The key is the quality of the program. For that matter it is the quality of the medium, whether movies or plays or television, that determines viewability. The FX Network program Thief may not have lead the ratings, but I bet it’s ratings would be on par with or better than half the broadcast television shows on today. Yet broadcast television won’t touch such a show. Even with the fact that the top shows of today get fewer viewers that the middle of the road shows of the 70’s (due to DVD’s, VOD, cable and so forth) and a dirth of programs highlighting this untapped market, executives are holding on to what is a staple of the ‘I wish it was 1950 again’ mentality.
It was that mentality that prevented any African American actor or actress from getting recognition at the Oscar Awards for decades. [Directors as well, notably Mr. Spike Lee for Malcolm X] Thankfully part of that hurdle has been broken, partially, though the slap in the face to Dreamgirls (first movie in 79 years to have the most award nominations and not get nominated for Best picture) and the subsequent snub of Mr. Eddie Murphy highlight the fact that the 98% majority of Oscar voters have not completely seen the light.
It was mentioned in the Yahoo article that Roots is still the most watched mini-series ever. The reasoning given is that it was a special event and thus free of the guiding forces that pertain to broadcast television. Right, how about another heaping spoonful of that stuff. More likely is the fact that Roots was a well acted, well-funded, intelligently written program, based in fact, that had appealled to every African American in the nation as well as non-minorities. Perhaps if there were other well written, produced, and directed programming the same would happen. Instead we see money thrown at sitcoms [mostly ill-conceived, poorly acted, yet virtually the only option, akin to drinking sand because there is no water in my opinion] and starved from dramas where the lead is non-White.
I see it as a barrier that no one likes to talk about. It’s like reparations, or an apology for slavery. Mention it and red flags pop up everywhere and no one wants to listen. The fact that a logical and sound argument for change can be made has no bearing on the reaction. Because the entire reasoning made implies that if non-minorities cannot connect with a lead that is not EXACTLY like them, Mr. Denzel Washington, Mr. Samuel Jackson, Mr. Wesley Snipes, Mr. Will Smith and others could not have leading roles in movies and command $20 million per film. According to the logic presented, maybe they could have one film, out of the group of them, but not a couple of dozen that exists in the real world.
I am angered by the supposition that African Americans can only excel at comedies and as non-lead characters. Black Americans can present more depth than a character that is being, “…laughed with them and at them,” as Mr. Brooks stated. Such a shallow view is undeserved, and if any apology need be made it should be to the actors and the nation for inferring such impotence.
Finished in Part 3...
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