Update (12:10 p.m.): I’ll appear on Tammy Bruce’s radio show at 1:30 p.m. EST to talk about the series.
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I reviewed FX’s new reality show, “Black. White.”, which runs for six episodes Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m. I don’t watch much TV, and I never watch reality shows, but I’m a writer, right? I do what I must for my craft!
The two families lived together for six weeks and switched races. High concept. The families: the Sparkes, a black family from Atlanta, are Brian, a 41-year-old contractor; his wife Renee, a 38-year-old office manager; and their son Nick, 17. The Marcotulli-Wurgels from California are Carmen, a 47-year-old location scout; her shack-up boyfriend, Bruno Marcotulli, a 47-year-old teacher; and her 17-year-old daughter Rose.
I stepped up to the challenge of enduring a whole hour of people in bad makeup acting out some of the worst racial stereotypes since Amos ‘n Andy. There was a word limit for the review (about 900), so I ended up deleting half of what I wanted to say. Examples:
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1) For her “black†experience, the white daughter Rose (in blackface) attends a slam poetry-writing class. Her poem is terrible, but so are everyone else’s. Unlike the real blacks in the group, Rose uses “big words.” She was impressed with the others’ “poetry” and how real, raw, and “black” it was. Afterwards Rose was remorseful about deceiving people.
(Speaking of poetry, check out Michelle Malkin’s latest column about a 7-year-old black nationalist poet.)
2) Both families attended a same-race focus group (or something like that) as members of the other race. Renee (the black woman) listened intently as a white man sitting beside her told the group how bad he felt when he wanted to wash his hands after touching a black person. It was a strangely moving moment, if you can believe it, and Renee didn’t get upset at all. “He was shaking when he told us that. You can tell it really bothered him,” she said.
Too bad there weren’t more revealing, honest, and touching scenes like this.
A white woman in the group complained about a black employee she managed. She said the woman had “the worst attitude I’ve ever seen,” but to fire her would require a mile-long list of reasons so the company wouldn’t get sued. Black liberals will wish evil things on me for airing this bit of dirty laundry, but dealing with black women with bad attitudes is typical, especially in a city like DC and in “customer service.” Don’t get me started on government agencies like the DMV.
3) Later in the show, Bruno (white man in blackface) goes to a car dealership and reports that nothing remotely racist or otherwise inappropriate happened to him. Brian (the black man) says he feels that Bruno isn’t opening himself up to the “black experience.”
Interpretation: if you’re looking for prejudice, you’ll surely find it. This is how some black people live. Everything, and I mean everything, is seen through a “racist” prism. Brian is a somewhat attractive, light-skinned, green-eyed, successful black man (who said he’s experienced racism from blacks and whites because of his looks) in America going about his business and taking care of his family, but you’d think he leaped right out of the Jim Crow era to appear on the show.
4) The women: Carmen, white liberal raised by parents involved in the Civil Rights movement, was too intimidated by Renee, the “sister” from Georgia. Carmen said Renee seemed “strong”; Renee said Carmen was “weird” and “emotional.”
5) The kids: Nick was unfazed by it all; Rose seemed the most sincere. The adults were tainted by years of talking and thinking about race, buying into stereotypes, looking for racism under rocks, etc. The kids, Rose especially, were less affected by those things. As a result, Rose appeared more adjusted and less nervous than her mother.
A strange scene: To see what it was like to do something “white,” the producers sent Nick in whiteface and Rose without makeup to an etiquette class. Huh? Why not send them to the mall or a sporting event to hang out with a group of their peers? I don’t know how or why they came up with the etiquette class idea or what the point was supposed to be. (That good table manners are “white?”) Thankfully, the scene was too brief to give it much thought.
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Ask a black person 40 and under to give you an example of racism, and you’ll be in for a laugh riot. Typical answers: a sales clerk following them around in a store or a gas station attendant looking at them funny while they pump gas (into a nice car). That’s it. Break out the whips and chains ’cause slavery is making a comeback!
As I questioned the usefulness of FX’s experiment, I realized there was none. The purpose of “Black. White.” is to titillate, exploit, and entertain, and it does all three quite well. There’s more, but I must end now or I’ll be here all day.
Bottom line: if you’re up for an hour-long laugh, watch “Black. White.” If you’re interested in a serious and honest conversation about race, don’t tune in. Come to think of it, in PC America, serious and honest conversations about race are rare.
I want to know what you think of the show. If you saw the pilot, give us your review. If not, tell us what you think of the concept.
