Girls That Television Will Never Know

* Hear ya- having experience going to a MFA Screenwriting program in California that claims “sensitivity to diversity” and then lauds projects that demean women and minorities… Hollywood is broken from the inside and its educational systems that tolerate continued sexism and racism.

 I think it’s important to remember who really runs Hollywood, that’s old White men.  They have ultimate control and those 60+ year-old men aren’t going to greenlight a show they don’t understand.  And they don’t understand “Awkward Black Girl” or any show or film that depicts African Americans or People of Color in ways they don’t understand. That’s why we see Black women actors being nominated for all kinds of awards playing in “The Help” and films of its ilk but a film like Medicine for Melancholy which starred Tracey Heggins or  Neo Ned starring Gabby Union, etc, never get recognized by the Academy Awards.

My hope is that now that so many have proved that the internet is a viable way of delivering content that instead of aiming for network TV, shows like “Awkward Black Girl” will be able to make money online and be able to prosper. To heck with Hollywood.

 It’s my hope that successful online series will be the death of network TV as we know it. It’s so stale and tired, I can’t figure out why anyone keeps watching or why creative people keep trying to take their ideas there.

ughh at those racist twitter comments. you should have publicized their names, they wrote it they’d better own it.

What’s with this idea that you have to identify with characters in a shallow, demographic way in order to enjoy a movie or TV show?  White people are confused by what they’re seeing unless there are white people on the screen? Black people are confused by what they’re seeing unless there are black people on the screen?  Give me a break!

What happened to escapism?  What happened to enjoying a movie or TV show precisely because you get to see things you don’t see in everyday life?  One of the reasons I love superhero movies is because the characters are larger than life.  Yet, if they’re written well, you find ways to root for them that aren’t necessarily based on their race.

Captain America is white, but you don’t have to be white to root for him.  He’s a formerly scrawny kid who got picked on and is now living out his dream of defending others and fighting for justice.  That’s something I can get behind.

Those tweets about ABG are making me sick. When did Twitter become the most popular platform to air idiotic, plain racist views? Ack.

I’d heard good things about ABG all over but only now watched the first episode. HILARIOUS! Will bookmark & watch more soon.

Awkward black girl could do alot with it’s own show. When I saw it, I was like “This is me! Omg!!! ” It made me feel good about myself because her character is so relatable. IF she could make it, I could. Shame that it will never air though. One thing I read on tumbler for The walking Dead who had no black extras in Atlanta Georgia, a heavy black populated area, because there “wasn’t enough black actors who tried out.” What kind of sh-t is that? Really? Not enough? There’s too many!!! Get out of here, it’s not our faults all the time. Not even some of it. 

The NYC youth experience is largely and increasingly immigrant and/or racial/ethnic minority. As a lifelong New Yorker, I refuse to watch any show about young people in New York City that doesn’t reflect this reality.

Thanks for posting this.  This twitterfeed is unbelievable and everyone needs to see it.  what important work you’re doing.

so, I have to be white in my escapist entertainment? that just reproduces an attitude that white culture/life/people is more fun, interesting, and worthy of being part of fictional universes.

Minorities do this every time we turn around in popular culture. I almost never identify with the characters in a shallow demographic way. Black people do it every time they turn on practically any movie or TV show. We’re good at this. White people can be, too.

 The problem is that non-white people ALWAYS have to put up with not being represented (or being stereotypically represented) in American TV and movies.

I agree with Traci.  Let them be racist on Twitter…let everyone know who they are. They obviously think vituperative denigration is polite discourse.

“This is about a typical black woman with her black women problems.”

This confirms my suspicion that there’s little difference between a network executive and a youtube commenter.

Actually not so much old white men now.  There is a lot of young white men and they are running the same tired white boys club as their elders.

I’m probably one of the few black women on here who might admit that, though I didn’t necessarily “like” the show, I found the storyline intriguing enough to might want to see where it goes.  I watched the show on HBO Go with my brother on his Xbox 360.  Unfortunately, from all the behind-the-scenes stupidity I keep hearing about, it increasingly seems like attempting to watch any more of this show might be like being a gay person eating at Chick-Fil-A.  I don’t want to support a show that upkeeps the status quo of normalizing white 20-somethings pretending like, after high school, that they have no racial minorities in their lives or that, plainly, they’ve never been around black people before.  I dealt with that at my first college in Milledgeville, GA, (small-ass town: guess which school that is ), and it was bullshit, then, 10 years ago; I’ll be damned if I put up with it, now.

And on HBO of all networks?  The same network that had five seasons of the Wire?  The people who had Oz on for years?  (Oz, y’all!! OZ!)  What the fuck happened?  This is probably the worst show HBO has put up in years, and I’m including Arli$$, and even though it’s mostly an import, Angry Boys.  I wonder how long this show will stay on HBO until they, too, decide it’s too much trouble to keep on keeping on.  I mean,  look how quickly they dumped Luck after too many horses died on set.  Here’s hoping they care about the racial problems on this show as much as they cared about animal rights towards the other show.  At this rate, after the blow-up against the friggin’ PILOT EPISODE, I’ll be surprised if there’s a second season.

Personally, I think the Internet is a mixed blessing. It’s great in terms of distribution, but there needs to be a better system in terms of remuneration. People point to Louis CK making millions selling his special for only $5, but boy, is that unrealistic for most creators.

Don’t forget that Judd Apatow is behind Girls, and apparently he championed it to counter the whole “women aren’t funny” idea. You would think he’d be more sensitive to race.

Why hasn’t Queen Latifah’s Flavor Unit tried to work with Issa Rae? I’d much rather watch ABG on TV than ‘Single Ladies’.

“White people are confused by what they’re seeing unless there are white people on the screen?”

I’ll keep this simple, Elton.  Speaking for the white people of America… YES.  We can be pretty dumb when it comes to race.

First of all, seeing the tweets above reminds of one of the reasons I hate Twitter and Facebook and all other alleged “social” networks. Much of what I’ve seen is very anti-social (to say the least).

I got to this site through a link from ColorLines (a great and important organisation), and was frankly not surprised that there would be a racist aspect to “Girls” simply because Lena Dunham (and her work)  is so exceedingly white in a whitebread way, although being proclaimed as the new hipster goddess. As a white male who knows many hipster types, I’m always wary about these things as they almost always come from a level of privilege (money, education, etc.). The white hipsters that make this kind of drivel will bend over backwards to say they are not racist, and in a way they are not. Many will certainly not disparage black people, since some of their hipster friends may actually be black. But they will not go out of their way to find out about real black life experiences in America today outside of DUMBO. So they are basically in many ways just ignoring most black people. Of course Lesley Arfin (I like to think of her now as Lesley Arsehole) is an obvious exception. She certainly knows how to be a hipster racist. In fact I nominate her as the first winner of  America’s Top Hipster Racist (TV version coming from Fox any day now).

Latoya, you made a great point when you said “My personal rule (being an urbanite) is that if someone can’t diversify their social circle in areas like Brooklyn or DC, they are not people I want to know.” Amen. I don’t live in a big urban area but I’ve been to many places that are, and the variety of people and ideas and well, everything is really what it IS all about today in America. And it’s really sad when these allegedy anti-racist hipster types like Dunham and her ilk, who are usually from urban areas, ignore all these things they’ve seen all around them all their lives. Well, maybe they didn’t see it so much at Dalton, but they certainly saw it outside on the streets in front of said school.

The one postitive thing that may happen is that many viewers will soon realise that Dunham is a supremely untalented hack, and the show will ultimatley not be renewed.

90% of his movies have had all or predominantly white casts.  I definitely don’t expect him to care about diversity. 

I love the word “typical” and how often people apply it to human beings.  

Hey roundelay78, thanks for sharing the info! =)

 I think you are missing the overall point of the article. The criticism is the continued whitewashing of these shows does not represent the true demographic of our society. We are in a nation that is increasingly becoming non white majority and yet we can’t get one show on a major network staring a p.o.c or p.o.c/lgbt cast. Hollywood continues to show us a white fantasy that has no room for us. And if we are in the shows we are stereotypes. Now you may think that people can not possibly believe what they see on television as truth but that is not the case. People believe the stereotypes that they see on t.v.  That in turn takes away the full range of who we are. We are always stereotypes and not fully realized human beings.  There are people who can not believe that I do not enjoy hip hop because I am Black. Where did they get the idea that Black people just like hip hop? Through the media. And keep in mind that media is Americas biggest export so these images are being shown throughout the world.

This is the best write-up of this entire scenario I have read. Latoya, that was great!

This is such a great article. As an African American actress creating her own web series, this was a very inspirational piece. Thanks again! 

what bothers me is the whitewashing of HBO. HBO initially had several shows with people of color, which helped them gain a reputation of airing groundbreaking and unconventional shows. Within the last few years as the golden age of HBO passes, the new shows are increasingly white not only in the racial make-up in the cast, but also in the culture it depicts. It is disappointing to see, although not atypical or shocking.

Hi. I just want to add my two cents:

If we are going to criticise an industry that runs on institutionalized racism and sexism, we need to address the system that gives rise to such an industry. This system is called neoliberal capitalism.
More OPEN structural critique of neoliberalism would help anti-racists, anti-classists and anti-sexists to actually frame their discussions in a way that show where privilege actually comes from, and how it is actually perpetuated.

I really think it’s time for the Left to wake up in this sense. We can talk for years about tropes, stereotypes, audiences, symbols and representations. And I agree, these things are extremely important to understand the world around us, and we cannot fight the status quo without knowing about them.

But if we actually want to root out the causes and build a better society, we’re gonna have to start about capitalist moguls, bourgeois management and audiences, and the working classes with their different racial identifications. Why do we self-identify racially, especially the white working classes and the white middle classes? Couldn’t it be all part of the aspirational, faux-meritocratic game? Couldn’t it be that neocons exploit racism and racial identity to gain the support of white working classes, thus dividing the class they themselves exploit?

And isn’t media just a tool in the hands of the ruling classes?Unless we start talking about instrumentalism, we are doomed in changing anything. Discourse is a tool. But we need to talk about a tool for WHAT.

That said, Racialicious is one of the most openly critical blogs about race and the system that I have encountered. You guys do a great job, this is not personal criticism but an attempt at a wake-up call for all of us.

Great point!

HIMYM is fairly repellant politically, god knows. There is one token black character, who also happens to be gay – the show lampshades the characters token status, but there is still no other gay / poc characters.  There’s also a lot of smug, pseudo-ironic reinforcement of the status quo, like the episode where two of the characters decide to raise their coming baby in a non-gender-specific way – this plot of course being resolved by the same characters realizing how silly and unnatural they’re acting. Shudder. 

Oh LaToya  – thank you for this, it sums up my feelings about the show exactly.  

Really interesting article.  I feel though that the Loca and ABG comparison wasn’t the best fit.  Mostly because I believe Loca’s success is due to her starting at an earlier time when there was less competition on YouTube.  That video you posted is from 2008, whereas the ABG vid you posted is from 2011.  That’s quite a time gap and those who got big hits first, got the deals first for sure.  It’s still early for ABG and I believe it’s possible for her series to get a deal eventually much like how Loca did.  However the industry is really changing in that as well.  People aren’t handing out deals for web series like they were in the Loca days of 2008 or so.  So I think the time ABG came out contributes to the lack of success along with the obvious racism in Hollywood.

The way you frame your argument leads one to believe that you think only black people watch Tyler Perry and BBWives and other such shows. Truth is, yes, black people do make up a significant fan base of those shows but so do other groups.  Those shows are not successful because only black people view them. 

Also white people have a fair share of successful crap television.  Bravo Real Housewives of every other city except ATL have plenty of white women showing their arses, and those shows have a very broad fanbase.  

Black people like trash tv and excellent drama, comedy series as well.  I know people who happen to love Curb, The Wire, The Sopranos, Mad Men as well as trash reality tv.  

The questions is: who else besides black people will watch a show like Awkward Black Girl?  Will white people watch it and try to relate to a character who does not look like them but possibly share similar experiences?  Trust me, us black people who like it and support it on the web will indeed watch.  And there are many people who enjoy the show because it manages to depict real characters from diverse backgrounds.  And that is something that not many shows care to tackle, unfortunately.