill-fated “The District”?). This “rich idea” will undoubtedly include lots of emasculating of Charles Ramsey, the black chief who proceeded Lanier and was unceremoniously dumped new DC Mayor Adrian Fenty earlier this year to pave the way for Lanier. It will probably be some variation of the ever-popular “all-knowing white guy/chick saves the savage Negroes from themselves” genre like Finding Forrester, Dangerous Minds, Freedom Writers, Take The Lead, Hardball, The Substitute, and any other flick that just makes black people look too dumb to solve their own problems without outside intervention. It will probably portray the black officers who sexually harassed Lanier (she won a court ruling) during her early days as a cop as crotch-grabbing primates. It will probably portray Lanier as magically turning around a violent city by simply “caring more and inspiring others”. And it will inevitably end up as the WifeTime Lifetime Movie Of The Week, starring the bumbling and ditzy Tori Spelling.

Seriously, what other angle could such a movie take other than to discredit blacks who have tried for years and years to turn the city around while making Lanier seem like Mother Teresa? Never mind the fact that the real life Cathy Lanier has only been on the job 10 months, has alienated many residents by demoting several highly regarded black lieutenants, and has seen the city’s murder rate escalate in recent weeks, capped by the bizarre police shooting of an unarmed 14 year old. Also, never mind the fact Fenty obviously hired Lanier (who to her credit was qualified, but wasn’t considered a known candidate) to put a whiter face on an ailing department (he made a similar appointment for Superintendent of schools) in hopes of continuing to spur the influx of gentrifiers to what was once Chocolate City. Because we all feel much safer and secure when someone white is in charge.

This might surprise you, but I don’t hold any of this against Lanier. I don’t live in DC, but I spend enough time there to hope that she can genuinely turn things around. Still, by trumpeting her arrival as the consummate Great White Hope story before she’s even given the opportunity to be deemed successful just shows why Hollywood stays losing. And to think, Negroes can’t even get a quality black drama on network TV, but the freakin’ GEICO Cavemen have a show.

Amazing, but hardly surprising.

Fox on tale of D.C. top cop [Reuters]

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jaogi » Blog Archive » Comment on Coming Soon to The WifeTime™ Movie Network by NayLah on 23 Oct 2007 at 7:23 pm

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Comments

gatamala wrote:

*sigh*

I called 911 on an arsonist, no one showed up. Last week I saw 4 cops ticket a lady for selling mangoes.
****

In all fairness, your characterization of sexual harassers would be quite accurate.

Posted 15 Oct 2007 at 9:47 am ¶
dnA wrote:

To be fair, in Finding Forrester, the black kid saves the white guy.

Posted 15 Oct 2007 at 9:48 am ¶
serenitynow wrote:

Michelle Rhee, Chancellor of DC Public Schools, is Korean-American… other questions and criticisms aside.

Posted 15 Oct 2007 at 11:43 am ¶
Jess wrote:

Um… OK, really surprised to read something like this on Racialicious. Although AverageBro might have a point about the way the story will be told with this police officer portrayed as the ‘great white hope’, is it really necessary to belitte the sexual harassment of the real-life woman?

” It will probably portray the black officers who sexually harassed Lanier (she won a court ruling) during her early days as a cop as crotch-grabbing primates. ”

Sexual harassment is a serious problem experienced by real women. Although it is possible to take umbrage at the way perpetrators are depicted, I suppose, AverageBro seems to completely dismiss the importance of it - indeed almost seems to suggest that the poor portrayal of these men is worse than the actual sexual harassment experienced by Lanier. Not to put too fine a point on it, but how do you positively represent people who have sexually harassed one of their co-workers?

Then we have this:

“This “rich idea” will undoubtedly include lots of emasculating of Charles Ramsey, the black chief who proceeded Lanier and was unceremoniously dumped new DC Mayor Adrian Fenty earlier this year to pave the way for Lanier.”

While it’s hard to understand what AverageBro actually means by this, it seems problematic on a number of levels, and raises some questions about exactly what he means:

1) What would be ‘emasculating’ about being replaced by a woman?
2) What would such a portrait entail? Is the assumption that a woman succeeding where he failed would be automatically emasculating?

Perhaps this wasn’t the subtext at all. I do see, I think, what AverageBro was getting at. But it just worries me to see what seem like some pretty sexist ideas being thrown around on one of my favourite blogs!

Posted 15 Oct 2007 at 12:16 pm ¶
Kim H wrote:

This scenario also reminds me of the “New York Undercover” storyline. The police lieutenant ruled with an iron fist and an extra coat of red lipstick. Most of the officers were black or Latino. I guess it was implied that she, as the leading white character, had all of the answers, but she also seemed worthy of respect.

Posted 15 Oct 2007 at 1:15 pm ¶
Kenda wrote:

I don’t think AverageBro is trying to dismiss the seriousness of sexual harassment. I think what he’s trying to say is that this series will not make a distinction between the harassers and the other black men working on the police force. It will come off like this pure white woman is trying to save black men from their own savagery.

Posted 15 Oct 2007 at 3:01 pm ¶
gatamala wrote:

Kim:

This scenario also reminds me of the “New York Undercover” storyline. The police lieutenant ruled with an iron fist and an extra coat of red lipstick

Posted 15 Oct 2007 at 4:36 pm ¶
dc resident wrote:

Whatever the issues about the police chief, I don’t understand the attack on the Korean American school chief. She’s young and Korean American, but those things shouldn’t necessarily disqualify her from running DC public schools.

Posted 15 Oct 2007 at 5:00 pm ¶
imdeep wrote:

The story appears to speak for itself. Let it be argued that some wouldn’t know an opportunity if it hit them in the face.

Rather than bitching about a yet-undeveloped premise, wouldn’t it make better sense to seize the window to make a case for getting as many creative folks of color/cultural/geographic sensitivities on board this project asap?

By also focusing only on Lanier’s 10 month stint as chief, you overlook her overall career and skills.

I’ve met Chief Lanier before and know she’ll she’s got institutional and systemic messes aplenty.

Continual problems with corruption more than excessive force (note that I didn’t say the latter never happens) has long plagued the DC force. There’s always been admin shuffle and reclassification of the force and numbers, but never moving bad eggs out of ranks– especially with the Fraternal Order of Police crotch grabbers.

Before you raise your fist over another senseless teen shooting, the black LTs demoted, and pity poor Ramsey, take a closer look at what happened on his watch.

Oh, and ask if these names ring a bell:. Isaac Fulwood, Fred Thomas, Larry Soulsby, and Sonya Proctor for what happened during their time as well…

Posted 15 Oct 2007 at 7:52 pm ¶
Colin wrote:

It’s worrying that a Korean-American school Chancellor is “whiter” than a black Chancellor.

And Kenda, I see what you’re saying, but AverageBro’s line on the sexual harassment directly talked about the very brothers doing the harassment, not mentioning or really even implying any sort of association with the rest of the force.

Still, I do not know that AverageBro was saying that being “dumped” for a woman to come into your position was automatically emasculating. As his writing seems to show, he is quite direct and is no fan of subtlety, so I would think he would’ve put that a little more explicitly.

AverageBro seems to be saying exactly what’s in the article: that he believes the series will in someway try to emasculate Mr. Ramsay, the former chief. Now, that by itself, with the issues swirling around of sexism and heterosexism, can be touchy and quite explosive, but I do not see where “being let go for a qualified female chief = auto emasculation” is communicated.

Posted 15 Oct 2007 at 8:24 pm ¶
severus wrote:

In other words, it might actually portray something close to the truth.

Posted 15 Oct 2007 at 10:58 pm ¶
Anonymous wrote:

AverageBro,

I do live in DC and I think you undermined your argument with the point that Lanier has been in office only 10 months. So, in that time, we should expect her to singlehandedly turn around a city that has some really dire problems?

The cops in DC need a helluva lot of work, for sure. But on our neighborhood listserve (part of Ward 4, for those who know the town, and for those who dont, largely African American middle and working class with more Latinos and whites moving in), we get word of the things DC PD gets done and it gives me some hope.

Whatever the moviemakers produce and people lap up, that’s their problem. But why does the making of that movie become cause for a full on screed against this woman? The kind of assumptions you make about her because she is a woman are truly stunning in their out and out sexism.

As far as who Fenty has appointed, he has gotten lots of flack for the way he has done it, in that some of it seemed secretive, which I understand, and for who he appointed, ie not enough black officials. But it seems that a lot of African-Americans in DC, while wanting to see one of their own succeed, just want SOMEONE to succeed, a bit, somehow, so that our streets are safer, schools better, our people healthier and offered more opportunities. If a white woman as Police Chief or a Korean-American as schools chancellor can achieve any of that, I think that would be fine with most of us in DC.

Fenty seems to be one who likes to make a fresh start, which explains the Michelle Rhee appoint to chancellor and may explain Lanier’s appointment, though I have had direct experience with the former and not the latter. Whether his gambit is sound, time will tell. Why dont you find the generosity to give these folks some time? You’d want that same courtesy if they were black men, no?

Posted 15 Oct 2007 at 11:05 pm ¶
hadji wrote:

He calls in “WifeTime” where I’d call it Life(of WhiteWomen)Time–not as catchy, but more encompassing.

The frustration that i and others have is this sense of two-fold hypocrisy in telling women’s stories:

Heroic WhiteWoman Hypocrisy #1: White women represent all women; as such every story of success/tragedy/struggle involving a white woman is handled as being so much more important than all the others to the point that they become the standard if not the status quo. (With the disproportionately high number of black women and women of color living in high-crime areas, did we really need that Jodie Foster’s flick? Or this Bionic Woman retread?)

Heroic WhiteWoman Hypocrisy #2:

In what I call “It’s us against the White man.” it’s this bizarre sense that being a White Woman is so oppressive and so hard that if you tell these stories, then you’ve covered the spectrum, because after all, the real “enemy” is the evil White Male. He’s the one the effed it up for everybody.

So if blacks and other ethnic groups come off looking like worthless self-hating clowns that can’t be saved until a White Woman shows them that they’re worthwhile, it’s okay, because “the patriarchal infrastructure” (aka some White Guy) is really to blame.

And thank goodness for the innate decency of White femininity or none of this just-below-the-surface hustling would ever be exposed.

So, we get Cathy Lanier’s story. Like we got jessica Lynch’s. Like we got Nancy Pelosi’s (one of the richest political insiders in 100 years got to brag about breaking a “glass ceiling” when she bought the house 20 years ago–literally, etc.).

Posted 16 Oct 2007 at 12:46 am ¶
dnA wrote:

I don’t really have much else to say, but I do want to mention that

1. Charles Ramsey was a bad Police Chief.

2. Being Korean doesn’t make you white, (does that not go without saying?) and I don’t see how picking her is a “similar” choice to picking a white woman for police chief, unless you’re saying that being Asian is pretty much like being white.

3. How many terrible black public administrators do we need to have in DC before we realize that being black doesn’t mean that you care about black people, or black kids, or if they learn a goddamn thing? Adrian Fenty absolutely kicked Linda Cropp’s ass across all Wards, he won by an overwhelming margin, with support from some of the poorest areas of DC. What base exactly do you have for stating as a “fact” that he hired her to put a “whiter” face on anything?

Oh right, he’s half white. Those mulattoes really can’t be trusted can they? I know I can’t. I’m just waiting for the perfect moment to defect to the white maleocentric malocracy.

Posted 16 Oct 2007 at 5:55 am ¶
Mireille wrote:

I’m sort of surprised to read this on racialiscious, which I usually consider female-friendly (or at least fair) in it’s criticisms.
I think the reality of what this women is trying to do for the city and what lifetime is going to turn it into are two different things. It’s not only disrespectful and unfair to the black cops of DC, but to this women who I’ve seen in the media and never came off as posturing herself as the savior of savage black folks. I also think Mayor Fenty and the new school super intendant are trying to improve things not for the gentrified influx population (most of whom don’t even go to public school), but for the poor kids. I know they’ve made a lot of enemies on the way, rapid change does that, but their intentions are godd.

Posted 16 Oct 2007 at 9:16 am ¶
NayLah wrote:

I AGREE AverageBro completely. Hollywood is ALWAYS quick to glamourize situations just because the individual is white……it’s the truth. Bob Cooper is not different then any other so called producer that time after time decide that our TV watchers need to see that white people rise above and beyond their situation to save the day…….its sickening.

But until other races start speaking up, then nothing will be done about it.

Im still upset at NBCs attempt to incorporate more blacks into Heroes. Love the show but was really disgusted by TV Guides cover featuring three WHITE BLONDES fromt the show. I voiced this to my little brother who is at the tender age of 13 and guess what he said? “Maybe the white actresses are better then the black ones” - so this is NOT just a Hollywood problem but its seeping into the minds of our future generations………

Posted 16 Oct 2007 at 10:37 am ¶
Latoya Peterson wrote:

Hmm…personally, I think they might just be trying to compete with K-ville, which is a pretty good show from what I have seen of it.

I agree it is exhausting to find that networks want to latch on to white women vehicles, ignoring the contributions of other races. Why wouldn’t they develop a show about the Korean-American woman reforming the schools? Oh wait, silly me…Lucy Liu already has a show this season. And there is no one else in the entire nation are who might possibly portray this role. Riiiight…

In my opinion - as a DC worker, but not resident - Fenty is just taking a new approach that reflects the diversity of the city a bit better. I am not seeing this as a bad thing.

In terms of the show…well, I don’t think there will be any winners this round. Lanier will probably catch hell for whatever Lifetime creates as a plot point, minorities lose on TV (again), execs will think DC cop shows won’t work, and we have yet another boring show on the airwaves.

Posted 16 Oct 2007 at 12:05 pm ¶
AverageBro wrote:

It has been very enlightening reading the comments on this post here, mainly because this forum is quite different from the typical readership of my blog.

A couple of notes/clarifications:

* The impetus of the post was simply a criticism of how Hollyweird loves to punch out “whites saving blacks” type stories which undermine the fact that blacks can do for themselves just fine. This sort of film is so cliched that it’s amazing they still make them, but obviously there’s a market. That was the sole point.

* I wasn’t criticizing Lanier’s performance as Chief, just the mere notion that her being on the job for only 10 months was somehow worthy of a TV show. What other purpose could such a show/movie (I don’t know which one is planned) serve than to compare/contrast her job as chief with the admittedly (yes, I said it) mediocre job of her predecessors? Has anyone made a movie based on the first two games of an NFL coach? It’s just silly, and based on Hollywood’s track record of similar movies (see the list I noted), I can’t see the movie doing anything other than making Lanier look good and the expense of blacks. Three years from now, if Lanier turns around the city, drops the murder rate, etc., then I could certainly see the point of such a movie, but why the rush so soon? That said, I certainly WANT her to succeed (why wouldn’t I?), as I noted.

* I sincerely apologize if my post seemed to downplay the seriousness of the sexual harassment Lanier endured. Bloggers banging out posts in 10 minutes are prone to lapses in judgement that can overshadow your point. Exhibit A.

* If you had to think about it critically, I believe many DC residents would admit that some of Fenty’s appointments (look at his entire cabinet) are pandering to gentrifiers to some degree. Notice, I didn’t say Rhee or Lanier aren’t qualified (although some might argue they aren’t), but let’s all be honest with ourselves here.

I thank each of you for your opinions and insights, and hope you’ll visit my blog (www.AverageBro.com). I also hope I didn’t piss Carmen Van Kerckhove off so much that she won’t have me back, but hey, that’s another story for another day.

Peace and blessings.
-AB

Posted 16 Oct 2007 at 1:00 pm ¶
egypt4 wrote:

AB, you won me back with your comments. Thanks for the clarifications and for jumping back into the fray.

Posted 16 Oct 2007 at 4:39 pm ¶
Mike wrote:

Great post AB
And thanks for clearing things up for the genetically over sensitives who posted. Hope to read more of youe work.

Posted 16 Oct 2007 at 5:32 pm ¶