You know what I love about television? I love how it’s a
medium where worlds can be created, worlds limited, for the most part, only by
the imagination. After all, imagination is really what
makes television great.
And that’s why I want to applaud these five shows for really
using their imagination when it comes to excluding people of color from their
casts.
Game of Thrones
This is a show that’s got 27 regular characters which is an
impressive feat. But even more
impressive; none of those regulars are not white. And this is a show set in a fantasy world with dragons, huge
wolves and sorcery.
Now some people would balk at this exclusively white cast
and say; really, you couldn’t make any of those characters Black? But since it’s based on a series of
books, you’ve really got to stick with the source material. You don’t want to take too many
liberties, like say giving a character a facial scar as opposed to cutting off
their nose.
Mad Men
What’s truly great about Mad Men is that it’s exclusion of
minorities is part of the of the show itself. It’s in it’s sixth season and it’s first Black regular had
her first storyline. How
impressive is that?
You’ve got to really applaud a show setting itself on
Madison Avenue in the 1960’s. It’s
a brilliant way to keep things exclusively white and do it in a way that keeps
the conscience clear. Nice!
House of Cards
How do you set a show in Washington D.C. and film it in
Baltimore, while still keeping it exclusively white? By making it a political thriller where quite a bit of
action takes place in the White House.
You’d think that making a political thriller, without a
Black character of note, would be tricky considering the last two Presidential
elections saw a Black man prevailing, but it’s a testament to the writers of
House of Cards that they pull it off glowingly.
The Killing
The producers of The Killing made two wise decisions right
off the bat. First they chose to
set the show in Washington State, which has a Black population of 3.8%. Since it’s well below the national
average, the idea that none of the major characters are Black is entirely
plausible.
Secondly they made sure Rosie Larsen wasn’t Black, because
honestly do you think the American public would invest two seasons worth of
shows in finding out who killed a Black girl?
The Americans
Yet another period show. But the producers of The Americans decided to up the ante;
would it be possible to set a show in the 1980’s and still have exclusively
white leads? Yes, but centering it
on KGB agents. Genius!
In fairness, the show did have two minority supporting characters,
which they killed off in successive weeks. Bold move.
You’ve really got to admire those five shows for making sure
that not only white actors stay employed, but also that Black actors remain
available for Tyler Perry movies.
You guys are all white in my book!
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