I read an article published today on a website called The Voice that provides social commentary on pop culture. This particular article struck me because it was about the lack of diversity in television. This is certainly not an oddity nor is it breaking news to write an opinion about the deficiency of African American characters on TV. However, what struck me most about this article was the writer's assessment that critics should not target shows like HBO's Girls for its exiguity of Black people. A show that takes place in NYC no less, where there is not one Black person walking the streets of Greenpoint Brooklyn. As a former NYC resident, I can attest to the fact that Greenpoint lives in the world of make-believe. I'm just waiting for Mr. Rogers' train to toot by...
Allow me to copy and paste a sample of what bothered me most about this article:
I thoroughly enjoyed Girls, I’m not a white woman from a privileged background; I’m a young black woman who is working class. Yet there were themes I could easily see in my everyday life or the lives of my friends; body image worries, self-esteem, awkward and sometimes farcical encounters with men, and worries about carving a place in the world.
A further question to ask is: who said you have to see anything representing your own life to enjoy a show? Take the hugely popular The Big Bang Theory, a comedy about four nerds and a pretty girl who lives next door. I cannot relate to a group of socially awkward men with rocket scientist intelligence, or a pretty blonde with dreams of becoming an actress, yet I laugh at every episode.
I respectfully disagree here. I think it's IMPERATIVE to see yourself represented on TV, Film, Media, etc. Anything else would come across as dismissive. This blog was created in part because there is a stigma attached to Black women that is very one-dimensional. The fact that "Black" "Girl" and "Nerd" can all coagulate together to form a culture or an archetype in many circles is unheard of! Why? Because there is little to no representation of us in pop culture.
I believe strongly that seeing women who look, talk, act, and share the same cultural interests that I do, makes me feel like I belong. For so many years I felt like I was the "odd man woman out" when it came to just about everything. Social events, parties, dating, friendships, workplace, school, etc. I just felt different because I never saw many girls of my ilk around.
The writer goes into further details about how "Sometimes not seeing ‘yourself’ on television is a chance to have a window into other walks of life, to see types of people you may never have met and perhaps even find unexpected commonalities along the way."
Okay well that's a great argument if not seeing yourself on television was a unique concept, but if you rarely see yourself on television, then where does the "sometimes" come into play? There is nothing "sometimey" about not seeing myself on television...it happens all the time my dear.
For the most part, the writer did a job well done on presenting this article and she also agrees with my point about lack of diversity. However, I think that rather than trying to encourage Black women out there that its okay to deal with the hand that has been dealt to us, we should rise above the fray and stand up for ourselves. We need more Shonda Rhimes' in TV. More Ava Duvernay's in Film. And more Octavia Butler's in Books.
It's not okay to not see myself on TV. Especially when I'm a sub-culture within a sub-culture. I would love the opportunity to pitch my ideas to any network executive willing to listen to a BGN version of "Girls". Audiences are ready and hungry to see new creative content. Not the same old boring monotonous-structured TV shows we've seen in the past two decades. Does anyone have Shonda Rhimes' number? Or perhaps the Executive of Creative Development in any of the major cable networks? We can totally be on TV too guys.
Thank you Cheyenne Bunsie for writing that article. I'm hoping one day that seeing Black women on TV will be the status quo.
