Introducing The Racialicious TV Roundup
Glee: First of all: There’s no Six Flags theme park in Ohio. And now that I’ve got that off my chest, let’s talk casting. Matt Bomer (White Collar) guest-starred this week, playing Cooper Anderson, older brother to Darren Criss’ Blaine Anderson. Criss is Filipino and white, Bomer is white and, while they’re both incredibly attractive, I quickly realised during their first Duran Duran number that they actually look nothing alike. It puts into question whether or not Criss’ heritage is something the writers of the show are willing to acknowledge, or whether Tina and Mike Chang (unrelated and of different nationalities…not that that matters) fill their Ohio Asian quota. Whitewashing actors of color is nothing new but, as someone who was really hoping that Lea Sal0nga would eventually be tapped to play Mrs. Anderson (and following her twitter on Tuesday nights makes me wonder if I’m not the only one…), this potential erasure is a little disappointing, if not unsurprising. (Whatever happened to Charice, anyway?) – KJ
Courtesy Buzzfeed.com
Justified: The season came to a “disarming” (a bad, bad pun for the bloody, strangely comic climax of the finale) conclusion this week. Although Rachel Brooks (played by African American actress Erica Tazel) has been a minor character this season, the introduction of Ellstin Limehouse (Mykelti Williamson, b/k/a Bubba from Forrest Gump) as leader of an all-black criminal sect made this another must see season. Far from the conventional choice of a central-casting gangbanger, Limehouse seemed to be Justified’s take on a black, southern Don Corleone. While billing himself as a simple head cook and owner of a popular barbecue spot in Noble’s Holler, an all-black enclave, Limehouse actually serves as an underworld asset manager keeping money for the many criminal factions in the show’s setting, Harlan County, KY.
To my delight all season, Limehouse was given all the contradiction, wit, and complexity I have come to expect from this show. Also, I was pleased the show touched a bit on the glorified “I’m just doing what I can in an oppressive system” racial justification sometimes passively ascribed to various criminals of color. Yes, perhaps Limehouse and his predecessors had to adopt some of their unlawful ways to protect their community in the racially charged South but, like most good intentions that require illegal actions, they have gotten off-track. Despite Limehouse’s lofty ideals and protestations of looking out for his flock, the show still puts him in the same class with the other criminals in the series, and the fallout from his illicit choices continues to threaten the community he claims to want to protect. I sincerely hope he comes back next season. Meat cleaver always in hand, calling people “Mister” even when promising a man they won’t find his soon-to-be dismembered body, Limehouse is a welcome diversion from the one-dimensional thugs I have grown sadly accustomed to seeing. - JSJ
Courtesy scifistream.com
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